Khaama: The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced in a statement that it killed 35 Pakistani security personnel in an attack in South Waziristan last night. Pakistani authorities confirmed the attack but reported 16 soldiers killed and 9 others injured. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: In its annual report on terrorism, the US State Department announced that the Taliban continues to host and shelter al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The report, citing the UN’s independent assessment of Afghanistan, said that the Afghan Taliban also allowed the Pakistani Taliban to operate on Afghan soil. Click here to read more (external link).
Khaama: The spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, stated that terrorist groups have found safe havens in Afghanistan and are launching attacks on Pakistan from there. Over the past three years, attacks by the Pakistani Taliban on Pakistan’s security forces have intensified. Analysts suggest that the Pakistani militants are allies of the Afghan
8am: Sardar Mohammad Rahimi, a regional affairs expert, argued that Afghanistan’s neighbors have never viewed the Taliban strategically but have been compelled by geography to maintain ties with the group. According to Rahimi, these countries’ experiences with the Taliban have shown that they cannot trust the group domestically or regionally. Rahimi also stated that the
Afghanistan International: Al-Mirsad, a media outlet affiliated with the Taliban, compared the current situation of the Pakistani government to the final months of Ashraf Ghani’s government in Afghanistan and promised victory to the Pakistani Taliban. In an article, the publication stressed that Pakistan is following the same failed policies that Ashraf Ghani employed. The Taliban’s
Afghanistan International: Pakistani media reported that Islamabad had shared “convincing evidence” about the sanctuaries of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terror groups on Afghan soil with China’s special envoy for Afghanistan Yue Xiaoyong. Xiaoyong held talks with Pakistani Foreign Ministry officials in Islamabad on Monday. Pakistani authorities have provided Xiaoyong with information about the
Khaama: The spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry urged the Taliban on Thursday to take immediate and effective action against Pakistani militants based in Afghanistan, deeming any support for them unacceptable. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch warned the Afghan Taliban not to “test the patience of the Pakistani people.” In a weekly press briefing reported by The Express
Afghanistan International: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif called the deadly Quetta attack part of India’s proxy war against Pakistan and accused the Afghan Taliban of “collusion and ignorance”. The use of Afghan soil in such attacks “amounts to aggression against Pakistan”, he said. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The visit of a senior Indian diplomat to Kabul and his meeting with Taliban officials—described by Indian media as a “significant development”—has reignited discussions about New Delhi’s role in Afghanistan’s politics. Although India did not sever all relations with the Taliban upon their rise to power, it has kept them at a level that