Under pressure from the United States and a global watchdog group, Pakistan is prosecuting the founder of the Islamist terrorist group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks on charges of terrorism financing, along with several of his close aides.

At least five Pakistani soldiers have been killed after an explosion near the de facto border with India in the disputed region of Kashmir, Pakistan’s military said, terming it “state-sponsored terrorism” by its eastern neighbour.

Heavy firing exchanges were reported on Friday between Indian and Pakistani forces on the so-called Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, local media reported.

Amid growing needs to modernise the armed forces, the Indian government has kept the defence budget at the level announced during the interim budget in February.

The war in Afghanistan may not end under Trump’s watch. President Donald Trump wants to get out of Afghanistan. But he says he’s worried that the country has become the “Harvard of terrorists” — so even if the US does end up leaving, he says he plans to keep a US intelligence presence behind to monitor the situation.

Even by the standards of Afghanistan’s long war, the Taliban attack near a school that wounded dozens of schoolchildren on Monday stood out as unusually brutal, and expressions of outrage came thick and fast from governments around the world.

The Taliban has launched several major attacks throughout Afghanistan over the past two days, including an attack on the Ministry of Defense in the capital of Kabul, and another on election workers in Kandahar. In Paktia and Kunduz, the Taliban killed dozens of Afghan security personnel.

The Taliban has overrun another district in northern Afghanistan. The district of Qush Tepa in Jawzjan province – which was previously contested – was taken by the Taliban earlier today after several days of fighting, both Afghan officials and the Taliban confirmed.

Afghanistan’s president has held talks with Pakistan’s prime minister as momentum builds for peace talks with the Taliban that are aimed at ending Afghanistan’s decades of war and conflict.

There was an air of expectation on both sides as the Taliban and American diplomats gathered to meet for the latest round of peace talks on Saturday. Afghan and Western officials say that if the Taliban express willingness to finally go to the negotiating table with the Afghan government, American diplomats might be willing to play their main negotiating card: […]