Archive for January, 2020

1 civilian killed, 6 others injured in grenade attack in Afghanistan

One civilian was killed and six others were injured after a few militants attacked a medical store with grenade in Dawlatabad district of the northern Faryab province on Wednesday, police spokesman in the restive province Abdul Karim Yurash said Thursday.

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Polio Remains Threat in Militant-hit Areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan

Afghanistan and Pakistan witnessed a spike in reported polio cases last year, further highlighting what local officials call an imminent threat to the border region between the two countries caused by militant threats and misinformation.

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Afghanistan Is Ready for Major U.S. Troop Reduction, Ghani Says

The Afghan leader said he had told President Trump that the United States could withdraw a third of its troops, even as a peace deal with Taliban remains elusive.

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Afghanistan President: Pakistan Still Shelters Insurgents

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday that Pakistan continued to give sanctuary to an insurgent group that helps the Taliban in its war against Kabul and the United States, directly contradicting an earlier statement by Pakistan’s prime minister.

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Survey: Nearly Half of Afghans Want US Troops Out After Deal

Nearly half of all Afghans want U.S. and NATO troops to leave Afghanistan once a peace deal to end the country’s 18-year war is signed with the Taliban, according to a survey released Thursday.

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Trump says Taliban must curb violence for meaningful Afghanistan talks

U.S. President Donald Trump told Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani that there cannot be meaningful negotiations until the Taliban significantly reduces its violence, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday. “Trump reiterated the need for a significant and lasting reduction in violence by the Taliban that would facilitate meaningful negotiations on Afghanistan’s future,” the White House said. Trump had […]

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India Successfully Completes Developmental Trial of its Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile

Nuclear capable K-4 missiles have so far been successfully tested four times from underwater pontoons. India is the sixth nation in the world which has the capability to fire nuclear missiles from all three platforms – land, undersea and air.

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China’s Virus Toll Surges As France, Australia Report First Cases

The death toll and infected rate from the Wuhan coronavirus in China has increased dramatically, while the first cases have been reported in countries as widespread as France and Australia, leading health authorities around the globe scrambling to prevent a pandemic.

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Khushab Production Capacity

Pakistan appears poised to bring yet another Plutonium production reactor online in 2020, marking a significant increase in their bomb-making potential. Pakistan’s stockpile of nuclear weapons may already be larger than that of former colonial power United Kingdom. Both have about 200 weapons, more than North Korea [about 100], but fewer than Israel and India [both have about 275 bombs]. […]

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Taliban admits ‘peace’ negotiations with U.S. are merely means to withdraw ‘foreign forces’

The Taliban admitted this week that current negotiations with the “arrogant” U.S. – often billed as “peace talks” that will purportedly end the fighting in Afghanistan – are merely being conducted to facilitate “the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.”

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