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The leaders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to open their future meetings to other parties, which could include the United States. The tri-partite summit was held in Tehran.
Iran is played host to a high-profile summit of two key war-torn neighbors, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in a bid to put an end to conflicts that rage along its borders.
"Seven years ago, Iran co-operated with the US in its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. That was before being labelled by the Bush administration as part of a so-called "axis of evil." Since then, the security situation in Afghanistan has only deteriorated. Washington has signaled it will have to engage Tehran to stabilise a country that some observers say has become a battleground for the US - Iran rivalry. From Kabul, Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports. "
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KHAWAZAKHELA, Pakistan — A top Pakistani general said Friday that the military had succeeded in clearing two militant strongholds in upper parts of the contested Swat Valley, including this city, and was just a week away from taking over a third.
“Essentially, at this point in time, we are looking at eliminating the hard-core militants,” Maj. Gen. Sajjad Ghani, the commanding officer of the military operation in the upper part of Swat, said in a briefing for journalists here. Khawazakhela is one of the largest cities in Swat, with a population estimated at more than 500,000.
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* Pakistani soldiers close in on Swat town - army
* Bomb kills 11 in Peshawar
* Suspected U.S. drone kills 28 militants
* Number of displaced rises to 1.17 million - U.N.
(Adds UNHCR comment)
By Alamgir Bitani
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 16 (Reuters) - Pakistani soldiers are closing in on the main town in the Taliban bastion of Swat, the army said on Saturday, in an offensive that has driven more than a million people from their homes.
The army launched the offensive more than a week ago to stop the spread of Taliban influence after the collapse of a peace pact the United Stat
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Army says 55 militants are killed as crackdown continues. Curfew is lifted to allow thousands more civilians to flee, though officials fear Taliban fighters will try to blend in and escape too.
The Pakistani military said it had killed 55 Taliban in the Swat Valley on Friday and that it had lifted a curfew so thousands more civilians could flee the area in advance of an expected operation against militants in the area's largest town.
Taliban fighters are reportedly deeply entrenched in Mingora and the military
Top US official warns that war in Afghanistan strengthens Taliban in Pakistan
www.telegraph.co.uk
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America's top military official warned that the US offensive in Afghanistan could end up fuelling the conflict in Pakistan by pushing more Taliban fighters across the border.
Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said the surge of 21,000 additional US troops into Afghanistan had raised the prospect that Pakistan could face even greater turmoil in the months ahead."They want Afghanistan back," he said. "We can't let them or their al-Qaeda cohorts have it. We can't permit the return of the very same safe havens from which the attacks on 9/11 were planned an
Originally posted by GuiltyByDesign
Islamist tribal leaders who will side with ANYTHING that AQ or other extremists sprout, however falsely, in the name of Islam
Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
Kazakhstan will gladly sell the oil to who ever controls the pipeline and wants to purchase oil from it. Turkmenistan likewise borders Iran and if Iran and Turkmenistan make moves to form an alliance, they could divert the pipeline from there bypass Afghanistan and run the pipeline to the East of Bandar-e ‘Abbās to Masqat which sits practically at the mouth of the Persian Gulf directly on the Arabian Sea, strategically it would be better to have the pipeline further east towards Karāchi, so it makes sense to push for that first.
Make no mistake about it, the Taliban fought against the Afghani portion of the pipeline and because of its ideology made an easy target for take over of Afghanistan. Pakistan though is a far more democratic nation and they do realize that the Taliban is being forced over the border to destabilize the region to set the pretext for a Military occupation of Pakistan so the pipeline can be completed and controlled by Western interests and U.S., NATO arms.
Great find Slayer, you are so ontop of this! Thanks