Michael Hughes: Islamabad introduced trade restrictions targeting a frail Afghan economy because – apparently – threatening to send 1.7 refugees to Afghanistan wasn’t enough of a message to send the Taliban in one week. On the surface they appear more disruptive than anything, but the measures could be the opening salvo of a one-sided trade
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 5, 2023 ISLAMABAD — A senior Pakistani diplomat said Thursday that while the Taliban had brought peace and security to Afghanistan, increased terrorist attacks from the neighboring country threatened stability in Pakistan, putting strains on an already difficult bilateral relationship. “Unfortunately, the peace dividends for us are missing,” Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s
Ayaz Gul Sarah Zaman VOA News October 3, 2023 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Pakistan has ordered all undocumented immigrants, including 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by November 1, vowing mass deportations for those who stay. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar approved the plan Tuesday at a high-level meeting of his top civilian and military officials
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 27, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban says it has captured 200 suspected militants for staging deadly cross-border attacks against Pakistan and has implemented other “concrete steps” to “neutralize” the terrorist activity, VOA learned from Pakistani officials privy to the process. The de facto Afghan rulers shared the details about the crackdown
Khaama: Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, asserted that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is within Afghanistan’s borders and maintains training camps. In a recent interview with TRT, Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister stated, “We do raise such issues with them (Taliban administration); there are training camps over there, on their soil (Afghanistan), which is a
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 22, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban have pledged “concrete steps” to “neutralize” activities of militants plotting terrorist attacks against neighboring Pakistan, diplomatic sources told VOA on Friday. The assurance was given in a bilateral meeting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi hosted Thursday with a high-level Pakistani delegation in Kabul, the
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 17, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, has written a letter to his Taliban counterpart in Afghanistan, stressing the need to address the security and economic challenges facing both countries. Kakar’s letter to Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund comes amid persistent tensions over Islamabad’s complaints that Kabul
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 16, 2023 Abubakar Siddique Majeed Babar A middle-aged lawyer, Nia Beg, is anxious after a large incursion by Islamist militants rattled his homeland in northwestern Pakistan this month. Beg is Kalash, and he follows the ancient pagan religion practiced in Bumburet and other remote valleys collectively called Kalash in
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 14, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is set to reopen the main Torkham border crossing with landlocked Afghanistan on Friday following a nine-day closure because of terrorism and other security concerns, according to officials in both countries. The development came after the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, promised during a meeting
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 13, 2023 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban’s “successful” offensive against the Islamic State branch in Afghanistan, IS-Khorasan, has “significantly degraded” its capability and steadily decreased large-scale attacks against civilians, according to a senior US envoy. Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, shared the assessment during a Tuesday seminar at the