Latest news with #PakistanTaliban
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Policeman shot dead by TTP-affiliated terrorists in northwest Pakistan
A Pakistani policeman was shot dead by affiliates of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on Monday. The TTP terrorists gunned down the policeman in the Lakki Marwat district of the province. As the militants tried to flee, local residents and police pursued them, killing one in an exchange of fire, police said. The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan. The group, believed to be close to al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
Washington Post
6 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Pakistani troops kill 14 militants in raid in northwest region near Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's security forces raided a militant hideout and killed 14 insurgents during a shootout in the country's northwest, the military said Wednesday. The overnight raid was conducted on the reported presence of Pakistani Taliban belonging to an Indian proxy in North Waziristan, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement. New Delhi did not immediately comment. Pakistan's military said sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate Pakistani Taliban groups it says are sponsored by India. Pakistani authorities often accuse India of backing outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and Pakistani Taliban groups that commit violence in Pakistan. The accusations have intensified since May in the wake of heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed nations . There has been a cross-border escalation between the countries over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between the two but sought in its entirety by each. The Pakistani Taliban, which calls itself Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, has been emboldened since its allies, the Afghan Taliban, returned to power in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters have taken sanctuary in Afghanistan.
Japan Today
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Pakistani troops kill 54 militants attempting to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan
This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo) By MUNIR AHMED Pakistani security forces overnight killed 54 militants who attempted to cross into the country from Afghanistan, the military said Sunday, marking one of the deadliest such killings in recent years. The military said in a statement that intelligence reports indicated that the killed militants were 'Khwarij' — a phrase the government uses for the Pakistani Taliban. Without directly blaming anyone, the military said that the slain insurgents had been sent by their 'foreign masters' to carry out high-profile attacks inside Pakistan. The insurgents were spotted and killed near the former stronghold of Pakistan Taliban near North Waziristan, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border. 'This is the first time during the ongoing operations against terrorists that Pakistani forces killed terrorists in such a high number in a single day,' Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters. He praised security forces for carrying out a successful operation against militants and foiling possible attacks by them in the country. 'We had this information that the foreign masters of these terrorists are asking them to enter Pakistan as soon as possible" to carry out attacks. He stopped short of saying that India had urged the militants to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have congratulated security forces for eliminating the insurgents. The military also said in the statement that the infiltration attempt came 'at a time when India is leveling baseless accusations against Pakistan' following a recent deadly assault on tourists in India-controlled Kashmir. In recent months, Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence, mostly blamed on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. It's a separate group, but allied with the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since then. Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tatar on Sunday told foreign media that New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the tourist attack to distract Pakistan's security forces from their focus on the war on its western borders. He said that New Delhi, without presenting any evidence, blamed Pakistan for the assault on tourists in Kashmir 'to divert Pakistan's attention from the western region.' He said that Pakistan had 'undeniable evidence" about India's backing for the Pakistan Taliban and Baloch Liberation Army, which is behind multiple attacks in Balochistan, including one on a train in which more than 30 hostages were killed in March. Balochistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency with the separatists seeking independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence has persisted. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Al Jazeera
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
After a year of hostility, Pakistan and Afghanistan seek diplomatic reboot
Islamabad, Pakistan – When Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar landed in Kabul on April 19 for a daylong visit, it marked the first major trip by a senior Pakistani official to Afghanistan since February 2023. Dar's visit came just days after senior military and intelligence officials from both countries had met in Kabul for the first time since January 2024. These meetings follow months of strained relations between the neighbours amid frequent border skirmishes, Pakistan's decision to expel Afghan refugees, and repeated border closures that have disrupted business and trade. Dar's trip, say analysts, signals a willingness from both sides to reset ties through diplomacy. According to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dar met Afghanistan's interim foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi. The two leaders held discussions on 'security, trade, transit, connectivity, and people-to-people contacts'. The statement from the Afghan Foreign Ministry, however, did not mention security concerns and focused on issues such as 'situation of Afghan refugees, political relations, economic cooperation, trade, transit, large-scale joint projects, and other matters of mutual interest.' At a news conference in Kabul following his meeting with Muttaqi, Dar said Pakistan has invited Afghan officials to Islamabad and called for open communication channels to resolve disputes between the two countries. 'We have requested our hosts that we have to work together for the progress, betterment and peace and security of the region. For that, neither will we allow anyone to use our soil to conduct illicit activities in Afghanistan, nor will you allow anyone to use your soil,' Dar said. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 after the United States withdrew its troops, Pakistan has witnessed a sharp increase in violent attacks, particularly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan, both of which share borders with Afghanistan. Islamabad has repeatedly alleged that Afghan soil is being used by armed groups, especially the Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, to launch attacks across the porous border. Pakistan Taliban, founded in 2007, is ideologically aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan but operates independently. The Taliban has repeatedly rejected allegations that it allows its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan, and has consistently denied any ties with the TTP. Data from the Pak Institute For Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based conflict research organisation, shows that Pakistan experienced 521 attacks in 2024, a 70 percent increase from the previous year. These incidents claimed 852 lives, a 23 percent rise, with 358 of those killed being law enforcement personnel. Most of the violence occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Once seen as a benefactor of the Taliban, Pakistan has cited the uptick in violence as the main reason for its crackdown on hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees, many of whom have lived in the country for decades. Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, welcoming several waves of displaced people as conflict continued in the country. Following the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans returned home. However, the Taliban's dramatic return to power in August 2021 prompted another wave of displacement, with between 600,000 and 800,000 people seeking refuge in Pakistan. Since the expulsion programme began in November 2023, nearly one million Afghan nationals have been forced to return, with the Pakistani government declaring that it would continue its repatriation drive. Global rights organisations, as well as the Afghan government, have urged Pakistan to reconsider the decision and ensure the dignity of those being deported. Despite rising hostilities between the two countries, including Pakistani air attacks on Afghan soil in December that killed at least 46 people, analysts see Dar's visit as 'significant' and suggestive of a broader resumption of dialogue. Iftikhar Firdous, co-founder of The Khorasan Diary, a portal that tracks regional security issues, pointed out that this was the highest-level visit from Pakistan to Kabul since former Prime Minister Imran Khan's trip in November 2020. 'The visit by Dar included discussions on security, ease of business for traders, and continued conversations on cross-border issues,' Firdous told Al Jazeera. The Islamabad-based analyst added that the recent meeting between military and intelligence officials indicates that backchannel efforts to resurrect diplomacy were under way even before Dar's trip. 'It was not a start, but instead a culmination of the agenda to re-engage with Afghanistan and break the ice,' he said. Amina Khan, director of the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), said both sides appear to be looking for ways to accommodate each other's concerns. 'For Pakistan, it is security, and for Kabul, it is trade. However, since both are intertwined, a comprehensive bilateral approach is needed. This trip appears to have initiated a dialogue. One will have to see if both sides can maintain the positive momentum,' she told Al Jazeera. Khan added that Pakistan recognises the importance of Afghanistan to its own stability. 'Pakistan realises that, in order to achieve this, workable ties with Kabul are paramount, but at the same time it is pivotal for Kabul to address Pakistan's security concerns emanating from the TTP,' she said. A United Nations report [PDF] published in February concluded that the Taliban continued to provide logistical, operational and financial support to the TTP. It added that the armed group has set up new training centres in border regions near Pakistan. In response, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Afghan government spokesperson, denied the allegation, calling it a 'regular slander' against the country. 'The stance of the UN is misused. We call on the countries who are members of the UNSC but have good relations with Afghanistan to not allow the reputation of the organization to be harmed,' Mujahid said in February. Khan of ISSI said the Taliban faces its own challenges while dealing with armed groups like the Pakistan Taliban. 'Pakistan understands the limitations of the Afghan Taliban in taking action against the TTP, who may very well join the ranks of so-called ISIS [ISIL] and take up arms against the government,' she said. Meanwhile, the Taliban has stressed that the Afghan government is unhappy about the eviction of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by Pakistan. Raising the issue of their forced repatriation in the meeting with Dar, Minister Muttaqi stressed the need for humane treatment and urged Pakistani authorities to protect the rights of Afghan nationals currently residing in Pakistan or returning from there. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement, meanwhile, focused on the country's security concerns. 'The Deputy Prime Minister emphasised the paramount importance of addressing all pertinent issues, particularly those related to security and border management, in order to fully realise the potential for regional trade and connectivity,' the ministry's statement read. Still, Khan, the analyst, said she believes that Dar's visit has broken the ice. Now, the key will be to 'remain engaged' and pursue a holistic approach to bilateral relations, she said. 'While security is a crucial aspect, it should not be the sole focus. Other aspects, such as diplomatic, economic, and cultural cooperation, must also be considered to build a balanced and sustainable partnership,' Khan said.
Arab News
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
‘Who would feel like making new clothes?': Bleak Eid for Afghans facing deportation from Pakistan
KARACHI: Until last year on the days before Eid Al-Fitr, the home of Zahra Arif, 20, used to be filled with laughter and the aroma of kulcha, qatlama, beef pulao and other traditional foods being prepared in anticipation of the religious holiday. This year, the small apartment in which the family of ten lives on the outskirts of Pakistan's megacity of Karachi was quiet and the air was tense. They are Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, refugees granted temporary legal status in Pakistan in 2017 but whom the government ordered earlier this month to leave before Mar. 31 or face expulsion — a date that coincides with the first day of Eid this year. 'We haven't made any preparations for this Eid because the situation is uncertain,' Arif, who was born and raised in Karachi and whose family has lived there for 35 years, told Arab News. 'They are expelling Afghans so who would feel like making new clothes for Eid?' The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of 'illegal foreigners' that began in 2023, with over 884,261 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since, according to government figures. Authorities initially said they were first focusing on expelling foreigners with no legal documentation and other categories like ACC holders would be included later. More than 800,000 Afghans hold an ACC in Pakistan, according to UN data. Another roughly 1.3 million are formally registered with the Pakistan government and hold a separate Proof of Residence (PoR) card, launched in 2006 to grant legal recognition and protection to Afghan refugees. In total, Pakistan has hosted over 2.8 million Afghan refugees who have crossed the border during 40 years of conflict in their homeland. Islamabad has in the past blamed militant attacks and crimes on Afghan citizens, who form the largest portion of migrants in the country. The government says militants, especially from the Pakistan Taliban (TTP), are using safe havens in Afghanistan and links with Afghans residing in Pakistan to launch cross-border attacks. The ruling administration in Kabul has repeatedly rejected the accusations. The latest deadline has left the nearly 800,000 ACC holders, including an estimated 65,000 in Karachi, grappling with the prospect of a forced return to a country many have never even visited. 'We have been living here for 30 to 35 years, how will we survive there,' said Arif, whose family comprises her parents, two brothers, five sisters, and herself. 'There is no place for us there, no home, nothing.' 'EID HAS TURNED INTO POISON' Arif also has other worries. She fears for the career and higher education prospects for herself and her five sisters in Afghanistan, where over three years of Taliban rule has led to the 'striking' erasure of women from public life, according to the UN. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly forbidden to girls and women. According to UNESCO data published last year, 1.4 million Afghan girls have been deliberately deprived of schooling. Access to primary education has also fallen sharply, with 1.1 million fewer girls and boys attending school. Since the Taliban took power in 2021, professional opportunities for women have also been severely restricted. Many women lost their jobs and others were only allowed to continue if they worked from home. Any woman who still has a job has to be accompanied on their journey to work by a male relative. Arif, who completed her high-school in Karachi, had dreams of pursuing a career in IT but now believes all her efforts were in vain. 'I have taken computer courses and was thinking of doing a freelancing course but how will I do that there?' she asked. 'The twelve years of education I completed here, my intermediate degree, everything will be useless there.' Idrees Khan, a 25-year-old Afghan refugee who was born in Pakistan and sells French fries at a roadside stall, also wondered what he would do in Afghanistan, a country he has never visited and where he had heard there were few jobs and future prospects. 'For us, Pakistan has always felt like our country but now, on Eid, they are telling us to leave. This is distressing,' he said. 'If they had given us some time to process and prepare, it would have been better for everyone. But forcing us to leave now is inappropriate.' Hajji Abdullah Shah Bukhari, a community elder who represents Afghan refugees in the southern Sindh province, said he was 'still in shock' over the government's decision to expel ACC holders. 'Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for 47 years and we are grateful for this hospitality, but the recent announcement of expelling us is heartbreaking.' The government's decision was taking an 'emotional toll' on the community ahead of the Eid holiday, the community leader said. 'A year ago, around this time, people would be buying clothes and essentials for their children to celebrate Eid,' he said. 'But now, if you look inside any Afghan household, you will see people shedding tears of blood, wondering what to do.' Bukhari urged Islamabad to reconsider its policy and engage with Afghan authorities on any issues between the two governments. 'Why doesn't the Islamic Republic of Pakistan negotiate with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan?' he asked. 'Afghan refugees are not involved in the policies of either Afghanistan or Pakistan. We have always remained away from politics, but what is happening to us now is injustice.' The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also expressed concerns. 'We have seen and are aware of the [Pakistani] government's plans regarding ACC holders,' Qaiser Khan Afridi, a UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan, told Arab News. 'UNHCR is concerned regarding the latest directive, as among the Afghan Citizen Card-holders there may be individuals requiring international protection.' Afridi called for a humanitarian approach and urged dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan: 'It is imperative that returns are voluntary and dignified so that reintegration in Afghanistan is sustainable.' A statement from the government on Sunday said 'no mistreatment will occur during the [repatriation] process,' adding that arrangements had been made for food and health facilities for those returning. But amid the fear and uncertainty, Gul Jan, a 53-year-old refugee with 11 children and an ailing husband, pleaded for compassion from the authorities. 'This Eid has now become a sorrow for us, it has turned into poison,' she said. 'But if the government's word changes now, then any regular day will be Eid for us.'
