Three policemen were killed and another injured when Taliban militants attacked a police van in Pakistan's restive northwest on Thursday, officials said. The militants lobbed grenades at the van and then fired at it with automatic weapons in Lakki Marwat area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. District police chief Gulzar Ali confirmed that three policemen were killed and another one injured.
'The really striking thing is that the Taliban has suo moto presented to us certain firm benchmarks against which it expects us to hold to account the Taliban rulers's actions in the period ahead' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Musharraf also demanded that coalition fighting Taliban help spread economic development in Pashtun areas to wean them away from the Taliban and ensure that they do not join them.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
The meeting was attended by a group of Taliban leaders where JeM sought their support in 'India-Centric' operations. All states have been alerted to conduct security drills and keep anti-terror units on high alert.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
During his visit, Musharraf had assured that a peace deal he struck with tribal leaders will not diminish the hunt for the leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban or their training camps.
Regional States will be worried that the US's nascent engagement with the Taliban behind the fig leaf of humanitarian aid enables the return of US intelligence personnel to Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said Taliban and Al Qaeda are using Pakistan's tribal areas particularly north Waziristan to regroup, a problem the US is trying to address with Islamabad.
The Biden administration expects the Modi government to continue to remain as its loyal camp follower even as Washington continues to act in self-interests, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In a surprise move, Pakistan's powerful intelligence chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed on Saturday dashed to Kabul, amidst the Taliban struggling to finalise and install an inclusive government in Afghanistan that would be acceptable to the international community.
'Will Imran compromise with the army? We are all human beings. We all compromise.'
With the Afghanistan government in Kabul approaching Islamabad for help in opening "reconciliation" talks with the Taliban, a Pakistani role in shaping the political landscape in Afghanistan is now an uncomfortable likelihood for New Delhi.
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.
Following the death of Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in an American drone strike, an interesting question has cropped up -- Will Islamabad offer the promised bounty money of Rs 50 million to the Central Intelligence Agency for killing Pakistan's top militant?The United States government had also announced a $ 5 million bounty on Mehsud. The Pakistan government had announced a reward for the capture, dead or alive, of Baitullah.
'India has to ensure its borders are properly sealed and there is no infiltration from PoK.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday said it is too premature to congratulate ourselves over the UN Security Council adopting a resolution on Afghanistan, and cautioned that the possible axis of China, Pakistan and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is a cause for worry.
Internal strife and tribalism is endemic to Afghanistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie said he supported calls for a boycott of Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next month.
Dismissing this as "nonsense", the Pakistani President accused Karzai of being "totally oblivious of what is happening in his own country."
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
'Siddiqui was alive when the Taliban captured him. The Taliban verified Siddiqui's identity and then executed him, as well as those with him'
"Absolutely untrue", State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, when asked there was a feeling inside Pakistan that they are being sidelined in these talks with Taliban.
The Pakistan Army on Tuesday claimed that its forces waging a tough ground offensive in the lawless South Waziristan tribal region have captured most of the towns and populated centres from the Taliban.
The Pakistan govenment's military offensive against the Taliban in the country's strife torn northwest has resulted in atleast 1,000 taliban terrorists being killed, Pakistan's Interior minister told the Dawn.
'Every evidence we have in hand shows that IS-K cells have their roots in Talibs & Haqqani network particularly the ones operating in Kabul. Talibs denying links with ISIS is identical/similar to the denial of Pakistan on Quetta Shura. Talibs have learned very well from the master. #Kabul,' Saleh said in a tweet.
In an unusual step, the Afghan Taliban on Tuesday batted for Pakistan over the issue of Inter-Services Intelligence-backed terror strikes in Afghanistan, claiming that the United States "wants to spread chaos in Pakistan" and weaken its government.
The Pakistan government has released over a dozen jailed Taliban commanders to secure the release of a Chinese engineer who was kidnapped by the militants nearly six months ago.
"The 'red bag' belonged to one of the hijackers, it contained explosives, and possibly, real passports, too.
Considering that Qatar is a trusted ally of Washington for decades, it is expected to be a steady influence on the Taliban leadership, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Taliban have postponed the formation of a new government in Afghanistan for next week, their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Saturday, as the insurgent group struggles to give shape to a broad-based and inclusive administration acceptable to the international community.
Omar runs a shadow government, complete with military, religious and cultural councils, and has appointed officials and commanders to virtually every Afghan province and district, just as he did when he ruled Afghanistan, the Taliban claim, the New York Times reported on Monday.
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.
Pakistan's intelligence agency Inter State Intelligence continuous to play a role in supporting Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, leaked intelligence documents have indicated, even as the US continues to route billions of dollars in funds to its key ally in the war against terror.
Afghanistan will play T20 World Cup, says media manager.
The move is a critical step in the transition to full Afghan control by the end of 2014 as announced by US President Barack Obama at a NATO summit in Lisbon last year, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying.
Like China, India too should connect the dots and move ahead with a long-term perspective in Afghanistan, advises Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A spokesman was responding to suggestions by reporters that the Al Qaeda and Taliban, thrown out from Afghanistan, are now operating from Pakistan.
The Pakistan Taliban chief behind the Peshawar attack that killed 132 pupils has issued a chilling warning that more deaths will follow in another terror "spectacular" in a new video released on Tuesday.
If New Delhi finds itself out in the cold in Afghanistan, both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have only themselves to blame. Each has been in power for a full decade from 2001, without reaching out to the Taliban, points out Ajai Shukla.
