The United Nations called on the Taliban authorities on Sunday to lift its ban on Afghan women working in its offices, saying the restriction puts “life-saving services” at risk. Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, Afghan women have been barred from doing most jobs, visiting parks and beauty salons, and attending school beyond the […]
Afghan
The Afghan Deflection
As an investigative journalist who has spent years sifting through the noise of geopolitical blame games, I have learned to spot a cover-up in real time. It always begins the same way: an incident occurs, a panic sets in, and a familiar, coordinated chorus arises to scream “Pakistan!” It is a convenient deflection, a smokescreen […]
Pakistan links Afghan ceasefire to cross-border terror attacks
The Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday that the current ceasefire with Afghanistan was not a ‘traditional’ one but contingent on whether any terrorist activity took place against Pakistan from the neighbouring country’s soil Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban are at their lowest point in the four years since the group came to […]
Pakistan rejects Afghan Taliban’s claim of airstrikes in Afghanistan
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry rejected accusations by the Taliban regime that it was behind an overnight airstrike in Afghanistan, state media reported on Tuesday. “Pakistan has not attacked Afghanistan,” the army’s top spokesperson said in comments carried by the state broadcaster, adding that “the allegations of the […]
Afghan link ‘confirmed’ in Islamabad blast, Cadet College attack
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday said the suicide bomber involved in the blast at Islamabad’s judicial complex was “related to Afghanistan”, while Rawalpindi’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested seven suspects who allegedly facilitated the attack. Speaking on the Senate floor, Naqvi termed the alleged links to Tuesday’s blast incident, which killed 12 people and injured […]
Stop trade with Pakistan, Afghan Taliban tells traders
Afghanistan’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on Wednesday urged Afghan traders and industrialists to end their reliance on Pakistan for imports and exports and seek alternative routes within three months, warning that the government would no longer take responsibility for problems arising from commerce through its southern neighbor. The directive […]
Taliban used talks to malign Pakistan instead of curbing terror, says FO
The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday stated that the Afghan Taliban only participated in talks with Pakistan this past week to prolong a temporary ceasefire between the two nations and did not take any action against terrorist elements operating from their soil. In a lengthy statement, the FO said: “Anyone following the talks held under […]
Afghan Taliban and Pakistan’s Dilemma
When the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, many in the region hoped they had changed. They had promised dialogue, inclusivity, and an end to the use of Afghan soil against any neighbour. Four years later, those hopes lie buried under the rubble of broken assurances and cross-border graves. The Taliban’s signature on the 2020 […]
Confronting Afghan Nexus
For many years, Pakistan’s policy toward Kabul was defined by restraint and endless patience. That phase has ended. In a media briefing held on Monday, the military’s spokesman bluntly declared that Islamabad will no longer treat Afghan “conditions” as any kind of diktat. “Our own armed forces guarantee our security,” he stressed, marking a sharp […]
France arrests Afghan with suspected links to IS offshoot
A 20-year-old man from Afghanistan suspected of having links to an offshoot of the Islamic State group has been arrested in France, anti-terrorism prosecutors said on Saturday. The man was charged with participating in a criminal terrorist organisation and financing a terrorist enterprise, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said. The suspect, who was arrested […]