Taliban’s commanders, aided by NATO, join talks for Afghan peace: report

KABUL: Talks to end the war in Afghanistan involve extensive, face-to-face discussions with Taliban commanders from the highest levels of the group’s leadership, who are secretly leaving their sanctuaries in Pakistan with the help of NATO troops, according to New York Times report.

The discussions, some of which have taken place in Kabul, are unfolding between the inner circle of President Hamid Karzai and members of the Quetta shura, the leadership group that oversees the Taliban war effort inside Afghanistan.

Afghan leaders have also held discussions with leaders of the Haqqani network, considered to be one of the most hard-line guerrilla factions fighting here; and members of the Peshawar shura, whose fighters are based in eastern Afghanistan.

The Taliban leaders coming into Afghanistan for talks have left their havens in Pakistan on the explicit assurance

Pakistan’s warnings make Nato change stance

Nato reversed its position on aerial strikes by its helicopter gunships inside Pakistan after Islamabad registered protest and warned the US-led forces in Afghanistan of counter-measures.
International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), which had earlier defended the aerial engagement as an action under the right of self-defence, later in the evening, according to military sources, informed Pakistani commanders that they were trying to establish that their helicopters during the operation did not cross into Pakistani territory.
Isaf spokesman Capt Ryan Donald had earlier said: The Isaf helicopters did cross into Pakistan territory to engage the insurgents. Isaf maintains the right to self-defence, and thats why they crossed the Pakistan border. The strongly-worded protest communicated by Pakistan to Nato headquarters in Brussels reminded the military alliance that its mandate for operations in Afghanistan ended at Afghan border and there were no hot pursuit rules agreed with Pakistan. Describing the cross-border air raids as violation of its sovereignty and the UN mandate for coalition operations in Afghanistan, the protest statement issued by the Foreign Office said: In the absence of immediate corrective measures, Pakistan will be constrained to consider response options. (According to AFP, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said in the statement: These incidents are a clear violation and breach of the UN mandate under which Isaf operates. The statement said Isaf had been asked not to participate in any military action that violated the UN mandate and infringed upon Pakistans sovereignty. It said Pakistan had always emphasised the need for coordinated and joint action against militants.)Military sources said the message communicated to the Nato command was crystal clear that in view of declining public support for war on terror, the security of Nato supply routes through Pakistan could be threatened in the aftermath of the new air campaign.Analysts say Pakistan could only stop US-led forces from such violations by tactfully using its leverages that largely relate to the support for war on terror and the supply routes.Nato was asked to coordinate its actions with Pakistan military and avoid crossing the red lines a euphemism for Pakistani sensitivities.More than 50 people, many of them believed to be fighters of the Haqqani network, were killed over the past couple of days in three Nato/Isaf air strikes in Pakistani tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. Natos Apache helicopters were said to be in hot pursuit of the militants crossing back into Pakistani territory to get to their sanctuaries.The Nato attacks came after an escalation in drone strikes by the US against militant hideouts and other targets in North Waziristan, an indication that the US-led forces were changing their tactics to dismantle the militant network in the tribal region long considered to be the springboard for violence in Afghanistan. About 20 drone strikes by unmanned Predator aircraft have taken place in September so far the highest for a month since the Americans started using drones inside Pakistan in 2004.

Karzai asks why allies won”t hit Pakistan

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that Western allies had the ability to strike at Taliban bases in Pakistan, but questioned their willingness to do so.

“The war against terrorism is not in the villages or houses of Afghanistan …but in the sanctuaries, sources of funding and training (of terrorism) and they lie outside Afghanistan,” he told a news conference in the capital.

“It is a different question whether Afghanistan has the ability to tackle this,” he said in response to a question about Pakistan support for the Taliban and why the conflict was dragging on, “… but our allies have this capability the question now is ”why they are not taking action”?” Islamabad”s covert support for the Taliban resurfaced this week with the publication by the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks of tens of thousands of classified documents which point the finger at Pakistan”s spy agency.

Tuesday, in its first reaction to the leak, Afghanistan”s National Security Council said the United States had failed to attack the patrons and supporters of the Taliban hiding in Pakistan throughout the nine-year-old conflict.

The classified documents show current and former members of Pakistan”s spy agency were actively collaborating with the Taliban in plotting attacks in Afghanistan.

Violence in Afghanistan has soared since a troop surge brought to 150,000 the number of foreign forces confronting the Taliban and two other insurgent groups.

Blast Rocks Quetta, 13 Injured

Blast Rocks Quetta, 13 Injured, At least 13 persons sustained injuries when a bomb planted on a motorcycle blasted near Imdad Chowk, Quetta.
The blast was as loud as its voice was heard in nearby areas. One car was damaged and window panes of nearby buildings were broken. Traffic was jammed after the blast and panic prevailed in the area. Security forces cordoned off the area and rescue teams have started relief activities. The injured have been shifted to nearby Civil Hospital where emergency was declared after the blast.
According to bomb disposal squad, the bomb was planted in a motorcycle. Police were informed about the bomb planted in the motorcycle. According to doctors, condition of the injured is out of danger.
CCPO Quetta told that it was a time device planted on the motorcycle.

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Blast Rocks Quetta, 13 Injured was first posted on February 6, 2010 at 8:35 pm.

Taliban Have Sanctuaries in Karachi: MQM

KARACHI, Pakistan News: MQM deputy convener Farooq Sattar said that bomb blasts in Karachi was the open challenge of the terrorists. He said that Taliban of Swat and Tribal Areas have made sanctuaries in Karachi. He said that the city should be secured from terrorists. In a press conference with members of Rabta Committee, Dr. Farooq Sattar said that full-scale action was needed against these terrorists to save the city from more attacks. He said that there were not safe havens of Taliban in the city, if Altaf Hussain’s suggestion had listened and applied carefully. He said that terrorism in Karachi should not be used for political purposes.

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Taliban Have Sanctuaries in Karachi: MQM was first posted on February 6, 2010 at 8:39 pm.