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.
'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
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.
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.
The participants exchanged views on ways and means to bring peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
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.
'Even during the worst days during the 1990s, India was dealing with the Taliban.'
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.
Rescue officials on Tuesday recovered the severed head of the suspected suicide bomber who they believe blew himself up inside a mosque packed with worshippers during the afternoon prayers on Monday in the high-security zone in Pakistan's restive northwestern Peshawar city.
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.
A top commander of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Omar Khalid Khorasani and three other top terrorists have been killed in a mysterious blast in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, a Pakistani media report said on Monday.
The Pakistani Taliban on Monday warned all international organisations and individuals to leave the country or face violence as it was in a "state of war". Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said that Pakistan had buried the desire of its people for peace in the North Waziristan tribal region and launched a military operation to make its western backers happy.
Claiming responsibility for the audacious attack that left at least 30 dead -- on two mosques of the Ahmadis sect in Lahore, the Punajb Taliban vowed to intensify attacks against the sect whom they describe as "worst infidels than Jews".
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.
'Nobody is sure if Baitullah is dead or alive. For me, he is still alive. He can be considered dead when the national flag of Pakistan is hoisted on the buildings of all the schools in South Waziristan and students celebrate August 14 without any fear.'
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.
The death toll in a devastating bomb attack on an election rally in Pakistan's restive Kurram tribal region rose to 24 on Tuesday while another 70 victims were being treated in hospital, officials said.
Pakistan on Friday sought to assuage Afghanistan's concern over the former's talks with local tribal leaders, stating that the country has not been negligent of its obligation towards peace and stability in Afghanistan.Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who made a day-long visit to Kabul, said his country has not forgone the military option while pursing talks with the Taliban, aimed at ending militancy in the northwestern tribal areas.
Militants blew up a primary school for boys early this morning in Pakistan's volatile Bajaur Agency bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistan's border region remains the most dangerous place in the world and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas remains the epicentre of the world's worst of global jihad, a top Pentagon official has said.
The United States has ruled out any cut in its assistance to Pakistan in view of the recent revelation that Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan is responsible for the failed Times Square bomb attempt, as demanded by certain American lawmakers.
Terror group Al Qaeda is "shaping" its regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent to spread its operations into Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to a UN report.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
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.
The Jamatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was carried out to avenge the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri, killer of Taseer.
A powerful car bomb exploded outside a Shiite imambargah at a busy market.
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.
A journalist working for Voice of America Pashtu radio was shot dead by gunmen claiming to be belonging to Tehrik Taliban Pakistan in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday.
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'.
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