Latest news with #Mullah
News18
11-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
The Indo-Pak 'Understanding' Is An Undeclared Indian Win
Last Updated: Pakistan now understands that any future reliance on terrorism will invite a full-spectrum declaration of war from India. While it will be debated whether India should have escalated Operation Sindoor into full-scale hostilities — or perhaps even all-out war — it is important to understand why the current 'understanding" is an undeclared Indian victory, not a peace deal imposed by external pressure, as some are attempting to portray. 1. Modi has redefined the limits of tolerance with Pakistan. India has signaled that Pakistan's nuclear blackmail will no longer deter it from taking decisive action — even on Pakistani soil — against the so-called 'impregnable wall" of the Pakistan military. India has struck deep into Rawalpindi, the very cradle of Pakistan's military machine. Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir has been metaphorically reduced to his base ideological identity — that of a frothing 'Mullah." This symbolic diminution carries long-term consequences for the army's perceived supremacy within the Pakistani state. In recent days, Pakistan's civil society has witnessed the visible humiliation of the military's claim to be the ultimate 'defender of the Pakistani state." For the first time, it is now conceivable that the Pakistani military may be relegated to the barracks. 2. The kinetic response to Operation Sindoor has been halted — on a condition. Pakistan now understands that any future reliance on terrorism will invite a full-spectrum declaration of war from India. This reflects Prime Minister Modi's preparedness to escalate without warning in response to any credible, Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack. Formulaic denials, hollow declarations of innocence, and vague claims of operational ambiguity from the Pakistan military are no longer accepted as justifications or shields. This marks a decisive break from the old status quo and will weigh heavily on the minds of Pakistani military planners. They must now abandon the strategy of low-cost, low-intensity 'jihad by chicanery" against India — or risk pushing the region, and perhaps humanity, toward catastrophe. This doctrine aligns with strategic principles adopted by nations like Israel, the United States, and Russia. While this is not the beginning of a general 'era of war," Modi has made it clear that India will not hesitate to pursue a 'just war" when its territorial integrity is threatened. 4. India may reconsider its 'No First Use" nuclear posture. It is increasingly possible that India may revise its NFU policy in the near term to underscore its willingness to respond with overwhelming force if provoked. Even if not currently under formal review, this is a strategic imperative India must weigh seriously to restore credible deterrence. 5. Operation Sindoor is not over – it has transformed. It continues under a new guise: as a long-term diplomatic, trade, economic, and water offensive aimed at systematically raising the costs for Pakistan's continued provocations. These non-kinetic actions rest on internationally recognised legal and moral grounds, giving Pakistan little room to maneuver. It is an undeclared siege – unseen but deeply felt. 6. India's anti-terror campaign is entering an unconventional phase. New strategies are being employed to challenge Pakistan's territorial and ideological coherence. While it would be imprudent to list these methods publicly, it is sufficient to say that the Pakistani state is now facing the real prospect of an existential crisis – unless it changes course swiftly and decisively. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. First Published: May 11, 2025, 12:25 IST
Shafaq News
09-05-2025
- General
- Shafaq News
Al-Sulaymaniyah hosts Kasnazani Celebration
Shafaq News / Hundreds of followers of the Kasnazani order gathered in Al-Sulaymaniyah on Friday to celebrate the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, in accordance with the solar-based "Muhammadi calendar" adopted by the order. Speaking to Shafaq News Agency, Mullah Ahmad Kalari, a member of the Kasnazani Cultural Council, said, 'Hundreds of dervishes and devotees of the Kasnazani order arrived from various countries to attend the central celebration held at the order's headquarters in Iraq.' Kalari explained that the festivities included recitations of the order's spiritual chants and prayers upon the Prophet Muhammad. 'The event will continue until midnight and has drawn diplomatic figures, religious leaders, tribal elders, and representatives of other Sufi orders from several countries,' he added. The Kasnazani order is one of the most prominent Sufi orders in the broader Islamic world. Headquartered in Iraq, it maintains a wide network of followers and spiritual centers across several Arab and international countries. The Kasnazani order (At-Tariqah Al-Aliyyah Al-Qadiriyyah Al-Kasnazaniyyah) follows the Muhammadi calendar, a spiritual solar-based system that differs from the Islamic Hijri calendar. In this calendar, the year begins with the month of "Al-Noor Al-Muhammadi" instead of Muharram, and the Prophet's birth year is marked as year one. The calendar begins two months after the Hijri calendar, placing the Prophet's birth—traditionally in Rabi' al-Awwal, the third Hijri month—as the first month in the Muhammadi system.
News18
28-04-2025
- Business
- News18
Post-Pahalgam: The Pakistan-Turkey Tango & India's Unnoticed Strategic Play To Outflank Both
New Delhi's latest tactical gambit will help outflank Pakistan — and by extension, even blunt the emerging Pakistan–Turkey defence axis A few days back, India sent a diplomat to meet with the Taliban's acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Kabul. The development has largely gone unnoticed. But that doesn't mean it isn't consequential. It is a surprise turn in a path towards normalising relations. You may ask, isn't India rewarding Islamist radicalism by engaging the Taliban? Why, after the Taliban bled us through the 90s culminating in the IC-814 hijacking, is India now cautiously opening channels with Afghanistan's Islamic rulers? The answer is post-Pahalgam necessity. And necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. And there's something truly diplomatically inventive about India's pivot towards the Taliban. Though this author has always counselled against engaging the Taliban, it is true that New Delhi's latest tactical gambit will help outflank Pakistan — and by extension, even blunt the emerging Pakistan–Turkey defence axis. Let's break it down. First, the Taliban is no longer the mad Mullah brigade of shock jocks obsessed with public displays of S&M as it was in the 1990s. Instead, the new crop of Taliban leaders like to project themselves as world-facing pragmatists. While they are deeply authoritarian and while they still cling to Islamist governance, they've moderated enough to be indistinguishable from the other Islamic regimes in the Gulf or Central Asia. If India can do business with the Gulf countries, there's no reason for it to turn its nose up at Kabul. More importantly, there's been a major rupture between the Taliban and the Pakistani ruling establishment. Pakistan had long nurtured the Taliban. Islamabad expected that a Taliban victory in 2022 would translate into a pliant, pro-Pakistan regime in Kabul. However, the reality has been starkly different. The Taliban is pursuing a Pashtun nationalist agenda, refusing to be seen as Pakistan's puppets. This is a major opportunity for India. India's approach is no longer driven by dogma. It doesn't want to preach democracy to the Taliban. Not rewarding the moderation risks Taliban's isolation, reverting to type and falling back into the Pak sphere of influence. So, as one policy expert pointed out, India will 'engage without embracing. Influence without investing too deeply. Create options, not dependencies." By making quiet diplomatic inroads with the Taliban factions less beholden to Pakistan — particularly those from the Kandahar-based leadership and segments resentful of ISI's control — India can: divide Taliban loyalties, secure intelligence assets on the ground, deter Afghanistan from serving as a terror springboard into Kashmir, and most importantly, make Pakistan look over its shoulder as Delhi sows uncertainty along the Durand line – the de-facto Pak-Afghanistan border. There's also another huge benefit. Which is to neutralise the emerging Turkey-Pakistan Nexus that could, in theory, sharpen India's security dilemmas. An India tilting Afghanistan allows Delhi to make inroads into Turkic Central Asian republics through the Iranian Chahabar port. These countries all lie in what Turkey has always considered its own backyard. Most were part of the Ottoman Empire. But after its collapse, they were subsumed under the Soviet Union. In a post-Cold War era, these nations have opted for independence on the back of anti-imperialist movements for self-determination rooted in a local culture. Today, they no longer see themselves as Russian or Turkish satellites. Delhi is aware of the scope these republics offer in containing Turkey's ambitions. Thus, India's engagement in Kabul indirectly weakens the Pakistan–Turkey strategic convergence. It's like killing two birds with one stone. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. First Published:
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Suicide bombing mastermind killed in suicide attack
A split in Afghanistan's Taliban government has violently spilled into Pakistan after a suicide bombing mastermind was himself killed in a suicide attack. Hamid ul Haq Haqqani died in a blast at his Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania school – dubbed the 'University of Jihad'– in northern Pakistan on Friday, shortly after prayers had concluded. At least six others were killed in the attack, with 20 so far reported injured, police said. Taliban sources told The Telegraph that the cleric was likely another casualty of an internal power struggle that has brought the group to the brink of civil war. He had days earlier urged the group's members in both countries to pledge allegiance to Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan's interior minister, over Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader, who is facing an internal revolt over women's rights, the sources added. Hamid ul Haq Haqqani was the son of Sami ul Haq Haqqani, who was assassinated in 2018 and known as the 'father of the Taliban' for teaching the insurgent group's founder Mullah Omar at the Dar-ul-Uloom school. The school's sprawling campus in Pakistan's Akora Khattak is home to around 4,000 students who are fed, clothed and educated for free. Rahmatullah Nabil, former director of Afghanistan's national directorate of security said: 'This is a human being in the guise of the devil. He and his father were both merchants of death.' The cleric Haqqani had close ties to the Haqqani network in Afghanistan, which is at odds with the Taliban supreme leader. A Haqqani network commander earlier this month ordered the arrest of an elderly British couple in Afghanistan, in what is thought to have been a political move related to a struggle between factions loyal to the supreme leader Akhundzada and the interior minister Haqqani. The interior ministry, responsible for detentions and potential releases, is controlled by the Haqqani network, which appeared to engineer the situation to challenge the establishment in Kandahar, where the supreme leader is based. Tensions are mounting between the group and top Taliban leaders in Kandahar, who are battling a rebellion over the regime's crackdown on women's rights. A Taliban official in Kandahar said: 'A week ago, at the same school, he [Hamid ul Haq Haqqani] gave a major speech praising Sirajuddin [Haqqani], urging all Taliban members in both Afghanistan and Pakistan to support him over the supreme Mullah.' He added: 'He described [Sirajuddin] Haqqani as a true fighter who deserves more. These remarks did not sit well with many here, and it is possible that someone opposed to Sirajuddin carried out the attack.' While the Taliban initially presented a unified front during their takeover of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US and allied forces in 2021, divisions within the leadership have become increasingly apparent. Ahmad Saeedi, an Afghan analyst, said the attack in Pakistan would prompt the Haqqani network to retaliate against figures close to supreme leader Akhundzada. He said: 'Hamid ul Haq was a close friend of Sirajuddin and his father and a key pillar of this faction within the Taliban – now, they will seek to strike back.' Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman for the interior ministry in Kabul, said the government 'strongly condemned the attack' and blamed the Islamic State. Isis, a rival of the Taliban but with which it shares a similar hardline Islamic ideology, has been responsible for several attacks against the Taliban government since it retook power in 2021. Omar Samad, former Afghan ambassador to Canada and France and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said internal divisions within the Taliban could create opportunities for other groups to exploit the situation and advance their own interests. He said: 'It's now the Pakistani government's responsibility to investigate the attack and reveal who was behind it.' Following the killing of Sirajuddin Haqqani's uncle, the Taliban's minister for refugees, in Kabul last year, some blamed rival factions within the group for his death. Mr Samad said: 'Today's attack being a continuation of what happened last year is one of the possible scenarios.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Suicide bombing mastermind killed in suicide attack
A split in Afghanistan 's Taliban government has violently spilled into Pakistan after a suicide bombing mastermind was himself killed in a suicide attack. Hamid ul Haq Haqqani died in a blast at his Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania school – dubbed the 'University of Jihad'– in northern Pakistan on Friday, shortly after prayers had concluded. At least six others were killed in the attack, with 20 so far reported injured, police said. Taliban sources told The Telegraph that the cleric was likely another casualty of an internal power struggle that has brought the group to the brink of civil war. He had days earlier urged the group's members in both countries to pledge allegiance to Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan's interior minister, over Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader, who is facing an internal revolt over women's rights, the sources added. Hamid ul Haq Haqqani was the son of Sami ul Haq Haqqani, who was assassinated in 2018 and known as the 'father of the Taliban' for teaching the insurgent group's founder Mullah Omar at the Dar-ul-Uloom school. The school's sprawling campus in Pakistan's Akora Khattak is home to around 4,000 students who are fed, clothed and educated for free. Rahmatullah Nabil, former director of Afghanistan's national directorate of security said: 'This is a human being in the guise of the devil. He and his father were both merchants of death.' The cleric Haqqani had close ties to the Haqqani network in Afghanistan, which is at odds with the Taliban supreme leader. A Haqqani network commander earlier this month ordered the arrest of an elderly British couple in Afghanistan, in what is thought to have been a political move related to a struggle between factions loyal to the supreme leader Akhundzada and the interior minister Haqqani. The interior ministry, responsible for detentions and potential releases, is controlled by the Haqqani network, which appeared to engineer the situation to challenge the establishment in Kandahar, where the supreme leader is based. Tensions are mounting between the group and top Taliban leaders in Kandahar, who are battling a rebellion over the regime's crackdown on women's rights. A Taliban official in Kandahar said: 'A week ago, at the same school, he [Hamid ul Haq Haqqani] gave a major speech praising Sirajuddin [Haqqani], urging all Taliban members in both Afghanistan and Pakistan to support him over the supreme Mullah.' He added: 'He described [Sirajuddin] Haqqani as a true fighter who deserves more. These remarks did not sit well with many here, and it is possible that someone opposed to Sirajuddin carried out the attack.' While the Taliban initially presented a unified front during their takeover of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US and allied forces in 2021, divisions within the leadership have become increasingly apparent. Ahmad Saeedi, an Afghan analyst, said the attack in Pakistan would prompt the Haqqani network to retaliate against figures close to supreme leader Akhundzada. He said: 'Hamid ul Haq was a close friend of Sirajuddin and his father and a key pillar of this faction within the Taliban – now, they will seek to strike back.' Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman for the interior ministry in Kabul, said the government 'strongly condemned the attack' and blamed the Islamic State. Isis, a rival of the Taliban but with which it shares a similar hardline Islamic ideology, has been responsible for several attacks against the Taliban government since it retook power in 2021. Omar Samad, former Afghan ambassador to Canada and France and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said internal divisions within the Taliban could create opportunities for other groups to exploit the situation and advance their own interests. He said: 'It's now the Pakistani government's responsibility to investigate the attack and reveal who was behind it.' Following the killing of Sirajuddin Haqqani's uncle, the Taliban's minister for refugees, in Kabul last year, some blamed rival factions within the group for his death. Mr Samad said: 'Today's attack being a continuation of what happened last year is one of the possible scenarios.'
