KABUL: The Taliban leaders based in Pakistan have reportedly been asked to join peace talks or leave the country along with the family members. “The squeeze is continuing on them [the Taliban] and some have already left, or [are] leaving the country,” a senior Pakistani official told VOA in background interview. According to the report, the latest crackdown by Islamabad ...

WASHINGTON: Asserting that Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ISI is not taking action against all terror groups, the US has warned Pakistan that it will not hesitate to act alone, when necessary, to disrupt and destroy terror networks operating in the country. “The problem is that there are forces within the Pakistani government — specifically in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI ...

CHITRAL: The chief consultant of the Golen Gol hydropower project has tendered his resignation to the quarters concerned, citing the reason that his suggestions were continually ignored by Wapda, the executing agency of the project. A knowledgeable source told Dawn requesting anonymity that the consultant Mr George, a German national, was known for his efficiency who possessed varied experience in ...

Fata should be “de-colonised” first, says Afrasiab Khattak. ISLAMABAD: Well-known lawmakers and human rights experts discussed threadbare a report formulated by a high-level committee about reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) at a consultative meeting organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Saturday, and said it had several flaws that should be removed before it was ...

THE Taliban office in Doha, Qatar, pictured before its official inauguration in this file photo. Three Taliban leaders from the office have held a series of meetings in Pakistan.—AP ISLAMABAD: A three-member delegation from the Taliban’s Qatar office is currently in Pakistan to meet authorities — the first such contact following the breakdown of Islamabad-brokered talks between Kabul and the ...

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Saturday said he was “not aware” if any delegation of the Afghan Taliban had recently come to Pakistan in relation to peace talks with the government in Kabul. Aziz’s statement comes as news reports quoted officials as saying that three senior Afghan Taliban members travelled to Pakistan this week ...

NEW DELHI: India said on Friday it has gunned down seven Pakistani border guards in retaliation to “unprovoked firing” by the neighbouring country in the Jammu sector where the government started shifting villagers to safer places in bulletproof vehicles. Pakistan’s army refuted the claim, with a military spokesperson saying there was “no loss (of life)” on their side of the ...

ISLAMABAD: The mystery surrounding the killing of four girls and two men from Kohistan took another turn on Friday after rights activist Farzana Bari claimed that the girls, who were declared alive during the Supreme Court suo motu hearing, were dead. Bari, who also heads the Gender Studies department at Quaid-i-Azam University, was included in the fact finding mission dispatched ...

  ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani anti-terror court directed police on Friday to arrest cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri by November 17 in connection with an attack on the Pakistan Television headquarters during a political protest in 2014. Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi questioned why the police had not submitted a report on implementing the arrest warrants issued by the court ...

The Pakistani authorities have said they support an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process as fresh reports emerged regarding the latest secret talks between the Afghan officials and Taliban group representatives in Qatar. “It has been our consistent position that politically negotiated settlement is vital for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Nafees Zakaria, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...