Pakistan Army Kills 30 Militants Trying to Cross From Afghanistan
DefenseNews : Pakistan’s army said Friday it had killed 30 militants attempting to cross the border from Afghanistan over the last three days, after a suicide attack killed 16 soldiers in the same region. The militants belonged to the Pakistan Taliban or its affiliated groups, the military said in a statement accusing archfoe India of backing them. “The security forces demonstrated exceptional professionalism, vigilance preparedness, and prevented a potential catastrophe,” it said. “A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was al…
Blast Claimed by IS Kills Four in Northwest Pakistan
DefenseNews: An explosion in northwest Pakistan killed at least four local government officials and police Wednesday, an officer told AFP, in an attack claimed by a branch of the Islamic State group. “One senior government official, along with another government official and two police officers, were killed in the attack. Eleven people were wounded,” said Waqas Rafiq, a senior police official stationed in Bajaur, a city near the border with Afghanistan. The officials were travelling in a car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when “the attack happ…
Before US pullout, watchdog warned of Afghan air force collapse
KABUL, Afghanistan — Months before President Joe Biden announced the U.S .’s complete withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington’s watchdog warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without critical American aid, training and maintenance. The report was declassified Tuesday. Joe Biden The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, submitted to the Department of Defense in January 2021, underscores that American authorities had been alerted that Afghanistan’s air force did not have the capab…
American troops in Afghanistan drops to 8,600 as Taliban make big changes ahead of expected talks
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have put the son of the movement’s feared founder in charge of their military wing and added several powerful figures to their negotiating team, Taliban officials said. The shake-up, one of the most significant in years, comes ahead of expected talks with Kabul aimed at ending decades of war in Afghanistan. American troops in Afghanistan returning As head of a newly united military wing, 30-year-old Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob brings his father’s fiercely uncompromising reputation to the battlefield. Equally signifi…
Taliban Make Big Changes Ahead of Expected Talks with Kabul
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have put the son of the movement's feared founder in charge of their military wing and added several powerful figures to their negotiating team, Taliban officials said. The shake-up, one of the most significant in years, comes ahead of expected talks with Kabul aimed at ending decades of war in Afghanistan. As head of a newly united military wing, 30-year-old Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob brings his father's fiercely uncompromising reputation to the battlefield. Equally significant is the addition of four member…
Indian Defense News: Former Taliban Commander Who Joined ISIS Is Said to Be Killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — A former Taliban commander who had recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group was killed in a military operation in Helmand Province on Monday, according to Afghan officials and a tribal elder in the area. Precise details were unavailable. In announcing the death of the commander, Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim, the Afghan spy agency said that it had been tracking him for a month, and that he and five of his men had been killed in a “successful military operation” in the Kajaki district of …
Taliban hit Kabul aid workers' compound, breach military base
Kabul: Taliban gunmen stormed a guest house for foreign aid workers in the Afghan capital on Saturday and fought inside former US and British base Camp Bastion in the south, just a month after it was vacated. The attacks spotlight the challenges facing Afghan security forces as most foreign troops prepare to withdraw. Authorities fear hostages may have been taken in Saturday's assault on the guest house in Kabul's western Karte Seh district. The area was cordoned off and gunfire and explosions could be heard late into the ev…
Today Taliban hit UK embassy vehicle and one British among six killed
Kabul: Latest in the series of terror attacks in Afghanistan, a British embassy convoy was targeted by a Taliban suicide bomber in Afghan capital Kabul, killing six including two UK embassy staff, one of them being a British national, reports said Thursday. Condemning the attack as outrageous, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated "This outrage brings home to us once again the courage and perseverance of the people of Afghanistan and members of the international community who support them". Hammond said that two UK e…
Afghan peace talks: India voices concern
In their briefings to India on the prospective talks with the Taliban, the US had assured India that it would not hold talks with the Haqqani network, the deadliest Taliban outfitthat attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul and is known to be close to the Pakistan army. Yet, as the US try to put their talks with the Taliban in motion, its clear the Haqqanis will be part of the Taliban delegation. This will top the talks with Kerry here next week as India joined the clamour against the talks which Indian officials described as "opportuni…
Afghan reconciliation process should not confer legitimacy to insurgent groups: India
Throwing its weight behind Afghanistan on the issue of Taliban opening a political office in Doha, India on Friday said reconciliation process should not undermine legitimate Afghan government or confer legitimacy to insurgent groups. "The reconciliation process should not seek to create equivalence between an internationally recognised Afghan government and insurgent groups, confer legitimacy to insurgent groups or convey the impression of two competing state authorities for Afghanistan," external affairs ministry spokespers…
Karzai suspends talks with U.S. over Taliban agreement
The Afghan president on Wednesday suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest the way his government was being left out of initial peace negotiations with the Taliban meant to find a way to end the nearly 12-year war. The move by Hamid Karzai raises tensions significantly and could derail the peace process even before it has begun. In a terse statement from his office, Karzai said negotiations with the U.S. on what American and coalition security forces will remain in the country after 2014 have been put o…
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