Al Jazeera: From the 1980s when it backed the mujahideen against the Soviet Union through the first two decades of the 21st century, Pakistan was a primary backer of the Taliban, many of whose leaders found shelter on Pakistani soil. India, by contrast, viewed the group as a Pakistani proxy, shuttering its embassy in Kabul
Afghanistan International: Ali Maisam Nazary, the head of foreign relations of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, says he hopes the new US administration led by Donald Trump will support the resistance to topple the Taliban. Nazary called on Trump to consider the National Resistance Front as a partner of the United States in
Michael Hughes: Islamabad appears to be laying the groundwork for regional partnerships to strangle Afghanistan from all sides as tensions escalate with the Taliban over cross-border attacks resulting in decade-high deaths of Pakistani troops. However, although Pakistan has found a willing ally in Tajikistan, it will be harder to secure cooperation from other actors in
Afghanistan International: Manawi said in an interview with Afghanistan International on Wednesday that Khalil Haqqani was not a supporter of war and that they received repeated calls from him when the war was underway in Panjshir. He clarified that Haqqani’s efforts to prevent war and stand his ground continued until the last moment. Click here
Amu: Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, sharply criticized the country’s previous leadership on Thursday, alleging that hasty and informal decisions facilitated the return of thousands of members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) into the country..Speaking during a briefing, Mr. Dar attributed the re-entry of 35,000 to 40,000 TTP fighters to poorly
Afghanistan International: Emomali Rahmon, the President of Tajikistan, met with General Asim Munir, the Director-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in Dushanbe. It is not yet clear whether the ISI chief met with the leaders of the National Resistance Front during his visit. Previously, some Pakistani diplomats had warned that if the Taliban failed to
8am: Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, recently held a telephone conversation with Asaad Hassan al-Shaybani, the Foreign Minister of Syria, congratulating the victory of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and expressing a desire for representatives from both sides to meet and establish prompt diplomatic relations between Kabul and Damascus. Surprisingly, Muttaqi praised the
Ariana: He said the recent meeting of the US delegation with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new Syrian ruler, in Damascus was a positive step. “Not that prematurely engaging doesn’t have risks,” Khalilzad said. “But I think there is an element of timing, of shaping things.” He added that Syria is “more strategically important” to the United
Afghanistan International: In response to Pakistan’s airstrikes on Paktika, Taliban’s intelligence agency spokesman Jawad Sargar said that Punjab has been separated from other parts of Pakistan and now the possibility of Pakistan’s disintegration is stronger than ever. Sargar said that the Pakistani army has no incentive to fight and that the Taliban should seize the
8am: Ashraf Ghani was just another passport holder who had spent most of his life in the West and was married to a Christian woman from Lebanon. Despite spending his childhood in Kabul, he was alien to Afghanistan and its people. His obvious mistakes in performing namaz (Prayer) and reciting Farsi poems became subjects of