Category: South East Asia

Death toll in Pakistan mosque bombing claimed by Islamic State rises to 15

The death toll from the bombing of a mosque in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta rose to 15 on Saturday, officials said, in an escalation of militant violence.

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Senior Police Officer Arrested in Kashmir on Suspicion of Aiding Militants

A senior police officer has been arrested in Indian Kashmir and accused of aiding militants after he was found driving two suspected insurgents toward Jammu, Kashmir’s chief of police told reporters on Sunday.

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Trump may reduce troops in Afghanistan without Taliban deal

White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien told Axios in an exclusive interview that “it is possible” Trump will cut a deal with the Taliban this year but that even if a deal can’t be struck, the president is still poised to reduce troops in Afghanistan.

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18 Afghan militants killed in northern Takhar province

Afghan forces, during a cleanup operation, have killed at least 18 Taliban militants in the country’s northern province of Takhar, Pamir Army Corps 217 said in a statement released here Saturday.

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Two American service members killed in Taliban-claimed attack

A roadside bomb attack in Kandahar province has left two American service members dead and two wounded, the U.S. military command in Kabul said in a statement Saturday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack through a post on Twitter.

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Afghan Government Returns Pakistani Relatives of IS Fighters

The Afghan government says more than 130 Pakistanis — women and children related to former fighters of the Islamic State terror group — have been returned to other family members and will be going home to Pakistan after being held in a detention center for several weeks.

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Rumblings within the Taliban make ordinary Afghans cautious amid prospects for peace

On the last Sunday of 2019, Afghans woke up to an exciting news of the Taliban insurgency agreeing to possible ceasefire, a much-needed respite from the constant violence. Reports suggested that this temporary truce with the US administration could last for as long as 10 days – a week longer than the last ceasefire between the two warring parties, during […]

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Taliban Says US-Iran Dispute Will Not Harm Afghan Peace Process

The Taliban said Thursday it believes escalating military tensions between the United States and Iran are unlikely to hurt the insurgent group’s negotiations with Washington aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan.

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Bomb Hits Security Forces in SW Pakistan; 2 Dead, 12 Wounded

QUETTA, Pakistan — A powerful roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying Pakistani security forces, killing two soldiers in the southwestern city of Quetta, the capital of the restive Baluchistan province, a police official said Tuesday.

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16 militants killed in Afghan provinces within a day: gov’t

Sixteen Taliban militants were killed and six others wounded in five provinces since early Tuesday, the country’s defense ministry confirmed on Wednesday.

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