The Pakistani Taliban have brought two splinter groups back into their fold, they announced in a statement, days after the army said anti-militant operations nationwide had brought “hard-earned success”.

Even after the Afghan government released nearly 5,000 Taliban prisoners to grease the skids ahead of negotiations with the jihadist group, the Taliban explicitly stated that it will not conduct talks directly with the Afghan government because it “does not recognize the Kabul administration as a government.”

The Pakistani Taliban announced today that two splinter factions, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA), have rejoined the organization. The group trumpeted the reunification in a statement released on its official media sites.

On August 3, 2020, two civilians, identified as Mondipalli Ajay Kumar and Mondipalli Mohan Rao, were killed in a landmine explosion near Chintalaveedhi, located in the interior part of the ‘Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB)’ region, in Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh. According to the Police, the two tribal youth ventured into the forest in search of cattle when they inadvertently stepped […]

In its attempt to cross the last hurdle to the Intra-Afghan Negotiation (IAN), the Afghanistan Government on August 13, 2020, started the process of releasing the last batch of 400 ‘high value’ Taliban prisoners. The Office of the National Security Council tweeted on August 14, 2020,

It should’ve been the happiest day of their lives. Instead, it was the worst. Mirwais and Rehana’s wedding in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul last year was targeted by an IS suicide bomber, killing more than 90 of their guests. The couple lost close family members and friends, and the attack took a heavy toll on their mental health.

One year ago, India rescinded constitutional provisions giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the disputed territory also claimed by Pakistan. Kashmiri militancy is growing, often with Pakistani encouragement. Allies should urge New Delhi to relax its clampdown and Islamabad to stop backing jihadist proxies.

For Afghanistan’s peace talks to work, the Taliban will need to shift focus to what they want, not what they oppose. They should develop clear negotiating positions on key issues and work to convince their members that peace requires compromise.

Pakistan’s information minister said Wednesday he hoped that five new bills passed in Parliament aimed at curbing terror financing and money laundering will lead to the country’s removal from an international watch list.

Taliban parades fighters as 400 more prisoners are freed The Taliban released a series of photographs that show its fighters parading in the eastern Afghan provinces of Logar, Laghman and Ghazni. The Taliban fighters were operating in broad daylight, without fear of reprisal from Afghan or Coalition forces.