Latest news with #Taliban
Express Tribune
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Afghan FM to visit Pakistan soon
Listen to article The Afghan Interim foreign minister is expected to travel to Islamabad soon on a first visit in two years, highlighting the growing high-level exchanges between the two neighbours in recent weeks. "He (Amir Khan Muttaqi) will visit Pakistan soon. Dates are being worked out," said a diplomatic source on Thursday. The source said the Afghan side has already accepted the invitation. According to a source, this will not be a daylong trip but a three-day trip where a whole gamut of relations would be discussed. In April Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar travelled to Kabul in a first visit by any Pakistani top diplomat in three years. The visit helped ease tensions between the two countries. The sources said Muttaqi's visit was part of efforts to increase high level exchanges. The two sides drew up a roadmap envisaging a series of visits by officials and ministers from both sides when a Pakistani delegation led by its special envoy Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq visited Kabul in the third week of March. The Afghan Taliban government's recent actions against groups posing a threat to Pakistan played a key role in the increased interaction between the two sides. Pakistan had long been urging Kabul to tackle the threat posed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other outfits. But Kabul publicly denied their presence and privately expressed their inability to deal with them. However, Pakistan finally managed to convince the Kabul regime as it undertook certain steps including crackdown on Afghan nationals who were part of the TTP. The Afghan government also proceeded against Afghan nationals who were facilitating their fellow citizens to join the TTP. Those steps helped ease tensions between the two sides. In another major sign suggesting shift in its approach was a statement by Senior Afghan Taliban commander Saeedullah Saeed who, on Wednesday, warned militant factions against unauthorised jihad, particularly in Pakistan, saying such actions were against Shariah and the orders of the Islamic Emirate's leadership. Speaking at a police passing-out ceremony, Saeed said that fighting in any country, including Pakistan, without the explicit command of the Amir is not permissible. "Joining various groups to wage jihad abroad does not make one a true mujahid," he stated. "Only the Amir of the state has the authority to declare jihad — not individuals or groups." Saeed emphasized that those carrying out attacks independently or moving between regions to conduct operations cannot be classified as legitimate fighters under Islamic law. "Jihad based on personal ego or group loyalty is considered 'fasad' (corruption), not legitimate resistance," he added. He further stated that the Afghan leadership prohibited unauthorised entry into Pakistan, and any such act constitutes disobedience. "Groups attacking in the name of jihad are defying both Shariah and the authority of the Afghan Emirate," he warned. His public statement is seen as a result of recent efforts both by Pakistan and China urging the Kabul administration to change its approach towards these groups. Sources said Pakistan would continue to encourage the Taliban government to carry out such measures. In return for these steps, Pakistan and China are willing to support Kabul both economically and diplomatically. Pakistan already indicated that it was ready to upgrade ties with Afghanistan by exchanging Ambassadors in a major diplomatic win for the Afghan Taliban government.
Business Recorder
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
‘Sarah Adam lifts the veil on India-TTP nexus to kill Kashmiris
This is apropos a letter to the Editor from this writer carried by the newspaper yesterday. Despite efforts in the US Congress to introduce accountability measures — such as the stalled Protecting Death Act — no meaningful action has been taken to plug these financial leaks. Sarah Adam calls this a case of strategic blindness, warning that Western aid is unintentionally funding the next regional war. Adam describes India's strategy as a classic case of short-term gain, long-term catastrophe. By weaponizing the Taliban against Pakistani interests, India may have scored a few tactical wins, but it is also creating a monster it cannot control. The second-tier Kashmiri leadership now being cultivated is deeply radical, bound not by nationalism but by jihadist ideology. And while Pakistan may be the immediate target, India will not be immune to their long-term plans. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda-aligned fighters, once fully entrenched, will have no qualms about shifting their attention toward India—particularly in Kashmir. Their transnational agenda doesn't distinguish between India and Pakistan; both are seen as secular enemies obstructing their vision of Islamic rule. One of the most alarming outcomes Sarah Adam highlights is the increased risk of accidental war. Given the current volatility in India-Pakistan relations, even a small, third-party terrorist strike could ignite a massive military confrontation. With both states on hair-trigger alert, a misattributed attack could spiral into a catastrophic war—not between nations by intent, but orchestrated by extremist groups for mutual destruction. Adam calls this scenario 'killing two birds with one stone,' where radical groups manipulate mistrust between India and Pakistan to fuel regional chaos and ideological expansion. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
ICE detains ex-Yale student and refugee in spite of order granting bond and release
An Afghan refugee and former Yale University student continued to be detained by federal immigration authorities on Thursday evening more than two days after an immigration judge issued an order releasing him on bond. Federal immigration authorities did not respond by Thursday evening to multiple requests for an explanation of the continued detention. Saifullah J. Khan, who was born in a Pakistani refugee camp after his family was forced from Afghanistan by the Taliban, has had an asylum application pending for 9 years. He was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who hit him with Tasers seven times on May 9 as he and his wife left an immigration hearing in the secure Hartford federal building. Khan required medical attention after his arrest. according to statements made in court. In late March, after years of what Khan's lawyers characterized as 'inaction on his asylum application,' he sued in an effort to compel U.S. immigration officials to settles the question. The suit names senior Trump administration figures, including Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Within weeks of naming Noem and the others, Khan received a notice that ICE had begun proceedings to deport him and he was ordered to appear at the hearing after which he was hit with the Tasers and taken into custody, according to the court filing. A witness has said Khan was confronted by plain clothes ICE agents who did not identify themselves and was trying to return to Hartford Immigration Judge Theodore Doolittle's courtroom when he was taken into custody. After his arrest, Khan was held at a detention center in Plymouth, Mass. The order releasing him on $7,500 bond was issued early on May 27. Before his family could post bond, he was transferred to a privately run ICE processing center in Pennsylvania. It was unclear on what grounds immigration authorities continue to hold Khan in custody. Lawyers who follow immigration matters said enforcement officers have claimed in other cases to have the authority to temporarily hold bond orders in abeyance. A prosecutor with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration matters, argued against bond, called him a danger to society and a flight risk. Khan, 32, is married to a U.S. Citizen and has lived in New Haven for more than a decade. He entered the U.S. on a scholarship from Yale in 2012 and applied for asylum in 2016 when he lost his student visa. The prosecutor called him a flight risk because she said the department had been unable to locate him for seven years preceding his arrest on May 9. According to statements made in court, immigration officials had Khan's address and regularly mailed him notices, including the order to appear in court in Hartford on the day he was arrested. Khan has no criminal record, but was accused by a Yale classmate of sexually assaulting her after a date in 2015. He was acquitted of all charges after a trial in criminal court. When Yale expelled him in spite of the acquittal after an in-house disciplinary hearing, he sued the school for defamation and related rights violations. The Supreme Court said the Yale disciplinary process 'lacked a significant number of procedural safeguards … that in judicial proceedings ensure reliability and promote fundamental fairness.' It said Kahn effectively was denied the right to defend himself because the Yale process did not require sworn testimony. The court said he also was denied the right to counsel, the right to cross examine witnesses and the right to call witnesses in his defense. Yale has tried but so far failed to dismiss the defamation case.
Bloomberg
13 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
State Department Plans to Close Office That Aids Afghan Refugees
The US State Department has notified Congress that it will shut down the office that helped resettle Afghan refugees who assisted the American war effort, provoking an outcry from nonprofit groups that helped evacuate people when the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021. The elimination of the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts was disclosed in a letter to Congress outlining efforts to reorganize the department. A copy of the document was seen by Bloomberg News. The office's functions will be 'realigned' to the Afghanistan Affairs Office and the role of special representative for Afghan reconstruction will also be eliminated.
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First Post
17 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Pakistani Taliban-police encounter in PoK: 2 security officers, 4 terrorists killed
Operations against TTP hideouts are frequently conducted by Pakistani security forces in the country's restive northwest and elsewhere; however, similar actions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir remain uncommon read more In this August 5, 2012, file photo, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) patrol in their stronghold of Shawal in Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan. (Photo :AP) Security forces acting on intelligence raided a militant hideout in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, triggering a shootout that left two police officers and four Pakistani Taliban fighters dead, police said Thursday (May 29). The rare overnight raid was carried out in Rawalakot district, according to Abdul Jabbar, the police chief of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The region is divided between Pakistan and India and claimed in its entirety by both countries. Jabbar said the militants killed were members of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, allies of the Afghan Taliban. He alleged the TTP is acting as a proxy for India, and said the police had thwarted an attempt by the insurgents to establish a base for future attacks. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD There was no immediate response from New Delhi. Operations against TTP hideouts are frequently conducted by Pakistani security forces in the country's restive northwest and elsewhere; however, similar actions in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir remain uncommon. The TTP is a distinct militant group that has become increasingly bold since the Afghan Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021. Since then, many TTP leaders and fighters have reportedly found refuge in Afghanistan. Pakistan-Taliban relations Pakistan's relationship with the Taliban is complicated, marked by periods of strategic cooperation as well as significant tension and conflict. Initially, Pakistan supported the Taliban in Afghanistan during the 1990s as part of its regional strategy, aiming to establish influence in Kabul and secure strategic depth against India. Pakistan's intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was instrumental in supporting Taliban factions against rival Afghan groups during the Afghan civil war following the Soviet withdrawal. However, Pakistan's relationship with the TTP is very different now, and marked by hostility. Formed in 2007, the TTP emerged as a militant group opposing the Pakistani government, aiming to implement its strict interpretation of Islamic law and challenging state authority. TTP has orchestrated numerous deadly attacks across Pakistan, including assaults on military installations, civilian targets, and educational institutions. Pakistan has conducted several major military operations against TTP strongholds, particularly in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), significantly weakening but never completely dismantling the group. The Afghan Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 further complicated things. While Islamabad initially welcomed the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, hoping it would stabilise the region, the opposite happened: the TTP has been emboldened, finding safe havens and renewed support networks across the Afghan border. This development has intensified Pakistan's domestic security challenges. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan now finds itself urging Taliban to curb TTP activities, and carrying out domestic military operations against resurgent TTP fighters. With inputs from agencies
