New Delhi: Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif has publicly proclaimed that the country’s forces will continue operations in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Speaking to BBC Urdu, the minister claimed that these surprise aerial strikes on Afghanistan are part of a counter-terrorism operation targeting groups who have threatened both civilian life and security forces on Pakistani soil.
The Afghan Taliban government has condemned these strikes, labelling them as violations of Afghanistan’s sovereignty. Tensions between the two countries are on the rise partially owing to the historic complexity of the Durrand line as a border between the two.
Over the past two years, Pakistan has consistently accused Afghanistan of harbouring terrorists, especially members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is also referred to as ‘Pakistani Taliban’.
According to Pakistan, armed groups have been launching attacks from Afghanistan, an allegation denied by the Taliban.
“It is also a violation of international norms when Afghan soil is used to export terrorism, with those responsible receiving protection and safe havens by the people there,” Asif said.
Founded in 2007, the TTP aligns ideologically with the Afghani Taliban and calls for reversal of the merger of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal regions with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The organisation unilaterally ended a ceasefire with Pakistan in 2022, leading to a significant increase in terrorist activities. Over the past year, these attacks have claimed nearly 1,000 lives, according to a report by Time.
Reports also suggest that Pakistan is under mounting pressure from China as the neighbour is concerned about the safety of Chinese workers and engineers who are in Pakistan for the execution of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Five Chinese engineers were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in northwest Pakistan in March 2024, the BBC reported.
Incidentally, the statement by Pakistan’s defence minister came just days before Pakistani officials were scheduled to meet with the Taliban at United Nations-sponsored talks in Qatar aimed at integrating Afghanistan into the international community. On the sidelines of this conference, Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan, and other members of the Pakistani mission in Qatar hosted a dinner for the Taliban delegation.
Also read: Taliban attends UN meeting for the first time in Doha, meets top Indian govt official
African-born German MP won’t seek re-election
Karamba Diaby, a member of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the first African-born politician in the Bundestag, has announced that he will not seek re-election in the upcoming polls next year. Diaby, who has served three terms in the Bundestag, cited personal reasons for his decision, wishing to spend more time with his family. The announcement was met with speculation as the 62-year-old has received multiple threats and has been subject to hate comments over the years due to his African lineage. Born in Senegal, Diaby moved to East Germany in 1985, and has been involved in politics for 11 years.
It was only last month that Diaby shared on social media a series of hate messages that he and his staff had received. This was just a recent addition to the list of racist incidents the Parliamentarian had to endure. Saxony-Anhalt, his constituency office in Halle, has been attacked. These include incidents of arson and bullets being fired through the windows. In 2020, his campaign office was shot at, and he received a written death threat.
In various interviews, the parliamentarian highlighted the increasingly hostile environment in both parliament and society. Diaby attributed this surge in hostility to the 2017 entry of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) into the Bundestag, which he believes has contributed to the spread of hateful and xenophobic rhetoric.
“Over the past few years, I’ve faced several murder threats. This has now overstepped the mark,” Diaby stated in an interview. “The hatred that the AfD sows every day with its misanthropic narratives is reflected in concrete psychological and physical violence. This endangers the cohesion of our society. We cannot simply accept this.”
Pro-Palestinian protestors climb Australian Parliament
Four pro-Palestinian protesters scaled the roof of the Australian Parliament Thursday, unfurling large black and white banners. Lawmakers have condemned the security breach, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, announcing an investigation into how the breach occurred. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also stated that the protesters should face “the full force of the law.”
The activists, who are part of the Renegade Activists group, stood on the roof for about an hour Thursday, displaying messages such as “No peace on stolen land” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. The incident led to the evacuation of the public from Parliament House on the last sitting day before the six-week winter break.
Although Australia does not currently recognise Palestinian statehood, Foreign Minister Penny Wong indicated in May that it could happen before a formal peace process between Israel and Palestinian authorities is complete. Australia has also called for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict.
A ruling party senator Fatima Payman resigned over the government’s stance on Palestine this past week. Australia has witnessed several pro-Palestine demonstrations, including weekly protests in major cities and prolonged occupations on university campuses.
Thursday’s protest coincided with a climate protest where anti-coal protesters wearing “Rising Tide” shirts attracted the police and security personnel at the parliament building by glueing themselves to its marble pillars, the Independent reported.
Greens accuse Meta of blackmail over news ban threat
The Australian Greens has accused Meta, Facebook’s parent company, of attempting to blackmail the government by threatening to ban news on its platform in response to a proposed new law. A new legislation already passed in Australia’s lower house mandates tech giants like Meta and Google to pay media outlets for news content shared on their platforms. This law is being contended by Meta which refused to pay for news and has threatened to block all news on its platforms, including Facebook.
Meta executives, appearing before the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society in Canberra, refused to rule out removing Australian news from Facebook and Instagram if the company is designated under the News Media Bargaining Code.
The Prime Minister labelled Meta as “arrogant” over these threats, and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland emphasised that the government expects companies to “abide by” the laws. “The government will not be held ransom by multinational companies who blatantly threaten to avoid them,” she said in a statement to Information Age.
Earlier this year, Meta abandoned new deals with Australian media companies under the code, resulting in an estimated $70 million loss for the local media industry. Removing news from platforms like Facebook and Instagram could further reduce traffic to publishers, impacting revenue and readership, the Australian Financial Review reported.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
Also read: Snap polls in France, shock defeat in Germany as Far Right surges in European elections