The United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday asked Pakistan to act quickly against the terror groups inside the country saying that these extremist organisations are not only posing a threat to the world but also to their own existence.
The United Nations Security Council, under India's presidency, has imposed global sanctions against the dreaded Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network and the group's chief of suicide operations.
But tactics adopted by them are similar to terrorism!!!
He was the chief of the hardline political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami.
Top Taliban commander Nasiruddin Haqqani, a key fundraiser of his outfit, has been arrested by Pakistani security agencies apparently in response to United States demands for action against militant networks in the restive North Waziristan tribal region.
Trump suggested a stronger military response is imminent.
A senior Taliban commander, wanted in connection with an assassination bid on Malala Yousafzai's life, has been found using networking site LinkedIn, listing his skills as "jihad and journalism".
'They are not following through, and have not followed through, by going after one of the truly great threats that face us here in Afghanistan, which is the coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan of Haqqani fighters,' The Daily Times quoted US Armed Services Committee Chairman, Carl Levin, as saying.
The 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team cites a UN Member State as saying that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Deobandi group ideologically closer to the Taliban "maintains eight training camps in Nangarhar, three of which are directly under Taliban control."
To attack the financial underpinnings of Taliban militants, the United States on Friday slapped sanctions against a pair of informal money-exchange networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan for alleged terrorist financing.
The US on Tuesday designated Maulana Fazlullah, the chief of Pakistani Taliban, as a global terrorist and slapped sanction against him.
To step up pace of reconciliation talks, the Afghanistan government has opened direct contacts with the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani faction of Taliban, which is believed to have close ties to Pakistan's military intelligence. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's government has been in direct contact with Jalaludin Haqqani, the ageing leader of the Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan and run by his eldest son Sirajudin.
All major terrorist networks have a safe haven in Pakistan to operate, creating a big "problem" to the United States' war against terror, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants have found sanctuary in Afghanistan's eastern provinces, which are under the Haqqani network's control, reports B Raman
"They (the Taliban) do not represent the popular will in Afghanistan and every poll, every survey I would particularly bring your attention to the BBC/ABC/ARD poll of earlier this year shows that their support is in the single digits," Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, told media persons at a news briefing.
United States President Barack Obama on Thursday said the US wants Pakistan to become a "more effective" partner in the war against terrorism to be able to dismantle the terror network active on the AfPak border.
In a pessimistic assessment of the Afghan war, a top US military official said on Wednesday that after years of neglect, America is basically "starting over" its battle against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, whose alliance is now stronger than ever.
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.
Breaking a yearlong silence, the parents of the only American soldier held by Taliban have abruptly made public that he is the focus of a prisoners exchange being negotiated between the Obama administration and the insurgent group.
Police in Pakistan have busted an illegal telephone gateway exchange in Lahore, allegedly being operated by the Taliban to make ransom calls to families of persons kidnapped by them, including the sons of former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani and slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer.
Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda is in its worst financial state in several years, while the Taliban's funding is flourishing as they rely on a range of criminal activities to fund attacks on US-led forces in Afghanistan, a senior US Treasury Department official has said.
Some commanders have refused to pledge allegiance to Akhundzada, according to interviews with Taliban commanders and officials.
US officials said the message did not amount to an ultimatum but rather it was intended to "prod a reluctant Pakistani military" to go after Taliban insurgents in Pakistan who are directing attacks in Afghanistan.
"We have removed the leader of an organisation that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like Al-Qaeda," the US president said in a statement.
The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday lauded the action of Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American arrested for a botched car bombing in New York, but said he had no links to the banned militant group.
As a proxy of Pakistan's ISI, Sirajuddin is believed to be behind several attacks directed against India, including the murderous attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 and the 2013 attack close to the Indian consulate in Jalalabad.
Two top United States lawmakers have called for "aggressive steps" by America to disrupt operations of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, saying that Al Qaeda group was responsible for recent surge in attacks in Afghanistan.
Less than two days after the Taliban announced the launch of their official website hosting videos, a magazine, and its leaders' interviews and statements, it was taken down on Monday.
The Afghanistan government will engage with Taliban elements which are not part of the Al Qaeda network as it continues its military campaign against extremism and terrorism, President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday. "We believe that while we are continuing our campaign against extremism and terrorist networks, the Al Qaeda and its associates, we will also seek means other than a military campaign to bring stability to Afghanistan and to Pakistan by extension," he said.
Karzai has steadfastly opposed direct talks between the US and the Taliban, wanting Afghan ownership of the "reconciliation process", as the reintegration of the Taliban into the mainstream is referred to.
Cut off from the world and having to contend with an orthodox and repressive Taliban government, Afghans are facing the brunt of Pakistan's decades old policy of nurturing militant groups, note Harsh V Pant and Kriti M Shah four months after the Taliban took Kabul.
One of the most dreaded terrorists in the world is now a member of the Taliban cabinet.
"We continue to urge our partners in Pakistan to go after all terrorist networks operating in their country. We stand ready to help them," said Adam Szubin, Acting Under Secretary on Countering the Financing of Terrorism.
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.
The Pakistani Taliban has said it will target journalists and media organisations for "fabricating" the statement of its spokesperson asking news outlets not to pay tribute to cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has welcomed the Pakistan government's offer for peace talks with all insurgent groups. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had said recently that his administration was ready to hold negotiations with all militant groups, including the Haqqani network.
The 19 August attack on the British Council compound in Kabul had the necessary SIR elements -- Surprise, Intricacy and Retribution.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani has called the leak of classified United States military documents on the Afghan war as 'irresponsible', and insisted that his nation was fully committed to fighting terror groups.Whistle-blower organisation WikiLeaks has released over 90,000 documents called the 'Afghan War Diaries, 2004-2010', which prove fears that Pakistan is aiding the Taliban to organise networks of militant groups that fight against America.
United States carried out the heaviest bombing so far of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt as a swarm of drones fired a volley of 19 hellfire missiles at the den of the fighters of Haqqani network, killing 31 militants, including two Taliban commanders and several foreign fighters.
Funds from a whopping $2.6 billion military transportation contract in Afghanistan was diverted to a murky network of subcontractors and into the hands of the Taliban, a year-long probe has found.
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