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Tag: Afghanistan

  • US disassociates itself from Zalmay Khalilzad’s statements on Pakistan and Imran Khan

    US disassociates itself from Zalmay Khalilzad’s statements on Pakistan and Imran Khan

    The United States (US) has come forward to clarify that its former envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad’s disapproval of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s attempted arrest and his view on Pakistan’s political situation doesn’t reflect the country’s foreign policy.

    State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel said Zalmay did not speak for the administration of President Joe Biden as he is a “private citizen”.

    On March 14, Zalmay tweeted that Khan shouldn’t be arrested as it will deepen the crisis and called for early elections. He also said that Pakistan “despite great potential, is underperforming and falling far behind its archrival, India.”

    After these statements, Pakistan’s Foreign Office advised him to refrain from offering advice on the country’s domestic issues. 

    Zalmay had served as the special envoy for Afghan reconciliation under both the former US President Trump and current President Joe Biden administrations.

  • Afghanistan brutally exposed new-look Pakistan team with T20 series win

    Afghanistan cricket team on Sunday beat Pakistan’s PSL- pick young team in the second T20 by seven wickets to lead the three match series by 2-0 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.


    This is a historic moment for Afghanistan, marking the first time they have beat Pakistan in any format or in any series they have played against the men in green.


    In an attempt to chase a 131-run target, Afghanistan played mature cricket, slowly working their way towards the target with one ball to go.

    PSL’s Lahore Qalandars death over specialist Zaman Khan was unable to save 5 runs as Najibullah Zadran hit four on the second ball of the over.
    Opener Rahamanullah Gurbaz set the tone for Afghanistan’s chase with 44 off 49 balls, courtesy of only one six and two fours.

    Ibrahim Zadran then contributed an important 38 runs off 40 balls at the one-down position with three fours to his name.

    When asked to finish the match, veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi produced 14 off just 9 balls to take the Afghans to the finish line and make sure they broke the tape before Pakistan.

    For Pakistan, only Zaman Khan and Ihsanullah were able to bag one wicket apiece.

    Earlier, Pakistan batted first and all thanks to Imad Wasim’s 64 off 57 balls, were able to post a reasonable 131-run target on the board. Captain Shadab was the second-best batter with his 32 off 25 balls.

    Pakistan started their innings by losing two wickets for zero after Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled a double-wicket maiden.
    Saim Ayub was caught behind the wicket by keeper superbly on the second ball of Pakistan’s innings.


    Incoming batter Abdullah Shafique was once again caught LBW, after losing his wicket in the same fashion in the first T20.

    Farooqi brought the ball swinging back into the right-handed batter, who was unable to predict the movement while trying to play across the line.

    Right-handed opener Mohammad Haris tried to give Pakistan the much-needed push with six and two fours. However, his innings of intent came to a premature end when he edged one to the keeper for an easy catch off pacer Naveenul Haq.


    Tayyab Tahir, another youngster in the Pakistan squad, tried to protect his wicket to give the Men in Green a dependable option in the middle-order, but he also couldn’t lengthen his stay after scoring 13 off 23 balls.

    Big-hitter Azam Khan was dismissed by Afghan captain Rashid after facing four deliveries for only one run.

    Farooqi was the hero for Afghanistan with the ball bagging two wickets off four overs, giving one maiden and 19 runs.

    Naveen, Rashid, and Karim Jannat bagged one wicket each for Afghanistan.
    The last T20I of the three-match series will be played at Sharjah again, on Monday, March 27.

  • ‘They don’t like being told what to do’: Imran Khan holds back from criticising Taliban ban on girls’ education

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, in an interview with Matt Frei for Channel 4, talked about the rigid ban imposed by Afghanistan Taliban on girls’ education.

    When asked whether he will tell them to let the girls go to school, he responded by saying that he knows Afghan character much more than anyone else in the West. “They dont like being told what to do,” Imran Khan said.

    He then urged the world to engage with the Taliban, stressing that only then the group will listen to them.

    He said, “If the West wants to influence them, they must mainstream them. I kept telling them to engage. If you isolate them, what influence are you going to have on them.”

    “My advice is to get them involved, give them a stake in the international community so when you tell them to educate girls, they will listen to you.”

    According to him, right now they react when the world questions their policy toward women.

    We are heading toward martial law: Imran Khan

    In the interview, the deposed prime minister said that the postponement of elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is a violation of the constitution.

    He said that five judges of the Supreme Court categorically said that elections should be held on April 30.

    “The worry right now is that we are heading towards martial law”, said Khan.

  • ‘Check on your loved ones’: Celebrities are praying for followers after magnitude 6.5 earthquake jolts Pakistan

    ‘Check on your loved ones’: Celebrities are praying for followers after magnitude 6.5 earthquake jolts Pakistan

    On Tuesday night, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake jolted Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

    The powerful jolts killed nine while 44 were injured, according to Al-Jazeera.

    Celebrities across Pakistan urged their followers to take necessary precautions to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

    During an earthquake, please remember to wear proper shoes and exit your home to prevent any injuries from the jolts, and stay on open ground until the situation is safe.

    Actor Saba Qamar sent her prayers and wished for everyone to stay safe:

    Cricket captain Babar Azam urged his followers to take care of their loved ones

    Pakistan cricket player Shaheen Afridi prayed that everyone remained safe during the earthquake

    Actor Mahira Khan wrote on her Instagram stories that she was praying for everyone’s safety.

  • Divorced women fear imprisonment under Taliban regime

    The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has modified divorce laws, now requiring both parties, husband and wife, to be present in court in order to get a divorce.

    Under the previous Afghan government, women were granted the right to get ‘one-sided divorces’ in order to help them escape abusive marriages, according to The Washington Post.


    Women could testify about suffering abuse at the hands of their husband, even if he had refused to make an appearance in court.


    The Post clarified that the Taliban had not commented on ‘one-sided divorces’ being nulled or whether a woman can be married after gaining a divorce in such a manner. However, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has said that both parties must appear before a judge to request a divorce under the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law.

    Under the Taliban regime, it has become more difficult for women to seek refuge after escaping an abusive marriage. A psychologist told The Post that local aid groups providing counselling and relief to abused women have been shut down. She also elaborated that under the new law, it has become more difficult to prove domestic violence.


    “Under the new law, women need to first go to the police station and provide multiple witnesses to prove abuse or if their husband is addicted to drugs,” she said.


    Women face more problems to find legal counseling as the Taliban have banned women from working as lawyers and judges. A lawyer speaking to the Post revealed that more women will find it harder to leave their abusive marriages if they cannot find proper legal representation to help them escape domestic violence:


    “The Taliban have created the perfect situation for men seeking revenge. The courts have lost their effectiveness and instead we see on the news women receiving [public] lashings for adultery.”

    Previously the Taliban regime caused international outcry after enforcing a policies that restricted women’s movement. Women were banned from attending high school and college, couldn’t travel anywhere without a male guardian and were restricted from attending parks, fairs or gyms.

    The United Nations received a report on the state of human rights in Afghanistan, which had criticized the Taliban regime for pursuing a policy ‘tantamount to gender apartheid’.

  • 28 bodies of Pakistanis recovered in migrant boat crash off Italy’s coast

    28 bodies of Pakistanis recovered in migrant boat crash off Italy’s coast

    The bodies of 28 Pakistanis have been recovered after a wooden sail boat carrying migrants from several countries crashed against the rocks off the southern Italian coast early on Sunday.

    According to the Pakistani embassy in Rome, a total of 40 Pakistanis were on board the ill-fated boat. The fate of 12 more citizens is still unclear.

    Talking about the tragic incident, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has said that most of the Pakistan who died belonged to Gujrat and some of them were on their way to Italy from Libya.

    The agency also said that strict action will be surely taken against the facilitators, ‘agents’ who send these people via illegal routes to foreign countries.

    A total of 59 migrants lost their life in the crash. The survivors were mostly from Afghanistan, as well as a few from Pakistan and a couple from Somalia. One survivor was arrested on migrant trafficking charges, customs police said.

    “According to survivors, 140 to 150 people were on board,” Manuela Curra, the provincial government official said. She added that 81 survivors— most of them from Afghanistan —had come ashore, including 22 who were now in the hospital.

  • Will summon Faiz Hameed in Parliament, says Khawaja Asif

    Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that he will demand in the parliament that former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General (DG) Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hameed should be summoned to the floor.

    Speaking on Mohammad Malick’s show “Breaking News” on 92 News, he alleged that Hameed brought Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) back to the country. Referencing to Hameed’s visit to Kabul in 2022 asked why Hameed gave out assurances that everything would be okay.

    It is pertinent to mention here that the former spy chief went to Kabul following the withdrawal of United States (US) troops from Afghanistan.

    He was expected to discuss border management and the overall security issue — to ensure that spoilers and terrorist organisations do not take advantage of the situation — with the Taliban.

    Further lashing out at Hameed, the federal minister said that hundreds of thousands of Afghanis are still in Pakistan and put the blame for the recent extreme episodes of terrorism on the former spy chief’s head.

    He also pointed out that terrorism incidents in the country did not increase just within six to eight months.

    Since government talks with the TTP broke down in November, the militant group has intensified its attacks across Pakistan including attacks on the police.

    According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018.

    In January, more than 100 people lost their lives in a suicide attack at a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines. The TTP initially claimed responsibility for the attack, however, it later backtracked and claimed that it did not perpetrate the bombing.

    TTP is also responsible for the recent attack on Karachi police chief’s office which took place on February 17.

  • Terror attacks: January 2023 deadliest month since July 2018

    Terror attacks: January 2023 deadliest month since July 2018

    January 2023 has become the deadliest month with the maximum number of terror attacks since July 2018, with 134 people losing their lives in at least 44 militant attacks across Pakistan, data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) has shown.

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) residents remain in the eye of the storm after two suicide bombings were rocked the province — one in Peshawar and the other one in the tribal district.

    Although the number of terrorist attacks declined slightly in January, fatalities increased by 139 per cent, attributed mostly to the Peshawar Police Lines suicide blast on Monday which resulted in the death of over 100 people.

    The data mentions that KP Police was the primary target of the militants operating in the province bordering Afghanistan.

    Militant attacks declined in Balochistan during January, however, Punjab saw four incidents in which three security forces personnel were killed while two low-profile attacks were reported in Sindh in which one person died.

  • Cold snap kills least 160 people in Afghanistan

    Cold snap kills least 160 people in Afghanistan

    Afghan authorities have reported on Thursday that more than 160 people have died this month from the cold, as the country goes through the most severe winter season in more than a decade.

    Villagers in the country have spoken of their inability to pay for fuel to heat their houses in well-below-freezing conditions.


    “162 people have died due to cold weather since January 10 until now,” said Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Minister of Disaster Management.

    Temperatures have dipped to as low as -34 degrees Celsius (-29.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

    Even in the early days of winter, medical specialists noticed a significant increase in the number of young children suffering from severe pneumonia and other respiratory ailments. The ailments are partially attributable to rising poverty, which hinders individuals from appropriately heating their houses.

  • Bilawal blames PTI policies for TTP attacks

    Bilawal blames PTI policies for TTP attacks

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari— who is currently in Davos for the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting— has spoken to Al Jazeera about the recently held conference in Geneva for Pakistan’s devasting flood losses, a looming economic crisis and the soaring threats of terrorism.

    In his interview, the 34-year-old minister blamed the previous government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for its wrong approach and “policy of appeasement” towards the Taliban.

    He said, “I believe that the previous government had the wrong approach. Its policy of appeasement towards the Taliban has created problems for the people of Pakistan”, adding that this approach has been ended by the incumbent government.

    He said that recently the government also had a national security meeting and it was decided then that Pakistan would adopt a zero-tolerance policy against terrorist groups.

    Talking about the oppressive Taliban reign in Afghanistan, Bilawal urged the world to continue engaging with Afghanistan as it is the only solution. He said, “We [Pakistan] are neighbours, we couldn’t separate if we wanted to. The only way to enhance leverage on both sides is to continue to engage with them.”

    “I do not think turning our back and disengaging is an option. And it’s certainly not an option for Pakistan which shares such a long and porous border with Afghanistan”, he said, highlighting that both “Pakistanis and Afghanis are victims of terrorism”.

    About the economic and food crisis back home, the minister pointed out that Pakistan is not alone in facing the economic crisis as the world is also suffering and these all are the result of post-covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    However, he hoped that the situation will get better in the coming days. `

    Terming the Geneva conference “resilient”, he thanked the international community for pledging more than $9 billion for Pakistan’s flood rehabilitation and climate resilience building.