Ayaz Gul VOA News August 28, 2024 Islamabad — Pakistan urged Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders Wednesday to explain their relationship with a globally designated terrorist group waging cross-border bloodshed and address concerns about sweeping restrictions they have imposed on Afghan women. The remarks by Islamabad’s special representative to Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, came as the militant group in
By Ayaz Gul VOA News August 19, 2024 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan reported Monday that at least three soldiers had been killed in clashes with militants attempting to cross over from Afghanistan. A military statement said that Pakistani forces had intercepted the predawn infiltration attempt in the Bajaur border district and “effectively engaged and thwarted” it. The ensuing
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 15, 2024 Days after the Taliban seized power in 2021, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, the powerful head of Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence agency, took what seemed a victory lap in the Afghan capital, Kabul. “Please don’t worry — everything will be OK,” he told a Western journalist
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 13, 2024 Islamabad — Afghanistan’s Taliban officials said Tuesday that at least three civilians were killed on their side of the border in an overnight clash with Pakistan, saying the victims are a woman and two children. Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesperson for the Taliban-led interior ministry in Kabul, accused Pakistani
By Nafees Takar VOA News July 25, 2024 Washington — Militant attacks in Pakistan’s northwest have plagued the region for years, leading to tensions between some of the region’s civilian leaders and the Pakistani military. Last month, the military announced the Azm-e-Istehkam or “Resolve for Stability” offensive would be an operation that cracks down on militants,
By Tahir Khan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 23, 2024 Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the largest Islamist party in Pakistan, has voiced his opposition to a planned operation by the military to root out militants along the Afghan border. In an interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal on July 22, the controversial cleric called for peace talks between
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal July 17, 2024 Islamabad summoned a senior Afghan diplomat over a deadly militant attack on the Bannu garrison in northwest Pakistan, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on July 17. Pakistani officials said the attack on July 15 led to the deaths of eight soldiers after a militant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into
Dawn: The proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is now the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, enjoying operational and logistical support from both the Afghan Taliban and factions of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, according to a United Nations monitoring report. “The Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the bonds are close, and
Ariana: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Thursday that under Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, the government could target Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts across the border in Afghanistan. “If the need arises, there is nothing more important than Pakistan’s sovereignty,” Asif told VOA when asked whether Pakistan would consider cross-border attacks to control perpetrators. Addressing the legality
Sarah Zaman VOA News June 23, 2024 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership has decided to launch a new multi-faceted nationwide counterterrorism campaign amid the country’s deteriorating security situation. A high-powered meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave the go ahead for operation “Azm-e-Istehkam,” or Resolve for Stability, to “combat the menaces of