Accusing Pakistan of harbouring Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, a top Afghan official on Monday said the global community is committing a blunder by embracing it as a strategic partner despite the fact that terrorism emanating from the region is affecting India, United Kingdom and others. "Unfortunately, the military-intelligence establishment of one of our neighbours still regards Afghanistan as its sphere of influence," Rangin Dadfar Spanta said.
Sharply reacting to reports of Pakistan's military intelligence agency ISI-backed terrorism against it, India on Tuesday said sponsorship of terror, as an instrument of policy, was "wholly condemnable" and demanded stopping of terror activities from across the border.
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.
Making it clear that Malegaon blast accused Colonel Srikant Purohit has no links with it, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up an independent commission to probe an alleged plot to assassinate its chief Mohan Bhagwat by the former military intelligence officer and efforts to 'malign' the image of the Sangh.
The commander said that by looking at the pattern of operation and the places that the suspects travelled, there has to be some outside involvement of some leadership or instructions.
Pakistan slammed Afghan National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta for alleging that the country and its military intelligence were linked to terrorists, saying it would not be "distracted by such unfair remarks".
Branding Pakistani intelligence agencies including the Inter Services Intelligence as a 'rogue agency', the country's top nuclear scientist A Q Khan has said that it takes orders from the army chief and not the civilian government. Charging that the ISI operated outside the law and totally ignored court orders, Khan, in a scathing attack on the military intelligence agency, said it was being used against politicians and as an 'extended arm of the dictators'.
Top US military commander has said that any links, if they exist, between Pakistan's military intelligence and militant outfits were "completely unacceptable".
The court said warfare in today's world is not confined to "accession of territory" but extends to affecting the economy and "inciting civil unrest" by enemy nations.
The spy Bodh Raj has been accused of passing on vital information regarding deployment and movement of security forces to Pakistan.
Ties between the United States and Pakistan will soon be back to how they used to be before Osama bin Laden's killing. Knowing this, India should let a message radiate that we want peace with Pakistan, but we are prepared to act on our own in our own way and through our own capabilities should covert action on the ground become necessary, says security expert B Raman
The United Nations probe into the killing of former premier Benazir Bhutto has hit a roadblock with the Pakistan government denying access to top military officials, including powerful army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The UN inquiry commission headed by Ambassador Heraldo Munoz had submitted a written request some time ago for access to senior military officials, including Kayani, former Inter Services Intelligence chief Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj.
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.'
Contradicting Central Intelligence Agency's assertion that it has no intelligence on the world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden since 2003, leaked secret US military documents say the Al Qaeda chief personally attended a recruitment drive for suicide bombers in Pakistan in 2006.
A large number of secret documents related to the Iraq war will be released in the next anticipated spill by WikiLeaks, many times more than the 90,000 documents concerning the Afghan war made public by the online organisation in July.
Pakistani authorities have arrested 20 people for their alleged links with the mastermind of the terror attack on army headquarters in Rawalpindi and formed a high-level police team to probe the audacious strike.
Muhammad Asad Durrani, former director general of Inter-Services intelligence and Pakistan's Military Intelligence, says India's move to resume peace talks is a wise decision.
Intelligence sharing is fine, but India needs to protect personal privacy.
The team set up by Pakistan to probe the Pathankot attack on Friday decided to seek from India the DNA reports and finger prints of the slain terrorists.
An Indian man who managed to board an Air India flight at Medina in Saudi Arabia without ticket or passport and hid in the toilet to travel Jaipur, has been booked under the Passport Act even as his interrogation so far has not revealed any intention to cause any harm.
He discussed with the chiefs of Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing and Military Intelligence and other senior officials the modalities of the MAC related to the functions, powers and duties, which the MAC, established in the Intelligence Bureau, will now takeup.
'India should not confuse fighting the LTTE with fighting for the Tamil cause because the LTTE forfeited that expectation when it fought a needless war with India and alienated its support,' says intelligence expert Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
The Centre has convened a three-day conference of directors general of police from December 19 to draw a road map for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
However, the Pune ATS moved an application seeking the army officer's custody in another case registered with them. Purohit was arrested earlier this month in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blast that killed six and injured 80. He is among ten, including sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, arrested for their alleged role in the blast.
The Bangladesh army was ready to storm the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles in Dhaka soon after the mutiny erupted, but heeded to Premier Sheikh Hasina's advice at the last minute to resolve the issue politically, a top officer has revealed.
'The country must learn to sacrifice some rights to fight terror. While fighting terror, you cannot have the same freedom,' says intelligence specialist Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
The Sri Lankan army is merely 1.2 miles away from Kilinochchi, the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam's headquarters in Northern Sri Lanka. The Lankan government believes that the quarter-century old militant movement of the LTTE is in its last phase.
Col Hariharan joins readers on Rediff Chat on February 5, 2009 to answer their queries on the crisis in Sri Lanka and about India's role in the conflict, if any.
An army man was arrested for allegedly helping an Inter-Services agent nabbed in Meerut a week ago, the police said on Saturday. The Special Task Force of the UP police arrested Sunit Kumar from Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh on Friday, a STF spokesman said.
An armyman, who had served with Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit in Military Intelligence, is likely to be made a prosecution witness in the Malegaon blast case as the Anti Terrorism Squad inquiring into the matter has recorded his statement.
The Bangalore police, acting on information provided by the military intelligence, have detained six people belonging to the banned Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kaglipak, which is based in Manipur.Bangalore Police Commissioner N Achuth Rao said on Saturday that the six persons belonging to the outfit, which was banned by the government, have over 25 cases of murder and abduction registered against them.
A Brazilian Islamist militant was plotting an attack against the French delegation at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the head of a French intelligence agency has said.
A Delhi court today fixed July 19 for hearing a criminal defamation complaint filed by former Lt General Tejinder Singh against ex-Army chief General VK Singh and others.
If Imran Khan delays his assent to General Bajwa's recommendations any further, it could imply he is taking stock of possible serious dissent within Pakistan's top army echelons, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for taking part in killing over 200 protesters during the 18-day revolt which began on January 25, 2011, but a retrial was ordered on appeal.
'The hardliners in Delhi are in for a big disappointment,' predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
General Bajwa and the outgoing DG, ISI Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar, had a long meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, who commands the 'Fire and Fury' 14 Corps, has the experience and talent to face down the Chinese challenge. The general is a rare combination of thinker and tough-minded doer, observes David Devadas.
General Taj has been closely associated with Musharraf, having been his military secretary at the time of the 1999 coup.
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