VOA News Ayaz Gul May 10, 2016 ISLAMABAD—U.S. and Afghan commandos, in a joint raid on Tuesday, rescued the son of a former Pakistani prime minster after three years of captivity from “an al-Qaida affiliated” group, officials said. Unknown gunmen kidnapped Ali Haider Gilani, son of ex-prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, from a 2013 election
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 9, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Officials in Afghanistan say the State Department designated terrorist group, the al-Qaida linked Haqqani network, has effectively taken over battlefield command of the Taliban insurgency. Haqqani militants allegedly operate from sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan and are known for staging high-profile suicide assaults on Afghan and international forces. “The
MAIMANA, Afghanistan, May 9 (Xinhua) — A bicycle bomb that rocked Faryab’s provincial capital Maimana city 425 km northwest of Kabul on Monday killing two people and injuring eight others, a local official said. “Terrorists planted explosive device on a bicycle and detonated it by remote controller next to a police van at a market
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 8, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Authorities in Afghanistan hanged six men on death row who were convicted of “grave crimes against civilians and public security.” Taliban officials swiftly confirmed those executed belonged to the insurgent group and vowed to “take immediate, bloody revenge.” The executions of the terrorists took place in a Kabul
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 7, 2016 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN—The NATO-led military coalition said two of its soldiers were killed Saturday in southern Afghanistan when two individuals wearing local forces uniforms opened fire at a military compound. A statement from the international Resolute Support mission in Kabul said its members returned fire and killed the shooters.
AP via Stars and Stripes: A shadowy, Pakistan-based militant faction is on the rise within the Taliban after its leader was appointed deputy and played a key role in unifying the fractured insurgency. The ascendency of the Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, could significantly strengthen the Taliban and herald another summer of fierce fighting in
Press TV May 7, 2016 At least four children have lost their lives and another has sustained injuries in a powerful bomb explosion in a rural area in Afghanistan’s southern province of Zabul. Local administrative chief Wazir Mohammad Jawadi said the blast took place in the Shahjoy district of the province, which is situated 340
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 7, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Pakistan has “greater control” over the Taliban than the Afghan government “initially thought,” but contrary to its public assurances, Islamabad has never intended to bring the insurgency to peace talks with Kabul, allege senior Afghan officials. “In fact Pakistan’s old policy vis-a-vis Afghanistan that was claimed to be
VOA News May 6, 2016 An Afghan media watchdog estimates that 300 journalists have fled Afghanistan for Europe in the past year because of growing security concerns. The journalists include employees of major TV networks such as 1TV and Tolo, the country’s leading commercial broadcaster, according to Sidiqullah Tawhidi of Nai-Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan,
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 6, 2016 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN—Afghan army commandos, with the support of the international military coalition, conducted an overnight raid and freed more than 60 prisoners from a Taliban-run detention center in southern Afghanistan, officials said Friday. A statement from NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Kabul said the illegal prison was located