China, Pakistan take swipes at Trump's Afghan policy

Pakistan has lauded China's "constructive role" in the process for a politically negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict.

Addressing a joint press conference after his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that the two countries are in favour of a political solution for the Afghan conflict and not military.

Asif, who arrived in China on Friday, appreciated China's "constructive role" in the process for a politically negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict, saying that Pakistan and China can together contribute to a political solution to the conflict.

He is in China as a part of his regional outreach for consultations on the new US policy on Afghanistan and South Asia

"Pakistan strongly adheres to one-China policy: We support Beijing on its core issues of Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and South China Sea," the Dawn quoted Asif as saying.

He said Operations Zarb-i-Azb and Raddul Fasaad have yielded positive results against terrorist groups including East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

He added that ETIM is a threat not only for China but also to Pakistan.

China had repeatedly blamed ETIM for carrying out attacks in its far western region of Xinjiang.
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Taliban, IS massacre 50 civilians in rare joint operation: Afghan officials

The Taliban and Islamic State group jointly massacred dozens of civilians in an Afghan village, officials said on Monday highlighting rare co-operation between the insurgents that could increase the strain on Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces.

The fighters killed more than 50 men, women and children in the remote Sayad district of northern Sar-e Pul province on Saturday after overrunning the Afghan Local Police (ALP) - a government-backed militia - in a 48-hour battle, according to local officials.

"It was a joint operation by Daesh (IS) and Taliban fighters. They had recruited forces from other provinces of the country and attacked Mirzawalang village," Zabihullah Amani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

The spokesman alleged that dozens of Taliban and IS group fighters under the command of Sher Mohammad Ghazanfar, a local Taliban commander who Amani claims pledged allegiance to IS, launched a co-ordinated attack on the area on Thursday.

"The fighters overran the area and it led to the massacre of innocent and defenceless civilians," he said.

Most of those killed were shot but some were beheaded, Amani said.

Verifying information from poor, mountainous areas of Afghanistan made inaccessible by fighting and with patchy communications is difficult, and AFP was not able to access the village.
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Pentagon to send 4,000 additional US forces to Afghanistan: Report

The Pentagon plans to send almost 4,000 additional United States troops to Afghanistan, according to reports.

The decision to deploy additional troops, some for training and advising Afghan forces and other for counter-terrorism missions, could be announced as soon as next week.

The administration has been considering sending additional troops for some time.

About 8,400 US troops are currently in Afghanistan on a dual mission of training, advising and assisting Afghan troops in their fight against the Taliban and conducting counter-terrorism missions against groups such as the al-Qaeda and the ISIS.

Meanwhile, President Trump has given Secretary of Defense James Mattis full authority to set US troop levels in Afghanistan.

Before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Mattis lauded the decision as a way to make managing the war effort more efficient. "This assures the department can facilitate our missions and nimbly align our commitment to the situation on the ground," he said.

This comes in the backdrop of attacks in Kabul during May this year alone that have killed over 100 people.
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