The Pakistan Army on Sunday launched a fresh drive against pro-Taliban militants in the northwestern Swat region amidst indications that the security forces would adopt a tougher approach against the ultras in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
On January 20, Taliban men armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests attacked the landmark Intercontinental Hotel and killed around 25 people, going from room to room searching for foreigners during the more than 12-hour ordeal.
Unlike Israeli company NSO, whose sale of Pegasus cyber tech grabbed worldwide attention, and other manufacturers of offensive-cyber products, Cellebrite operates in a grey area between security exports and civilian ones.
Fifteen hours after brazenly storming into Pakistan navy's key Mehran airbase in the heart of the port city of Karachi, security forces were finally able to topple a group of heavily-armed Taliban militants after they destroyed two US-made surveillance aircraft and killing 13 security personnel.
During a secret meeting held at Asad Khel village in the lawless North Waziristan tribal region, Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud allocated Rs 25 million for attacks targeting the PAF base in Lahore and offices of the ISI, Military Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau and Counter-Terrorism Department.
In a scathing indictment of Pakistan's perfidy in the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan, the former Director of the Afghan National Security Directorate, Amrullah Saleh asserted that since 9/11 the Pakistani military has continued to direct, fund and protect the Afghan Taliban.
Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani has promised jobs for former Taliban fighters.
Seeking to explain the absence of the terror activities directed against India, in the United State's new Af-Pak strategy, India has said the Barack Obama administration was 'looking at' terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad 'off-camera'.Welcoming the Af-Pak policy unveiled on Tuesday, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said the pressure maintained by the US on the Taliban and the Al Qaeda there is in the interest of India.
Afghanistan and the US have criticised Pakistan in the past for allowing Taliban fighters to cross into Pakistan where they are provided safe havens and also receive medical treatment.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani has called the leak of classified United States military documents on the Afghan war as 'irresponsible', and insisted that his nation was fully committed to fighting terror groups.Whistle-blower organisation WikiLeaks has released over 90,000 documents called the 'Afghan War Diaries, 2004-2010', which prove fears that Pakistan is aiding the Taliban to organise networks of militant groups that fight against America.
So far, almost every positive development in terms of the bilateral ties has been overtaken by innate hostility that is often driven by popular sentiments.
'The last thing he would want is new tensions with India.'
A majority of Pakistanis still consider India as a major threat, view America as an enemy and are far less concerned about the Taliban and the Al Qaeda
The US drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri has raised questions over Pakistan's possible role in the raid amid reports suggesting that the country's airspace could have been used for carrying out the precision strike on the Al Qaeda chief's safe house in Kabul.
It is learnt that the sympathisers of the Taliban who are targeting India are now active.
A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden truck into the headquarters of the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary force, in the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring 14 others. The attacker rammed the truck into the gate of the Pakistan Rangers office in North Nazimabad area of Karachi on Thursday morning.
A group of doctors have successfully removed the bullet lodged near the spine of a 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl, who was attacked by the Taliban for speaking out against the banned outfits' atrocities, her uncle said on Wednesday. Ahmed Shah, the uncle of Malala Yousufzai, told reporters in Peshawar that the surgery was conducted late on Tuesday at a military hospital and the bullet had been successfully removed.
Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Tuesday offered to hold talks with the Taliban to usher in peace in the region, saying it would help foster understanding among people with divergent views.
Islamabad and Kabul agree to jointly work for holding an Ulema Conference to address the issue of rising militancy and suicide attacks in the name of religion, reports Tahir Ali
United States carried out the heaviest bombing so far of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt as a swarm of drones fired a volley of 19 hellfire missiles at the den of the fighters of Haqqani network, killing 31 militants, including two Taliban commanders and several foreign fighters.
The Islamic State has emerged as the most potent terrorist threat globally but in the Afghan-Pak region the space is dominated by other terrorist groups like Taliban, Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, America's top spymaster has said.
A group of heavily armed Taliban terrorists on Thursday gunned down nine policemen and injured as many in this eastern Pakistani city after storming a building where dozens of security personnel were living.
Dulat, who was advisor on Jammu and Kashmir to the central government during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, also advocated the need for starting a dialogue with Pakistan.
When External Affairs Minister S M Krishna underscored the folly of making a distinction 'between good Taliban and bad Taliban' at the Afghanistan Conference in London earlier this year, he was completely out of sync with the larger mood at the conference. As a result, Indian diplomacy faced a major setback when Indian concerns were summarily ignored.
Interrelations of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday took centre stage at the Jaipur LitFest where panelists discussed the upswing in talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan besides India's ties with its neighbour.
A former top envoy of the country questioned Pakistan's decades-old Kashmir policy.
Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, killed in a United States airstrike in Balochistan, was a frequent flyer and used a Pakistani passport for over nine years
Virtually putting Pakistan on notice, the United States has said it is looking for concrete action by the government there to destroy the Taliban operating out of its territory in the next two weeks, before determining its next course of action. General David Petraeus, the Commander of US Central Command, has told US officials that the next two weeks are critical to determining whether the Pakistani government will survive, Fox News reported.
'I do not consider India a military threat. The question is that India has the capability. Capability is what matters. With regard to intention, I think we both have our good intentions. India is a reality, Pakistan is a reality, but Taliban is a threat, an international threat, to our way of life,' The Daily Times quoted Zardari as saying.
In the last year since the Indian embassy in Kabul was bombed on July 7, allegedly by the Sirajuddin Haqqani faction of the Taliban based in Pakistan's North Waziristan province, India has well and truly joined in United States president Barack Obama's 'AfPak strategy' that is aimed at jointly looking at Afghanistan and Pakistan as the expanded theatre of war against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
General Asim Munir becomes Pakistan's 17th Chief of the Army Staff.
Addressing a press conference, Karzai said Kabul reserved the right to strike Taliban insurgents on Pakistani soil as a form of self-defence. "Afghanistan has the right of self defence. When the Taliban cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and to kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to go back and do the same," Karzai said.
'Pakistan should evolve a common narrative. The country should have common position in combating all kinds of terrorism and not fight selectively.' 'The main motive was revenge, of course. But the Nobel Prize to Malala Yousufzai also contributed to the Taliban's anger' Bestselling Pakistani author and foreign policy expert Ahmed Rashid speaks exclusively on the Peshawar school attack with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
US supplied surveillance jets were the "prime targets" of Taliban militants who possibly received "inside support and help" for their Rambo-style attack on Mehran naval airbase in the Pakistani port city of Karachi
United States President Barack Obama on Thursday said the US wants Pakistan to become a "more effective" partner in the war against terrorism to be able to dismantle the terror network active on the AfPak border.
US President Barack Obama steered clear of Indo-Pak issues while unveiling his new momentous Af-Pak policy, but he consulted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while formulating his strategy.
TTP chief said the blast was in retaliation for killing LeJ chief Chotu, along with three others in an encounter.
Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, who was seriously injured in a barbaric assassination attempt by the Taliban last week, arrived in Britain on Monday by an air ambulance for specialist treatment, including the repair of damaged bones of her skull.
America's relationship with Pakistan has 'not served' either of the two countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday raising questions on the Biden administration's approval of a $450-million sustenance package for F-16 fleet.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances