Tag: Afghanistan

  • ‘There will be war’: Sheikh Rasheed says no other way with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

    ‘There will be war’: Sheikh Rasheed says no other way with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed has said that talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cannot move forward, reports Geo Urdu.

    Sheikh Rasheed told the Senate cabinet committee that talks with the banned TTP could not proceed, adding that the conditions imposed by the banned organisation were not acceptable and the ceasefire was broken by the banned organisation itself.

    Rasheed further said that a delegation has gone for talks but there are reports that the talks will not be successful. He also said that there will be a war with the banned TTP and that there is no other way to deal with the banned outfit.

    The interior minister further said that the TTP are present in the border area of ​​Afghanistan, some new groups have also joined them and are also in touch with India and Afghanistan.

    Rasheed said that security forces foiled a major catastrophe that could have occurred in Noshki and Panjgur while terrorists killed in Islamabad belonged to the same banned organisation.

    Rasheed on Thursday, while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, said that there was a link between Baloch militant groups and the banned TTP, as well as other militant groups, to carry out terror attacks in Pakistan.

    Rasheed further revealed, “the banned TTP has started extortion in Peshawar.”

  • Banned Baloch organisations have the support of ISIS and TTP: Sheikh Rasheed

    Banned Baloch organisations have the support of ISIS and TTP: Sheikh Rasheed

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed, while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, said that there was a link between Baloch militant groups and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as well as other militant groups, to carry out terror attacks in Pakistan.

    Rasheed further said that the Afghan Taliban acted as a bridge for conversation with TTP.

    “The Taliban tried to converse with TTP and make them understands things but the result turned out differently. Instead of negotiations, we are witnessing an increase in terrorism.”

    Rasheed said, “The banned TTP has begun demanding extortion in Peshawar.” He also said that the TTP may have been involved in the Naushki and Panjgur attacks on security forces.

    The Interior Minister stated that the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) was not capable of carrying out the attacks in Naushki and Panjgur, but that TTP could be behind those attacks. He further added that this was his own analysis.

    Sheikh Rasheed said that terrorists have contacts in India and camps in Afghanistan.

    He added that Daesh (ISIS) and other militant organisations are also increasing terrorism in the country.

    When asked by anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada how the Afghan Taliban were allowing all the contacts between Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and these militant groups, which were posing a threat to the security in Pakistan, Sheikh Rasheed said: “These groups are connected through phones. We have given a high alert. There is a great increase in terrorism and the situation can go to any side.”

    The interior minister said that TTP now has the latest weapons, all of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) weapons are with them. Those weapons are also being sold, smuggled in Afghanistan and coming to Pakistan as well.

    Rasheed said that terrorists enter from Afghanistan to carry out attacks in Pakistan and go back, as happened recently in two major attacks on security forces; terrorists went back to Afghanistan after conducting attacks.

    On February 3, it was reported that two separate terrorist attacks have been successfully repulsed by the Pakistan Army in Balochistan’s Panjgur and Noshki areas.

    In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said “both attacks have been successfully repulsed while inflicting heavy casualties to terrorists”.

    According to the ISPR, terrorists were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan. They said that after the Taliban’s takeover, we were told that attacks from the war-torn neighbour will stop but they have increased.

  • Taliban fighters no longer allowed to carry weapons in amusement parks

    Taliban fighters no longer allowed to carry weapons in amusement parks

    Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid announced on Wednesday that Taliban fighters will no longer be allowed to carry their weapons in amusement parks in Afghanistan.

    In a tweet, Mujahid said, “Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are not allowed to enter amusement parks with weapons, military uniforms and vehicles. They are obliged to abide by all the rules and regulations of amusement parks.”

    Taliban fighters have spent most of their lives in a 20-year insurgency against the United States (US) and its backed government in Afghanistan.

    After their takeover, Reuters spoke to Taliban fighters and they revealed that they had never been to Kabul until the Taliban took control of the capital [Kabul] on August 15. Some were eager to visit amusement parks before returning to duties around the country.

    In October, some pictures of the Taliban with machine guns in an amusement park went viral on social media.

  • Taliban to be blamed for missing journalist, says rights group

    Taliban to be blamed for missing journalist, says rights group

    A journalists’ rights groups in Afghanistan said that the Taliban have arrested two Afghan journalists working for a local news channel, weeks after two female activists went missing.

    The rights group known as the Afghan Media Association, without naming anyone said that reporters Waris Hasrat and Aslam Hijab were picked up by masked gunmen in front of the channel’s office. They went out for lunch on Monday “and taken to an unknown location”.

    They said Taliban officials are investigating the matter and have given them insurance. However, a spokesperson told AFP he had no information on the missing journalists.

    Moreover, rights group Amnesty International demanded on Twitter that the Taliban “unconditionally and immediately release” the two.

    Two weeks earlier, two female activists went missing after taking part in a demonstration in Kabul for women’s rights.

    Previously, in September several Afghan journalists were beaten while covering rallies.

  • Taliban to reopen universities, silence on female students maintained

    Taliban to reopen universities, silence on female students maintained

    The Taliban acting Higher Education Minister Shaikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani has made an announcement that the public universities will be opened next month, i.e. February, across the country without specifying whether female students would be able to return or not.

    According to Reuters, the minister said universities in warmer provinces will reopen from February 2, while those in colder areas would reopen on February 26.

    The minister did not say what arrangements, if any, would be made for female students. However, earlier this month, government officials said that they hope to open all schools for girls and women in the country after March 21 but stressed that girls and boys must be completely segregated in schools.

    Since Taliban’s takeover in August, girls in most of Afghanistan have not been allowed back to school beyond grade seven. However, private universities in Kabul are still operating.

    Western governments have made education for female students a part of their demands as the Taliban seek more foreign aid and the unfreezing of overseas assets for which they have called Muslim countries to recognise them and made a recent visit to Oslo, Norway, where they presented their demands.

  • PM Khan says treatment of Uighurs not true on ground

    PM Khan says treatment of Uighurs not true on ground

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, prior to his upcoming trip to China from February 3 to February 5, during which the premier will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and meet Chinese leaders. He also spoke to journalists on various issues concerning both Pakistan and China.

    The premier reinforced that his visit will reinforce a strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, and further advance the objective of building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

    Appreciating China for how it developed over the years, PM Khan said the world should see how China helped the poor develop and eradicate poverty.

    Talking on China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) PM Khan said that the first phase of CPEC was connectivity and power generation. “Now the CPEC has moved into the next stage where it’s about the relocation of industry. We want to develop our industrial zones, our special economic zones. Then we want special help in agriculture to increase our productivity. In China, productivity is very high as compared to Pakistan. “

    When asked about how the West presented the picture of Chinese Muslims suffering in Uighur, PM Khan said, “There is a lot of criticism about the treatment of Uighur’s by China in the West. Our ambassador went there, Moin-ul-Haq, our ambassador in China went there. We had asked him, he went there and he sent us information and said this is actually not true on the ground.”

    “What we in Pakistan find it very difficult to swallow is that while they talk about Uighurs, they do not talk much in the West about Kashmir. Because in Kashmir the worst violations of human rights have taken place by India. And somehow there is selective silence about human rights in Kashmir,” said PM Khan.

    The premier further said, “Where there is something like nine million people, who are basically living in the worst conditions in almost open prison by these 800,000 Indian troops. So we find it very difficult that while on one side they talk about Xinjiang but on the other hand the silence about Kashmir is demeaning for us. And that double standard is what we in Pakistan find difficult.”

    The premier, talking about Afghanistan, said that is the foreign countries who turned have Afghanistan into a battleground and for 40 years the people have suffered. He further said that the people of Afghanistan have gotten a chance after 40 years to live in peace.

  • Pakistan to mark one year polio-free

    Pakistan to mark one year polio-free

    Pakistan will mark one year of being polio-free tomorrow. The last infection of the poliovirus in Pakistan was recorded on January 27, 2021, according to officials, and Friday marks the first time in Pakistan’s history that a year has passed with no new cases, reports AFP.

    Lahore became the first polio-free city in the country back in April 2021.

    A five-day anti-polio campaign kicked off on Monday all over Pakistan. About 150,000 health workers are taking part in the five-day anti-polio drive to inoculate 22.4 million children under five years of age, according to a statement issued by Shahzad Beg, the coordinator for polio programme. 

    Hamid Khan, a police constable who was escorting polio vaccinators, was martyred in a terrorist attack in Kohat on Tuesday.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.

  • Taliban meet Afghan women activists and journalists in Oslo

    Taliban meet Afghan women activists and journalists in Oslo

    A delegation of the Afghan Taliban, led by Foreign Minister (FM) Amir Khan Muttaqi, met women activists and journalists in Oslo, Norway.

    “It was a positive icebreaking meeting,” feminist activist Jamila Afghani told AFP.

    “They listened patiently and responded to most of our concerns. Let’s see what their actions will be, based on their words,” she added.

    Anas Haqqani, a leader of the most violent faction of the Taliban movement, is also a part of the delegation.

    Following the talks, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted: “Afghanistan is the shared home of all Afghans. They need to work together for the political, economic and security prosperity of the country.”

    Taliban representatives will meet delegations from other western nations [United States (US), France, Britain, Germany, Italy and the European Union (EU)] today (Monday) and will be certain to press their demand to unfreeze $10 billion by the US and other western countries as the country is currently facing a humanitarian crisis.

    It has been confirmed by Norwegian FM Anniken Huitfeldt that the meetings are not for legitimation or recognition of the Taliban.

    So far, the Taliban have visited Russia, Iran, Qatar, Pakistan, China and Turkmenistan.

  • U19 CWC: Pakistan qualifies for quarter-finals after beating Afghanistan

    U19 CWC: Pakistan qualifies for quarter-finals after beating Afghanistan

    The Under 19 Pakistan cricket team has qualified for the quarter-finals of the U19 Cricket World Cup after winning two matches, defeating Afghanistan by 24 runs in the second match at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad.

    Pakistan skipper Qasim Akram elected to bat first and his side scored a good total of 239 runs. Last match’s star Haseebullah Khan failed to impress fans, scoring only two runs while Muhammad Shehzad scored 43.

    Shehzad shared a 60 partnership with number three Abdul Faseeh who made 68 off 95 balls with the skipper Qasim adding 38 from number five.

    Maaz Sadaqat played a gem of an innings with 42 not out off just 37 balls, including seven fours, to drag his side up to 239 for nine from their 50 overs.

    Despite a slow start, Afghanistan took the contest deep, although their innings was characterised by some wild running between the wickets, with three runouts as well as a number of near misses. The Afghan team managed to score 215 for the loss of nine wickets.

    Awais Ali, who took six wickets in the match against Zimbabwe, took three wickets by conceading only 36 runs in nine overs.

    The Green Shirts’ next game of the group stage is against Papua New Guinea, scheduled to be played on Saturday, January 22.

  • Taliban call for Muslim nations to recognise them

    Taliban call for Muslim nations to recognise them

    Afghan Prime Minister (PM) Mohammad Hassan Akhund has called on Muslim nations to be the first to officially recognise the government that seized power in Afghanistan in August.

    “I call on Muslim countries to take the lead and recognise us officially. Then I hope we will be able to develop quickly”, Akhund said and stressed that it’s for the public.

    No country has yet recognised the Taliban government. After they gained power, they promised rights for women but they are largely excluded from government employment, and secondary schools for girls are closed.

    According to the recently released report by United Nations (UN), jobs have dried up and women’s employment levels are extremely low by global standards.

    The lack of work also threatens to worsen child labour levels in Afghanistan, where only 40 per cent of children aged five to 17 years old attend school. Moreover, the UN has warned that half the population is threatened with food shortages.

    Last month, a special meeting of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held to discuss the Afghanistan crisis. However, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister (FM) was excluded from the official photograph taken during the event.