Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence should focus on nabbing some of the world's most wanted terrorists -- Ayman al-Zawahiri, Siraj Haqqani, Major Iqbal, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim -- hiding in the country, a United States foreign policy magazine has demanded.
United States suspects that Pakistan's powerful spy agency Inter Services Intelligence could be behind the attack on its embassy in Kabul this week and is looking for direct evidence in this regard.
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 given Pakistan a deadline till July to launch a military offensive in the restive North Waziristan tribal region for capturing five most wanted al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mullah Omar and Ilyas Kashmiri.
Amid a controversy around Pakistani diplomat Hussain Haqqani, news reports said he was seeking asylum in the United States, but the envoy denied this and said he would return to his country shortly to explain his position on a secret memo purportedly sent by President Asif Ali Zardari to the Obama administration.
It's high time to completely rethink the United States relationship with Pakistan because of Islamabad's continuing perfidy of sponsoring terror groups like the Haqqani network and Lakshar-e-Tayiba that targets American troops and kills innocent civilians like the LeT did during the 26/11 attacks, said US Congressman Gary Ackerman, top democrat in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South Asia.
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.
The unclassified five-page overview of the Afghanistan-Pakistan annual policy update unveiled by United States President Barack Obama on Thursday tends to sugar-coat the situation in the region.
Given Congressional objections, we have told the Pakistanis that they should put forward national funds for that purpose," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
The officials said the freed Taliban leaders include Sheikh Abdur Rahim and Mawlawi Abdur Rashid, who had served as the insurgent group's governors of Kunar and Nimroz provinces respectively during the Taliban administration before it was deposed by the US-led forces in 2001.
At least 11 militants, linked to the dreaded Haqqani network, were killed and several more injured when United States drones on Monday attacked a car and a compound in Pakistan's restive Kurram tribal region, which has rarely been targeted by the CIA-operated unmanned spy planes.
China would avoid giving the impression of taking sides with Pakistan in its dispute with the US on the question of action against the Haqqani network, says B Raman.
Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.
As pressure mounted on Islamabad to move against the Haqqani network, accused by United States of carrying out a spate of attacks in Kabul, Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha rushed to Washington to hold a quite meeting with the new Central Investigation Agency head Gen David Petraeus.
'The Mansoor Taliban is really an extension of the Haqqani Network which in turn is an instrument of the ISI. With Ashraf Ghani ready to dance to Pakistani tunes and with the Haqqani Network becoming part of the Afghan government, Pakistan is all set to see the fruition of its strategic policy,' says Sushant Sareen.
'We think Pakistan has moved decisively against terrorists that threaten Pakistan internally, but still needs to devote attention to those that represent a threat to their neighbours.'
Tarun Vijay visits a tent camp in New Delhi where Hindu refugees from Pakistan try and start a new life.
Elusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, was treated in a Karachi hospital with the help of Pakistan's spy agency Inter Services Intelligence after he suffered a heart attack, a private intelligence agency has claimed.
Pakistan may appoint Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir as its next High Commissioner to India to replace current incumbent Shahid Malik, whose term is set to end in June.
All those killed in the strike were members of the Haqqani network, led by Afghan warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani, said local journalists.
Days after Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called for an end to drone attacks in his country, unmanned American spy planes today unleashed 10 missiles at a compound in the volatile North Waziristan, killing at least 25 people, including civilians.
A statement issued by the Interior Ministry also said the crackdown on Jaish 'has been taken in line with the decision of the NSC meeting'.
Indian assets and personnel in Kabul could come under fresh attacks in the near future with intelligence inputs suggesting that terror groups like Haqqani faction of Taliban have recently been enquiring about Indian projects and residential complexes of those working on these.
Senior analyst B Raman scrutinises the terror attack on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel and says its another bid of the Taliban and the Haqqani Network to make their presence felt.
'Just this week, the Indians killed a Kashmiri terrorist, who is a member of Hizbul Mujahideen.' 'This is a nasty terrorist organisation, and did Pakistan welcome this killing?' 'No, in fact, they denounced it and referred to him as a Kashmiri separatist.' 'These Kashmiri terrorist groups have been aided by the Pakistani State.'
'Pakistanis are very clever in manipulating us,' former Bush administration official tells US lawmakers.
The minister ruled out the possibility of any legal action against the groups saying 'how can you prosecute a group with whom the state itself has been involved with?'.
Top US officials are unhappy over some Inter-Services Intelligence elements continuing to support the Haqqani network to counter India's presence in the region, amid fears that Pakistani military is "unable or unwilling" to act against Taliban and Al Qaeda in the restive tribal belt.
Vicky Nanjappa predicts embarrasing days ahead for Pakistani intelligence agency ISI in the aftermath of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's killing
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.
The US intelligence community has begun to look for linguists and analysts from the Pakistani-American community to meet its national security challenges, especially after Pakistani Americans were in Pakistan trying to join Al Qaeda.Pakistan is often viewed as the epicentre of international terrorism.
Al Qaeda may have lost its founder Osama bin Laden, but his death will not deter the outfits terror activities. Ayman al-Zawahri, the second-in-command, will now take over the reins of the Al Qaeda and he will backed by the one-eyed Ilyas Kashmiri and the dreaded Baddaruddin Haqqani, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
The Pakistani Taliban have issued a fatwa against the media, declaring it a "party" to the conflict in the country, and drawn up a hit-list of journalists and publishers, a media report said on Thursday.
"Indeed, nearly all of the jihadi groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, LeT, and others have joined together in an extended terrorist network that shares the same goals, including destabilising Afghanistan and destroying the Pakistani state," said Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The United States has said that it is undertaking a major build-up of forces in eastern Afghanistan -- a stronghold of the Haqqani faction -- for a decisive push against terrorists' safe havens close to the borders of Pakistan. Disclosing this, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates hinted that the operation could be one 'on both sides of the border.'
The Pakistan Army distanced itself from media reports that its chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had arranged a secret meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the leader of the Haqqani militant network based in North Waziristan.
The Pakistan military believes that American and British military will withdraw from Afghanistan -- and when they do, they will need old Taliban friends such as Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin to minimise the influence of India in its Afghan backyard.Although Pakistan's military chiefs have been talking about an 'imminent' assault since last June, all the evidence has pointed to deep reluctance to launch a massive ground offensive.
Jones and Panetta bear the same message that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded a few days ago. Clinton had said that Pakistan would have to face very serious consequences if an attack on the US, which was planned in Pakistan, had succeeded. To avoid coming down heavily on Pakistan, the US has offered to cooperate with them to eliminate such threats.
For a wannabe terrorist like Faisal Shahzad, accused in the Times Square bombing plot, shopping for help in Pakistan is no problem as the country is like a supermarket with money and weapons freely available for potential jihadists, says Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria.
At least eight Central Intelligence Agency workers were killed in a daring suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan on Thursday.
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