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.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai reveals her mental health struggles after a marijuana session triggered flashbacks of her attack by the Taliban. She discusses anxiety, panic attacks, and her journey to seek therapy.
In the movie, veteran star Sanjay Dutt portrays Chaudhary Aslam. The police officer was assassinated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban's Mohmand chapter who claimed responsibility for carrying out a bomb attack on his car on the Lyari Expressway on January 9, 2014, in which two other police officers, his driver, and guard were also killed.
'Non-compatible with Western Civilization' is about as vague and jingoistic as it gets and Trump saying this gives full license to his acolytes to go full throttle on making life as difficult and scary as possible for as many non-white people as possible,' notes Sree Sreenivasan.
"The most successful governments in Afghanistan tend to be those who have the biggest tents, which would include all communities and therefore leave all communities satisfied after a point and do not create massive resentments. Now, this is not a government which I would imagine would successfully govern Afghanistan," Dalrymple, the historian said.
'India won't take anything from Pakistan lying down.'
The Taliban said the attacker had posed as a peace messenger, the BBC reports.
The Afghan tradition of gaining control of areas does not necessarily involve combat. Most engagements are settled through negotiations and pay-offs before battle is joined. This style of fighting is peculiar to Afghanistan, explains Ajai Shukla, who witnessed such a transaction between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance in November 2001.
'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.
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
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.
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).
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).
If the Taliban have proved one thing over these two decades, it is that they are way smarter than their big brother, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'I have never been afraid of death or threats, and I have never wanted to give up and silence my voice.'
Soon after the gunshots were heard at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was golfing, the FBI said that it is "investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump".
The election seem to have been conducted without any major security lapses. However, in the coming weeks, the military situation in Kandahar could tilt in the Taliban's favour, notes Aveek Sen.
'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 chief minister of Pakistan's restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday survived an assassination bid by a Taliban suicide bomber who blew himself up near his motorcade in the country's northwest.
Acknowledging that his government had underestimated the threat from Taliban, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said the terrorist group was present in "huge amounts of land" in the country extending its reach beyond the tribal belt to larger cities like Peshawar.
The Pakistani Taliban on Monday vowed they would again target teenage rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt last year to become a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace prize.
'This award is funded by American money so I took this decision.'
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday said his country was 'fighting the war for its survival' and the military operation against the Taliban was the last resort against militants and extremists who challenged the writ of the state. He was talking to a delegation of parliamentarians from Swat and Malakand areas, where security forces are engaged in a major offensive against the militants, a statement from the President's Office said.
Pakistani Taliban chief has ordered militants to hit the leaders of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ruling party after the government lifted a moratorium on death penalty and set up military courts to try terrorists.
The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday named Khan Syed Mehsud alias Sajna as its new chief, a day after a US drone strike killed its former leader Hakimullah Mehsud in the lawless North Waziristan tribal region.
Mullah Fazlullah, the militant commander who ordered the assassination of teenage activist Malala Yusufzai, was today named by the Pakistani Taliban as its new chief to replace Hakimullah Mehsud, killed in a US drone strike last week.
Malala was dressed in Pakistani salwar kameez and dupatta. She was smiling and looked happy as he was greeted at the airport.
"I think the most significant thing in the recent situation is the threat has moved into Pakistan proper to threaten the very existence of the (state). Pakistan has now recognised that this is an existential threat to their very survival," director of US national intelligence Admiral Michael McConnell said.
Just two soldiers are known to have survived unscathed after the attack on the base.
Pakistani troops on Sunday killed 17 militants and recovered 22 bodies of suspected Taliban fighters in the country's restive northwest and tribal areas, while an anti-Taliban mayor survived a fifth assassination bid in a town near Peshawar.
TTP released a video of its militants holding a Shoulder Launch Missile, which the militant group claimed to have used in downing a Pakistan military helicopter.
The blast occurred in the mosque in the Police Lines area around 1.40 pm when a suicide bomber present in the front row during the Zuhr (afternoon) prayers blew himself up, security officials said.
Virtually putting Pakistan on notice, the United States has said it is looking for concrete action by the government there to destroy the Taliban operating out of its territory in the next two weeks, before determining its next course of action. General David Petraeus, the Commander of US Central Command, has told US officials that the next two weeks are critical to determining whether the Pakistani government will survive, Fox News reported.
'Pakistan is paying the price for ignoring secularism. In seeking to be ever more Muslim to define its nationhood, it has become a terrorist haven.'
Taliban and swine flu are among the evils Mumbai wants to ward off as it preps to light the Holi bonfire.
A Pakistani military helicopter carrying 11 foreigners crashed in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir on Friday, killing ambassadors of the Philippines and Norway and at least five others as the Taliban claimed responsibility for the downing of the chopper and said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the target.
The IMF and World Bank have stopped loans, and the FATF warned its 39 member nations to block Taliban assets.
'The India-Pakistan relationship is in a deep freeze, though it could be a lot worse had there not been a new LoC ceasefire a year ago.' 'The India-Pakistan relationship will only start to thaw if the Pakistani military decides it's prepared to push for detente.'
Pakistan will not collapse immediately and the Taliban will not take over the trouble-torn country, an analysis by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has predicted.The analysis differs with the views expressed by many experts and the United States media, which has often predicted the imminent collapse of the nation.The analysis further assures that terrorists will not seize control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and Shariah will not be imposed across the nation.
India can stay relevant in Afghanistan not by being a bystander but by actively bolstering anti-Taliban forces monetarily, militarily and politically, say Lt Gen R K Sawhney and Sushant Sareen
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