Elusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar has issued a "code of conduct" to his militant colleagues asking them to avoid "unnecessary" suicide bombings and civilian casualties while waging war against "the oppressors", which was described as "sham" and propaganda exercise by NATO.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai wants the elusive Taliban chief Mullah Omar to run for President in next year's election so that people could "vote for or against him".
The arrest of Baradar, said to be second-in-command to Omar, is a major blow to the Taliban and is being described as a major success to Obama Administration's war against terrorism in the Af-Pak region.
Elusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, was treated in a Karachi hospital with the help of Pakistan's spy agency Inter Services Intelligence after he suffered a heart attack, a private intelligence agency has claimed.
'Afghan people will not accept a governing structure that excludes women and minorities'
'A major internal upheaval cannot be ruled out.'
The talks being held at an undisclosed location, involve high-level representatives of the Taliban authorised by the dominant Quetta Shura led by the groups elusive leader Mullah Omar, Washington Post reported quoting Afghan and Arab sources.
Virat Kohli stepped down as India's 20-overs skipper and lost ODI captaincy too with Rohit Sharma taking over as their sole white-ball leader.
The offer of peace talks came at a time when the Pakistani military operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the Pak-Afghan border had had little impact on the operational capabilities of the Tehrik-e-Taliban. Amir Mir reports.
Mullah Omar, the Taliban's elusive leader, has warned United States-led troops in Afghanistan that their 'unequivocal defeat' is imminent, as the insurgents are 'forging ahead like a powerful flood' against them. In a purported online message issued to mark Eid, Omar referred to 'huge casualties and sagging morale' among the more than 100,000 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and US-led troops in Afghanistan fighting Taliban-linked insurgents.
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.
Mullah Akhtar, a close aide of Mullah Omar who served as his deputy for the past three years, was chosen as the new leader.
Taliban's elusive leader Mullah Omar has claimed that his fighters are near victory and has asked United States President Barack Obama to withdraw his troops 'unconditionally and as soon as possible.'
Barack Obama has said that he had ruled out involving Pakistan in the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout because it was an "open secret" that certain elements inside Pakistan's military, and especially its intelligence services, maintained links to the Taliban and perhaps even al-Qaeda, sometimes using them as strategic assets against Afghanistan and India.
The Western powers appear to regard Delhi as the most logical destination in the region in these extraordinary times -- as a counterpoint to the ascendance of political Islam and a rising red star over Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On the heels of the capture of top Taliban commander Mulla Baradar, Pakistani intelligence has also nabbed two other prominent renegades who are being grilled to trace the whereabouts of elusive Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban supremo Mulla Omar.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said some people in the Pakistani government are aware of the whereabouts of elusive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar.
The report also quotes Commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lt Gen David Barno, as saying that the Taliban's roughly 2,000 insurgents have all but stopped fighting in\nrecent months.
US troops after 10 years in Afghanistan are in the same position as the Soviet troops after eight years were in 1987 --victory increasingly elusive, says B Raman.
Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence is providing safe haven to the Taliban leadership and the West need not mount a military operation to capture Mullah Omar as the elusive insurgent chief "is with them," according to Afghanistan's former spy chief.
With the death of the terrorist mastermind, the emergence of a nuclear-equipped splinter group from within the Pakistani establishment looks disturbingly plausible, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
'The Indian side has realised that not talking to Pakistan has not served any useful purpose.'
'Despite almost $30 billion of funding since 2001, all the US reaps today is unmitigated hostility of a Pakistan emboldened to flaunt its China card.' 'How can the US give credence to any offers from Pakistan, which has trotted out the standard alibi of non-State actors time and again, including dreaded terror outfits being out of State control, Pakistan itself being a victim and so forth?'
Indonesia, Turkey and Afghanistan also see important polls in the seven short weeks between end-March and mid-May, says Shankar Acharya
Terrorism, Kashmir and funding of non-profit organsinations dominate Home Minister Rajnath Singh's first IB briefing. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The 15-member body called for enhanced actions, from closing financial system loopholes to stopping the abuse of charitable causes, as well as updating the existing IS and Al Qaeda sanctions list.
'Islamabad is only as big as a Delhi suburb.' 'How can a city with just two five star hotels and only one departure gate at their international airport be compared to Delhi with its sprawling airport?' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan finds the pulse of Pakistan after visiting Islamabad for the first time.
The India-Afghanistan relationship does not have to be a template of each country's relations with Pakistan, and Delhi will do well to leave it to Ghani to redefine the parameters of Afghanistan's security cooperation with India. A zero-sum mindset can only exacerbate regional tensions, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Until India fully absorbs the fundamentals of international relations, it will continue to get evil for good,' says Brahma Chellaney.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances