After Afghan Taliban’s victory, a quiet warning is circulating: Pakistan Taliban are returning

In this Aug. 5, 2012 file photo, Pakistani Taliban patrol in then their stronghold of Shawal in Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan. The Taliban win in Afghanistan is giving a boost to militants in neighboring Pakistan. (AP/ File Photo)
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Updated 18 October 2021
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After Afghan Taliban’s victory, a quiet warning is circulating: Pakistan Taliban are returning

  • Pakistan Taliban have ramped up attacks in recent months, more than 300 Pakistanis killed in attacks since January
  • Local contractors report Taliban-imposed surcharges on every contract and the killing of those who defy them

PESHAWAR: In Pakistan’s rugged tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan, a quiet and persistent warning is circulating: The Taliban are returning.
Pakistan’s own Taliban movement, which had in years past waged a violent campaign against the Islamabad government, has been emboldened by the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, experts say, which is also visible from an increase in attacks by the group in Pakistan.
More than 300 Pakistanis have been killed in attacks since January, including 144 military personnel, according to the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
The Pakistani Taliban seem to be preparing to retake control of the tribal regions that they lost nearly seven years ago in a major operation by Pakistan’s military, analysts and security officials say.




In this Aug. 19, 2021 file photo, Taliban fighters display their flag on patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP)

Now, they are working to increase their influence. Local contractors report Taliban-imposed surcharges on every contract and the killing of those who defy them.
In early September, for example, a contractor named Noor Islam Dawar built a small canal not far from the town of Mir Ali near the Afghan border. It wasn’t worth more than $5,000. Still, the Taliban came calling, demanding their share of $1,100. Dawar had nothing to give and pleaded for their understanding, according to relatives and local activists. A week later he was dead, shot by unknown gunmen. His family blames the Taliban.
Pakistan’s Taliban, known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban or TTP, is a separate organization from Afghanistan’s Taliban, though they share much of the same hard-line ideology. The TTP arose in the early 2000s and launched a campaign of bombings and other attacks, vowing to bring down the Pakistani government and seizing control in many tribal areas. The military crackdown of the 2010s managed to repress it.
But the TTP was reorganizing in safe havens in Afghanistan even before the Afghan Taliban took over Kabul on Aug. 15.
“The Afghan Taliban’s stunning success in defeating the American superpower has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban...They now seem to believe they too can wage a successful jihad against the Pakistani ‘infidel’ state and have returned to insurgency mode,” said Brian Glyn Williams, Islamic history professor at the University of Massachusetts, who has written extensively on radical movements.
The events in Afghanistan have also energized the scores of radical religious parties in Pakistan, said Amir Rana, executive director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies.
These parties openly revile minority Muslims as heretics and on occasion bring thousands on to the street to defend their hard-line interpretation of Islam. One party, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, has a single agenda: to protect a controversial blasphemy law. The law has been used against minorities and opponents and can incite mobs to kill simply over an accusation of insulting Islam.
Already buffeted by a growing religiosity, Pakistani society is at risk of transforming into one similar to Taliban-run Afghanistan, Rana warned.
A Gallup Pakistan poll released last week found 55 percent of Pakistanis would support an “Islamic government” like the one advocated by Afghanistan’s Taliban. Gallup surveyed 2,170 Pakistanis soon after the Taliban takeover in Kabul.
Pakistan has shied away from offering unilateral recognition to the all-Taliban government in Afghanistan, but has been pushing for the world to engage with the new rulers. It has urged the United States to release funds to the Afghan government, while urging the Taliban to open their ranks to minorities and non-Taliban.




 In this Aug. 3, 2021 file photo, Pakistan Army troops observe the area from hilltop post on the Pakistan Afghanistan, in Khyber district, Pakistan.The Taliban win in Afghanistan is giving a boost to militants in neighboring Pakistan. (AP)

Pakistan’s relationship with the Afghan Taliban is a constant source of angst in America, where Republican senators have introduced a law that would sanction Islamabad for allegedly working against the US to bring the Taliban to power. The charge has angered Pakistan, whose leaders say it was asked and delivered the Taliban to the negotiation table with the US, which eventually led to an agreement paving the way for America’s final withdrawal.
Pakistan’s ties to many of the Afghan Taliban are believed to go back to the 1980s when Pakistan was the staging arena for a US-backed fight against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. In particular, the Haqqani group, possibly Afghanistan’s most powerful Taliban faction, has a long relationship with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI. Pakistan denies this.
Pakistan has turned to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister in Afghanistan’s new Taliban government, for help in starting talks with the Pakistani Taliban, said Asfandyar Mir, a senior expert at the US Institute of Peace.
Some TTP figures in North Waziristan — a rugged area the group once controlled — are ready to negotiate. But the most violent factions, led by Noor Wali Mehsud, are not interested in talks. Mehsud’s Taliban want control of South Waziristan, said Mir.
It’s not clear whether Haqqani will be able to get Mehsud to the table or whether Afghanistan’s new rulers are ready to break their close ties with Pakistan’s Taliban.
In the attempts to put together negotiations with Islamabad, the TTP is demanding control over parts of the tribal regions and rule by its strict interpretation of Islamic Shariah law in those areas, as well as the right to keep their weapons, according to two Pakistani figures familiar with the demands. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media and because they fear retaliation.
Bill Roggio of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a US-based think tank, said Pakistan is opening talks with the Taliban to stop the increasing attacks on its military, but he warned that “the government is opening Pandora’s box.”
“The TTP will not be satisfied with ruling a small portion of Pakistan, it will inevitably want more than what it is given,” Roggio said. “Like the Afghan Taliban wanted to rule Afghanistan, the TTP wants to rule Pakistan.”


Pakistan invites scientists, students to pitch experiments for mission to Chinese space station

Updated 04 April 2025
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Pakistan invites scientists, students to pitch experiments for mission to Chinese space station

  • The country’s space agency has partnered with China to send first Pakistani astronaut to space
  • The mission is expected take place by late 2026 following the completion of astronaut training

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national space agency on Friday invited scientists, researchers and students to contribute to the country’s first-ever human spaceflight mission by submitting proposals for innovative experiments to be conducted aboard a Chinese space station.
Earlier this year in February, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) signed a cooperation agreement with China, paving the way for a Pakistani astronaut to travel to the Tiangong space station.
The mission is expected to take place by the end of 2026 following the completion of astronaut training.
“As Pakistan’s first astronaut prepares to undertake a historic journey to the Chinese Space Station (CSS), the national space agency calls for proposals for innovative experiments to be conducted in the extreme thermal, complete vacuum and microgravity environment of the CSS to maximize the scientific impact of this mission,” SUPARCO said in an official statement.
“This is a significant chance for Pakistan’s scientific community and emerging scientists and engineers to contribute to the nation’s space journey and make a lasting impact on the future of space exploration,” it added.
The statement said the Chinese space station orbits the Earth at an altitude of around 380 kilometers, completing one revolution every 92 minutes at a speed of approximately 7.7 kilometers per second.
The space station features state-of-the-art facilities, including specialized experiment racks for research in life sciences, biotechnology, fundamental physics, fluid dynamics, material science and astrophysics.
The Pakistani agency particularly encouraged proposals in agriculture and medical sciences, noting the potential of microgravity to generate groundbreaking insights in those fields.
“Proposed experiments should be novel, cost-effective, lightweight and feasible within a week in microgravity,” it said. “Submissions must align with CSS research priorities, be unique, and support sustainable development goals.”
SUPARCO highlighted the selected experiments could lead to high-impact scientific publications, patents or commercial applications, emphasizing the project’s potential to contribute to socio-economic development.
The deadline to submit proposals is April 30.


Trafficking of NATO, Soviet arms continues in Afghanistan, Pakistan years after Taliban takeover — report

Updated 04 April 2025
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Trafficking of NATO, Soviet arms continues in Afghanistan, Pakistan years after Taliban takeover — report

  • While weapons management practices have improved over the past three years, their application remains inconsistent across Afghan provinces and communities, monitor says
  • The statement comes months after Islamabad voiced ‘profound concern’ over the presence of advanced US weapons in Afghanistan amid a surge in militancy in Pakistan’s border areas

ISLAMABAD: Trafficking and illegal sale of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Soviet arms have continued in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s border regions more than three years after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and their seizure of the previous regime’s stockpiles, a Geneva-based monitor Small Arms Survey has said in its recent report.
The report, titled “Documenting Arms Availability in Afghanistan,” said as of August 2021, Afghanistan had 258,300 rifles, including M4, M16 and AK-variants, 64,300 pistols, 63,000 sniper rifles, 56,155 light, medium and heavy machine guns, 31,000 grenade launchers, 9,115 shotguns, 1,845 rounds of 60-82mm, as well as hundreds of thousands of accessories and munitions.
The paper reviewed field investigations conducted from 2022 to 2024 into the availability and prices of small arms, light weapons, accessories, and ammunition at informal markets in the Afghanistan–Pakistan border areas. It found that cross-border trafficking was more of a “slow drip” than a flood, with both newer NATO- and older Soviet-pattern weapons still accessible in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces and Pakistan’s tribal districts.
While weapons management practices have improved over the past three years, their application remains inconsistent across provinces and communities, with institutional weaknesses, including limited technical capacity and reliance on paper-based systems, undermining the Taliban’s control efforts, according to the report. Diversion to illicit markets and the “deliberate provision of weapons to various non-state armed groups” remain significant concerns.
“More than three years after the Taliban’s takeover and their seizure of the previous regime’s weapons stockpiles, the de-facto authorities have strengthened control over commanders and restricted civilians’ and private businesses’ access to arms,” the report, published late last month, read.
“Arms trafficking has continued — likely with at least the tacit approval of low-level Taliban officials — and evidence suggests the continued arming of UN Security Council-designated terrorist groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda, alongside efforts to acquire conventional weapons systems on international markets.”
Many local commanders in Afghanistan view weapons obtained during the insurgency as personal property, or property of their respective fighting group, and therefore resist efforts to register and manage these arms centrally, according to the report.
Additionally, internal divisions within the Taliban, along with the personal networks of commanders, provide informal pathways to acquire weapons, bypassing formal approval processes. These challenges led to significant variations in control practices from province to province based on the influence of local commanders and their relationship with Afghan central authorities.
“When comparing prices in Pakistan with those in Afghan border provinces, US M4 rifles cost between USD3,325 and USD 3,700 in Pakistan, making them cheaper than in Khost and Nangarhar on the Afghan side but slightly more expensive than in Kunar, Paktia, and Paktika,” it read.
“In general, the wide variety in price is likely indicative of the condition of the weapons and their origin; sophisticated replicas may have also accounted for some of the lower-priced models. M16 rifles, however, are significantly less expensive in Pakistan, at an average price of between USD1,245 and USD1,400, compared to USD1,824–3,065 in Afghanistan... Conversely, Russian AK-pattern rifles are notably more expensive in Pakistan.”
In Jan. this year, Pakistan voiced “profound concern” over the presence of advanced US weapons in Afghanistan, which Washington has sought to be returned by Kabul’s Afghan Taliban rulers.
“The presence of US advance weapons in Afghanistan, left behind in the aftermath of the withdrawal of its troops in August 2021, has been an issue of profound concern for the safety and security of Pakistan and its citizens,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement.
“These weapons have been used by terrorist organizations, including the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan], to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan.”
The statement came months after Pakistani security officials said custom authorities had seized a large cache of US-made weapons and ammunition worth approximately Rs35 million ($125,000) at a border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The weapons seized at the Torkham border crossing in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province included M4 rifles and magazines, security sources said in Oct. last year.
Pakistan has struggled to contain surging militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban, or the TTP, and the state broke down in November 2022.
The TTP and other militant groups have frequently targeted security forces convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months. In 2024 alone, the Pakistani military reported that 383 soldiers and 925 militants were killed in various clashes.
Islamabad has frequently blamed the surge in militancy on Afghanistan, accusing it of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement and insist that Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.


Pakistan stock market hits record intraday high, closes slightly lower on profit-taking

Updated 04 April 2025
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Pakistan stock market hits record intraday high, closes slightly lower on profit-taking

  • Analysts attributed the bullish sentiment at the start of trading to power tariff cuts announced a day earlier
  • Last week, Pakistan reached a staff-level IMF agreement after the first review under the $7 billion loan program

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) hit an all-time high during intraday trade on Friday but closed slightly lower as investors opted for profit-taking ahead of the weekend.

The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by as much as 1,858.56 points to a record 120,796.67 during the morning session. However, the index later pared gains and ended the day at 118,791.66 points, down 146.45 points, or 0.12 percent, from the previous close of 118,938.11.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attributed the bullish momentum to investor confidence in his government’s economic policies.

“Positive trend in business at the Pakistan Stock Exchange reflects growing confidence of traders and investors in government’s economic policies,” he said in a statement, citing recent economic measures.

“A major reduction in electricity tariffs has been made, which will not only provide relief to domestic consumers, but it is also welcoming for the business community and industries,” he added.

On Thursday, the government announced a cut of more than Rs7 in domestic and industrial power tariffs. The gains also followed a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week on the first review of Pakistan’s $7 billion loan program.

Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Corporation, said the tariff relief and a year-on-year drop in the consumer price index to 0.7% in March had raised expectations of an interest rate cut, contributing to the bullish trend.

“Institutional support on the IMF deal and speculations over the government negotiations on [US President Donald] Trump tariff played a catalyst role in bullish activity at the PSX,” he said while explaining the early market bullish sentiment.

Raza Jafri, head of research at Intermarket Securities, noted that Pakistani equities had been performing well since the Eid al-Fitr break, in contrast to global markets, due to local policy developments.

“Domestic developments such as the ongoing IMF program and cut in electricity tariffs seem to hold more importance for Pakistan, which is relatively insulated from global developments and arguably a net beneficiary if the reduction in international oil prices more than offsets the impact on exports,” he said.

Despite the strong start, analysts said the late pullback reflected investor caution heading into the weekend, with many opting to lock in profits after a sharp early rally.


Pakistan Super League 10th edition tickets go up for sale online

Updated 04 April 2025
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Pakistan Super League 10th edition tickets go up for sale online

  • The Twenty-20 tournament is set to begin from Apr. 11 and will feature over 30 matches
  • Online tickets can be collected from designated TCS pick-up centers or delivered to home

ISLAMABAD: Online sale of tickets for the 10th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) began on Thursday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.
The 10th edition of the PSL beginning on Apr. 11 will host 34 matches in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan, with the final scheduled for May 18 at Lahore’s Qaddafi Stadium.
This season will feature top local and international players, following the usual format with group stages and knockout rounds, according to the PCB.
Tickets booked online can be collected from designated TCS pick-up centers or delivered directly to home.
“HBL PSL X tickets online sale has commenced from 3pm PKT today as the marquee event is all set to begin from Apr. 11,” the PCB said in a statement on Thursday.


Physical tickets for the tournament will go up for sale at designated TCS centers across the country at 4pm on Apr. 7 onwards, according to the board.
The stadium seating for each match is divided into four categories: General Enclosure, Premium, First-Class and VIP Stands, along with the exclusive HQSP PCB Gallery.
Ticket prices start at $2 (Rs650) for the general category. Regular match tickets can go up to $21 (Rs6,000) for VIP categories, while playoffs and finals may cost as much as $35 (Rs10,000) for VIP stands.
The PCB said it will also hold a ticket raffle at every match, with exciting prizes such as motorcycles, smartphones and gift hampers to enhance fan engagement and offer a unique match-day experience.


PM Sharif forms committee to probe Pakistan’s failure to utilize Hajj 2025 private quota

Updated 04 April 2025
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PM Sharif forms committee to probe Pakistan’s failure to utilize Hajj 2025 private quota

  • Committee to probe why Kingdom’s Hajj policy was not implemented by Pakistan’s religion ministry through private Hajj operators
  • Inquiry committee would also ‘fix the responsibility for this serious lapse, depriving thousands of Pakistani pilgrims from Hajj 2025’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a three-member inquiry committee to investigate why Pakistan had failed to utilize the private Hajj 2025 quota by not complying with certain requirements of the Kingdom’s Hajj policy, a notification by the Cabinet Division said on Thursday.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Hajj Agreement 2025 in January, according to which 179,210 Pakistanis were expected to perform the annual pilgrimage this year. The quota was divided equally between government and private schemes.
However, the South Asian country failed to fully avail the private Hajj quota and the inquiry committee, led by the Cabinet Division secretary, would investigate the reasons behind the lapse. The probe panel also includes the chairman of Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Gilgit-Baltistan chief secretary.
“The Prime Minister, while taking serious notice for non-availing of the private Hajj quota for Hajj-2025 due to non-compliance of the requirements of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has been pleased to constitute an inquiry committee on ‘Hajj Arrangements,’” the notification said, without specifying the number of private Hajj scheme seats that could not be filled.
It said the committee’s terms of reference would include inquiring why Saudi Arabia’s Hajj policy, revised in 2025, was not implemented by Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony through private Hajj operators.
The notification said the committee would also probe the ministry’s efforts to get the pre-requisite formalities completed by private Hajj operators by the target date set by the Kingdom.
The committee would also “fix the responsibility for this serious lapse, depriving thousands of Pakistani pilgrims from Hajj 2025,” it added.
Speaking to a private news channel, Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Tahir Ashrafi praised Sharif’s move, describing it as a “step in the right direction.”
“Due to this, matters related to private Hajj pilgrims will improve in future and the current situation will also come to light, as to what happened and why did the delay take place,” Ashrafi told Express News. 
In January, the Pakistani prime minister had chaired a meeting to review Hajj 2025 preparations, during which he had warned officials the government would not tolerate any negligence in their duties related to the annual pilgrimage.