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Taliban claims it'll be more moderate, but killings continue in Afghanistan

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 16:56:09 -0400

Afghanistan's resurgent Taliban pledged to respect "women’s rights" in a propaganda blitz Tuesday, despite its history of denying women such freedoms.

And in Kabul, Taliban vehicles packed with armed militants were recorded on video patrolling residential areas for activists and government workers. Gunshots can be heard as they accelerate down the street.

Longtime Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid held his first news conference Tuesday to state that the extremist group would honor women’s rights -- within sharia law. He also claimed that amnesty would be offered to Afghans who had worked for the country’s defunct, U.S.-backed government

Before the post-9/11 U.S. invasion toppled the Taliban government in 2001, the group severely curtailed women’s freedoms, confining them to their homes without a male chaperone and enforcing strict dress codes.

WHITE HOUSE ADMITS ‘FAIR AMOUNT’ OF US EQUIPMENT IN TALIBAN HANDS

This week, the Taliban is encouraging women to return to work and girls to go back to school, where headscarves are being handed out, according to The Associated Press.

Earlier Tuesday, an Afghan and former State Department contractor told Fox News that Taliban fighters had set up checkpoints throughout Kabul, in some cases beating civilians trying to get to the airport and escape the country.

"There was kids, women, babies, old women, they could barely walk," he said. "They [are in a] very, very bad situation, I'm telling you. At the end, I was thinking that there was like 10,000 or more than 10,000 people, and they’re running into the airport … The Taliban [were] beating people and the people were jumping from the fence, the concertina wire, and also the wall."

He said the militants were going through neighborhoods in search of people who’d helped the U.S. and that Taliban fighters had questioned his neighbors about him.

The situation on the ground in Afghanistan is rapidly evolving, according to the State Department, which is scrambling to evacuate thousands of Americans and allies following the Taliban’s rapid sweep across the country.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN? LIVE UPDATES

Even before the U.S. finished departing from the country, Taliban fighters claimed territory across the country, including Kabul, the nation’s capital. In many instances, the U.S.-trained and supplied Afghan military ceded ground without a fight. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country Sunday, and Taliban fighters were posing for pictures in the presidential palace hours later.

As many as 11,000 Americans remained in the country as of Tuesday, with the Biden administration scrambling to arrange flights.

However, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stopped short of pledging that the military would help evacuate all Americans and allies who remain in the country past the end of the month.

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"Our focus right now is on doing the work at hand," she said during a news briefing, defining that as evacuating as many eligible people as possible.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told Fox News Tuesday that the U.S. has "received assurances" from the Taliban that the group will allow safe passage for civilians headed to Kabul's airport.

"We take it for what it is," he said. "We will of course be looking for one thing and one thing only, follow through."

Fox News’ Adam Shaw, Rich Edson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A photo previously included in this report was used inadvertently; it was not taken this year.

Taliban violently break up protest in eastern Afghanistan, video shows

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 09:50:30 -0400

One person has been killed and six others are reported wounded Wednesday as videos are emerging of the Taliban violently breaking up a protest in eastern Afghanistan.

Footage obtained by Fox News shows a crowd in the streets of Jalalabad unfurling a large Afghanistan flag amidst the sounds of cheers.

Gunshots then ring out as the crowd continues to wave the flag up and down, before a video taken later shows people running away from the scene as more consistent gunfire is heard.

LIVE UPDATES: AFGHANISTAN'S TALIBAN REPORTEDLY COLLECTING GUNS, AMMO FROM KABUL RESIDENTS

"There was panic when the Taliban fired openly on people who ran away, some hid in streets and others went inside shops," Babrak Amerzada, a local journalist at the scene, told Fox News.

He added "at the same time another Taliban group came and hit my camera and beat us with their rifle boots and later another group came and apologized to us.

"Then I escaped from scene and hid in the national radio and TV station building," Amerzada said.

A local health official told the Associated Press that at least one person was killed and six were wounded. The official was not authorized to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Babrak Amirzada, a reporter for a local news agency, also told the AP that he and a TV cameraman from another agency were beaten by the Taliban as they tried to cover the unrest.

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The people had gathered in Jalalabad to raise the national flag a day before Afghanistan’s Independence Day, which commemorates the end of British rule in 1919.

They had lowered the Taliban flag — a white banner with an Islamic inscription — that the militants have raised in the areas they captured.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ex-refugees struggle with their Afghanistan homecoming

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 17:45:00 -0400

On a cold and windy morning, Saed Mohammad was busy organizing his possessions on the ground in a village not far from the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

He returned home to Afghanistan in November last year, after spending 20 years as a refugee in neighboring Pakistan. His is one of many families -- also former refugees -- who have returned home to the restive Nangarhar Province, where the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) in recent years, its clashes with the Taliban and the targeting of both by U.S. airstrikes have destabilized the area.

Mohammad 35, who was 15 when he left Afghanistan, has had a difficult time adjusting to life back in his native country. Recalling his days in Pakistan’s city of Peshawar, where he worked as a shopkeeper, he said: “I spent a really good time in Pakistan, even as a refugee. The situation is worse in Afghanistan, and it’s a difficult for us to live here with security threats looming all the time.

"While we were in Pakistan," he said, "my children were going to school and we were happy.”

Mohammad said he and his family received scant assistance after returning to Afghanistan, despite promises by authorities to help. “Here," he said, "my children have not adequate food, shelter and clothes, no money to buy firewood, to save my family from the cold winter.”

Pakistan remains home to at least 1.38 million registered Afghan refugees, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). At least another million are estimated to be living outside the formal refugee registration system.

Refugees from Afghanistan have flooded into Pakistan through various periods of turmoil since the Soviet invasion in 1979, with many arriving after U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in 2001. The refugee issue has been a persistent one here, with no apparent end in sight.

But the question has gained new urgency recently, as President Donald Trump’s has called on Pakistan to do more in the fight against terrorism.

Pakistan responded to those calls to get tougher with new regulations on refugee arrivals, telling some Afghans they had one month to return to their homeland. And last month, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Pakistan’s minister of states and frontier regions, urged the United States to chalk out a framework for the successful repatriation of Afghan refugees.

Speaking to U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Nancy Izzo Jackson in Islamabad, Baloch said Pakistan has faced multiple and complex problems as a result of the Afghan refugee situation.

The problems are also complex for returnees from Pakistan like Mohammad. Among the great complexities of trying to rebuild their interrupted lives: finding shelter, and securing jobs in a difficult environment.

“The refugees returning from Pakistan are facing major challenges regarding resettlement and livelihood," said Javed Noorani, an independent researcher and board member of the Afghanistan Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission.

Pakistan’s government recently extended the stay of Afghan refugees until March 31, a shorter-than-recommended timeline that revives fears Islamabad is preparing a forced return of hundreds of thousands to violence-plagued Afghanistan. Fraught relations between Islamabad and Kabul have prompted concern that Pakistan might indeed retaliate by pushing back Afghan refugees, particularly since official permission to stay was extended for just 30 days at the beginning of this year.

“Throughout 2016, Afghanistan accepted over 370,000 returnees, mostly from Pakistan and Iran," said Hafizullah Maikhil, spokesman for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees. "The Kabul government, along with the international community, aided refugees financially. But 2016 was a tough and challenging year for the Afghan government in terms of returnees, in massive numbers."

Qaisar Afridi, a UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan, told Fox News: “UNHCR continued to advocate in resolving the long-term pragmatic solutions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. We appreciate the people and government of Pakistan, which served the high volume of Afghan refugees for last four decades,”

Afridi continued: “On the call of the international community, UNHCR provides refugees targeted development assistance to support sustainable repatriation. We have been providing $200 to each registered refugee once they cross the Torkham border and enter into Afghanistan.”

Liaqat Khan 32, who, like Mohammad, is from Nangarhar, left Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, and grew up in Pakistan. “My district is under militants’ control at moment," Khan said. "Due to the insecurity, I am unable to go there, and living here in [Jalalabad city] in a rented compartment with no income."

Refugee officials are concerned about the prospect of grappling with a large number of forced returns to Afghanistan. “An increase in the number of forced returnees from Pakistan will likely result in significant humanitarian impact in Nangarhar, Kandahar and Kabul Provinces, not only for returnees but also for existing internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities, straining existing response capacities,” said a report by ACAPS, a nongovernmental group that provides information and analysis to the humanitarian community.

"Armed clashes between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the Islamic State of Khorasan over the past month have boiled over into brutal change of territorial control, from which thousands of Afghan families are desperately fleeing for their lives," said Will Carter, head of programme for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

And there's no quick fix in sight, experts on the situation say.

"There are 2.3 million refugees in Pakistan; this is a huge number and it is impossible for all of them to go back immediately," said Baryali Miankhel, president of an Afghan refugee welfare organization in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, home to many refugees. "We have told the Pakistani government this."

Miankhel said refugees are fleeing Pakistan “due to shorter deadlines from the government of Pakistan. That is the main reason."

The problem, he added, is that "security in Kabul is deteriorating, and still there is no peace in the war-torn country. People have no economic opportunities, or even a place to live and educate their children."

A total of 590 undocumented Afghans spontaneously returned or were deported from Pakistan through the Torkham (Nangarhar) and Spin Boldak (Kandahar) border crossings from Jan. 28 – Feb. 3, according to the Border Monitoring Team of the Directorate of Refugees and Repatriation for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Afghanistan.

A U.N. humanitarian response study has recently found “Afghanistan continues to face immense humanitarian, social and political challenges. In 2017, ongoing conflict has displaced as many as 360,000 people from their homes and resulted in 8,019 civilian casualties -- two-thirds of these women and children.

"The intensification of the conflict, combined with a surge in sectarian violence, has led to extremely high numbers of war wounded on both sides of the conflict.”

Abdul Ghani 65, lived in the northwestern Pakistan city of Jehangira for almost 39 years, and moved his family to his native Kunar Province in Afghanistan October. Now he finds himself and his family caught up in the struggled that go along with a homecoming.

"Look at the situation of house, a hut in a tent colony for refugees. We have no safe drinking water and our children have not enough clothes. I never expected to face this condition in my native country,” Ghani told Fox News.

Taliban, stung by escalated U.S. military effort, calls for dialogue

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 16:26:00 -0500

The Taliban in Afghanistan, under pressure from a stepped-up Trump administration military campaign, released a rambling letter to the American people on Wednesday, calling for dialogue to end the prolonged Afghan war.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released copies of the 10-page document in several languages, detailing what he claimed were Taliban gains and so-called failures of the “illegitimate” U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan, which is now in its 17th year.

“If you want peaceful dialogue with the Afghans specifically, and with the world generally, then make your president and the war-mongering congressmen and Pentagon officials understand this reality and compel them to adopt a rational policy towards Afghanistan,” the letter said.

The letter came at a time when the United States has increased the pace and intensity of air strikes in support of anti-insurgent ground and air operations by Afghan forces. The effort is part of President Trump’s new strategy to break the military stalemate with the Taliban, and push them to the negotiating table.

The U.S. has recently sent mixed responses about its readiness to communicate directly with the Taliban. But it has urged that in any substantive talks, the U.S.-friendly Kabul government would have a leading role within the Afghan government.

In the wake of an ambulance bombing at the end of January, an American official, referring to Trump’s statement said, “We don’t want peace talks with the Taliban,” saying the attacks proved the Taliban were not ready to negotiate in good faith.

But the Taliban also vowed to continue the fight if their efforts to establish dialogue weren't taken seriously. American experts on Afghanistan were skeptical.

“We shouldn't overstate the importance of this letter. It may be a case of the Taliban trying to earn some legitimacy and goodwill by playing the role of good guy and proposing nonviolent solutions,” said Michael Kugelman, a senior analyst for South Asia at the Wilson Center, in Washington. “At the end of the day, the Taliban has no incentive to propose talks unless it's starting to feel major pressure on the battlefield. Though U.S. forces have ramped up their fight, I think it's too early for the Taliban to suddenly conclude it's not worth fighting anymore."

Kugelman said the Taliban offer could nonetheless be useful to the Trump administration. "Even if the letter is just a bluff, and I assume it is, the White House can say -"Look, our strategy is already paying off."

A spate of bombings last month in Kabul fueled anger against the Taliban across the country, and prompted the Trump administration to close the doors for peace talks with the Islamic insurgents.

But the Taliban knows Trump doesn’t want the U.S. to be in Afghanistan. The Taliban will be banking on the belief the U.S. and the West have lost the will to remain there.

US ADDING AIR POWER, INTELLIGENCE GATHERING IN AFGHANISTAN

US AND PAKISTAN CLASH AT UN OVER AFGHANISTAN

In a recent visit to eastern Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, who commands the U.S. and NATO’s Resolute Support mission in the Afghanistan, said the intensified U.S. offensive is producing results.

“The success of the Afghan operations around the country, supported by Resolute Support and U.S. forces, have caused the enemy high casualties everywhere. This has caused them to stop their attempts to seize provincial capitals, to stop trying to cease districts,” Nicholson said.

There have been varying estimates of how much control and influence the Taliban has across the country. It’s hard to settle on the most accurate estimate, but this much is clear: The Taliban has undoubtedly increased the amount of territory where it has a deep footprint, including in areas in the country’s north and west, far from its traditional strongholds in the south and east.

"Presumably the Taliban knows the territory that it has won, and the government knows the territory that it has lost," said Peter Galbraith, a former United Nations' Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.

Pakistan women's rights activist stands up against blasphemy allegations: 'I will not be silenced'

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 10:52:00 -0500

A women’s right activist in Pakistan is pushing back against a man who accused her of blasphemy, a charge that carries a potential death sentence.

Gulalai Ismail, the founder of the Aware Girls, a women’s empowerment group in Pakistan, filed charges against Hamza Khan, the zealous head of a local youth parliament.

The move is seen as bold – and unprecedented – in a patriarchal society where women’s rights are seen as lagging.

Khan accused Ismail, 31, of insulting Islam, defaming Pashtun culture and threatening the state of Pakistan. Khan posted a photo of Ismail on social media accusing her of pushing a “western agenda” because of her advocacy for women’s rights. On the social media clip, he also urged a mob to attack her, denouncing her as an infidel.

While the social media post put her life in danger, the blasphemy allegations are even more severe. It is one of the most serious crimes in the Pakistani penal code and carries an almost certain death sentence. Several politicians have been assassinated for trying to amend the country’s draconian blasphemy laws.

Ismail has strongly fought back against the blasphemy allegations, calling on the state to decide her case.

She told Fox News she took the extraordinary step of filing charges to stand up for those who have been wrongly accused.

“I stand not only for myself – this legal move will give voice to other people in Pakistan who are falsely charged with blasphemy,” a defiant and emotional Ismail told Fox News. “It will be a precedent and the state now should legislate the growing issue of false blasphemy allegations of in the name of religion.”

Khan, who was arrested after Ismail filed a complaint against him, brushed off the charges and vowed to prove his innocence.

“Ms. Gulalai is using this tactic to seek refugee or asylum in some western country," he told Fox News.

Activists have argued for years that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are ripe for abuse, with allegations made simply to smear rivals or settle scores. Politicians are wary of demanding change, however, fearing it would rile religious conservatives.

There have been at least 67 murders over unproven allegations of blasphemy since 1990, though the actual figure is thought to be much higher. Among them was Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, who was gunned down by his bodyguard in 2011 after calling for a reform of the blasphemy laws. His killer was executed in 2016, but tens of thousands attended the murderer’s funeral, hailing him as a martyr.

“The trend of using blasphemy as a tool to silence people is something the state must look at. People who defame others should not get away so easily. It has very serious consequences on people’s lives,” said Nighat Dad, an Internet activist Pakistan.

As a woman and activist in Pakistan, Ismail has become an easy target, particularly online, where blasphemy allegations can be made anonymously to whip up a storm of hatred.

Though her life is under constant threat, Ismail continues fighting for women’s rights.

“It is important to speak up. By keeping silent we give space to these people and they will accuse someone else,” she said. “When a girl speaks about her rights she has so much power that people think she is a threat to Islam, culture and state all at once. I will not be silenced. I am not afraid from these cowards. I will fight against them and prove them wrong.”

Terror mastermind freed in Pakistan despite $10M bounty, may run for office

Fri, 24 Nov 2017 08:41:00 -0500

A Pakistani court on Wednesday ordered the release of a notorious Islamist leader accused of masterminding the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, in which 166 people were killed, clearing the way for his return to politics.

The move ended the brief detention of Hafiz Saeed, who was only put under house arrest in January after years of living freely in Pakistan. The 67-year-old cleric still has a $10 million bounty on his head and is designated a terrorist by the United Nations, yet remains head of the terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

The U.S. reacted swiftly, condemning the decision.

"The United States is deeply concerned that ... Hafiz Saeed has been released from house arrest in Pakistan. LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens," state department spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

Lahore High Court’s judicial review body on Wednesday rejected a Punjab government request to renew Saeed’s detention for a further 90 days, his spokesman Nadeem Awan told Fox News.

President Trump has taken a more aggressive stance regarding Pakistan, pushing for a crackdown on militants plotting attacks on Afghanistan and India.

“We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations,” Trump said when rolling out his policy for south Asia in August, declaring that Pakistan would have “much to lose” if it did not comply.

However, Trump’s stern rhetoric was described by Pakistan security officials as shifting of the blame for failures in the war against the Taliban and other militant groups fighting in war-torn Afghanistan and lack of acknowledgement for Pakistan’s sacrifices.

"When the government failed to present any concrete evidence to justify Hafiz Saeed's continued house arrest, the court dismissed the government’s request and ordered his release after ending of his current duration of house arrest," Awan told Fox News.

Saeed, who is seen as a possible candidate for public office, thanked the judges of Lahore high court in a video statement.

“The lawyers of the court supported me tremendously and I am so thankful to God for that,” he said. “This is a great step for freedom for Pakistan.”

Members of JuD say it is purely a charity organization, but the U.S. views it is a front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an anti-India militant jihadi group that Saeed helped found in the 1990s to fight with Indian military inside Indian-occupied Kashmir and to launch attacks on India.

Delhi has pressed for Saeed's to be handed over to face trial for the Mumbai terror attacks, in which LeT gunmen attacked luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a railway station in India’s biggest city and brought the nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Saeed's lawyer, A.K Dogar, said the wanted man is now free, at least within Pakistan.

"There is no restriction at all on Hafiz Saeed now. The three members [Judges] review board on maintenance of public order examined the detention and government had not provided any tangible evidence to putting Saeed under further house arrest".

Four of Saeed’s JuD colleagues Abdullah Ubaid, Abdur Rehman Abid Zafar Iqbal and Qazi Kashif Niaz were released last month, when a similar review board determined the government’s evidence for their continued detention to be insufficient.

Saeed's release paves the way for him to play a leading role in Pakistan’s general election in 2018. During his period of house arrest, he has overseen the launch of a new political party, the Milli Muslim League (MML) in August, which is set to contest several seats in the coming polls.

It is still unclear that if he will run for office himself,but his previous profile ensures he will be a prominent figure in the campaign.

Haroon Janjua is an award-winning Pakistan-based journalist who has reported on a wide range of political, military and economic developments.

Former Taliban hostage buried food to save unborn children

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 13:21:00 -0400

A Canadian man held hostage by the Taliban for five years said he buried food underground to save his unborn children.

In an interview with Fox News, Joshua Boyle, 34, said his kidnappers poisoned his pregnant wife’s meals with estrogen to force her to miscarry. Boyle and his family moved to Canada, where he is from, after they were rescued.

Boyle told Fox News one unborn baby was killed by the terrorists, who were members of the Haqqani network, and his wife delivered two babies while she they were in captivity.

CAITLAN COLEMAN, AMERICAN WOMAN RELEASED WITH HER FAMILY IN PAKISTAN: WHO IS SHE?

But in order to make sure she carried to term, the couple kept her pregnancy a secret and buried their food underground to keep a safe supply.

His wife, Caitlan Coleman, 31, who claims she was raped many times by a guard, gave birth to three children while in captivity.

“The captors later told us after the forced abortion how it was done, which made it easier for us to avoid on the next two pregnancies,” he said. “We buried ‘safe’ food in the dirt floor in some houses before she was pregnant.”

The couple tried to keep the pregnancies a secret but Boyle said that the militants became suspicious. Boyle delivered his second son and daughter by torchlight.

FORMER HOSTAGE CAITLAN COLEMAN RUSHED TO HOSPITAL, HUSBAND SAYS

Boyle and his family were rescued by Pakistani commandos three weeks ago along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The rescue operation ended a five-year ordeal for the couple, who say they were kidnapped in 2012 while hiking in Afghanistan during their honeymoon.

Boyle said there are still many questions that need to be answered. He questioned why Americans knew their location for years but never tried rescue them and also questioned the timing of the rescue, the fifth anniversary of when they were taken hostage.

“We are glad that we were finally rescued, on the fifth anniversary of our kidnapping, nonetheless,” he said, “which indicates it was certainly not ‘coincidence’ - but a planned and rehearsed day for at least one of the parties involved.”

Boyle said that while his kidnappers tried to force him to join the Haqqani network, he refused to do so.

“I have standards,” he said. “It’s what sets me apart from them.”

He said because of his refusal to join the network, the kidnappers tried to kill his unborn babies. Boyle said they spiked his wife’s food so they could force her to miscarry once they realized she was pregnant. The group has denied this claim, saying she miscarried naturally.

But Boyle said the kidnappers admitted to him what they had done.

The Haqqani network recruited Osama bin Laden in the 1980s and now runs the Taliban’s lucrative kidnapping network. The Taliban said yesterday that the health of another American held by the Haqqanis, Kevin King, a university professor, was deteriorating.

The insurgents have threatened to kill King and his Australian colleague, Timothy Weekes, unless one of their senior commanders, Anas Haqqani, is released from death row in Afghanistan.

Boyle believes that, far from being religious zealots, the captors had little knowledge of Islam and were mere thugs.

“You could always tell when an actual Taliban representative had come to the prison compound because suddenly all of our remarkably secular, mercenary guards would be wearing black turbans and reciting Quran, something they never did unless there was a pious visitor,” he said. “Their opposition is not based on religious fervor but a primitive love of blood sports, the desire to dominate, rape, kill and be feared.”

Haroon Janjua is an award-winning Pakistan-based journalist who has reported on a wide range of political, military and economic developments.

Jailed doc who helped US find Bin Laden must wait another 2 months to find out fate

Tue, 01 Aug 2017 11:35:00 -0400

A heroic Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA locate Usama bin Laden – but has been languishing in prison for six years – will have to wait another two months to find out if he can go free.

A Pakistan court last Thursday adjourned a hearing for Dr. Shakil Afridi, who is appealing his conviction on treason charges. The court pushed the hearing back to September 28 – further complicating his years-long effort to be released.

Qamar Nadim, Afridi’s attorney, told Fox News that the most recent court hearing was postponed because the government prosecutor failed to show up.

“The case has been voluntarily delayed by the state,” Nadim said. “The state is now using delaying tactics.”

The U.S. has been negotiating Afridi’s release for years – though talks have heated up in the past few months. He’s been widely credited with helping the CIA track down Bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, who was killed after he was found hiding in the Pakistan city of Abbotabad.

BACKROOM DEALINGS UNDERWAY TO RELEASE HERO DOC WHO HELPED GET BIN LADEN

Just weeks after the spectacular May 2011 raid, the doctor was arrested on treason charges and was later sentenced to 33 years in prison for having militant group connections.

“Dr. Afridi has violated Pakistani law and worked against the state and I don’t think our government will change its stance on his release,” said Shahzad Chaudhary, a well-known defense analyst in Pakistan.

For years, Afridi has maintained his innocence.

U.S. officials have repeatedly condemned Afridi’s imprisonment and called on Pakistan to release him. U.S. officials have, however, said they regretted revealing his role in the highly publicized raid.

His arrest has sparked years of seesaw negotiations and has bruised already tense relations between Washington and Islamabad. Congress has even threatened to cut aid to Pakistan if it didn’t release Afridi – but all efforts to free the jailed doctor have so far proved unsuccessful.

EXCLUSIVE: JAILED DOC WHO HELPED NAIL BIN LADEN WARNS PAKISTAN SEES US AS 'WORST ENEMY'

Chaudhary has compared Afridi’s release with that of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who in 2010 was convicted for trying to kill American soldiers interrogating her in Afghanistan. She is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Texas.

“These are the matters of give and take on humanitarian grounds,” Chaudhary told Fox News. “If U.S. could release Dr. Siddiqui, then Pakistan in return will release Dr. Afridi.”

The U.S. is unlikely to release Siddiqui, who is believed to have ties to Al Qaeda and who married a nephew of self-proclaimed 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

ISIS, Taliban joined forces in brutal Afghan massacre that killed 50, officials say

Wed, 09 Aug 2017 13:39:00 -0400

Taliban militants collaborated with Islamic State commanders in a brazen attack on Saturday that killed more than 50 civilians and Afghan police officers in northern Afghanistan, local officials reported.

This new cooperation between the two brutal terrorist groups – which are usually adversaries and have fought turf battles in the past – could create serious trouble for the already struggling U.S-backed Kabul government.

Several local residents confirmed that some 600 insurgents, both Taliban and ISIS fighters, had overrun Mirza Olang village in the northern province of Sar-i-Pul.

ACCUSED TALIBAN AND ISIS FIGHTERS REVEAL INSIDE TACTICS, PERSONAL HISTORIES

Sharif Aminyar, the district governor of Sayad, said 50 people were killed, including women, children and 18 local Afghan police officers. Most of those killed were members of the ethnic Shia Hazara community.

“It was joint operation from ISIS and Taliban,” Aminyar said. “The Taliban were led by Mullah Nader and [ISIS] was headed by Sher Mohammed Ghazanfar.”

Many militants were foreigners speaking Uzbek, Turkmen and Punjabi, a language widely spoken in Pakistan, one of the villagers told Fox News.

The Taliban has denied cooperating with ISIS and said it was an effort to “discredit” the group.

ISIS THREAT IN AFGHANISTAN SHOWS NO END IN SIGHT

"The Afghan government and its foreign masters are making false claims that we are working with [ISIS] just to discredit us in the local community," a Taliban commander said.

Government officials, however, quoted villagers as saying that locals were brutally killed in the Mirza Olang attack, including some who were beheaded. Dead bodies were thrown off a cliff, the villagers said.

About 150 families that were being held hostage by the Taliban were released Tuesday night, Zabiullah Amani, a spokesman for the Sar-i-Pul provinical governor said. Possibly dozens of others are still being held captive, the spokesman said, though it’s unclear how many.

“[About] 235 civilians were rescued this evening from Mirza Aolang village with the intermediation of tribal elders and [the aid] of the governor’s office,” the spokesman said.

On Tuesday, the U.S. embassy in Kabul strongly condemned the attack.

“We extend our deepest heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of these inhumane and cowardly acts,” the statement said. “We believe Afghanistan deserves peace and security not deliberate and murderous attacks that victimize innocent Afghans.”

President Ashraf Ghani vowed revenge for the attack. But it underscores the fragile security in a war-torn nation.

As ISIS has slowly lost its stronghold on Afghanistan, with U.S.-backed Afghan forces able to regain most of the territory once occupied by the terrorist group, experts say a possible ISIS-Taliban collaboration is alarming.

“This ISIS-Taliban joint attack represents a nightmare scenario come true. The Taliban and ISIS are widely understood to be foes, not friends, because of the Taliban’s close alliance with Al Qaeda — a bitter rival of ISIS. And yet Islamist terror groups in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region are all cut from the same basic ideological cloth,” said Michael Kugelman, a south Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C.

The U.S military estimates that only 60 percent of Afghanistan is in government hands while the rest is either contested or controlled by the Taliban or other insurgent groups like ISIS.

“We have to worry about the precedent it could set and the very troubling implications for Afghanistan’s rapidly deteriorating stability,” Kugelman told Fox News. “We shouldn’t overstate the idea of Taliban-ISIS partnership. If the Sar-i -Pul assault was indeed staged by both groups, it could well have been a tactical decision to work together as opposed to a new long-term strategic plan.”

How Trump's Afghanistan strategy was received by Afghan president and Pakistan

Wed, 23 Aug 2017 07:31:00 -0400

President Trump’s comprehensive new strategy to achieve a “lasting peace” in Afghanistan was enthusiastically received Tuesday by the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, which praised the increasing number of U.S. troops in the country as another way to strengthen weakened Afghan forces.

Trump’s speech also created pressure on the Pakistani government, which the U.S. has long suspected of sponsoring terrorism in Afghanistan.

Pakistan security officials have accused Trump of shifting the blame for failures in the war against the Taliban and other militant groups fighting in war-torn Afghanistan.

Addressing a new plan for the 16-year conflict in Afghanistan Monday night, Trump asked India -- Pakistan’s archrival -- to help the U.S. economically in Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development.

“We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting,” Trump also said.

“The strategy is made in accordance with realities on the ground,” said Najibullah Azad, a spokesman for the Afghan president. “This is the first time the U.S. government is coming with a very clear-cut message to Pakistan to either stop what you’re doing or face the negative consequences.”

However, while acknowledging Washington’s relationship with Pakistan as an ally, Trump said, “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond.”

"This is going to be a tough one for Pakistan -- the war has finally come to Pakistan in Afghanistan. My concern is for adventurism on both sides, but particularly how the deep state will now go after further silencing voices in the country that criticize the policy of supporting selected militant groups," said Pakistan’s Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, a well-known defense analyst.

"What Trump said about Pakistan may have been tough, but it was certainly not new. We've heard U.S. leaders many times pledge to get Pakistan to change its ways. And to this point, they haven't succeeded," said Michael Kugelman of the Woodrow Wilson Center.

"Such are the immutability of Pakistan's strategic interests -- which entail maintaining ties to groups like the Taliban because they keep India at bay in Afghanistan -- that I don't expect Trump's strategy, regardless of what it comes up with, to get Pakistan to alter its policies," he said.

The Afghan ambassador to the U.S., Hamdullah Mohib, called the speech a “shift away from talking about timetables and numbers to letting conditions on the ground determine military strategy.”

Mohib said the new strategy was a break with “micromanagement from Washington.”

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale paid a courtesy call on Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif Tuesday afternoon. Hale briefed the foreign minister about Trump’s latest policy review on South Asia and Afghanistan. Hale also reportedly said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson looked forward to meeting Asif in the next few days to have an in-depth discussion about the two countries’ relationship as well as the new U.S. policy.

Asad Umar, a senior political leader from opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, said, "It’s a failure of 16 long years, and the U.S. is moving in the circle without any achievements, the same old pressure narrative on Pakistan but it’s not new indeed."

Umar, who is also an economic expert, said he believes, "Possible economic sanctions will hold no global support as the U.S. is affecting the world negatively and the outcome of its policies, primarily in war-torn Afghanistan, is virtually close to zero."

One senior intelligence official in Islamabad told Fox News, on the condition of anonymity, that, "U.S. failure in Afghanistan is evident as casualties of civilians and troops are at record-high level, they are finding a way to get out from Afghanistan, the U.S. can't run away the failures of their own policies of the Ghani-led government and are blaming Pakistan."

“The U.S. wants a face-saving exit from Afghanistan, and sooner or later they will completely withdraw from Afghanistan, leaving the war-torn country mercilessly on its own fate,” said Shahzad Chaudhary, a Pakistani defense analyst.

“America wants us to fight their war, i.e. with the Haqqani network, which is purely an Afghan militant group. Regional powers should create a force for Afghanistan, which should play a role within itself for viable Afghan solution” Chaudhary added.

Taliban commander who attacked Malala is killed in Pakistan

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 20:00:00 -0400

Pakistani police counter-terrorism officers on Monday killed four terrorists including a commander of the banned group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who was involved in the 2012 attack on the child rights activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai.

All four militants were killed in a police shootout, conducted at the Southern port of city of Karachi, police officials confirmed.

A man identified as Khursheed – a cousin of the current TTP chief Mullah Fazalullah – was identified among the dead. He was linked to various terrorist attacks on security personnel as well as the attack on Malala.

“I am going to share good news with you that a cousin of TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah has been killed,” Senior Superintendent of Police Rao Anwar told reporters at the site of the shootout.

“Khursheed was involved in various incidents of terrorism, including attacks on education activist Malala Yousafzai as well as military and police in Karachi’s Quaidabad area,” Anwar said. “All the militants were members of the TTP Swat and were planning to carry out terrorist activities in the city.”

Malala was 15 when the brutal group attacked her in the militant-stricken Swat Valley where the group has launched its own illegal FM radio station, urged a jihad and motivated women to remain inside their homes. But, Malala stood against the Taliban and challanged them to continue her education in home despite bombing down of all the girls schools in the valley.

Swat residents during the brief rule of the Mullah Fazalullah complained of public hangings and beatings.

Shakir Ali, a station house officer in the Sachal area of Karachi, said on Monday the police identified Khursheed with the help of the documents recovered from his possession. “The police are also trying to identify the remaining terrorists killed in the encounter,” he added.

Malala was attacked and shot at close range by the gunmen in October 2012, as she left school in the Swat Valley.

MALALA TO STUDY AT OXFORD

Days after the attack, Pakistan’s Taliban described Malala as a “spy of the West.” “For this espionage, infidels gave her awards and rewards. And Islam orders killing of those who are spying for enemies,” the group said in a statement.

In June 2015, a Pakistani court in the northwestern province of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa freed eight out of the 10 militants charged with the shooting of Malala. That move however, raised serious questions about the country’s criticized judicial system.

Various global leaders condemned the attack on Malala. Hillary Clinton, who was then the U.S. secretary of state, said the girl had been “very brave” in standing up for the rights of other girls.

“The American people are shocked by this deplorable shooting of a girl who was targeted because she dared to attend school,” the White House said in 2012.

Last month, Malala announced on Twitter that she had been accepted to study politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University.

MALALA SPEAKS OUT AGAINST BOKO HARAM

Malala became a global symbol of defiance and won 2014 Nobel Peace prize. She now lives in the U.K.

Fazalullah's presence was so strong in the Swat that then-President Asif Ali Zardari in 2009, under pressure from conservatives, signed a regulation imposing Islamic Sharia law in the Swat Valley as part of a deal to end Taliban violence.

Khursheed was killed in Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous and violent metropolis port city, where various wanted militants have hidden in the past. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind, was arrested in Karachi in 2002. The American journalist Daniel Pearl had been kidnapped and beheaded there earlier in the same year.

Karachi has been rife with political, sectarian and ethnic tensions. A strategic operation by security forces in recent years has brought a lull in violence, but scattered attacks still unfold.

Haroon Janjua is an investigative journalist reporting on security issues, militancy, economy and human rights from Islamabad, Pakistan. Follow him on Twitter @JanjuaHaroon.

Death penalty, angry mob await Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 16:06:00 -0400

A young Christian man remains behind bars in Pakistan weeks after he was arrested for allegedly burning pages of the Koran outside a Muslim shrine, but jail may be the safest place for him - at least for now.

Asif Massih, 18 was arrested Aug. 12 on blasphemy charges stemming from an incident in Jam Kayk Chattha village Wazirabad, a central town of the Punjab province.

“He is on judicial remand on the order of the judge,” Alipur Chattha police spokesman Malik Irfan told Fox News. “People had witnessed that Massih had burnt the Holy Koran by pouring petrol on it outside Muslim shrine.”

After Massih was arrested, an angry crowd of around 200 men gathered outside the police station and demanded that he be handed over, Irfan said. Police moved him to another police station to save him from angry mob, Irfan added.

Massih is charged under 295-B of Pakistan’s penal code, the murky part of the Pakistan’s constitution that can lead to a death sentence for anyone convicted of desecrating the Koran.

Blasphemy is highly sensitive issue in predominantly Muslim majority Pakistan, where dozens sit on death row for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad or mistreating the Koran. Even mere accusations are enough for huge uproar that can ultimately lead to mob lynching and riots.

A court is recommending that parliament review Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law and make changes that will prevent people from being falsely accused of the crime. Islamabad's highest court recently recommended parliament amend the law to require the same punishment - the death penalty - for those who falsely allege blasphemy.

“Pakistan top court’s ruling for falsely using these laws is welcome initiative and at least it can bring some debate about reviewing these draconian laws,” said Farzana Bari, an Islamabad-based human rights activist.

In recent months, several violent blasphemy allegations have alarmed the human rights groups across the country. Critics believe blasphemy allegations are often used to settle personal and political scores.

“The blasphemy accused persons in Pakistan are not properly investigated and innocents are being victimized on false accusations,” said Kapil Dev, another Islamabad-based human rights activist.

According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, around 40 people are on death row or serving life sentences in Pakistan for committing blasphemy.

“It is my hope that the new prime minister and his government will promote interfaith harmony and protect the rights of religious minorities,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said while releasing the annual US report on religious freedom for 2016.

Hardline mobs have killed at least 71 people over alleged blasphemy since 1990, according to reports.

In April, outspoken university student Mashal Khan was killed by a student mob after being falsely accused of blasphemy in the northern city of Mardan, which prompted huge calls for a change in the law. Police are currently probing more than 50 students and some faculty members at the school Khan attended in connection with his lynching following a dorm debate Islam.

Teen couple electrocuted in Pakistan 'honor killing'

Tue, 12 Sep 2017 19:30:00 -0400

Two Pakistani teenagers who tried to elope were brutally murdered by relatives with electric shocks last month as an "honor killing" in the southern port city of Karachi, police confirmed.

The tribal boy and girl accused of falling in love with each other were declared by the local tribal council, or jirga, as a symbol of “dishonor” on the Pashtun community. The bodies will be exhumed for postmortem examinations on Wednesday, according to Aman Marwat, a police officer on the case.

Jirgas are often convened, particularly in conservative rural areas, to settle local disputes especially between poor families. Although they operate outside the law, their rulings of prompt justice, based on centuries-old traditions, are often honored by local officials.

On the orders of the influential tribal council, the teenage girl was murdered first, and the boy was killed the next day. The bodies were buried secretly at night and no funerals took place.

The 15-year-old girl, identified as Bakht Taj, allegedly tried to elope with the 17-year-old boy, identified as Rehman. The couple belonged to the tribal Mohmand clan originally from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) where Pakistan's army has fought to contain an Islamist militant insurgency that has spread across the northwest during the past several years.

“The innocent souls were tied to a charpai (rope bed) and given electric shocks,” Marwat said. He arrested the two fathers and two uncles and is pursuing some 30 members of the jirga who have gone into hiding.

Senior police superintendent Rao Anwar said investigators learned about the dual murder through an informant. Police arrested the fathers and some relatives of both teens.

The suspects confessed and revealed that a jirga was involved in declaring death sentences for both the victims, Anwar said.

People involved in the killings kept them secret, but the information reached investigators weeks later, triggering a police raid.

“The girl’s side had agreed but not the jirga and they warned that if the two families did not carry out the barbaric deed, their family in their village back home would have to bear the consequences,” said Zia Ur Rehman, a Pakistani journalist who first reported on the case.

Pakistan is regarded as one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, with 2014 research finding that each day six women were kidnapped, four were murdered, four were raped and three killed themselves.

VIDEO: PAKISTAN'S 'KIM KARDASHIAN' KILLED FOR FACEBOOK POSTS IN 'HONOR KILLING'

More than 1,000 women and girls in the country are murdered in “honor killings” each year, but conviction rates are close to zero, according to the Aurat Foundation, a human rights group. The true figure is probably higher since many cases go unreported.

The series of gruesome honor killings in Pakistan reached a climax after the deaths of British beautician Samia Shahid and the controversial social-media celebrity Qandeel Baloch. Considered Pakistan's version of Kim Kardashian for her sexualized femininity and pursuit of fame, the 25-year-old Baloch allegedly was strangled by her brother in July last year in the city of Multan after posting provocative pictures of herself online.

In October of last year, Pakistan's parliament passed legislation that tightened punishments on honor killings, which will now carry the death penalty. For the first time, DNA evidence from the victim and perpetrator will be permitted.

Taliban attacks kill at least 25 Afghan police

Sun, 21 May 2017 14:46:00 -0400

At least 25 policemen were killed early Sunday morning when Taliban militants stormed multiple security checkpoints in Afghanistan's volatile southern province of Zabul.

The Taliban initiated the attacks as part of a spring offensive that has inflicted heavy losses on government security forces.

"A group of Taliban fighters armed with heavy and light weapons launched coordinated attacks on several police checkpoints in Shajoy district of Zabul province, killing 25 policemen," provincial governor Bismillah Afghanmal told AFP. "Many Taliban fighters have also been killed."

He said some 1,000 Taliban fighters stormed the police outposts along the highway leading to the regional hub of Kandahar.

Situated between the restive Kandahar and Ghazni provinces, the southern Zabul province has seen a surge in violence in recent weeks.

A message on the Taliban’s website claimed that the fighting was continuing.

As the Taliban carried out the Shajoy assault, the neighboring city of Qalat was hit by a barrage of rockets. The militants targeted the police headquarters and the governor’s guesthouse in Qalat.

“Luckily, there are no human losses, but damage has been done to the properties of local people and governmental buildings,” Afghanmal said of the rocket attack.

A Shajoy resident told Fox News that the Taliban struck the police checkpoints Saturday and Sunday.

“We are unable to go outside due to severe fighting and heavy exchange of fire from last two days,” the resident said.

Afghanmal told reporters that six of the 11 districts in the Zabul province were threatened by the Taliban, making for a difficult situation for police. The governor said one district, Khak e Afghan, was under the Taliban’s total control.

"As the holy month of fasting is approaching next week, we are engaged in attacking maximum government installments and foreign troops to close our offensive," a senior Taliban commander from the eastern city of Jalalabad told Fox News Sunday.

"We are trying to gain maximum attacks in spring offensive to dismantle Kabul," the commander said.

Asadullah Kakar told local journalists that Zabul's provincial government of Zabul has been unable to deal with the stepped-up Taliban threat. He said a request had been made to the central government in Kabul for more assistance.

“The Taliban are carrying out multiple attacks, it is difficult for security forces to deal with them,” he said.

Meantime, in a separate wave of violence, a German aid worker and her security guard were killed and a Finnish national was kidnapped in Kabul late Saturday, the Swedish relief organization Operation Mercy reported.

President Trump is weighing a Pentagon request to send 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan to deal with the surge in Taliban violence.

Afghan forces have suffered heavy losses since the start of the year.

Doc who helped get Bin Laden on Trump's radar ahead of meeting with Pakistani PM

Fri, 19 May 2017 16:07:00 -0400

The America-loving Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA pinpoint Usama Bin Laden in advance of the raid that killed the world’s most wanted man could be on the cusp of freedom.

Dr. Shakil Afridi, whose vaccination ruse helped the U.S. determine Bin Laden was holed up in an Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound before the May 2, 2011 raid by SEAL Team 6 members and CIA agents, has been imprisoned for nearly six years in the majority Muslim nation. But with Trump set to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his current Middle East trip, new hope has arisen that Afridi could be released on or around May 24, when he is due to appear in court.

"It is evident that negotiations had started between the Pakistan and U.S. officials to release Dr. Afridi and we expect a good news at the May 24 hearing,” said Qamar Nadim, Afridi’s attorney. “The allegations against Dr. Afridi will be likely ruled out."

During his successful campaign, Trump pledged to get Afridi released “in two minutes” if elected, saying he would use the threat of revoking foreign aid as leverage. Pakistan’s interior minister responded in a statement, saying “Contrary to Mr. Trump’s misconception, Pakistan is not a colony of the United States of America.”

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

This week, a senior official at the U.S. State Department told Fox News the Trump administration has and will continue to press the case for releasing Afridi.

“We believe Dr. Afridi has been unjustly imprisoned and have clearly communicated our position to Pakistan on Dr. Afridi's case, both in public and in private,” the official said. “We continue to raise this issue at the highest levels during discussions with Pakistan's leadership.”

Although the State Department official said Pakistan has offered assurances Afridi is being treated humanely and is in good health, a sit-down between Trump and Sharif, expected to take place in Riyadh in the next few days, would offer a chance for Trump to put pressure face-to-face on his counterpart.

Afridi was hailed as a hero by U.S. officials for posing as a vaccination manager in the operation, obtaining DNA samples of bin Laden relatives and establishing his presence in the compound. But officials, including then-CIA Director Leon Panetta, made Afridi’s role public before the doctor and his family could get out of Pakistan, and he was quickly arrested.

In a 2012 exclusive interview from his prison cell, Afridi told Fox News he was proud to have helped America get Bin Laden.

“I have a lot of respect and love for your people,” he said, adding that he was “proud to work with” the CIA.

Afridi’s case has been bogged down by endless appeals and court delays at a tribunal in Peshawar. While viewed as a hero to the United States, where he once lived, Afridi is seen by some in Pakistan as a traitor. The raid itself was seen as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, even though the 9/11 mastermind and Al Qaeda leader’s presence in Pakistan was not likely a secret to many in power.

Sartaj Aziz, an adviser to Sharif on foreign affairs, confirmed that Sharif will meet President Trump but declined to comment on Afridi's case or negotiations between the nations for his release.

However, a senior government official in Islamabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated a deal could be close.

“For improvement in the strained relations between Islamabad and Washington, it is the right time to resolve the pending issues including Dr. Afridi’s case,” he said.

In May 2012, Afridi was sentenced to 33 years behind bars, under murky charges. Pakistani officials initially reported he was convicted of treason. Then in 2013, his conviction was overturned and he was instead charged with the murder of a patient eight years earlier and his prison term reduced to 23 years.

Afridi filed an appeal seeking a new trial, but his lawyer told Fox News in 2015 that the case ground to a halt when proceedings were repeatedly canceled.

While the U.S. provides Pakistan with more than $800 million in foreign aid, the U.S needs the mostly Muslim nation’s cooperation in the war on terror.