VOA News Ayesha Tanzeem May 18, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Afghanistan is showing its anger at Pakistan by downgrading its representation to the international group trying to arrange peace talks with the Taliban. Kabul says Pakistan needs to honor its commitments to take action against militant groups operating from Pakistan. The groups include the Afghan Taliban and the
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal May 18, 2016 Islamabad is hosting a fifth round of four-nation Afghan peace talks aimed at reviving long-stalled negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, is representing Kabul at the meeting with diplomats from Pakistan, the United States, and China. A spokesman for Afghan
VOA News Ayesha Tanzeem May 12, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is hesitant to take action against the Afghan Taliban on its soil because of concerns the group will re-direct its violence against Pakistan and Afghan intelligence will support it, a senior Pakistani official said. “We have to think twice before taking action. Anybody we take action against
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
Tolo News: Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal has said the Taliban has chosen war over peace talks with Afghanistan as the group believes this will help them reach their goals. He said: “Taliban believes in war and they [Taliban] think by continuing the war they can reach their goals in Afghanistan, especially in the upcoming
ISLAMABAD, April 7 (Xinhua) — Pakistan’s top foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj Aziz, said on Thursday that a four-nation group on peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan will meet this month to review the situation after the refusal of the Taliban to join the reconciliation. The quadrilateral group of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States had
VOA News Ayaz Gul March 5, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Afghanistan’s Taliban has cast further doubt on prospects for peace talks with the Kabul government. In a Pashto language statement given to VOA Saturday, the Taliban said its leadership has not yet decided to engage in peace talks with the Kabul government because it believes no such effort
VOA News Ayaz Gul February 26, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Security forces in Pakistan have rescued an influential former top Afghan official two weeks after he was kidnapped by unknown men in Islamabad. Former governor of the western Afghan province of Herat, Fazlullah Wahidi, was rescued from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border province in a late night security operation,
VOA News Ayaz Gul February 15, 2016 ISLAMABAD—A close aide to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says he is “very positive” that direct peace talks with Taliban insurgents will take place before the end of this month with no conditions from either side. Efforts are under way to determine the venue for the much-anticipated meeting. In