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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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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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.

Source | Photo: Reuters
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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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Thirteen Taliban militants killed after they attacked Air Force base in Pakistan

Taliban militants attacked a non operational base of Pakistan Air Force in the city of Peshawar early Friday morning and sprayed bullets on a mosque where people were offering their morning prayers - sixteen men are said to have lost their lives, including three air force personnel. 

See photos of the dead militants (Graphic content)

Clad in police uniforms, over a dozen militants stormed the base. However, a quick response from the military Quick Reaction Force (QRF), thirteen militants were killed after a fierce gun battle. Exact number of the militants is not known. A young army captain leading the QRF is also said to have lost his life while fighting the militants head-on.

The militants were wearing explosives-laden jackets and were armed with grenades and AK-47 rifles.

It may be added that the Pakistan Army is pursuing a fierce chase of the militants in a large scale operation and has had many gains - upsetting th4e militants and the attack on the base shows their frustration.

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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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Hakimullah Mehsud likely killed by drone attack

In a major development, it is more than likely that  leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed in a drone strike

BBC quoting a high-ranking Taliban official has aired the news.

The strike targeted a vehicle used by Mehsud with four missiles in the north-western region of North Waziristan. Mehsud became leader of the Pakistani Taliban in 2009, aged 30, after Baitullah Mehsud died in a US drone strike at his father-in-law's residence in South Waziristan.

In the meanwhile, Pakistan's government has issued a statement strongly condemning the drone attack, saying such strikes were a "violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

It may be added that whenever there are arrangements to talk to Taliban by Pakistan, drone attacks are unleashed and kill some high profile Taliban leader to sabotage the peace talks.

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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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Malala Yousafzai on path to recovery

Malala Yousafzai, the teenage girl flown to Britain for treatment after being shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan, has the potential to make "pretty much a full recovery", her doctors have said.

She is able to stand with help and is writing notes, and although the bullet grazed her brain she has not shown "any deficit in terms of function", doctors at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham said.

She was "not out of the woods but is doing very well", said Dr Dave Rosser, medical director of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS foundation trust.

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Malala was shot 10 days ago on her school bus after promoting the education of girls and criticizing Taliban militants.

Read more: The Guardian

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Malala Yousafzai injured in Swat by Taliban

Gunmen shot and wounded a teenage children's rights activist Malala Yousafzai as she boarded a school bus on Tuesday in Swat, police said.

14 years old Malala Yousafzai: A proponent of female education [Photo: Business recorder]

Yousafzai was shot in the forehead and will be taken to Peshawar for further treatment but is stable, said Doctor Taj Mohammed at the Saidu Sharif Medical Complex in Mingora.

Malala Yousafzai, 14, won international recognition for highlighting Taliban atrocities in Swat by blogging for the BBC.

She received the first ever national peace award from the government of Pakistan last year and was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by advocacy group KidsRights Foundation in 2011.

Read more: Business Recorder

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Taliban urination video: US Marines face court martial

Two US Marines will face trial by courts martial for urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and posing for photographs with them.

The video caused great embarrassment to the US military and prompted a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation, as well as condemnation and an apology from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.



The decision to refer the sergeants for trial comes in the midst of a wave of violent anti-American protests in the Muslim world over a US-made film that ridicules the Prophet Mohammed.

Read more: The Telegraph

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Afghan officials meet key Taliban figure in Pakistan

Afghan officials have held secret talks with the Taliban's former second in command who is in detention in Pakistan in a move which could help rekindle stalled peace talks with the insurgents, according to senior officials from both countries.

Afghan officials have often seen Pakistan as a reluctant partner in attempts to broker talks with the Taliban but its decision to grant access to Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar may signal Islamabad's willingness to play a more active role.

Rangin Spanta, the national security adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and an architect of peace-building efforts, said an Afghan delegation had met Baradar in Pakistan two months ago.

"We have met Mullah Baradar," Spanta told Reuters in Kabul. "Our delegation has spoken to him to know his view on peace talks."

Read more: Chicago Tribune

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Dozens Killed and Wounded in Pakistan Bombing

It was sad and gruesome day in the northern Pakistan when a bomb planted in a pickup truck killed at least 26 people at a market Saturday and wounded 65.

The target in the town of Landi Kotal appeared to be a tribal leader allied with the government against the Pakistani Taliban Hospital officials said 65 people were wounded, most of them fruit and vegetable vendors.

Several houses and shops were damaged in a fire triggered by the blast, the report said. A local television channel quoted witnesses as saying the bomb exploded in a pickup vehicle parked near a bakery.

Read more: Gulf News

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French Defense Minister in Afghanistan After Troops Killed

France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Afghanistan Sunday, one day after a Taliban attack killed four French NATO troops and wounded five others.

Details of Drian's program in Afghanistan have not been released but he is expected to address French troops and meet Afghan government officials in Kabul.

On Saturday, French troops responding to a tip that a bomb had been planted under a bridge in eastern Kapisa province were attacked by a suicide bomber disguised as a woman, who walked up to the soldiers and blew himself up.

Read more: VOA

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Kabul siege: Karzai labels it a NATO Intelligence Failure

Afghan president Hamid Karzai said on Monday that a coordinated Taliban attack showed a "failure" by Afghan intelligence and especially by Nato, as heavy street fighting between insurgents and security forces came to an end after 18 hours. 

Battles which broke out at midday on Sunday gripped the city's central districts through the night, with large explosions and gunfire lighting up alleys and streets. 

"The fact terrorists were able to enter Kabul and other provinces was an intelligence failure for us and especially for Nato," Karzai's office said. 

Read more: The Times of India

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