KABUL: The Taliban group has asked the new US President Donald Trump and his cabinet members not to follow the policy of previous US leaders. “Afghanistan is burning due to wrong policies of previous US officials and their occupations,” the group said Sunday in a statement. “If Trump doesn’t revise US policy regarding Afghanistan and follow the old policy of ...

PESHAWAR: At least 18 people were killed in a blast at the Sabzi Mandi (vegetable market) in Kurram Agency’s Parachinar area on Saturday morning, a government official said. “At least 18 people have been killed and 47 wounded,” Ikramullah Khan, a senior government official in Parachinar, told AFP. Khan said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) ...

A few days ago Pope Francis in his Christmas message, mentioned three icons of peace and non-violence from the 20th century; Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Abdul Ghaffar Khan (popularly known as Bacha Khan). One would have expected it to be an important news item worth reporting by the Pakistani media. A towering political figure, social reformer and freedom fighter ...

KABUL: Exploring all avenues to restore peace in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani talked to the godfather of Taliban, Maulana Samiul Haq, by phone and discussed ways that could help the Afghan-lead reconciliation process. Afghan Ambassador to Islamabad, Hazrat Umar Zakhilwal, called on Samiul Haq, who is the chief of his own political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-S), in Nowshera. The Pakistani ...

Karzai asks Trump for shift in US policy towards Islamabad KABUL: “Donald Trump must make a dramatic, strategic and immediate shift in US policy towards Pakistan. Anything less than that will be a continuation of Afghan misery and rise of extremism”, said Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai as he blamed Barack Obama for failing to address terror sanctuaries in Pakistan ...

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, Friday vowed to “unite the world” against radical Islamic terrorism and said the US would not impose its way of life on others. “We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations ...

KABUL: Four foreign loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in an airstrike in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. According to the local security officials, the militants were killed in a drone strike conducted by the foreign forces. The officials further added that the airstrike was carried out in Achin district, leaving 2 ...

They are led by Negina Khpalwak, Afghanistan’s first female conductor. In the face of death threats and accusations they are dishonouring their families by daring to perform, the women of Afghanistan’s first all-female orchestra are charting a new destiny for themselves through music. The group is set to be catapulted onto the world stage with a performance at the World ...

MOSCOW: Russian authorities have extended US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden’s Russian residency permit by three years, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Snowden’s residence permit has been extended “until 2020”, said ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. She had previously indicated on Facebook that Snowden’s permit had been extended by two years, using a phrase that can be ambiguous in Russian. Snowden’s ...

PAKISTAN: The Taliban militants group can carry on insurgency for a very long time, Pakistan’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz said as he insist that the Afghan leaders to review their “fragmented” approach to peace talks with the Taliban on containing and ending the resilient insurgency. Aziz made the remarks during an interview with the Voice of America. He said ...