Pakistan Attacked Khost Province With Mortars, Claims Taliban

Waltz said that the plan includes action in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, where attacks against the United States could be planned.

Waltz said in an interview with Fox News on Friday, January 3, that the United States must take a serious look at its defence and, most importantly, close its borders.

The national security adviser of the upcoming US administration added in this interview that in recent years, more than 300 people on the terrorist watch list have crossed US borders.

"Last year, eight ISIS members were identified and arrested as they were planning attacks in three different cities," he said. "However, a number of members of the group, who are based in Tajikistan, have not yet been identified."

Mike Waltz also emphasised on the importance of intelligence and law enforcement cooperation in countering the threat of terrorist groups, adding, "Apart from this, the offensive aspect must also be considered. This includes assessing external strategies, the location of bases and the deployment of special forces to prevent the activities of groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other regions."

According to him, these measures are necessary to maintain America's security and allow Washington to prevent possible planning and attacks by jihadist groups.

The newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing Sullivan's aides, that Biden insisted he stay in his position.

The withdrawal from Afghanistan broke the "primary cohesion" of the Biden administration's national security team and created a rift between Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 claimed the lives of at least 13 American soldiers and led to the collapse of the Afghan government.

“You can’t end a war like Afghanistan where you’ve built dependencies without it being complicated and challenging,” the US national security adviser told the newspaper. “The choice was: go or stay forever, and it wasn’t an easy choice.”

Sullivan added that the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan allowed the United States “to deal with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a way that probably wouldn’t have been possible if we had stayed”.

‘Pentagon's Resistance To Biden’

According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon resisted Biden's call to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan and demanded that "a force of 2,500 remain in Kabul”.

The Washington Post author, citing two close advisers in the US government, wrote that Sullivan initially shared the Pentagon's concerns. However, he decided to "loyally" support Biden's plan for a full withdrawal.

Wall Street Journal reporter Alex Ward says no one has offered to resign over the issue of withdrawing from Afghanistan.

The White House and the US National Security Council have not yet commented on the report.

The hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan has sparked much debate within the US. The US House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee has repeatedly called senior US officials responsible for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to testify, most recently with Antony Blinken.

Islamabad was elected to replace Japan as one of the representatives of the Asia-Pacific region on the Security Council in June last year and officially began its work on January 1 this year.

On Wednesday, January 2, the United Nations Security Council raised the flags of Pakistan, Denmark, Greece, Somalia, and Panama as non-permanent members of the Council.

The ceremony was attended by Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, Additional Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported that this is the eighth time that Pakistan has gained membership in the council.

The newspaper also wrote that by becoming a member of the Security Council, Pakistan will also gain a seat on the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, which is responsible for identifying individuals and groups associated with IS and Al-Qaeda as terrorists and imposing sanctions on them.

"This will be a valuable opportunity for Pakistan to highlight cross-border terrorist attacks from Afghanistan by groups linked to the Islamic State militant group and al-Qaeda," the Dawn newspaper wrote.

Pakistan will have more influence in setting the agenda and presenting proposals by becoming a member of the UN Security Council. It is likely that Pakistan will use this position to highlight the threat of terrorism from Afghan soil against Pakistan, especially the threat of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and to illegitimately portray India's sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir.

Islamabad may also try to exert pressure on the Afghan Taliban from this area.

Pakistan's two-year term as a member of the United Nations Security Council ends on December 31, 2026.

The organisation wrote that the number of executions in Iran in December increased by 9.5 percent compared to the previous month.

The Hengaw Human Rights Organisation reported on Thursday, January 2, that the Islamic Republic's judiciary has executed at least 28 Kurdish prisoners, 22 Baluch prisoners, 15 Turkish prisoners, 12 Lur prisoners, and six Gilak prisoners in December 2024.

The organisation said that this month, six women were executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran's judiciary in prisons in Isfahan, Zanjan, Yazd, and Sari.
In a separate report, Iran Human Rights also reported that the Islamic Republic executed five prisoners, including three Afghans, in Bandar Abbas Central Prison on Wednesday, January 1.

The Hengaw Human Rights Organisation, which operates outside Iran, said that of a total of 138 executions this month, three were announced by official sources of the Islamic Republic. The organisation noted that six of these prisoners were executed in secret without the knowledge of their families and the right to a last visit with their families.

Hengaw added that 75 prisoners were executed on drug-related charges, 61 for murder, and 10 for armed robbery.

The human rights organisation Hengaw has previously announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran has executed at least 74 Afghan prisoners in 2024.

The Islamic Republic has continued to carry out executions despite the objections of international organisations. Human rights organisations operating outside Iran have acknowledged that the Islamic Republic has increased the execution of Afghan prisoners after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Defence Minister had said that the Taliban had demanded 10 billion rupees to remove TTP fighters from the border areas.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban, said on Thursday in response to the claim, "It is regrettable that high-ranking Pakistani officials are making such false statements."

Earlier, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had claimed that during his visit to Afghanistan in 2022, Taliban’s Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid had demanded 10 billion Pakistani rupees to move the TTP from areas near the Durand Line to western Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly asked the Taliban to not allow Pakistani militants to operate in border areas and attack Pakistani security forces.

Pakistan has always accused the Afghan Taliban of supporting armed groups opposed to its government, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

In recent months, there have been reports that the Taliban is planning to move TTP members to northern Afghanistan.