Taliban insurgents declares defeat of US, allies

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan on Monday declared the “defeat” of the United States and its allies in the 13-year-old war, a day after the coalition officially marked the end of its combat mission, Voice of America reports.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is shifting to a support mission for Afghan army and police more than a decade after an international alliance ousted the Taliban government for sheltering the planners of the September 11, 2001, attacks on American cities.

“ISAF rolled up its flag in an atmosphere of failure and disappointment without having achieved anything substantial or tangible,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement emailed on Monday.

Government of Pakistan to execute 500 terrorist

Pakistan plans to execute around 500 militants after the government lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in terror cases, Sky News reports.

It comes after Taliban gunmen killed 149 people, including 133 children, in a school massacre in the northwestern city of Peshawar last week.

Six militants have been hanged since Friday amid rising public anger over the slaughter.

Around nine gunmen stormed the army-run school on 16 December taking teachers and students hostage and killing them in classrooms.

After the deadliest terror attack in Pakistani history, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ended the six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.

“Interior ministry has finalised the cases of 500 convicts who have exhausted all the appeals, their mercy petitions have been turned down by the president and their executions will take place in coming weeks,” a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Of the six hanged so far, five were involved in a failed attempt to assassinate the then-military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2003, while one was involved in a 2009 attack on army headquarters.

Pakistan executes 59 militants and bombards tribal areas

Supporters of Pakistan's political party Muttahida Qaumi Movement express solidarity with families of the students killed in Tuesday's Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, as they rally in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014.  (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

REBECCA SANTANA and MUNIR AHMED AP
Pakistan hanged two convicted militants Friday in the country's first executions in years, while warplanes and ground forces pounded insurgent hideouts in a northwest region bordering Afghanistan - part of a stepped-up response to the Taliban slaughter of scores of schoolchildren.

Unchastened by criticism from all corners of the globe, the Taliban threatened earlier Friday to kill more children if executions were carried out as promised.

"We can create a mourning situation at the homes of many army generals and politicians," spokesman Mohammad Khurassani said in a statement emailed to reporters.

A key question now is whether attacking children will undermine the sympathy many Pakistanis have for the militants. Analysts say the Islamabad government needs strong public support to continue the fight against insurgents in the northwest.

Many Pakistanis believe the militants are holy warriors taking up arms against Pakistan only because the government aligned itself with the unpopular U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. A network of seminaries and religious schools promote religious hate, and some of their leading clerics command widespread respect in the country.

Touching! Four best friends killed in yesterday's school attack by Taliban

This is the photo of the four young classmates killed in the Peshawar attack yesterday morning. This was the last pic took together before they were brutally murdered by Taliban militants who stormed their military run school. RIP

Principal who was burnt alive by Taliban Terrorist at Pakistan school while her students watched

Mrs Kazi, the principal of Army Public School and College in Peshawar which was attacked by Taliban militants yesterday Dec. 16th was set on fire by jihadists who made her students watch her burn to death. The principal was reportedly targeted because she was married to retired army colonel

Another terrorist reportedly went into another classroom which had 60 students in it and blew himself up, killing most of the students. So far, 132 children have been confirmed dead in the massacre.

The insurgents were said to have had inside information before carrying out the well planned attack and there are people who believe the brutal attack was in revenge of Malala winning the Noble Prize while some say the school was attacked because the students aspired to be soldiers. See some harrowing photos from the aftermath of the massacre after the cut...

BN! Afghan Taliban Condemn Attack On Pakistani School

Afghan Taliban have condemned the attack by Pakistani Taliban on a military run school in Pakistan earlier today. 126 people were killed, 84 of them children.

In a statement released by its spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, Afghan Taliban said; 

"The intentional killing of innocent people, children and women are against the basics of Islam and this criteria has to be considered by every Islamic party and government."

Pakistani Taliban are separate from but allied to the Afghan Taliban