Kabul/ AFP Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Monday implored Pakistan to battle the Taliban instead of trying to bring them to peace talks, in a new hardline stance after a brazen insurgent attack killed at least 64 people. The assault last Tuesday on a security services office in the heart of Kabul appeared to be the deadliest on the Afghan …

  Istanbul / AFP The Kurdish rebel PKK movement is ready to step up its fight against Turkey in response to Ankara’s blistering military campaign, its leader warned in a BBC interview released on Monday. Since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) last year, Turkish government forces have been carrying out operations against the …

  El Fasher / AFP Tucked between palm trees and verdant lawns in the centre of Darfur’s El Fasher, the palace of the restive Sudanese region’s last sultan has become a rare focus of pride, 100 years after his death. Silver swords, antique rifles, richly coloured robes and even the throne from which autocrat Sultan Ali Dinar ruled Darfur’s vast …