LONDON: The top British commander in Afghanistan says the country’s military is proving to be an “effective force” despite rising casualties. According to BBC News, Lieutenant General John Lorimer said Afghan troops had demonstrated “resilience” in the face of Taliban attacks and were taking on insurgents. Nato troops are handing over security responsibility to local forces before a withdrawal next year. Taliban attacks have left scores of civilians dead in the past week. “When you are fighting a ruthless enemy inevitably you are going to take some casualties,” said Lorimer, Nato’s second-in-command in Afghanistan. He said the Afghan military is “well trained”. “They’re developing leaders. They are going on the front foot, taking the fight to the insurgents.” Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Mark Milley, Deputy Commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said “somewhere in the range of 50 to 100 or so Afghan security forces are killed in action per week.” He said Islamist militants remained resilient but were not in a position to score a decisive victory.
Terror forum to review strategy
Islamabad: An All Parties’ Conference has been called for September 9 to review the country’s counter-terrorism strategy. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali reportedly contacted all party leaders via telephone, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, Jamiat-ulema Islami Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat Islami chief Munawar Hasan. “The idea is to get everyone on board for the conference,” said Express News. Aside from developing a counter-terrorism strategy, the conference will also decide if the government should pursue dialogue with Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), a decision which the interior minister had claimed won’t be taken without inputs from parties. The forum was scheduled for July 12 but postponed after Khan said he would be leaving for the UK before the conference. PTI leaders later claimed the forum was postponed because the government wasn’t ready with its presentation.
‘Plotter’ held over killings
ISLAMABAD: Police said they had arrested an alleged mastermind of an attack that killed 10 foreign trekkers in June at a base camp in the Himalayas. The June 22 attack was the deadliest assault on foreigners in the country for a decade and was claimed by a purported new faction of Pakistan’s umbrella Taliban movement. Police in the northern district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region said they had arrested a suspect on suspicion of planning the attack, and an accomplice with whom he allegedly killed three officers. “The suspects killed the Diamer police chief and two military officers investigating the Nanga Parbat incident,” police said.
1.47m people hit by floods
Islamabad: The National Disaster Management Authority said 7,693 villages had been hit by floods while 21,133 houses destroyed. It said the death toll across the country has risen to 234 besides injuries to 1,129 people. In its latest data the authority said 1.47 million people had been hit.
Agencies
