Overnight Operation In Kunduz Left Two Taliban Dead, Says NRF

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the attackers attempted to take hostages inside the military college but failed in their attempt.

The Pakistani military on Monday blamed the assault on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), saying India-backed terrorists attacked the Wana Cadet College, adding that security forces killed two attackers and trapped three others inside the compound.

Pakistani security officials said the militants were receiving instructions from Afghanistan and had taken shelter in a building located some distance from the students’ residential quarters.

According to security sources, about 650 students were inside the college at the time of the attack.

The army called the attack a “blatant act of barbarism orchestrated by Khwarij from Afghanistan is in contrast to assertions made by the Afghan Taliban Regime claiming non-presence of these terrorist groups on their soil.”

Pakistan uses the term “khwarij” to refer to militant groups opposed to the state.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ministry denounced the blast in the Indian capital and expressed condolences to the victims’ families, as well as to the people and government of India.

The reaction came as Islamabad on the same day was hit by a powerful explosion near the city’s judicial complex. Pakistani security officials said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Islamabad bombing.

In a post on X, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote that Pakistan is in a state of war. He said anyone who believes the army is fighting only in border regions or in Balochistan “should be awakened” by the attack. “This war belongs to all of Pakistan,” he said, adding that the military is making daily sacrifices while providing citizens with a sense of protection and security.

Asif said that in the current circumstances, placing hope in negotiations with the ‘rulers in Kabul’ would be a mistake, insisting that the Taliban have the ability to prevent terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.

He said the fact the violence has reached Islamabad sends a message from Kabul, but Pakistan, by the grace of God, has the capability to respond decisively.

At least 12 people were killed and 27 wounded in the blast near the Islamabad judicial complex. The explosion occurred Tuesday morning in the capital’s G-11 district, and officials said the blast ignited several vehicles in the area.

According to the UN office a combination of the two is driving farmers back toward opium cultivation.

In a post on X, UNODC said that countries and relevant organisations should prioritise climate-resilience efforts to prevent a renewed surge in illicit crop production.

The agency noted earlier that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is projected to decline by 20 percent in 2025, with farmers’ income from opium sales during the same period nearly halved.

Despite this decline, UNODC cautioned that the increasing return of Afghan migrants from neighbouring countries is adding strain to the labour market and limited resources, raising concerns about a potential rise in illegal opium cultivation.

The warning coincides with the opening of the COP30 global climate summit in Belém, Brazil, on Monday, where representatives from more than 190 countries are discussing emissions reductions, renewable energy expansion and aid for climate-vulnerable nations. The Taliban was not invited to the event.

According to the UN, Afghanistan is among the world’s 10 most climate-vulnerable countries, facing severe drought, floods, irregular rainfall and declining water supplies.

The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice earlier rejected claims that wearing a burqa was mandatory in Herat, but sources said the restriction remains strictly enforced.

A viewer in Herat shared a video with Afghanistan International, saying that Taliban officers used violence while blocking women from entering and that they were beating them.

On Sunday, the Taliban’s virtue ministry denied that the burqa had been made compulsory for women in Herat and said women in the province had not been denied government services for not wearing one.

However, according to local sources and videos received by Afghanistan International, Taliban members have required women to wear the burqa in public places and government offices in Herat since Wednesday.