Yamin Zakaria: Looking back on 2015, except for the sporting success, there are not many reasons to feel optimistic about the future of Afghanistan. A resurgent Taliban continues to gain more territory, and even worse is the prospect of ISIS gaining a foothold, adding to the chaos. Click here to read more.
VOA News Ayaz Gul January 17, 2016 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN—Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States are due to meet Monday in Kabul to further a four-way dialogue aimed at urgently seeking a negotiated end to the Afghan war. The Taliban insurgency has not yet indicated whether it intends to join the renewed peace
Human Rights Watch: The Pakistani government should reduce rights violations against Afghan refugees by extending their legal residency status until at least December 31, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. As Human Rights Watch has documented, the uncertain residency status of Afghan refugees in Pakistan has encouraged police harassment, threats, and extortion of Afghan refugees, particularly since
1TV: They were identified as Amanullah, Aziz, Abdul Ghaffar and Hakmimullah who were suspected of being Afghan intelligence officials and who all hailed from Ghazni province. Click here to read more (external link).
Michael Hughes: First, the United States – in cahoots with Pakistan – gave Afghanistan the “freedom fighters” during the jihad against the Soviets, led by the likes of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden, which eventually morphed into the Taliban movement. Now, yet another made-in-the-USA religious extremist Frankensteinian creation has reared its ugly head in Afghanistan,
Khaama Press: Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Janan Mosazai has said that majority of militants fleeing military operation in the tribal agencies of Pakistan join Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan. While talking to a seminar in Islamabad, Mosazai said about 60 to 70 per cent militants who have fled Mohmand and Orakzai agencies in the tribal built have
Khaama Press: Pakistan’s Foreign Office has asked Kabul to investigate yesterday’s attack on its consulate in Jalalabad city and share the information with Islamabad. “We have requested that details of the investigation should be shared with us,” states a statement released by Qazi Khalilullah, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Office . Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Balkh police chief Sayed Kamal Sadat on Tuesday said Pakistani military officers were behind the Indian consulate attack in Mazar-e-Sharif earlier this month. He said the attackers, officers from across the border, were well-trained military men who fought Afghan security forces in the 25-hour siege. “We saw with our own eyes and I can say 99
VOA News Ayesha Tanzeem January 11, 2016 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN –Even as representatives of the United States, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan met Monday to try to work together to bring peace to Afghanistan, officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan continued to publicly differ on the way forward. The Pakistani prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz,
Khaama Press: “Pakistani military has never been willing to take the very steps most likely to advance the process, which are to close down Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network operations in Pakistan and imprison any of their leaders not actively negotiating peace with the government in Kabul,” Zalmay Khalilzad, a former American ambassador to Afghanistan and