Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has contended that the United States should share the blame for the rise of the Haqqani network as the Central Investigation Agency created the Taliban faction during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and trained its members.
The son of the chief of the Haqqani terror network, blamed for attacks on US forces and the Indian Embassy in Kabul, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen near the Pakistani capital, leaders of the group said on Monday
The Indian side expressed readiness to provide extensive humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, Mujahid was quoted as saying by Afghanistan's Tolo News.
'Perhaps the biggest indication was its striking decision in November to delink LeT from its aid certification process.' 'The administration decided that the US, in order to send military aid to Pakistan, would not need to certify that Pakistan is cracking down on LeT.' 'Perhaps the administration was trying to offer a carrot -- in effect, we're backing off on LeT, but in return we expect you (Pakistan) to go after the Haqqanis.' 'Either way, the optics were dreadful for the US given that Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest a few days after the US move.' 'The US reacted angrily, but eventually it moved on, and refocused on its core concern: The Afghan-focused terror groups.'
Pakistan has too much at stake to allow even an iota of rapprochement between India and the Taliban, says Vivek Gumaste.
To step up pace of reconciliation talks, the Afghanistan government has opened direct contacts with the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani faction of Taliban, which is believed to have close ties to Pakistan's military intelligence. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's government has been in direct contact with Jalaludin Haqqani, the ageing leader of the Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan and run by his eldest son Sirajudin.
The Afghan Taliban is struggling to find a successor to slain chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
The United Nations Security Council, under India's presidency, has imposed global sanctions against the dreaded Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network and the group's chief of suicide operations.
A 32-year-old man chargesheeted in the deadly terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district five years ago has died of a heart attack in the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, officials said.
A scribe who reported government-army rift had barred from leaving Pakistan.
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 war in Afghanistan is over, now we will work together to rebuild this country," said Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid at a press conference in Kabul.
Only punitive pressure against Pakistan can help in neutralising the Haqqani Network, says senior analyst B Raman
Is the United States actually serious to proceed against the Haqqanis this time or is it yet another ploy on the part of the Obama administration to pressurise one of the most influential power players in Afghanistan to join hands with the international community to hold future negotiations with the Taliban? Amir Mir tries to find out.
Is the United States actually serious to proceed against the Haqqanis this time or is it yet another ploy on the part of the Obama administration to pressurise one of the most influential power players in Afghanistan to join hands with the international community to hold future negotiations with the Taliban? Amir Mir tries to find out.
'No one in this administration, not the President nor anyone on the national security team, would suggest that the Taliban are respected and valued members of the global community'
Pakistan has ordered a probe into the killing of the eldest son of the chief of the dreaded Haqqani network that has been blamed for attacks on the Indian Embassy and American forces in Afghanistan, a report said on Friday.=
The Taliban is showing its strong discontent as the high hopes given to it by the Pakistani military have been dashed, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Mullah Akhtar, a close aide of Mullah Omar who served as his deputy for the past three years, was chosen as the new leader.
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
An audio message has been released in Pushto, circulated by Taliban commanders, where Akhundzada said, "Taliban will never bow their heads and will not agree to peace talks," reports Dawn.
'They are not following through, and have not followed through, by going after one of the truly great threats that face us here in Afghanistan, which is the coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan of Haqqani fighters,' The Daily Times quoted US Armed Services Committee Chairman, Carl Levin, as saying.
The Taliban's main challenge comes on the financial and economic front and there Pakistan doesn't have the capacity to be of any meaningful help, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
After accusing Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence of supporting the Haqqani terror network, the Obama administration is now relying on the spy agency to help it organise and begin "reconciliation talks" aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, a media report said in New York.
The Taliban have postponed the formation of a new government in Afghanistan for next week, their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Saturday, as the insurgent group struggles to give shape to a broad-based and inclusive administration acceptable to the international community.
Former Indian diplomats on Monday termed the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan as a "setback" for India strategically, and asserted that the priority for New Delhi right now should be to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn nation.
Fearing at the possibility of attacks against the US emanating from Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her second visit to the country has called on Islamabad to take further and specific actions against militant networks, British Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Pakistan is continuing support to the Taliban and the Haqqani network as part of its backup plan to secure their western border in case the United States leaves Afghanistan, a top US intelligence official has said.
'Washington is well aware that the Haqqani group was responsible for terrorist attacks on the Indian diplomatic establishments in Afghanistan.' 'But today US self-interest dictates that Sirajuddin Haqqani's mainstreaming in Afghan political life and a potential elevation eventually to a leadership role at the national level is useful and necessary, since he can deliver peace,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'What has the impact of 40 years of warfare in Afghanistan been on us?' 'Afghanistan is marginal to India's future.'
A Taliban commander in Pakistan's volatile tribal belt has broken away from the militant outfit to form his own group, as he is opposed to suicide attacks on mosques and civilians.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has vowed to fight alongside the Haqqani Network if the Pakistan Army launches an offensive against it in North Waziristan Agency.
Like China, India too should connect the dots and move ahead with a long-term perspective in Afghanistan, advises Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team cites a UN Member State as saying that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Deobandi group ideologically closer to the Taliban "maintains eight training camps in Nangarhar, three of which are directly under Taliban control."
India on Sunday said it was good that the Obama administration recognised the links between the Inter-Services Intelligence and Haqqani network of Taliban, amid a raging United States-Pakistan row over the spy agency's support to the dreaded terror outfit.
The official in question has not served in India before.
Support for the dreaded Haqqani network across the militant group's historical stronghold in eastern Afghanistan is gradually turning into "resentment" as local leaders say the Haqqani supremo's war is for "Pakistani rupees and power" and they cannot follow him "blindly".
'Pakistan's trump card is that it is the only credible guarantor on the horizon who can reasonably assure the Western world that Afghanistan will not again become the revolving door for international terrorism.' 'Trust Pakistan to play this card optimally,' explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Taking part in the first meeting of Foreign Ministers of the neighbouring countries on Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will provide Afghanistan with 200 million yuan ($31 million) worth of grains, winter supplies, vaccines and medicines as per its requirements, official media in Beijing reported.
The Afghan Taliban have claimed that they killed three persons, including two Indians, and injured seven Afghan soldiers in a missile attack on a United States airbase and an Indian non-governmental organisation's office in eastern Kunar province.The claim was made by Afghan Taliban spokesman Qari Omar Haqqani, who spoke to reporters in Khar in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region on the phone on Sunday. Haqqani claimed the militants attacked the office of the Indian NGO.
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