Pak military officers were involved in the attack on the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in which assailants attempted to storm the mission building.
It is learnt that the consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif will continue to operate through the local staff members.
'During Eid Muslims get Eidi, but Opposition parties never gave that to them.' 'When PM Modi is giving Eidi to Muslims Opposition leaders are getting upset.'
The pirzada said that the newly launched outfit might contest state elections from all 294 assembly seats.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar in New York praised the leadership skills of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while recalling the attack on the Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan near the Indian consulate and while India was coordinating evacuations from the country.
Raising questions over the role of Pakistan's powerful military in the Pathankot terror attack, a former ambassador to India has said that the army does not appreciate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's attempts to decide on the country's policy towards India.
Rediff.com brings you glimpses of how Muslims across the globe are observing the month of fasting and the holiest period for the Islamic faith.
"We saw with our own eyes and I can say 99 per cent that those attackers were from Pakistani military and used special tactics while conducting their operation," Sayed Kamal Sadat, police chief of the Balkh province.
Haji Arafat said that the attempt by Desai to enter the Haji Ali Dargah is a conspiracy meant to disturb Mumbai's peaceful environment.
However, official sources in New Delhi said the reports suggested that the mission was not the target of the blast.
An intense 25-hour gun-battle between security forces and terrorists outside the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif came to end on Monday night with the killing of all the attackers who attempted to storm the Mission building.
"Numerous rounds of talks have taken place with the Chinese counterparts to deescalate the situation without compromising on India's stand of 'complete disengagement and immediate restoration of status quo ante'," the defence ministry said.
A special aircraft of the Indian Air Force was sent on Saturday to bring back the Indian diplomats, officials and other staff members including a group of Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel.
A Pentagon official concerned with evacuation operations said the reason the Taliban wants to prevent these people from leaving is likely because they intend to punish them for their cooperation with the US.
Fingers are pointing to radical terror groups in Pakistan for Afghanistan's first major sectarian assault on Tuesday since the fall of Taliban regime 10 years ago, raising fears among United States officials that more such groups may now be operating in the strife-torn country.
Amid intelligence inputs that its interests in Afghanistan may be targetted by Taliban and other terror groups in the wake of the killing of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, India has tightened security at its missions and other establishments.
"Defence Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim stepped down with immediate effect," the Khaama Press quoted the Office of the President, ARGPalace, as saying on Monday.
The decision is significant as India has decided to reduce the tenure of its diplomats and other staff in Islamabad from three to two years because of security considerations. The government has decided to extend the tenure of diplomats and other staff of these Consulates from 18 months to two years, officials sources said.
It took just about four minutes for a bench comprising three judges to send Sayed Pervez Kambaksh to the gallows. His crime -- Downloading a report on women's rights from the Internet!
Supporters of Uzbek leader General Abdurrashid Dostum and Tajik General Attah Mohammad had clashed in the fiercest battle in the past two years.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on Friday reviewed the security situation for the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Herat which was attacked last week.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on Saturday met Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the two presidential candidates here during which she was assured that Afghanistan was committed to ensuring full safety for the Indian Embassy in Kabul, four consulates and interests irrespective of the orientation of the new leadership.
'The attack on the Pathankot base constituted an act of war. Yet Modi's only public comment up until now on that attack has been to blame it on "enemies of humanity".' 'Modi came to power talking tough about Pakistan. But in office, he has pursued a Pakistan policy that has lost both direction and purpose,' argues Brahma Chellaney.
'When I stepped on Indian soil, I lay down on the ground and kissed my homeland.'
'Trump's new discovery is that Pakistan and its army are virtually god's gift to mankind.' 'They are required to facilitate a relatively orderly American exit from Afghanistan,' points out Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's high commissioner to Pakistan.
From now on, the Taliban will be responsible for the "honour, wealth and preservation" of Afghanistan's people, Ghani said.
'The Afghans used to say that if there is any person whose name should be taken after Allah, it is Hindustani.'
Swarup said India looks forward to the prompt and decisive action promised by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his counterpart Narendra Modi.
Atmar briefed Jaishankar about the situation in the war-torn country amid growing security concerns over the Taliban fighters rapidly seizing control of a large number of areas, forcing many countries to scale down their presence there.
Security Expert Bruce Riedel, who in an interview with rediff.com shortly after the Pathankot terror attacks began said that the attack underscored the determination of jihadist groups in Pakistan to sabotage any attempt at detente with India, writes in the Daily Beast that despite the US putting the Jaish-e-Mohammad on the terrorist sanctions list years ago, the outfit continues to coddle the Pakistani army.
On Thursday, four members of the Hindu Sena, a fringe right-wing group, ransacked the fifth floor office of Pakistan International Airlines in New Delhi.
A closure of the Indian mission in Kabul will be a Himalayan blunder at this historic juncture when the wheels of diplomacy and politics are set to accelerate in Afghanistan, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Additional Afghan forces have been deployed around the Indian consulate which was attacked on Wednesday in Jalalabad city of Afghanistan by heavily-armed terrorists including suicide bombers.
Beyond the barbed wire and watchtowers, though, lies a story that casts more than a little doubt on whether this dream will ever be realised. Praveen Swami reports.
A round-up of our favourite photographs of the week gone by.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders on the latest situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there last week.
Specially designated global terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who carries a reward of $10 million US bounty on his head, is the acting interior minister while his uncle -- Khalil Haqqani -- has been named as acting minister for refugees.
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.
'Publicity looks good, but the reality is different... all sections are feeling harassed'
