Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
A spokesman was responding to suggestions by reporters that the Al Qaeda and Taliban, thrown out from Afghanistan, are now operating from Pakistan.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Monday said that Pakistan has a key role to play in his government's peace talks with the Taliban because the militant group operates from there. "They operate from there. And a meaningful peace process cannot go well or end in satisfactory results without Pakistan's participation and help," Karzai said. Karzai said he could not hold peace talks with Taliban unless the militants produce a verifiable authorized representative.
China's Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Acting Minister of Refugee Affairs of the Afghan caretaker government Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani attended the handover ceremony at the airport.
Their leaders in the provinces, which have been under the control of Taliban commanders for several months now, speak the language of the bigot. Women are known to have been abducted and enslaved. Several young girls have simply disappeared.
Amid India's concerns that Afghanistan's territory might be used for anti-India activities under the Taliban regime, the terror group has said that it has the right to raise its voice for Muslims anywhere, including in Kashmir. However, it added that the group does not have a policy of raising arms against any country.
Captain Sharan and Flight Engineer Anil Jaggia both confirm that the hijackers seemed to know a lot about flying an aircraft. Without help from the ISI or the Pakistan army, it was impossible, points out Utkarsh Mishra.
'It appears on the face of it that the Taliban of 2021 is not the same Taliban of 2001. There appears to be some difference. They are making mature statements. That is something we have to take note of,' former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha said
The Taliban is highly pragmatic and would regard it wasteful to resume military offensive to capture Panjshir. The Taliban's preference, historically, has been to keep the military option as the last resort, explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
'With Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the unemployed jihadis will certainly turn their gaze to India and Kashmir.' 'Despite this imminent danger to national security, defence preparedness does not find a mention in the ongoing electoral campaign,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The remarks by China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, came during an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday after the sudden and rapid takeover of the Afghanistan government by the Taliban insurgents.
The spokesman even taunted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Twitter. "After the Lahore attack, Nawaz Sharif repeated old words to give himself false assurances," he wrote.
'Women have 100 per cent inclusion in the health sector. They are also teaching in the education sector. They are working in each and every one of those sectors where they are required'
The participants exchanged views on ways and means to bring peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
'Even during the worst days during the 1990s, India was dealing with the Taliban.'
Two Sikhs who were kidnapped for ransom were found beheaded by the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan's restive tribal belt in yet another brutal act by the militants.
Pakistan is making efforts at multiple levels for the Taliban government to have a soft landing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The terrorists, armed with heavy weapons and wearing suicide vest, launched the attack at Kakki, located 14 km from Bannu city in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, while policemen and local residents were offering prayers at a mosque inside the police station compound.
The top United States commander in Afghanistan has said that they are facing difficulties in their latest military campaign against the Taliban due to lack of cooperation from Pakistan.General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force and US Forces in Afghanistan, is believed to have pursued this line in his secret visit to Islamabad over the weekend, during which he met President Asif Ali Zardari and Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
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.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today said his government was determined to eliminate Taliban militants from the region but promised to make every effort to keep collateral damage to the minimum.
Taliban fighters attacked the homes of pro-government tribesmen in Mohmand region of northwest Pakistan, killing four persons and injuring five more, officials said on Monday.
With models strutting down the catwalk in couture fashion that was elegant and racy, the Pakistan Fashion Week showed a completely new and different image of the nation where burkas and hijabs are not uncommon.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday claimed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has split into two, a remark that comes amidst reports that commanders of the banned group were divided on the issue of holding peace talks with the government.
The timing of these transfers, while being projected as routine, is significant in both strategic and political terms, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Dr Sandeep Pandey, a Magsasay award winner, who was part of an Indian delegation that visited Pakistan recently, writes about the situation there.
'I am committed to my country if there is respect for democracy and human rights. If not possible then I will prefer to stay in India or any other western country'
American officials possess satellite photos that 'purportedly' show Pakistani army trucks picking up Taliban troops, Time said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government is ready to start parleys with Taliban, but evaded questions whether the reconciliation would include the Haqqani faction.
A powerful car bomb exploded outside a Shiite imambargah at a busy market.
Ryan Wesley Routh, who authorities suspect was planning to attack the Republican presidential nominee as he played a round of golf, made these remarks to The New York Times.
Taliban forces in Pakistan have announced a ten-day ceasefire in the restive north western Swat valley, as peace talks between a senior cleric and local authorities are believed to have struck a deal to enforce Shariah laws in some parts of the region.The announcement of the truce came a day after a Chinese engineer, abducted by the Taliban six months back, was set free in Swat as a 'goodwill gesture'.
Expressing concern over violence in the Middle East, Musharraf said dangers loomed large in the region that threatened regional and global peace.
Umar Khalid, Maulana Fazlullah and Khan Said alias Sajna are under consideration for the top slot, the report said quoting sources.
Amid deepening concerns in China over the regrouping of the ETIM, blamed by Beijing for all the violent attacks in its volatile Xinjiang province and elsewhere in the country, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Mullah Baradar at Tianjin and sought to prevail on him to build a 'positive image and establish a broad and inclusive political structure that suits Afghanistan's national realities'.
"China and the Afghan Taliban have unimpeded and effective communication and consultation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing.
The explosion took place at 4 pm at the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl workers' convention in Khar, the capital of Bajaur tribal district.
It seems that the West is sending a signal to India that it can return to old hostilities unless India toes their line on Russia. It is no surprise that India is being compared with Putin's Russia in terms of targeting 'dissidents' as the West calls these Khalistani terrorists, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Today, Pakistan and Afghanistan are feeling disturbed because of the Taliban, Yogi said.
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