"Indeed, nearly all of the jihadi groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, LeT, and others have joined together in an extended terrorist network that shares the same goals, including destabilising Afghanistan and destroying the Pakistani state," said Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Zafar, who was linked to Al-Qaida, was wanted by the US in connection with a March 2006 suicide attack on the US consulate in Karachi that killed an American diplomat and three Pakistanis.
Prime minister-designate Nawaz Sharif, known for being soft towards militant groups, on Monday said the Pakistani Taliban's offer of talks should be taken seriously because the problem of militancy cannot be solved through the use of power and bullets. Addressing newly elected parliamentarians and legislators of his Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz party at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal hall in Lahore, Sharif stressed the need to respond to the Taliban's offer.
If the killing of Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack is confirmed, it could set off a new power struggle within the Tehrik-eTaliban Pakistan, which may conclude with the naming of Qari Hussain, the chief instructor on suicide bombers, as the new Pak-Taliban chief, according to a report published in the New York Times.
Let's face it. When it comes to the Pentagon, the Pakistani military can do no wrong. Even if it's going after only the Pakistani Taliban and not the Afghan Taliban, which it apparently continues to promote for strategic depth against India and as a hedge in case the US decides to cut and run.
Sitara-e-Shujaat, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards for bravery, will be given to 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban last week for speaking out against the militants, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Tuesday.
The Russian-made chopper, owned by the provincial government of Punjab, was on its way to Russia on routine maintenance when it suffered unknown technical glitch and had to force land in Azra district of restive Logar province on Thursday.
The 'Shura' or council of a Taliban faction led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur yesterday warned parents not to send their children to five schools near the cantonment in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency.
At least 22 Taliban militants were killed and scores wounded as Pakistani war planes kept up their relentless strikes on the bases of Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in restive Waziristan, while police shot dead five other radicals in Karachi on Saturday.
Thirty-eight militants, including a top commander of Pakistani Taliban, were killed on Wednesday in air strikes and clashes with troops in the volatile tribal belt of northwest Pakistan.
Badruddin Haqqani, the key operational commander of the Al Qaeda linked Haqqani network, and top Pakistani Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah are believed to have been killed in US drone and air strikes in the tribal region of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The drones targeted a compound in Sararogha sub-division of South Waziristan Agency, officials of the local political administration told the media.
Top Taliban leader Mullah Omar was sheltered by Pakistan's powerful spy agency Inter-Services intelligence after the outfit's leadership fled from Afghanistan in 2001, according to an email received by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton during her tenure.
Taliban militants had stormed the a jail in country's northwest primarily to free Adnan Rashid, on death row for an attempt to assassinate former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, and who was in touch with the outside world through a mobile phone, Facebook and blogs.
'It has been 14 years since I began living in exile and it's shocking that the situation in Balochistan has only worsened rather than improved.'
A rebel commander who was recently removed from the post of deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban has said that the Pakistan government suspended negotiations with local militants because of pressure from the United States.
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst who was one of the key architects of US President Barack Obama's Af-Pak policy during his first term, has called for an offensive strategy against terrorist networks and this includes hitting out at terrorist groups inside Pakistan.
Following the Taliban ban on Polio vaccination in tribal areas of Pakistan, the United Nations has selected international cricketer Shahid Afridi to boost the anti-polio campaign
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.
Pakistan is reportedly lobbying for new government in Kabul without Hamid Karzai as president.
At least 31 people were killed and another 60 were injured in a suicide bomb attack on a funeral of a member of a pro-government Pashtun tribe in a village in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.
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.
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.
Voicing concern that Pakistan is not doing enough against the Afghan-Taliban, including the Haqqani network, two top US Senators have warned Islamabad that any future terror attack against America or Europe that can be traced back to that country would invite "very serious" consequences.
Terror suspect Faisal Shahzad has been charged with 10 terrorism and weapons counts in the botched Times Square car bombing in an indictment that also accuses him of receiving money and explosives training from Pakistani Taliban.
"The airport has been cleared. The security forces killed seven terrorists while three blew themselves up during the fight," Director General, Rangers, Major General Rizwan Akhtar told media. "Very soon we will hand over the airport to the civilian aviation authority to start its normal operations," he said. "The attack is over and we have cleared the area of all militants, and we will hand over the airport to the Civil Aviation Authority at 12.00 pm (0700 GMT)," paramilitary Rangers spokesman Sibtain Rizvi told reporters.
The official in question has not served in India before.
Trump disclosed that he was to meet the Afghan President and senior Taliban leaders on Sunday at his Camp David retreat.
'Where we differ, of course, is the treatment of the groups who are attacking our troops in Afghanistan,' she was quoted as saying by a newspaper.
Life has come a full circle for Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.
Raising concern over the nearly 1.25 crore feedback submissions received by the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party member Nishikant Dubey has called for a probe into their sources, including in the possible role of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and China.
The chief minister-designate of the militancy-hit Pakistani province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Friday said his party had "no enmity" with the Taliban and was ready to hold talks with the militants.
A man who allegedly helped terror suspect Faisal Shahzad travel to Pakistan's tribal belt to attend bomb-making camps was arrested on Thursday.The arrested suspect has admitted to being an accomplice of Shahzad, who was arrested at New York's JFK airport for plotting a terror attack on Times Square. He also has links with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.The latest arrest confirms the fears of the US administration that the Pakistani Taliban plotted the failed bomb plot.
Jalaluddin Haqqani was closely tied to Al Qaeda leaders and had played a key role in supporting the terror group in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has died due to injuries sustained in a United States' drone attack, the state-run television reported on Sunday, though the government said there was 'no verifiable information' about his death. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief had died in the home of his father-in-law due to wounds sustained in a drone strike earlier this month, PTV quoted local sources in Aurakzai tribal region as saying.
With the almost certain death of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, a leading American South Asian expert on Saturday said Islamabad can now no longer oppose the use of drones by the United States. "The elimination of Mehsud would make it difficult for Pakistanis to argue that the drones are not improving security in their own country, given that he was reportedly responsible for dozens of suicide bombings over the last 18 months.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has issued chilling threats against 10 targets in Britain, America and France to avenge the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
A Jordanian suicide bomber who blew himself up at a US base in Afghanistan killing eight, including seven CIA operative, has said the 'jihadists' must carry out revenge attacks inside and outside the US to avenge the killing of Pak-Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
'Pakistan is a nuclear country.' 'With the kind of situation that is there in Pakistan today, America will help Pakistan stay afloat.'
He was the chief of the hardline political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami.
