Pakistan asks world to be "Realistic" about Taliban

Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmud Qureshi has asked the global community to be realistic about the Afghan Taliban and show patience and give time to them to settle down to take stock of the war torn country.

He was of the opinion that the world is rather too impatient to expect much more in just two over a month since withdrawal of NATO forces, leaving behind a shattered and tattered economy and basic infrastructure..

In an interview with the Associated Press, Qureshi asked the world to "Be realistic. Show patience. Engage. And above all, do not isolate. Those are the pillars of an approach emerging in Pakistan to deal with a fledgling Taliban government that is once again running Afghanistan next door.".

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Misconceptions about Afghan Crisis by the West

The seemingly endless war by NATO to beat Talibans  has ended  with hurried withdrawal of US and allied troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban now control almost the entire Afghanistan and have even announced their interim government. But despite the victory of Taliban, the West has unleashed a massive media campaign about future of Afghanistan and casting doubts over Taliban's ability to handle the affairs. 

Ahmad M Siddiqi of Al Jazeerah has highlighted four misconceptions of the West about Taliban. All of these seemingly look rather premature and a move to downplay the Taliban who contested the NATO troops for tow decades and finally made them run.

Here are the four misconceptions that West is seemingly worried about as per Siddiqi:

• Al Qadea coming back?
• Taliban are fragmented
• The Taliban triumphed due to foreign support
• The US withdrawal too soon.

Please read the full report for details of these misconceptions
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Last of US Troops leave Afghanistan - Taliban Rejoice their long awaited victory

Finally the day comes when after 20 years of humiliation, with no tangible gains, the last of the US troops left Kabul air port as the dead line of 31 August for their Afghan abandonment reached. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen breaks the news on Twitter:

The Taliban leaders symbolically walked on the Kabul air port which buzzing with military aircrafts coming and going, lifting troops and civilians, to various destinations. In view of the time compression, most of the last US troops were dropped at Islamabad airport, Pakistan to complete the withdrawal  in time.

The deserted Kabul airport now begins a new era under the Taliban. World awaits for peace after two decades of an endless and clueless war that killed thousands of Afghan civilians, specially women and children.

Watch a video by CBS News on completion of US withdrawal from Afghanistan:

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Taliban Take Kabul

What a day for the footslogging Taliban of Afghanistan who after almost 20 years of struggle ousted the mightiest army of the world from its territory and entered Kabul without even a shot being fired. Taliban representatives are seen in the Presidential palace in the photo above.

The puppet president Ashraf Ghani flee the country as Taliban entered the presidential capital. The days ahead are very crucial as big powers like Russia and China are all set to recognize the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan. 

The Kabul air port was a scene of chaos and confusion as countless Afghanis stormed the airport in a bid  to catch any plane leaving Kabul to flee the country. One person who clung to an aircraft was seen falling from the sky in a video that went viral on social media.

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US finally agrees to Quit Afghanistan after agreement with Taliban

In landmark victory of Taliban of Afghanistan, US finally bows down to the Afghan Taliban and inks an agreement to quit Afghanistan after a futile 18 years old presence in Afghanistan. Pakistan has played an important role in facilitating  the two sides to come to a negotiating table.

As per the deal inked in the Doha, Qatar, the US and NATO allies have agreed to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the militants uphold the deal.

US President Trump said it had been a "long and hard journey" in Afghanistan. "It's time after all these years to bring our people back home," he said.

Perhaps it is the most sane decision by the US and Donald Trump since he took over as the US president. 

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Pakistan Prime Minister meets Donald Trump: US Ready to Mediate on Kashmir

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan met US President Donald Trump on Monday during his 3-days official visit to USA. Welcoming the Pakistan's Prime Minister, the US President remarked: “It’s my great honour to have the very popular (and by the way great athlete, one of the greatest) Prime Minister of Pakistan.”

Trump touted Pakistan's role in fomenting progress in the US-Taliban talks in recent weeks and said he believes Pakistan "is going to help us out to extricate ourselves" from the war in Afghanistan.

At the White House meeting on Monday, Mr Trump also offered to mediate the Indian-Pakistani conflict in Kashmir. He said that he was making the offer after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested that he "mediate or arbitrate" the 70-year old territory dispute between the two nations.

It may be added that since Donald Trump took office in 2017, his administration has adopted a hard line against Pakistan, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and misleading the US over the issue - charges Islamabad denies.

However, this meeting seems to have softened US stance about Pakistan.

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US Faces Taliban to End Afghan Game

After almost two decades of US troops battling the Taliban in Afghanistan, sanity seems to have prevailed upon the US administration that they are fighting a losing battle and have stuck into a quagmire. This realization brings them to negotiating table with once "Enemy" Taliban in UAE recently.

It has now been reported by Business News that United States diplomats and Taliban representatives met in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, 17 December 2018 for talks facilitated by Pakistan on finding a negotiated settlement of the war in Afghanistan.

The meeting in Abu Dhabi was also attended by officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Pakistan had arranged the meeting after receiving a request from US President Donald Trump for help in the peace process a fortnight ago. 

Read details at Business News

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UN to probe killing of children by Afghan Military

The killing of a large number of stundets mostly aged not even their teens by the aerial bombardment of Afghan military has stirred the conscious of peace loving people around the world.

While Afghan government official handout says that they were targeting the Taliban leaders present on the occasion, the fact on ground is that a large number of children were to be presented with their certificates during the ceremony. Eye witnesses have said that the gathering included "a lot of civilians" and the families of those killed in the attack "were devastated, reports al Jazeera.

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has reportedly said that a human rights team on the ground will investigate the incident, claims the news agency.

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Pakistan Army destroys Taliban Broadcast Tower along Afghanistan border

It has been reported that Pakistan Army has destroyed a Taliban's broadcast tower along Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The broadcast tower was being used to spread anti Pakistan propaganda from Afghan soil.

It may be noted that the Taliban have erected many towers inside Afghanistan that have been used to blast into Pakistan Taliban related propaganda and creating disloyalty among people living in Pakistani territory. 

Taliban have since long been indulged in such activities and in 2009 Pakistan closed down all mobile data signal towers and asked the Afghans to do the same. However, the Afghans have never reciprocated in the same letter and spirit as it suits them to spew venomous anti Pakistan propaganda.

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Pakistan Army rescues Canadian-American family held hostage by Taliban for five years

In a dramatic move, Pakistan Army has freed five hostages from the Taliban, which have been missing since five years.

As per news reports, an American woman and her Canadian husband along with their three young children, who were held hostage by militants, believed to be held by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network in Afghanistan for five years, have been freed. 

Caitlan Coleman was five months pregnant when she and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle were abducted in 2012. The three children were born during the captivity.

An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said that “through an intelligence-based operation”, the army took custody of the hostages. It said the hostages had been recovered in Kurram tribal area that borders Nangarhar and Paktia provinces in Afghanistan.

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India Actively Supports Taliban in Pakistan: Says Hindustan Times

Much to the surprise for the rest of the world which has been fed by USA and its allies that Pakistan harbours Taliban, the Hindustan Times in hits recent post confesses that it is India and not Pakistan which is supporting Taliban in Pakistan to weaken Pakistan and tarnish its image world wide. 

Bharat Karnad, professor for national security studies at the Centre for Policy Research, author most recently of Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet), opines in his post in Hindustan Times that severing relations with TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan) will mean India surrendering an active card in Pakistan and a role in Afghanistan as TTP additionally provides access to certain Afghan Taliban factions. 

It may be added that the RAW-TTP link was publicly revealed in April this year by its former commander, Ehsanullah Ehsan.

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Pakistan jolted again with 6.2-magnitude earthquake

Pakistan and Afghanistan were jolted yet again with 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit late Friday night. 

The earthquake was felt throughout Pakistan with its epicentre 51 miles (82 km) southeast of the town of Feyzabad, capital of the Afghan province of Badakhshan at a depth of 126.5 miles (203 km).

The recent tremors came just two months after when more than 300 people were killed by a quake of magnitude-7.5 in the same mountainous region on 26 October.

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Mullah Omar is dead: BBC Reports

The news of the day is that Mullah Omar is dead, reports BBC today. Mullah Omar led the Taliban to victory over rival Afghan militias in the civil war that followed the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

Mullah Omar died two years ago in Pakistan, says BBC quoting Afghan Security Services.

Abdul Hassib Seddiqi told the BBC's Afghan Service that Mullah Omar had died of health problems at a hospital in Pakistan.

It may be added that Mullah Omar has not been seen in public since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. 

Read more about it at: BBC
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Pakistan buys critical arms from US as it prepares to leave Afghanistan

It has been reported that Pakistan has bouhgt a large number of critical arms and ammunition from the US forces as these prepare to leave Afghanistan in near future.

The inventory includes, utility helicopters, up-gradation kits for its F-16 fleet, 14 combat aircraft, 59 military trainer jets and 374 armoured personnel carriers besides a wide array of ammunition/laser bomb kits for use by Pakistan Air-force. 

These weapons are classified as “Excessive Defence Articles”, i.e. equipment used by the US forces, which can be supplied to allied nations at withdrawal instead of shipping them back to the United States.

Read details here

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Two British soldiers 'caught' by camera giving Nazi-style salutes

The photograph of two British soldiers giving a Nazi-type salute while standing in front of the Union Flag and the flag of Northern Ireland  has sent ripples around the UK.

Apparently taken at an Army base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, the photograph will provoke international disgust as Remembrance Day approaches. 

John Mann, chairman of the Commons’ All Party Group Against Anti-Semitism said: ‘This is an insult to the memory of those who gave their lives to stop the Nazis.

Belfast-born Iraq War commander Colonel Tim Collins, who led the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment, said: ‘These soldiers are behaving inappropriately in uniform but I wouldn't get too worried about soldiers behaving playfully. 

Read more about it at: Mail Online
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British soldiers' suicide rate 'overtakes Afghan deaths'

In a recent revelation, it has been learnt that more British soldiers and veterans have died because of committing suicides than those who died in combat in Afghanistan.

BBC Panorama reports that 21 serving soldiers killed themselves last year (2012), along with 29 veterans, while 44 soldiers died in Afghanistan, of which 40 died in action.

Some of the soldiers' families say the men did not get enough support.

In one suicide incident, one soldier named L/Sgt Collins put on his Army uniform, and drove into the Preseli mountains in Pembrokeshire, where he recorded a farewell video on his phone and then hanged himself. He was 29. 

L/Sgt Collins had twice survived being shot and was blown off his feet by a roadside bomb - his friend, L/Cpl Dane Elson, was blown to pieces just yards away from him.

Read more about it at: BBC
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Karzai calls on Taliban to fight against Pakistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban on Saturday to fight Afghanistan's enemies in what was widely seen as a swipe against Pakistan days after the neighbors' security forces clashed on their border.

“Instead of destroying their own country, they should turn their weapons against places where plots are made against Afghan prosperity,” Karzai told reporters in the capital, Kabul, saying this was “a reminder for the Taliban”.

“They should stand with this young man who was martyred and defend their soil,” he said, referring to a border policeman who was killed in the Wednesday night clash on eastern Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. Two Pakistani soldiers were wounded.

Karzai's remarks are likely to unsettle already shaky ties with Pakistan and come as the United States wants Pakistan to help Afghanistan persuade the Taliban to engage in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year.

( via Tehran Times )
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Cargo plane drops out of the sky and Crashes on Ground - killing seven Americans in Afghanistan

Aircraft watching, like the bird watching is a a hobby of many. No sooner, the plane watchers start to hear the voice of an aircraft they start to search it all around. But sometimes, plane watching can become an awesome experience of lifetime.

A horrifying dash-cam video captured a terrifying moment in Afghanistan near the Bagram air base near Kabul, which shows a cargo plane, a Boeing 747, appears from the sky ad then violently crashes right in front of the eyes of the occupants of a vehicle.

The cargo plane bound for carrying seven American crew members perished alongwith its crew in a huge fireball that consumed almost the whole aircraft. The aircraft belonged to a private company National Air Cargo.

In the meantime, Taliban have claimed the responsibility for the crash - however, the military says no insurgent activity was reported in area at the time.

The Boeing 747-400, filmed by what appears to be a vehicle's dashcam, appeared to take off normally as it gained altitude in the beginning of the video.

Watch the video below:

Read more about it at: Mail Online
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5.9-magnitude quake hits Afghanistan and Pakistan

A moderate 5.9-magnitude earthquake shook Afghanistan and Pakistan on Thursday, with tremors felt in Kabul and Islamabad, but officials said there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, reports Business Recorder quoting AFP.

The epicentre was on the Afghan-Tajikistan border at a depth of 225 kilometres (140 miles), senior Pakistani meteorological official Hazrat Mir told AFP.

The quake was felt across northwestern Pakistan, Islamabad and in parts of Pakistan's central Punjab province, he said.

The US Geological Survey measured the quake at a magnitude of 5.4 in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan.

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NATO-Afghan annouce Wardak withdrawal deal

An agreement has been reached between NATO and the Afghan government on the withdrawal of US special forces from Wardak province, BBC reports quoting alliance officials.

The agreement appears to bring to an end a bitter dispute between the coalition and the Afghan government.

The troops and their Afghan counterparts have been accused of murder and intimidation in the area.

Special forces and local police will now begin a phased withdrawal.

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