Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief

Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief.

DUBAI | Msn News | 06 Sep 2014 : :  Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across the subcontinent.

In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy.

Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as a glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda's aging leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanized young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border.

Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a "caliph" or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims.

The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi's followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions.

As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi. He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation.

However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge. (Courtesy : Retures, Msn News )

Taliban inmates break out of Afghan prison.

Taliban inmates break out of Afghan prison.

KABUL | AP | 21 April 2014 ::  An official says three Taliban insurgents escaped from a prison in northern Afghanistan using weapons smuggled into the facility in a jailbreak that killed three police guards.

A spokesman for the Faryab provincial government, Ahmad Jawad Dedar, said on Friday that the breakout took place the previous night. A fourth inmate who was also trying to escape was killed in a shootout with security forces.

Dedar says the fugitives are low-level Taliban operatives who were jailed for planting roadside bombs. The four inmates launched their breakout during the nightly count of prisoners, throwing several grenades and shooting guards with at least one pistol.

Dedar said authorities have launched a search for the three fugitives and are investigating how the weapons were smuggled into the prison.( Courtesy : Dawn )

Taliban releases 'pointless' for Afghan peace: officials.

Taliban releases 'pointless' for Afghan peace: officials.

Afghan and US officials, at the time of Abdul Ghani
 Baradar's arrest, hadaccused Pakistan of
sabotaging peace efforts by arresting him.

KABUL | AFP | 14 Sep 2013 ::  Afghan officials say Pakistan's release of 33 Taliban prisoners from jail, a policy initially trumpeted by Kabul as an opportunity to ignite peace talks, has resulted in no concrete progress.

The Afghan government, desperately searching for a way to negotiate peace before Nato troops leave next year, has said that the release of influential insurgents could encourage their comrades to the negotiating table.

But despite the 33 Afghan Taliban prisoners released by Pakistan and dozens of others freed in Afghanistan, there is still no peace process and some fighters have returned to the battlefield.

The Taliban still refuse publicly to deal with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, branding him a US puppet.

They have also shown no willingness to participate in elections on April 5, 2014 when Karzai will step aside for a new leader for the first time since the 2001 US-led invasion.

Instead their readiness to negotiate with the Americans about a prisoner swap has only infuriated Karzai, who late last month asked Pakistan to help find a direct channel of communication.

In parts of Afghanistan, which continue to suffer daily from Taliban violence, the releases have been met with incomprehension if not anger by local government officials.

“The Taliban who are released... rejoin the battlefield again,” said Zurawar Zahid, police chief of the flashpoint southern province of Ghazni.

“We put our lives in danger to arrest them, but the central government releases them under different pretences,” he added.

Zahid told AFP that more than 40 Taliban, including some senior commanders, who were recently freed from Ghazni central prison on Karzai's orders have gone back to the battlefield.(Courtesy:Dawn)

Afghan Taliban strikes near U.S. consulate.

Afghan Taliban strikes near U.S. consulate.

Official says a car bomb has gone off near the U.S. consulate in western Afghanistan.

Afghan security personnel investigate the site of a suicide car bombing and a gunfight near the U.S. consulate in Herat Province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sept. 13, 2013.(Photo: Hoshang Hashimi, AP)

USA TODAY | 13 Sep 2013 :: Taliban militants staged a suicide car bombing outside the United States consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat early Friday, killing two Afghan police and a security guard.

U.S. and Afghan security forces then fought off an attack by insurgents. No Americans were injured in the attack and the U.S. consulate said its staff "performed superbly."

The Taliban subsequently claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to the Associated Press.

A statement posted on the ISAF: Nato forces in Afghanistan Facebook page from U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham said: "We are grateful for the quick response of the Afghan and ISAF security forces who secured the facility and kept our personnel safe."

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told said in a statement that the assault began around 5:30 a.m., when "a truck carrying attackers drove to the front gate, and attackers — possibly firing rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles — started firing at Afghan forces and security guards on the exterior of the gates. Shortly after, the entire truck exploded, extensively damaging the front gate."

"Afghan civilians and Afghans on contract to the consulate were also killed or injured," Ambassador Cunningham said, without giving any figures.

Robert Hilton, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, said that "all consulate personnel are safe and accounted for."

Herat lies near Afghanistan's border with Iran and is considered one of the better developed and safer cities in the country, with a strong Iranian influence. Most of the violence in Afghanistan has been concentrated in the east and the south.(Courtesy:USA TODAY)

Pakistan releases seven Afghan Taliban prisoners.

Pakistan releases seven Afghan Taliban prisoners.

ISLAMABAD | KABUL | 07 Sep 2013 ::  Pakistan freed a group of Afghan Taliban on Saturday in an attempt to improve its troubled ties with its South Asian neighbour, but risked angering Afghanistan further by not handing them over directly to the Kabul authorities.

The announcement followed last month's trip by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Pakistan, where he sought the handover of some Afghan insurgents as part of the stalled peace process.

Karzai as well as the United States want Pakistan to hand the insurgents directly to the Afghan authorities, but on Saturday, a group of seven Taliban was simply allowed to walk out of their cells into Pakistan.

“In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, Pakistan is releasing seven Taliban detainees,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

A foreign ministry spokesman separately said all seven, including a senior commander called Mansoor Dadullah, were freed on Saturday. The other prisoners are Said Wali, Abdul Manan, Karim Agha, Sher Afzal, Gul Muhammad and Muhammad Zai.

Asked if they had been handed over to the Afghan authorities or were just released in Pakistan, the spokesman said: “Just released.”

Pakistan is said to have backed the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and is seen as a crucial gatekeeper in attempts by the US and Afghan governments to contact insurgent leaders who fled to Pakistan after the group's 2001 removal.

But Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of playing a double game in its 12-year-old war against Taliban fighters. It says Pakistan, facing a Taliban insurgency of its own, makes pronouncements about peace, but allows elements of its military to play a spoiling role.(Courtesy:Dawn)

Escape from Taliban' author shot dead in Afghanistan.

Escape from Taliban' author shot 

dead in Afghanistan.

In this photograph taken on March 6, 2003, Indian
 author Sushmita Banerjee holds one of her
 Bengali language novels. (AFP files)

KHOST | Afghanistan | 06 Sep 2013 ::  An Indian author whose story was told in the movie "Escape from Taliban" was shot dead after returning to Afghanistan to make a documentary about women, police said on Friday.

The killing of Sushmita Banerjee, 49, on Wednesday was the latest in a series of attacks on women in the conservative Islamic country, adding to concern that hard-won women's rights are eroding ahead of next year's withdrawal of most international forces.

The Afghan Taliban denied involvement.

Banerjee, who told her story of life under the Islamist Taliban in "A Kabuliwala's Bengali Wife", was dragged from her house in lawless southeastern province of Paktika and shot as many as two dozen times, police said.

Her body was found on Thursday morning near an Islamic school about three km (two miles) from her home, Paktika police chief General Dawlat Khan Zadran said.

"Gunmen entered her house at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, took her out and shot her dead," Zadran said, adding that he suspected Taliban involvement.

Speaking to Reuters from Paktika police headquarters, Banerjee's husband, Jaanbaz Khan, said he had heard knocking on the back gate of their compound on Wednesday night.(Courtesy:Toronto SUN)Read More>>>

Taliban claim attack on American base in eastern Afghanistan.

Taliban claim attack on American base 

in eastern Afghanistan.

Al Arabiya | 02  Sep 2013 :: Afghan Taliban militants on Monday claimed responsibility for an attack on a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border, according to AFP news agency.

Officials confirmed the attack.

“A group of suicide bombers have attacked a U.S. base in Torkham near the border with Pakistan,” Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor, told AFP.

In a statement sent to the media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

Abdulzai said fighting was ongoing between U.S. and Afghan forces against the militants.(copy from: Al Arabia)

Afghan Taliban confirm talks in Iran.

AP

The image shows Afghan Taliban fighters. — Photo by AFP

KABUL|03|June|2013:: A Taliban spokesman has confirmed that the Afghan insurgents have sent a delegation to Iran for three days of talks. The unprecedented meeting signals that Iran could be seeking the role of regional mediator between the Taliban and Kabul.

Spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said Monday in an email that emissaries from the Taliban's political office met with Iranian officials over the weekend.

He said a separate group of clerics attended a religious conference in Tehran.

An Iranian news agency said Saturday that Tehran had hosted a Taliban delegation.

The Sunni Muslim Taliban have long been enemies of Iran's ruling Shia clerics.

Ahmadi also said the Taliban's political wing would accept any invitation for conferences, a possible good sign for so-far fruitless efforts to negotiate an end to the Afghan war.(Courtesy:Dawn)