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.
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-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the prime minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.
Claiming that it was not in "direct conflict" with India, the Taliban has said there was a possibility of reconciliation even as it justified the February 26 Kabul attack on Indians as a "legitimate" action.
Pakistani negotiators on Monday cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Taliban after the insurgents claimed they had killed 23 soldiers kidnapped by them in 2010, dealing a severe blow to the fledgling peace process.
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.
The United States on Monday described as 'horrific' the Taliban announcement to ban polio vaccine in the tribal regions of Pakistan unless America stops the drone strikes.
'First they claimed the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone strike followed by Qari Hussain's killing. Such news has become a daily affair and no one believes such reports.'
The Centre on Saturday ruled out the possibility of holding talks with the Taliban and said that New Delhi will only be dealing with the legitimate government led by President Hamid Karzai.India believes that Taliban is the 'antagonist and not the protagonist' and is also aware of its collusion with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba, said sources. The LeT and the Taliban are specifically targeting Indians and Indian interests in the war-torn country, said sources.
Rejecting the news that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud died in Punjab en route to Karachi for treatment, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) says that Hakimullah never left the tribal belt either for shelter or for medication.
Announcing it on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said she has taken the decision in the interest of the party and the movement and till the time Anand gains "full maturity".
The Taliban militants, who kidnapped Robin Singh, a Sikh in Peshawar, have demanded a ransom of Canadian $1,25,000 from his family in suburban Brampton in Ontario. The Pakistani Taliban are suspected to be behind the kidnapping, but according to Robin's father Bishan Dass, "I can't say whether they are Taliban. But they are terrorists.'
Pakistan is directly helping the Taliban in their fight against the elected government in war-ravaged Afghanistan, a media report said, citing a secret North Atlantic Treaty Organisation document.
A Taliban love triangle has led to a burqa-clad woman been executed in Afghanistan with an AK47 with baying villagers cheering in delight, a media report said.
The Pakistani Taliban confirmed on Tuesday, that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in a US drone strike, ending weeks of speculation over his fate.Taliban sources based in the Aurakzai tribal region told TV news channels that 28-year-old Mehsud was severely injured in a drone attack in Shaktoi area of North Waziristan Agency on January 14.
What does the Taliban chief's death means for various stakeholders?
Terming media reports 'baseless' that head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Hakimullah Mehsud has been killed in an American drone attack in North Waziristan of Pakistan, Taliban spokesperson Azam Tariq said that the TTP head is 'safe and the report is a ploy to create panic amongst the militants in the area.'
The Afghan Taliban have refuted claims that reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar had written a letter to United States President Barack Obama last year, expressing an interest in holding talks. According to the Afghan Taliban, the claims made by some US officials is merely a ploy to divert people's attention from their "powerful position", which they have attained after fighting an almost ten-year-old "successful war".
After initial hiccups, Pakistani state negotiators and a Taliban-nominated committee met at an undisclosed location on Thursday to frame a roadmap for parleys aimed at ending terrorism and bringing peace to the country.
'I am convinced. I have no doubt about it. I was very open. I have given the full details. If the interior minister of India or anyone else wants to confront me, I will be very happy to confront them because I know what I am saying.'
A key commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban, who was involved in number of attacks on security forces and checkposts in Swat valley, has been arrested in Karachi.
Militant commander Maulvi Faqir Muhammad declared himself the head of the Pakistani Taliban, saying he was temporarily replacing Baitullah Mehsud, whom Washington and Islamabad have said was almost certainly killed in a drone attack.
Saturday's audacious attack by Taliban militants in Rawalpindi has shocked the Pakistani establishment and society.
India has a new headache on hand: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directing the Taliban to join them in their Kashmir battle. According to reports in the Intelligence Bureau, the fight for Kashmir will get even more intense with the Taliban agreeing to join the ISI in this fight.
Although the report could not be confirmed, sources in the Pakistan army said that the troops had intercepted a phone call of Fazlullah, which indicated that he was hiding in Swat.
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 outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has ruled out any negotiations with the government and claimed that it has taken control of most areas of the South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Since being ousted of the main towns of the Swat valley during the recent military operation, Maulana Fazlullah-led Taliban are making preparation for new offensive during the month of Ramzan. According to Taliban, the holy warriors always achieved high targets during this month, so they would go all out to retake the valley of Swat.
Is the Taliban altering its image and operational methods? At least, a 'Layeha' or rulebook issued by the Taliban in Afghanistan in May 2009 -- which is in possession of rediff.com -- indicates to this trend.
"We are still in a state of shock at the martyrdom of our deputy chief and there is no change in our decision of not talking to the government," Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said.
Taliban has come under tremendous pressure following Pakistan's military action against the militant group in Swat valley and adjoining areas, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday.
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.
Residents also reported, heavy artillery, tanks and ground troops in hundreds moving towards Buner as forces sought to drive the Taliban back into the Swat Valley. The army estimates there are 400-500 Taliban militants hiding in Buner.
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.
"The operation will continue till the last Taliban militant is eliminated," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told media persons at the Islamabad airport on his return from the US. Malik's remarks come as Pakistani army and fighter jets resumed their pounding of Taliban positions after a nine hour pause ordered to lead the trapped civilians reach safer areas.
Adnan Rashid, a Taliban fighter wanted for an attempt to assassinate former President Pervez Musharraf, wrote a letter to Malala, who was shot in the head in a militant attack last year.
'We already have Indian Islamic extremist groups working in India, and secondly, if Pakistan slides even further, India will be sharing a border with the Taliban,' says Ahmed Rashid, perhaps the world's foremost expert on the Taliban.
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.
Blaming the Pakistan government for the killing of its chief Hakimullah Mehsud, Taliban has warned that it "will soon start targeting" the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership for its alleged support to the United States in the region.
Mullah Naqibullah, the commander of Taliban's militia in Kandahar and his close colleague Mullah Abdul Qayum were reportedly among those arrested.
