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.
Pakistan is directly helping the Taliban in their fight against the elected government in war-ravaged Afghanistan, a media report said, citing a secret North Atlantic Treaty Organisation document.
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.
Pakistan on Saturday released former Afghan Taliban deputy chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, meeting a long-standing demand of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to advance peace efforts in the war-ravaged country.
Even though the Taliban has managed to capture Afghanistan and form a government, an internal rift between the faction has started emerging, according to media reports.
The recent attacks in Pakistan's Punjab should be taken as warning shots of an impending battle which will further destabilise that country and the region.
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's six top commanders on Tuesday pledged allegiance to the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has been vying for supremacy with Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Pakistan on Friday announced it will release former Afghan Taliban deputy chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Saturday, meeting a long-standing demand of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to advance peace efforts in the war-ravaged country.
Faislabad was one of the places where the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan set up a presence with the help of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Despite the offensive lunched by the Pakistani Army against it, the TTP continues to maintain its influence in the region, writes B Raman
The US intends first to cripple the Afghan government financially through sanctions, freezing of assets, denial of access to international banking, etc, and then proceed to do pretty much what it wants to do with scant regard for Afghanistan's sovereignty, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Indian side expressed readiness to provide extensive humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, Mujahid was quoted as saying by Afghanistan's Tolo News.
The recent incident has eroded trust and Chinese social media reflects growing anxiety, with calls for stricter security measures to protect Chinese lives.
'What has the impact of 40 years of warfare in Afghanistan been on us?' 'Afghanistan is marginal to India's future.'
India needs to shed its policy of lethargy and inhibitions to engage the Taliban with an intent to maintain its influence in Afghanistan. This would not just put a spanner in Pakistani designs, but also incentivise the Taliban not to be the puppets of GHQ, Rawalpindi, asserts Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd), who served on the Af-Pak desk at the Military Operations Directorate.
At least 42 Taliban terrorists were killed in airstrikes by fighter jets and ground clashes in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, where a deadly ambush by militants at a check-post on Friday claimed the lives of four security personnel.
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Ten people were killed on Monday when militants attacked the home of a provincial legislator's brother in Pakistan's restive north-western Swat valley even as the government banned the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Taliban militants fired a rocket at the home of the brother of Awami National Party legislator Waqar Ahmed Khan in Kabal sub-district, killing his brother, two nephews and seven security guards.
The possibilities of this serviceable thriller are immense but the makers prefer to play it safe and hold back the daredevil in the diplomat's clothing, observes Sukanya Verma.
There is growing acceptance of the idea in the international community that engaging the Taliban government is a far better approach than ostracising it, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Women petition the Taliban. Talibs patrol Kabul's streets. Afghans flee into Pakistan.
Taliban militants in the terror hotbed of North Waziristan have threatened the Pakistan government with a "big war" if the country's army launched any military operation in the region.
The Taliban have confirmed that Pakistan's powerful intelligence chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed has met its de facto leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, amidst efforts by the insurgent group to finalise a government in Afghanistan.
Blinken said the US will continue to act against those who threaten the country, its people and its allies.
The Pakistani Taliban has said that it will carry out more attacks on "secular" political parties like the ANP and MQM, warning people to stay away from their rallies, a day after a blast outside an ANP gathering injured about 10 people.
After initial hiccups, Pakistani state negotiators and a Taliban-nominated committee met at an undisclosed location on Thursday to frame a roadmap for parleys aimed at ending terrorism and bringing peace to the country.
During the day-long visit, the Pakistani delegation will hold talks with Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and call on leadership of the interim government in Kabul and other Afghan leaders, according to Foreign Office.
Burqa-clad Taliban militants on Monday stormed a police station used by local intelligence personnel at Bannu in northwest Pakistan and took several hostages, before security men stormed the building to end the siege. Four Taliban fighters were killed and another captured following a heavy exchange of fire.
'If they aim to remain aligned with the public sentiment, as any democratic government should, then they must respond. Why else would the prime minister have cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia? And why would he have instructed the home minister himself to travel to Srinagar to assess the situation firsthand? This suggests that something is indeed being planned. I am quite certain of that, although the exact form it will take remains to be seen.'
Pakistan's efforts for the peace process in Afghanistan would be remembered for long, he said.
Pakistan's national flag-carrier on Monday ran its first commercial flight to Kabul since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August.
With friends who are now turning away rather than recognise them on the street, Pakistan is also trying to prepare itself for inevitable domestic leadership changes, says Aditi Phadnis
Former Indian diplomats on Monday termed the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan as a "setback" for India strategically, and asserted that the priority for New Delhi right now should be to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn nation.
Azizullah Fazli has been re-named chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in the first major development in the game's national governing body since the Taliban took control of the nation.
Conflicting accounts emerged on Wednesday of a possible nascent peace process between Pakistani authorities and the Taliban, with a militant spokesman confirming preliminary peace talks while denying the announcement of a ceasefire.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked by US Congressmen if the US had explore the possibility of northwest India for counter terrorism capabilities in Afghanistan. Blinken's remarks on India assume great importance, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
'Whatever comes in the minds of the Pakistani generals and Pakistan military, they just go for it.' 'They do not care about the consequences for their country or the consequences to the people of Pakistan.'
"The war in Afghanistan is over, now we will work together to rebuild this country," said Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid at a press conference in Kabul.
'China is a friendly country and we welcome it for reconstruction and developing Afghanistan'
Expressing concern over the Islamabad government's failure in curbing terrorism, a prominent Pakistani jurist has said that the country should focus on 'Taliban instead of rivalry with India'. Pakistan has failed to curb terrorism and the government is incapable to deal with the looming threat posed by Taliban and other extremists, senior Supreme Court lawyer Abid Hassan Minto said. Minto said that the Pakistani military and political leaders should fight internal extremists.
