Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban leader freed from a Pakistani jail on the request of the US less than three years ago, has emerged as an "undisputed victor" of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, according to a British media report.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has admitted for the first time that it is using Afghan soil as a springboard for launching attacks on Pakistani security forces.
A top commander of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Omar Khalid Khorasani and three other top terrorists have been killed in a mysterious blast in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, a Pakistani media report said on Monday.
The United States has said that it was aware of the unofficial talks between Taliban and Afghan representatives in Maldives, adding the Karzai government has confirmed that there is no official participant from its side.
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
A blunt warning sent by US President Barack Obama in November 2009, prompted Pakistan to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership, and is being cited as the turning point in the strategic relationship between the two countries.
Afghan forces backed by air support from Nato aircraft have launched a broad sweep of the country's northeast borders killing 59 Taliban insurgents in a major offensive in a province that serves as a militant supply route from Pakistan.
'With Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the unemployed jihadis will certainly turn their gaze to India and Kashmir.' 'Despite this imminent danger to national security, defence preparedness does not find a mention in the ongoing electoral campaign,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Berlin-based boxer Sadia Bromand is fighting for her compatriots and wants to win the Olympic gold for the Afghan women living under oppression.
The meeting was facilitated by Pakistan's spy agency -- the ISI
The Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi announced Saturday night that it is ceasing its operations from October 1, citing a 'lack of support from the host government', failure to meet expectations in serving Afghanistan's interests, and reduction in personnel and resources.
There have been conflicting reports about whether Taliban's supreme council was consulted or not on the election
'If there is a military standoff eyeball to eyeball on the western border, the Chinese could create problems by making movements in the north, in our northeast, which could involve us tying down some forces there so that could stretch our military actions.'
The Taliban have claimed the seizure of more than 10 out of 34 administrative centers of Afghan provinces.
The Taliban have been forcing women to cover themselves up since returning to power in August.
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
The Taliban's rise will see an increase in infiltration on India's western border and terrorist groups in Pakistan will get funding from the Taliban, warns Brigadier Rajamani Kannan (retd).
As many as 10 Taliban fighters, dressed in Afghan army uniforms and driving military vehicles, talked their way onto the base and opened fire on soldiers.
Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed in a United States airstrike.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are discussing the possible release of Taliban prisoners, including the outfit's powerful commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, to boost the Afghan peace process, foreign office spokesman Moazzam Khan said on Friday.
What does the Taliban chief's death means for various stakeholders?
Hundreds of Afghan protesters, including many women, took to the streets of Kabul on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, in an anti-Pakistan protest chanting 'Death to Pakistan', denouncing Islamabad's interference in Afghanistan as well as airstrikes by Pakistani jets in Panjshir province in support of the Taliban.
Acknowledging the killing of its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the Afghan Taliban have announced Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as his successor.
A top Republican senator has criticised the Afghan policy of United States President Barack Obama, opposing his troop withdrawal plan from the country and the peace talks with the Taliban.
This comes a few days after reports emerged that Amrullah Saleh, who was residing at the Panjshir, has fled to Tajikistan.
Some Afghan girls began attending primary school this week.
'It will remain hostile to Indian interests owing to its close proximity to China.'
Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, a top Afghan Taliban leader who backed the peace process and a former aviation minister in the pre-2001 Taliban regime, has been appointed as the new chief of the insurgent group, as Taliban confirmed the death of its longtime supremo Mullah Omar.
The TTP, however, did not confirm the death of its chief in the drone strike.
This will be probably for the first time since the 9/11 attacks that the representative of a duly elected Afghan government and the Taliban would be meeting face-to-face for peace talks.
The Taliban knows that Washington holds the key, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Asked if Pakistan can be an ally in the war on terror, Royce said, "I think the civilian government is."
Representatives of the Afghanistan government and Taliban militia are set to hold talks in the Maldives on national reconciliation, their second such meeting this year. "The government of Maldives confirms that talks are being held this week in the Maldives between Afghan lawmakers and representatives from groups opposed to the Afghan government," President Mohammaed Nasheed's press secretary Mohamed Zuhair said. The Maldivian government has no involvement in the talks.
The Afghan Taliban is struggling to find a successor to slain chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
A hotel near Kabul was attacked by Taliban insurgents on Thursday night killing 17 people, mostly civilians. The attackers took hostages and staged a battle with security forces for around 12 hours. Four security guards and an Afghan police officer were killed in the attack.
The Afghan tradition of gaining control of areas does not necessarily involve combat. Most engagements are settled through negotiations and pay-offs before battle is joined. This style of fighting is peculiar to Afghanistan, explains Ajai Shukla, who witnessed such a transaction between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance in November 2001.
Thousands of Afghans rushed into Kabul's main airport on Monday, some so desperate to escape the Taliban that they held onto a military jet as it took off and plunged to their deaths.
In a major breakthrough, the Taliban on Tuesday announced the opening of its office in Doha, which would hold peace talks with the Afghan government and separate direct parleys with US that could boost Afghan reconciliation process after 12 years of war.
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