News Report: Pakistan Says US Can’t Win War on Terror Without It

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has vowed to stay engaged with the United States to help fight terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan, but said the war “cannot be won by excluding or confronting” Islamabad.

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif made the remark Thursday at the end of a three-day conference of Pakistani ambassadors to key world capitals for formulating a comprehensive response to the new U.S. policy on Afghanistan.

U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Pakistan when he announced his long-awaited Afghan war policy last month. He accused Islamabad of harboring terrorists linked to the Taliban and Haqqani network, which are undermining U.S.-led efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and staging attacks on American forces.

The charges have strained an already fragile relationship between Islamabad and Washington.

“We want to stay engaged with the United States. There is absolutely no doubt about it ... But this relationship will be driven by the interest of Pakistan. We want to have a relationship based on mutual respect,” Foreign Minister Asif told reporters after the meeting.

News Story: China, India, Pakistan face fallout from US strategy for Afghanistan

By: Aaron Mehta

WASHINGTON — In rolling out his strategy for Afghanistan on Aug. 21, U.S. President Donald Trump made clear that a change in the relationship with Pakistan is in the cards.

But regional experts warn that any change in Washington’s posture to Islamabad will impact two regional powers — China, America’s greatest rival in the Pacific, and India, an increasingly vital ally — that are currently feuding over a border dispute.

Alice Hunt Friend, an Obama-era senior adviser to the deputy undersecretary of defense for strategy, plans and forces and country director for Pakistan, calls the region “a conundrum,” adding, “This is a Gordian Knot,” in part, because of the necessity to factor in China and India for any big picture strategy.

One attention-grabbing facet of Trump’s speech was a public call for India to take on a broader role in Afghanistan.

“We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in Afghanistan, but India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development,” Trump said.

Friend, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, believes that such a call could, to Pakistan, sound like a threat to their longtime goal of “strategic depth” — essentially the idea that Pakistan cannot let itself be encircled by India in the south and an Indian-affiliated government in Afghanistan to the north.

The U.S. has historically been careful about balancing a desire for more Indian support in Afghanistan with Pakistan’s concerns, she said, which resulted in Indian funds being directed more towards economic and public development rather than military projects.

It’s unclear if that is set to change, but Trump’s India comments will likely not be received well in Islamabad, Vipin Narang, a regional expert who teaches at MIT, predicts.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Afghan Army ‘Gains Considerable Strength In North’

By Aref Musawi

Commanders from 209 Shaheen Military Corps Headquarters in Balkh province in Afghanistan’s north said the Taliban has suffered heavy casualty toll and their war machine has been failed during the past five months. 

The 209 Shaheen Military Corps Commander Gen. Amanullah Mubin said the combat capability of the Afghan National Army (ANA) units has considerably increased in their military operations against militants in different parts of Afghanistan’s north.

He said the ANA soldiers have been equipped with modern weapons.

“More than 2,700 Taliban fighters were sent to the hell and over 1,200 others were wounded,” he said – referring to their military operations in the past five months.

According to him, the security forces had a tough time during the past five months but they were successful in their missions.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Defense Gen. Iqbal Ali Naderi said the Taliban continued their efforts to fuel division among the people in order to insecure the north.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: NDS Arrests ISI Agent In Kabul

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) has arrested an alleged ISI – Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency – agent in Kabul who was reportedly plotting an attack on Pul-e-Charkhi Prison in the Afghan capital.

The NDS said in a statement that the ISI agent was in Kabul to collect intelligence information and support the Taliban.

The agent was arrested three weeks ago, the statement said.

The NDS says the man named Allah Noor is a resident of Quetta city of Pakistan.

He started working with ISI in 2013.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Report: What Does Sharif's Ouster in Islamabad Mean for South Asia?

Nawaz Sharif (Image: Wiki Commons)

Nazrana Ghaffar

WASHINGTON — The removal of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has opened the door for opportunity and potential peril — in the country's foreign policy, specifically in dealing with Afghanistan, India and the United States.

Some experts believe that Sharif, who was disqualified and removed from office on corruption charges in a case dubbed the Panama leaks, challenged the powerful military establishment at a time when the U.S. is pondering a new strategy for the volatile region.

"While the Panama leaks were fortuitous, Mr. Sharif's crime seems to be the same this time around: crossing the military by pursuing conciliatory policies toward India as well as Afghanistan and by reportedly demanding that Inter-Services Intelligence end its use of militant groups as tools of foreign policy," University of Oklahoma professor Aqil Shah wrote in The New York Times.

Shah told VOA that Sharif issued statements at the start of his tenure that Pakistan would not interfere in Afghanistan`s internal issues, but he backed off under constant pressure from the military establishment.

News Report: Tightening Military Aid to Pakistan Isn’t Enough - Analysts

Nazrana Ghaffar

WASHINGTON — The White House’s recent decision to withhold $50 million in military aid to Pakistan for failing to do enough against the Haqqani network has triggered new debate in Pakistan over the country’s war against terrorism and its military’s dependence in recent years on U.S. aid.

Since the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan’s military has received $30 billion in military assistance for helping crack down on groups that target international forces in Afghanistan. But U.S. officials have long complained that Islamabad has fallen short in its fight against the Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that many suspect has links to Pakistan’s spy agency. Some analysts say that withholding funds to pressure Islamabad is not effective.

“I think this is not something new. U.S. administrations have been using aid and coalition support funds’ disbursement as leverage against Pakistan for many years now. If this policy did not bring any results in the past, don’t expect any different results this time,” said Jahangir Khattak, a New York-based journalist.

“Despite military aid cuts, Pakistan’s military establishments will not take sincere action against Haqqani network, the one (in which) Pakistan has invested hugely for many years. Although, Pakistan is concerned about Trump’s administration possible unilateral actions, such as stepping up drone attacks and special force operations, as it did on Osama bin Laden,” said Hashim Wahdatyar, an Afghan political expert who is based in Washington, D.C.

News Report: Pakistan Takes Unilateral Steps Toward Afghan Border Security

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan says it finds it necessary to build a fence along its long porous border with Afghanistan, in part because of a lack of cooperation from authorities in Kabul. The border region has long been a source of instability, with militant groups, terrorists and smugglers using the remote, mountainous terrain as cover.

Pakistan says it is now moving forward unilaterally to improve security in the region, and increase the monitoring of millions of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

Afghanistan opposes the border fencing plans because it disputes the demarcation of the border, which was set by the former British rulers of the Indian subcontinent. Afghan leaders also accuse Pakistan’s military and its ISI spy agency of helping Taliban insurgents and their dreaded Haqqani network ally sustain the insurgency in Afghanistan. The allegations have long strained bilateral relations and Islamabad’s border fencing project has fueled tensions.

News Report: Beijing Downplays Possibility of Pakistani Naval Base

Chinese officials have dismissed predictions that the People’s Liberation Army Navy will build a new base in Pakistan as Saudi Arabian and American influence in the region deteriorates.

Discussions about a Chinese base in Pakistan are "pure guesswork," Defense Ministry Spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday.

Sputnik has reported that Pakistan is actively seeking an increased Chinese presence in Pakistan to balance the strength of India. "We need an equalizer against India. Previously it was the US and Saudi Arabia. Now it’s China," a Pakistani diplomat told NBC, according to a June 19 report.

In May, the US Defense Department issued a report stating, "China most likely will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan."

News Story: China Eyes Mediator Role To Ease Afghan-Pakistani Tensions

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit Kabul soon where he will meet Afghan officials to discuss ways to improve Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, President Ashraf Ghani’s Office said in a statement late Monday.

Wang will work to discuss the possibility of organizing a meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan, U.S and China, according to the statement.

The statement was issued after Ghani’s meeting with women’s rights activists who raised concerns over the security situation in the country.

“It is the first time that China wants to be a mediator in Afghanistan’s peace process and soon the Chinese Foreign Minister will visit Kabul. Peace with Pakistan was our demand and this must be solved between government and government,” Ghani told the participants at this meeting.

In the meantime, Najibullah Azad deputy spokesman for Ghani told the media that “this time the quadrilateral meeting which will be held between Afghanistan, Pakistan, U.S and China would be different compared to past meetings. At this meeting, Pakistan must support Afghanistan’s policy over fighting insurgency.”

He said that Kabul recently gathered evidence showing that Pakistan is supporting insurgency and shared this with NATO, the U.S Congress and other organizations.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Report: Afghan Terror Chief Haqqani Denies Role in Bloody Kabul Attacks

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — The head of the dreaded Haqqani network who also is second-in-command of the Afghan Taliban has denied insurgents’ involvement in recent bloody attacks in Kabul.

Fugitive Sirajuddin Haqqani made the remarks in a rare Pashto language audio message released late Sunday by the Taliban to VOA.

He specifically referred to the May 31 tanker truck bombing of the Afghan capital’s heavily guarded Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic sector followed by a triple suicide attack on a funeral in Kabul and last week’s bombing of a mosque in the western city of Herat.

The three strikes killed at least 180 people and wounded hundreds of others. Almost all of the victims were civilians.

“Whoever planned and organized them, this was certainly not the work of the Islamic Emirate [the Taliban], nor will it conduct such activities anywhere [in the country] that are harmful to innocent [Afghan] civilians,” Haqqani asserted.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts in Kabul and Herat.

Most of the casualties were caused by the tanker truck, filled with an estimated 1,500 kilograms of explosives. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told an international conference in Kabul last week that the massive explosions killed more than 150 people and wounded 350 others, including foreigners.

The attack was the deadliest in Afghanistan since 2001.

News Story: Pakistan top leaders concern about Afghanistan "deteriorating security"

ISLAMABAD, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's top civil and military leaders on Wednesday "expressed concern on the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan" following a series of recent attacks that killed nearly 200 people.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told diplomats in Kabul on Tuesday that death toll from a deadly truck bombing in Kabul on May 31 reached 150.

Pakistan's National Security Committee of the Cabinet, which met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the chair, strongly condemned the recent terrorism attack in Kabul and resolved to remain steadfast and resolute in support of Afghan people, the prime minister office said in a statement.

"The participants strongly rejected the baseless allegations on Pakistan" in the context of the huge bombing in the well-guarded diplomatic area in Kabul, the statement said in a reference to Afghan intelligence agency's allegations that Pakistan's security authorities had helped the Haqqani network in the attack.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Ghani to Allow Taliban Office if Afghan Peace Progresses

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has again invited the Taliban to peace talks at a “mutually agreeable” venue, promising the insurgents they eventually will be allowed to open a representative office if significant progress is made.

Ghani made the offer while addressing a peace conference he convened Tuesday in Kabul of regional and international partners to discuss ways to end the deadly conflict in Afghanistan and boost cooperation to counter the Islamic State-led emerging regional threat of terrorism.

“We would accept that the location for peace talks can be anywhere that is mutually agreeable, whether it be in Kabul where we would provide guarantees or elsewhere. If there is agreement to develop a peace roadmap acceptable to both sides, we would allow Taliban groups to open a representative office so that both sides can meet in safety,” said Ghani.

The conference - named the "Kabul Process on Peace and Security Cooperation" — was attended by representatives from 26 countries and international organizations. It took place as the turmoil-hit nation witnesses some of the worst terrorist attacks in years and unprecedented Taliban battlefield advances since 2001.

A powerful bomb went off at a main mosque in the western city of Herat on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding many more, Afghan officials said. There were no immediate claims of responsibility and a Taliban spokesman denied its involvement.

On May 31, a massive truck bombing of the Afghan capital’s diplomatic section killed more than 150 people and injured hundreds of others, including foreigners.

The Taliban said it had nothing to do with the blast, the deadliest attack in the 16-year-old conflict.

News Story: ISI Provided Haqqani With Explosives for Kabul Bombing - MoI

By Gulabuddin Ghubar

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Monday said the explosives used in Wednesday’s deadly truck bombing near Kabul’s Zanbaq Square were from Pakistan, and the material used was highly flammable.

However, the MoI did not comment on how the truck managed to reach the most highly-fortified area of the capital city.

“Pakistan is the key planner of this incident like in the past, but our security team is investigating the incident and these investigations have not been completed,” said MoI spokesman Najib Danish.

According to the MoI, Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) supplied the Haqqani network with explosives to conduct the bombing in Kabul.

Meanwhile a source within government said on condition of anonymity that the truck had been seen in parts of city from 5:30 am on the morning of the explosion. At no point did security personnel appear to have stopped the vehicle, he said. 

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Report: Iran, Pakistan Crucial to al-Qaida's Long-term Success

Image: Wiki Commons

Jeff Seldin

WASHINGTON — For many, the whereabouts and machinations of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks until his death remain shrouded in mystery.

The terror mastermind had been on the run, trying to evade U.S. forces, while al-Qaida itself was in a period of disarray.

Yet even as U.S. Navy SEALs burst into bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011 and killed him, things already had begun to change with the help of officials in Iran and Pakistan.

"It's a very, very crucial period that always has been overlooked and misunderstood," said Catherine Scott-Clark, co-author of the new book The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaida in Flight.

There have been some prior insights into bin Laden and al-Qaida during his years on the run, including the release by U.S. intelligence of three tranches of documents recovered from the Abbottabad complex. But many more remain classified.

News Report: Taliban Threatens Retaliation If Afghan Government Executes 11 Jailed Insurgents

Ibrahim Nasar

Sources within the Afghan presidential palace confirmed Friday to VOA’s Afghan Service that President Ashraf Ghani has signed an execution order for 11 jailed insurgents on death row.

They include four members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network that the government has blamed for the suicide bombing Wednesday that killed more than 80 people and injured hundreds more in Kabul’s tightly guarded Green Zone.

However, Anas Haqqani, son of group founder Jalalluddin Haqqani, was not on the execution list. He was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to death last year. The others are affiliated with the Quetta Shura group.

The Taliban threatened retaliation if the Afghan government follows through, issuing a statement vowing attacks on the Afghan judiciary and promising to kill foreign detainees.

Two American University of Afghanistan professors -- Kevin King, 60, an American, and Timothy John Weeks, 48, an Australian -- were kidnapped Aug. 7 outside the AUAF campus. A Haqqani network video of the two kidnapped men released by the Taliban in January showed them appealing to President Donald Trump for their release.

News Report: What Is the Haqqani Network?

Noor Zahid 

Madeeha Anwar

Afghan officials are blaming Wednesday's massive truck bombing that killed more than 100 and injured over 400 in the Afghan capital on the Taliban-affiliated and al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network. Here's what is known about the group:

What is the Haqqani network?

The Haqqani network is a militant group that continues to fight Afghan and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Afghan officials and international terrorism authorities consider it the most lethal terrorist group in Afghanistan. It has been blamed for some of the deadliest violence in the country, including attacks on embassies in Kabul, the Afghan parliament building, local residents and U.S. military bases.

When was the network founded?

Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former anti-Soviet commander in Afghanistan, formed the network. In 1995, he pledged allegiance to the Taliban, which emerged a year earlier from a network of madrassas in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The network became a component of the Taliban and helped it capture the capital, Kabul, in 1996. Haqqani was appointed minister of tribal affairs, a position he held through 2001, when the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan ousted the Taliban.

Haqqani is believed to have studied in the Dar al-Ulum Haqqaniyaa madrassa in Pakistan, which is widely known for links to, and has publicly expressed sympathies for, the Taliban. One of his two wives is from the United Arab Emirates. He is held in high regard in largely Sunni Gulf Arab states.

News Story: Pakistan rejects Afghanistan's allegations about Kabul attack

ISLAMABAD, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Thursday rejected allegations that Pakistani security agency was involved in the recent deadliest attack in Kabul that killed nearly 80 people and injured 350 others.

The Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security(NDS), in a statement alleged that the blast was carried out by the Haqqani Network with the "direct help of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI."

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. Taliban had denied involvement.

The Pakistani Foreign Office strongly rejected as baseless the Afghan allegations that Pakistan is behind the recent terrorist attack in Kabul.

"The accusatory approach is unhelpful towards efforts to peace," Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said at his weekly briefing.

"Pakistan itself has suffered immensely from terrorism and it has given unparalleled sacrifices in the war on the menace."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Trump Administration Official Warns India, Pakistan About Deteriorating Ties

Daniel Coats, the Director of US National Intelligence, warned that ties between India and Pakistan may deteriorate further if India is hit by a “high profile” terror attack that can be traced via cross-border links to Pakistan.

New Delhi (Sputnik) – Coats’ statement came during a US Congressional hearing. India accused Pakistan of fomenting terrorism in the Indian side of Kashmir as well as other parts of the country, including the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Coats also said without a substantial reduction in cross-border attacks and progress in the probe related to a terrorist raid on an Indian Air Force station in Pathankot, any easing of tensions between the two neighbors is unlikely.

“Islamabad's failure to curb support to anti-India militants and New Delhi's growing intolerance of this policy, coupled with a perceived lack of progress in Pakistan's investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack, set the stage for a deterioration of bilateral relations in 2016,” PTI quoted Coats as saying during a hearing on worldwide threats in the Senate Select Committee.

News Story: Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over deadly cross-border firing

ISLAMABAD, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Friday summoned Afghan Charge d'Affaires to formally lodge strong protest over the "unprovoked firing by the Afghan forces," the Foreign Ministry said.

"We urge the Afghan government to take immediate steps to bring an end the unprovoked firing from the Afghan side. Action should also be taken against those who are responsible for this violation," the statement said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also strongly condemned the incident and expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the loss of precious human lives and injuries caused to the civilian and personnel of law enforcement agencies, a statement from the Prime Minister office said.

Terming the incident as most unfortunate, Sharif said that recurring of such incidents is contrary to "our efforts for achieving peace and stability in the region."

"It is the responsibility of the Afghan government to ensure that such incidents are permanently stopped," he said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

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News Story: Casualties Sustained In Spin Boldak Clash

In an escalation of tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Afghan and Pakistani border forces clashed in Spin Boldak district in southern Kandahar province on Friday morning, police officials said. 

Kandahar police spokesman Zia Durani told TOLOnews that the clash started at around 4am on Friday morning when Pakistani border forces entered the Afghan territory. 

According to him, the two sides agreed on a ceasefire after hours of clashes. 

Two armored vehicles belonged to Pakistani forces were destroyed in the fighting, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Kandahar Police Chief Lieutenant Gen. Abdul Raziq said four border police forces were killed and 14 others were wounded in the clash along the Durand Line.

He said 23 civilians were also wounded in the fighting.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

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