Al Qaeda's reclusive chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who played a central role in the 9/11 terror attacks and later created the group's regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent, was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan's Kabul, in the biggest blow to the global terror network since killing of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011 in Pakistan.
Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency, on the latest changes among Pakistan's top generals.
Hundreds of Afghan protesters, including women, took to the streets of Kabul on Tuesday, chanting 'death to Pakistan' and denouncing Islamabad's interference in Afghanistan and airstrikes by its jets in Panjshir province in support of the Taliban, according to a media report.
A delegation of senior Pakistani officials led by Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lieutenant General Hameed arrived in Kabul to conduct discussions with the incoming Taliban government, the Pakistan Observer newspaper reported.
The outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawa said on Wednesday that it would frame an "appropriate response" to the Red Corner Notice issued against its chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed by Interpol, even as it emerged that the prime accused in 26/11 attacks was not on government's exit control list. "Our legal team is looking into the matter that has come to our notice and we will come out with an appropriate response," JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid told PTI.
At one point, Justice Biren Vaishnav, who was hearing the petition, got agitated and asked the AMC 'What is your problem? How can you decide what I should eat outside my house? How can you stop people from eating what they want? Suddenly because someone in power thinks that this is what they want to do?'
Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
"If we have to recognise a government, the first thing is that we will need to wait until the government is formed," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
'There is far more goodwill towards India from across the board in Afghanistan'
"But the completion by August 31 depends on the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those who were transporting out and no disruptions to our operations," US President Joe Biden said.
The Taliban on Thursday launched an attack on Kabul airport.
Protesting the closure of its chief Hafiz Saeed's official Twitter account, the Jamaat-ud-Dawah has alleged that the micro-blogging website took the step to oblige India.
Their leaders in the provinces, which have been under the control of Taliban commanders for several months now, speak the language of the bigot. Women are known to have been abducted and enslaved. Several young girls have simply disappeared.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has said it will take up the issue of behaviour of tournament director at the recent Champions Trophy in India with the International Hockey Federation.
Ahead of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Muslim groups on Monday warned organisers against inviting authors who hurt religious sentiments of the community, including the four who had read out passages from Salman Rushdie's banned Satanic Verses at the event last year.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's plan to woo Muslim voters has run into rough weather with a local trial court rejecting the Samajwadi Party government's decision to withdraw terror cases against two youths from the minority community, allegedly involved in blasts at three differ places in the state.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba on Thursday threatened Kashmiri women of dire consequences if they do not wear veils. They also issued a threat to panches and sarpanches to resign from their posts immediately.
Pakistan's claim comes in the wake of tense relations between the two countries in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.
Pakistan has released 14 Afghan Taliban cadres, including 'commander' Anwar Haq Mujahid, and may consider a request by Afghan peace negotiators to free Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, to kick-start the Afghan reconciliation process. The 14 Afghan Taliban cadres were freed in two phases.
The IAF had said that during the aerial engagement on February 27, one of its MiG-21 Bison shot down a F-16.
Robust military preparedness along the entire perimeter of our nation is the only iron-clad permanent guarantee for our security, asserts Vivek Gumaste.
Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Tuesday said he would not hesitate in advocating for a tie-up with Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party for Mainpuri seat to ensure defeat of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Taliban have slammed "coward" Prince Harry for comparing the decade-long conflict in Afghanistan with computer games, saying that the British Royal "must have a mental problem".
Like China, India too should connect the dots and move ahead with a long-term perspective in Afghanistan, advises Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The key is to act and not wait and watch before the limited window of opportunity shuts, argues Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
China may accord recognition to the new government in Kabul at an early opportunity, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
The world's attention is on the new Taliban and the imminent announcement of an inclusive government in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Close on the heels of the United States advocating dialogue with the Afghan Taliban, the terror outfit has said that peace talks cannot be held unless Washington abandons its "dual-faced policies" on Afghanistan.
On the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror strike, the Afghan Taliban have requested the international community to urge the United States against the "illegal occupation" of Afghanistan for the War on Terror.
Rejecting General David Petraeus' claim that thousands of Afghan Taliban have either 'laid down' their arms or moving towards doing so, Mullah Omer-led Taliban vowed continuing their war until the establishment of Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan.
Several organisations on Monday staged protests in Delhi on the third anniversary of the Batla House encounter, in which three alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorists were killed, to demand a judicial probe into the incident. Security apparatus has been strengthened against the backdrop of a terror attack carried out on the same day last year outside Jama Masjid, in which two Taiwanese nationals were injured, to avenge the 2008 Batla House encounter.
"We confirm to the jihadi Ummah that is uprising against oppression, the martyrdom of the mujahid heroic sheikh Abu Abdul Rahman Anwar bin Nasser al-Awlaki," the US-based monitoring group SITE Intelligence quoted an Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula statement issued on jihadist websites as saying.
The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested four suspected Harkat-ul -Jehadi Islami men in Lucknow and Faizabad in connection with the Delhi high court blast that killed 11 persons.
The United Nations Security Council has dropped five prominent Taliban members from its sanctions blacklist under an ambitious national reconciliation plan of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
Afghan Taliban has denied reports that their leader Mullah Omar is dead and said that their website and phones were hacked and false news was delivered to the media.
Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has reportedly been killed in Pakistan, an Afghanistan private television channel has reported.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
A confrontation with the Taliban in Kabul in this fading light of a twilight zone would have been sheer madness, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Taliban leader Mullah Omar's spokesman rejects Afghan President Hamid Karzai's attempts for talks with the Taliban in an exchange with Rediff.com contributor Tahir Ali.
