A former Pakistan Air Force member-turned Taliban commander has invoked Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus and Lord Buddha in a letter to teen activist Malala Yousufzai, asking her to return home and "use" her pen for Islam.
Pakistan plans to ban 10 terror outfits, including 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the dreaded Afghan-based Haqqani Network, a move seen by experts as a "paradigm shift" in the country's security policy in the wake of Peshawar school massacre.
The opposition PML-N has opposed the Pakistan government's campaign against the Taliban, saying it is being waged to protect the "interests of the US".
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.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan have claimed responsibility for the attack.
A year ago, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan commander Hakimullah Mehsud was reported to have been killed in a US drone strike. But the most-wanted fugitive emerged unscathed. On January 12, reports emerged of his killing in a US Predator drone strike. But is it true? Amir Mir reports from Islamabad.
'After General Raheel Sharif took on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, some sections of the military establishment may have felt unease as to whether the crackdown could be extended against friendlier 'non-State' actors like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.'
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.
An audio message has been released in Pushto, circulated by Taliban commanders, where Akhundzada said, "Taliban will never bow their heads and will not agree to peace talks," reports Dawn.
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 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.'
Bilawal Bhutto's political inheritance is his biggest asset as well as the biggest liability as he tries to make his mark in Pakistan politics. Challenging the Taliban militants is part of that strategy, though it matches with his political ideology. Shahzad Raza profiles the son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
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.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Monday that his government will allow India to send a humanitarian shipment of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to neighbouring Afghanistan through its territory after finalisation of the transit modalities.
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.
"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.
Pakistan Army on Friday said it has arrested nearly 100 terrorists and foiled an imminent jailbreak attempt to free top Al Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, sentenced to death for the murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl in 2002.
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.
Concerns that Afghanistan and India became too close in the post-2001 period was one reason why Pakistan was reluctant to act against Taliban and Al Qaeda, according to a report, which recommends engagement with the militants to end the conflict in the restive nation.
A video showing Azizuddin, asking the Pakistan government to meet the demands of his abductors, including the release of some Taliban cadres, was aired by the Al Arabiya TV channel on Saturday. The militants holding Azizuddin, his driver and bodyguard had demanded the release of Taliban leader Mullah Obaidullah Akhund. They have also demanded the release of five or six other Pakistani and Afghan militants held by Pakistani authorities.
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 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by Hakimullah Mehsud, has intensified its assaults on Pakistani security forces in South Waziristan.
Taliban chief Mullah Omar is dead, the Afghan government announced tonight, "confirming" reports about the one-eyed extremist leader who ruled the country with an iron fist between 1996 and 2001.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said India considers Taliban as a dreaded terror outfit, and wants Pakistan to take action against it along with other groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).
Secret talks between Pakistani security agencies and the local Taliban have entered a "decisive" phase and both sides are hopeful it will lead to a "lasting" agreement to restore peace in the country's restive northwestern tribal region, a media report said on Tuesday.
A top United Nations official has blamed Pakistan of blocking reconciliation efforts with the Taliban by arresting several top extremist commanders.Admitting that there were secret negotiations going on with the Afghan Taliban, former UN envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide criticised Pakistan for the arrests of high-profile Taliban leaders, including the second-in command Mullah Ghani Baradar, which he said has 'completely stopped a channel of secret communications with the UN'.
A prominent Sikh politician in Pakistan, who was gunned down last week, was killed by contract killers hired by his miffed Hindu rival after he failed to secure a ticket for elections, police said .
Peace talks with the Taliban, trade and security would be high on the agenda during a meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Afghan capital Kabul.
Together with US sanctions, the new action prohibits any financial transaction of these terror leaders in member countries of the United Nations, which is likely to put pressure on Pakistan to initiate operation against the group
Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan tried to undermine the Afghan government led by ex-president Hamid Karzai for helping "India stab Pakistan in the back".
Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed in a United States airstrike.
Former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by Taliban, a chargesheet filed by Pakistani investigators to an anti-terrorism court has said, while giving clean chit to former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf of any involvement in the case.
The Pakistan army, while changing its operational priorities has described 'internal threats' such as anti-state terrorist groups as the biggest danger to the country's security.
The court found 4 of the accused guilty and handed down the 25 year sentence.
The much anticipated peace talks between the Taliban and the United States might not happen as well, a US official said, as the Special US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan left Qatar without any talks with the Afghan insurgent group.
The shocking footage of the shooting incident, which took place a few days back near the border of Orakzai tribal agency, was made available to a Pakistani media outlet on Friday.
General Sharif will meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other civil as well as military leaders during the day-long trip.
"He (Shahzad) visited Pakistan seven times in the last few years and he met Hakimullah Mehsud and also met other people, (including) leaders of the Taliban," Rahman Malik told media persons in Pabbi town in the country's northwest.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has urged the Taliban to stop suicide bombings and take the initiative of holding peace talks with the Pakistan government.
Evidence gathered by Pakistani investigators has indicated that Taliban terrorists who attacked a key airbase last month had contacts with security personnel at the facility, according to a media report on Wednesday.
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