Ahmed Shah Massoud's assassination, 9/11 and the defeat and ejection of the Taliban suggested a break in Afghanistan's history, but the events of August 2021 and the Taliban's return shows how deeper continuities remained in place, points out T C A Raghavan, former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
Pakistan would want to take full advantage of the situation to direct Taliban trained terrorists into the Kashmir Valley, alert Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Five months after the elections in February 2024, the Pakistan army has not been able to break Imran Khan's resolve and break his political party.'
The IP (internet protocol) address of the sender has been traced to Pakistan, said the official.
"So, there was no infiltration of any Afghani Taliban... To that effect, we have been able to control (things)," he said.
The maiden meeting between the Pakistan government and a Taliban-nominated committee to frame a roadmap for peace talks was postponed on Tuesday, with representatives of the banned group claiming state negotiators had pulled out under "pressure".
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
"Our role (in the Afghan peace process) will remain that of a facilitator and not a leader... allowing the Taliban to open an office in Pakistan will be contrary to our principled position," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying by an unnamed aide.
The US military efforts in Afghanistan were akin to filling a bucket that had gaping holes, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Though the Taliban have mercilessly targeted CIA's spies, locals living in the desperately poor border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan still provide information to the American agency to earn some money, reports Tahir Ali
On January 30, a suicide bombing at a mosque in the Peshawar Police Lines area claimed the lives of at least 101 people
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has rejected offer of a ceasefire by the Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban's spokesman outlined conditions for a ceasefire, which said the country must stop its involvement in the war pitting Afghan insurgents against the Kabul government and refocus on a 'war of revenge' against India.
In fact, the Taliban apparently collects about 10 per cent as cultivation tax from opium farmers and 15 per cent as heroin tax from laboratories and smugglers that smuggle narcotics into Pakistan. This, by itself, is a revenue stream estimated at USD 250-300 million.
'We can't be outliers. We can't be bystanders. We have to be players.' 'The Taliban also need India to balance the winners in this game.'
'It was always anticipated that the return of the Taliban would embolden armed Islamists including anti-India groups like the Lashkar and Jaish.'
Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has invited the Taliban to play a cricket match in a bid to revive a stalled peace process but his remarks were criticised on social media.
Top Taliban commander Usman Punjabi has been killed during in-fighting within militant groups at the North Waziristan Agency in Pakistan.Talking to rediff.com via phone from North Waziristan's Shakir Dawar, a local tribesman said, "Fighting erupted among two groups of the Punjabi Taliban. Usman Punjabi, along with three companions, and two persons from the rival group were killed on the spot." Punjabi was an active member of the Punjabi Taliban.
Pakistan has said it will not back off from military offensive against militants in North Waziristan in the aftermath of the terror attack at a school in Peshawar that left 141 people, mostly children, dead.
'If Pakistan's army wants to escalate violence in Kashmir, they have an unlimited supply of jihadis they can train and send. That's not an issue for them.'
Even as the army battles Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's militants headed by Hakimullah Mehsud, the government has decided to adopt another approach to end the spate of terror strikes on its soil. As part of this strategy, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has urged religious scholars to issue fatwas against the Taliban militants, by terming them as kafirs (non-believers).
India is apprehensive about the Taliban's return as it would mean loss of access to Baluch rebels and help to the restive tribals of Waziristan. This would be a setback to the Indian strategy of returning the compliments of death by a thousand cuts to Pakistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'But an overthrow of the Afghan government would really embolden regional militant groups in a big way.' 'LeT and JeM could be emboldened, and prompted to replicate in Kashmir what the Taliban did in Afghanistan.'
"Now we live in a completely independent Afghanistan. The new government will be announced very soon," said Anaamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban's cultural commission, reported Tolo News.
China may accord recognition to the new government in Kabul at an early opportunity, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
The activation of diplomatic channels is likely to yield better results than a simmering hostility, recommends Ajai Shukla.
Speculations are rife in the Pakistani media that 'Pakistan's Switzerland' -- Swat, the principal city in the troubled Waziristan region has fallen to Taliban.
US-led NATO forces are facing a tough time in Afghanistan after Pakistan blockaded the main supply route and the Taliban stepped up attacks on vehicles and oil-tankers carrying essentials with nearly 60 trucks being destroyed in last three days.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has showed its solidarity with the militants of Indian Kashmir and has said that the Taliban are struggling for implementing Islamic Shariah not only in Pakistan but also in the region including Kashmir.
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
Pakistani Taliban has warned that boys and girls of its suicide squad will launch "massive" strikes across the country, including the commercial hub of Karachi, if military operation in Swat and other tribal areas are not halted immediately.
Police in Pakistan have busted an illegal telephone gateway exchange in Lahore, allegedly being operated by the Taliban to make ransom calls to families of persons kidnapped by them, including the sons of former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani and slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer.
Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud's shift to the hardline Salafi ideology has derailed the peace process with Pakistan, rediff.com's Tahir Ali reports
Commander of the Task Force in Afghanistan Major General David Rodriguez also said the Taliban in Afghanistan probably will not stage a spring offensive in the volatile eastern region bordering Pakistan.
Their shared brief: To assert India's case with clarity, rebut hostile narratives, and secure enduring partnerships for global counter-terror cooperation.
'We are committed to leveraging our influence constructively to support the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in fostering cricket development and ensuring playing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan'.
England previously faced Afghanistan at the 50-overs Cricket World Cup in 2023, as well as at the Twenty20 World Cup in 2022.
Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province government has announced a bounty worth Rs 10 million for information leading to the arrest or killing of Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, the mastermind of the Peshawar school massacre that left 150 people dead, mostly students.
Blaming the Pakistan government for the killing of its chief Hakimullah Mehsud, Taliban has warned that it "will soon start targeting" the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership for its alleged support to the United States in the region.
