Pakistan on Thursday dismissed reports that Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Muhammad Omar was being treated in a Karachi hospital, with the help of officials of the Inter Services Intelligence, after he suffered a heart attack."This is hackneyed speculation with no substance whatsoever," said Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit.He said such reports were aimed at maligning Pakistan and creating misgivings.
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.
Taliban's supreme commander Mullah Mohammad Omar, now in hiding, has put pressure on his groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan to form a new grouping which has pledged to stop targetting Pakistani security forces and instead focus attention on US-led troops in Afghanistan.
Following the recent killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in an American military raid, the Obama administration has adopted a new strategy towards the chief of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Mohammad Omar, which is aimed at persuading the fugitive extremist leader to agree to a negotiated settlement of the decade-long conflict in Afghanistan, writes eminent Pakistani journalist Amir Mir.
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.
Pakistan represents 'strategic depth' in Mullah Omar's war with the US, then a staging camp for the conquest of India.
Pakistan, which has propped up the new Taliban leadership, would be keen to use its influence over the group to neutralise India's presence in the region.
There have been conflicting reports about whether Taliban's supreme council was consulted or not on the election
Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar, a former operative of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, has said that the US must directly talk to Afghan Taliban chief and his protg Mullah Omar to resolve the political situation in Afghanistan.
All hopes of a breakthrough between the Afghan Taliban and the Hamid Karzai administration came to an end when Mulla Umar refused 35,000 government jobs for his fighters, the News International, Pakistan reported.
Establishing dialogue with the Quetta Shura must be recognised as a key strategic requirement. This would allow India to catalyse a favourable settlement in post-2014 Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
The United States has given Pakistan a deadline till July to launch a military offensive in the restive North Waziristan tribal region for capturing five most wanted al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mullah Omar and Ilyas Kashmiri.
'Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence ran a special desk that was concerned solely with handling Osama as an intelligence asset... Some dream that the Taliban's flag will fly again over Kabul... Musharraf was aware of the plans to assassinate Benazir and did nothing...' New York Times reporter Carlotta Gall, author of the stunning new book The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, speaks to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa in an exclusive interview.
Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund is appointed as Prime Minister with two deputies Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Molavi Abdul Salam Hanafi.
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.
Rejecting foreign media reports that Taliban supreme commander Mullah Omar and the central council of the terrorist organisation were present in Balochistan, Frontier Corps Balochistan Inspector General Major General Saleem Nawaz has said that they are not functioning from Quetta.
'Throughout the nearly 20-year US-led war, State sponsorship from Pakistan has been a constant.'
Pakistan has granted some concessions to key Afghan Taliban leaders in its custody, including Mullah Omar's deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, shifting them to "roomier facilities" and allowing them to make telephonic contact with their families.
The Pakistan army has admitted that it is in contact with Afghan Taliban leaders, including Mullah Mohammad Omar, and can bring them to the negotiating table with the US if its concerns with India are addressed.
Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, a former high-ranking member of the Taliban regime has refuted reports that he is involved in any sort of negotiations between the Britain and reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Earlier, a section of the British media had reported that Mullah Zaeef's recent visit to London was aimed at facilitate British-sponsored talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and senior members of the Taliban.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has offered an olive branch to Taliban chief Mullah Omar, assuring him security if the latter gave up fighting and came forward for talks.
Despite dependence on the ISI for years of sustenance, Taliban leaders may harbour resentment over the ISI's excessive control, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing.
'We have set up a special suicide squad that consists of 2,000 Taliban. This squad will make life a hell for the US, says Mullah Omar in an exclusive interview.
Together with US sanctions, the new action prohibits any financial transaction of these terror leaders in member countries of the United Nations, which is likely to put pressure on Pakistan to initiate operation against the group
The US is pushing for the transfer of captured Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to an America-run prison in Afghanistan, apparently frustrated by his silence during interrogation by Pakistani investigators.
The Taliban has intensified the war strategies for its forces as evident from the latest directive issued by its leader Mullah Omar.
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.
The man at the centre of the storm, Newsweek magazine, reported was Mullah Gul Agha Akhund, who is an in-law and long time confident of Mullah Omar. Akhund is brandishing a handwritten letter from Mullah Omar to claim to be the new second-in-command of the Afghan Taliban. But, his claim is being hotly contested by top military commanders of the outfit.
Pakistan on Friday dismissed reports claiming Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar had fled from Quetta to Karachi, with the help of the Inter Services Intelligence, to avoid the possibility of being targeted by United States drones."This is ridiculous to say the least," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters. He said there had been speculations about Omar's presence in Pakistan 'for years'.
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 Obaidullah Akhund, a former defence minister in the Taliban's Majlis-e-Shura or executive council, was recently arrested along with two Afghan nationals by intelligence agencies in Lahore, the Daily Times reported.
Washington is now set to begin formal negotiation with Mullah Omar's Taliban in Doha
The madrassa in Akora Khattak in Nowshera district of the province is known for having several top Afghan Taliban leaders among its alumni, including former Taliban chief Mullah Omar who received an honorary doctorate from the seminary.
As Nato leaders assemble in Chicago to discuss Afghanistan, the Taliban have issued a 14-point agenda to its leaders, with a succinct message: Get out now, reports Tahir Ali
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)
Taliban is in turmoil in Afghanistan after its top leadership sacked a senior commander for disobeying orders, British intelligence officers stationed in that country have claimed.
It is time for India to open a dialogue track with the Quetta Shoora of the Taliban, which increasingly chafes at restraints and controls imposed upon it by Pakistan, write Ajai Shukla
It is time for India to open a dialogue track with the Quetta Shoora of the Taliban, which increasingly chafes at restraints and controls imposed upon it by Pakistan, write Ajai Shukla
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