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Taliban bomber kills 15 at top Afghan court

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 13:33

A Taliban suicide car bomber on Tuesday targeted staff at Afghanistan's top court, killing 15 civilians and wounding 40 others in the second attack in two days in the heavily fortified capital, police said. Women and children were among those killed and injured in the powerful explosion at the entrance to the Supreme Court, near the US embassy as buses waited to take court staff home at the end of the working day, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility and threatened further attacks on the judiciary if it continued to sentence to death members of its militia.

Taliban claim Kabul suicide attack that kills 14

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 11:41

Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents on Tuesday claimed a suicide car bombing that targeted staff of the Supreme Court and killed 14 civilians in Kabul. The militants said the attack was carried out to punish Afghan judges for sentencing to death Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government. "Today's attack was a warning should they (judges) continue to give tyrannical verdicts and intimidate (our) countrymen," said a copy of their statement sent to AFP.

Taliban bomber kills 14 at top Afghan court

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 11:40

A Taliban suicide car bomber on Tuesday targeted staff at Afghanistan's top court, killing 14 civilians and wounding 38 others in the second attack in two days in the heavily fortified capital, police said. Women and children were among those killed and injured in the powerful explosion at the entrance to the Supreme Court, near the US embassy as buses waited to take court staff home at the end of the working day, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsiblity and threatened further attacks on the judiciary if it continued to sentence to death members of its militia.

Taliban beheads two boys in southern Afghanistan

Thomson ReutersJune 10, 2013 17:32

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban fighters beheaded two boys aged 10 and 16 as a warning to villagers not to cooperate with the Afghan government, local officials said. The boys, named Khan and Hameedullah, had travelled to Afghan army and police checkpoints near their home in the southern province of Kandahar, scrounging for leftover food to bring to their families, the officials said.

Afghan Taliban 'send delegation to Iran'

Agence France-PresseJune 3, 2013 20:31

Taliban leaders said Monday they had sent a delegation to Iran, Afghanistan's western neighbour, to hold meetings that could signal a future role for Tehran in the search for peace. However, the Iranian foreign ministry was unable to confirm such a visit had taken place. After 12 years of violence in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted from power, pressure is growing for regional powers such as Iran, Pakistan and India to support a peace deal before 100,000 US-led foreign troops withdraw next year.

Pakistani Taliban pick new number two after drone strike: sources

Thomson ReutersMay 30, 2013 07:15

By Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban militants have chosen a new deputy commander to replace their previous second-in-command who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the North Waziristan region, sources in the militant group said on Thursday.

Khan's party seek cleric help in Taliban peace talks

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 07:46

Pakistani politician Imran Khan's party has sought the help of an elderly pro-Taliban cleric to initiate peace talks with the militants, party officials said Tuesday. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party approached Sami Ul-Haq, nicknamed the "Father of the Taliban", after emerging from elections as the largest party in the troubled northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Northwestern Pakistan is on the frontline of a nearly seven-year domestic Taliban insurgency and suffers near-daily bomb and shooting attacks blamed on militants.

Pakistan's Sharif supports Taliban peace talks

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 17:01

Pakistan's incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday threw his support behind peace talks with the country's Taliban insurgents, saying it would be a top priority for his new government. "If Taliban have offered us an option to have dialogue then we should take it seriously," Sharif said while addressing his party's newly elected parliamentarians in the eastern city of Lahore. "Terrorism is one of the main problems (facing) Pakistan. Establishment of peace in Pakistan is one of our top (priorities) and we are discussing ways and means to establish peace," he said.

Taliban flex muscle in Karachi ahead of Pakistan vote

Agence France-PresseMay 11, 2013 18:15

The threat of Taliban attacks hangs over Pakistan's historic election, but not in some parts of the financial capital Karachi, where the militants hold sway after chasing secular parties away. A little over six months ago, what should have been the headquarters of the Awami National Party (ANP), an ally of the outgoing government, in the working class district of Sohrab Goth were abandoned. "A small group of Taliban came to the ANP office and told them to leave quickly. They didn't even have to force them," a neighbour said.

Pakistan election violence forces candidates behind high walls

Thomson ReutersMay 7, 2013 11:36

By Katharine Houreld PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Mian Hussain is fighting for his political life from a deserted party headquarters, where two telephones sit silently beside him and the footsteps of a tea boy echo down the corridor. One of Pakistan's most high-profile anti-Taliban politicians, Hussain hasn't been to a single public event since campaigning for the May 11 election kicked off. A fiery orator who once electrified big rallies, he now makes short speeches by telephone to small huddles of supporters meeting in secret.