The Trump admi­nistration has informed Congress that it will take unilateral steps in areas of divergence with Pakistan while expanding cooperation between the two countries where their interests converge, like reported by dawn.com.

In a report to Congress, which was released to the media this weekend, the Pentagon also underlined the need for a joint US-Afghan platform for combating more than 20 militant groups active in the region.

This is the Pentagon’s first report on Afghanistan since Aug 21, when President Donald Trump announced his new South Asia strategy, which deepens American military involvement in Afghanistan while urging Pakistan to back US efforts for defeating the Taliban.

The report to Congress emphasised the need for a “fundamental change” in the way Pakistan deals with the alleged terrorist safe havens on its territory.

The Pentagon also informed the lawmakers that the new US strategy calls for a whole-of-government, regional approach to isolate the Taliban from “sources of external support” and to mitigate any malign influence from outside actors.

“Our military-to-military relationship with Pakistan remains critical to the success of our mutual interests in the region,” says the report. “To move forward, we must see fundamental changes in the way Pakistan deals with terrorist safe-havens in its territory.”

To induce that change, the Pentagon proposed working across the US government, “using a range of tools to expand our cooperation with Pakistan in areas where our interests converge and to take unilateral steps in areas of divergence”.

The report noted that more than 20 terrorist or insurgent groups were still active in Afghanistan and Pakistan and their existence “requires an Afghan-supported US platform in the region to monitor, contain, and respond to these threats”.

The report said that the Pak-Afghan border region remained a sanctuary for groups like Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, ISIS-K and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

“Sanctuary on the Pakistani side and presence on the Afghan side remain security challenges for both countries and pose a threat to regional security and stability,” the report added.

The Pentagon said that recent Pakistani military operations had disrupted some militant sanctuaries, certain extremist groups — such as the Taliban and the Haqqani network — “retain freedom of movement in Pakistan”.

“The United States continues to convey to all levels of Pakistani leadership the importance of taking action against all terrorist and extremist groups,” the report added.

The report acknowledged that the hard-won US gains in Afghanistan were fragile, but worth defending and the United States had aligned its diplomatic, military, and economic resources to seek a negotiated settlement to this 17-year-old war.

“We have recommitted to helping the Afghan government and people navigate through these challenges with a new approach that leverages additional support from allies, partners, and regional actors,” it said.

The Pentagon also informed the Afghan government that the US commitment to them was “enduring but not unlimited” and this support was “not a blank check”.

“As long as the Afghan government continues to show real progress and make real reforms, we will continue to support them as our strategic partners in the fight against international terrorism,” the report said.

The Pentagon also stressed the need for making the Taliban realise that they cannot win on the battlefield. “They must know that their only path to peace and political legitimacy is through a negotiated settlement with the Afghan government,” the report added.

In a recent speech at a Washington think tank, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also emphasised this point, saying that Washington’s new conditions-based approach was to “ensure the Taliban know, you will never win a battlefield victory, and the way forward is going to be by engaging in a reconciliation process and ultimately joining a government in Afghanistan”.

Daesh militants have stormed an under-construction facility belonging to the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in the Afghan capital Kabul, triggering an intense gunfight with security forces.

“Around 10:10 am, a group of armed attackers entered an under-construction building in (the) NDS training center in (the) Afshar area of Kabul,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish on Monday.

He said “the fighting is ongoing and we have also launched our operation,” adding that “the number of attackers, possible casualties and their target is not yet clear.”

Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the ministry, also said reinforcements had been dispatched to the scene.

The officials said the attackers used rocket-propelled grenades and light weapons.

The Takfiri terror group Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack via its propaganda outlet.

In a separate attack elsewhere, the district chief of Aab Kamari in Badghis Province, Abdul Rasoul, was killed in a gunfight with Taliban militants on Sunday night.

Two other policemen were wounded in the same incident, according to security sources on Monday

The clashes took place after Taliban militants attacked a police post as Rasoul was on his way to support the forces, provincial police chief, Abdul Raouf Taj said.

“Abdul Rasoul and another policeman were killed in a Taliban ambush when they wanted to help the security forces who were under attack,” Taj said.

In another incident, a government checkpoint in the southern Helmand Province came under fire early Sunday. 11 police officers lost their lives, an official said.

Omar Zwak, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said Afghan forces repelled the attack after four hours of gunfight in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. Zwak said the militants suffered casualties.

Taliban militants launch attacks across the country on an almost daily basis, despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops on Afghan soil.

Exploiting the chaos, the Daesh terror group has been seeking to expand its presence in Afghanistan after losing the territories under its control in Iraq and Syria, where it first emerged in 2014.

The battle in Marawi City may have ended, but the war is not over, like reported by manilatimes.net.

This became evident on Friday after the Armed Forces of the Philippines  (AFP) said that Islamic State-inspired groups in Mindanao were ramping up its recruitment drive to beef up its fighters for terror attacks.

During the “Bangon Marawi” news briefing in Malacañang, AFP Spokesman Edgard Arevalo said the military was monitoring the “intensified” recruitment activities of the remnants of the group once led by terrorist leaders Isnilon Hapilon and brothers Abdullah and Omar Maute.

“The recruitment we are monitoring is from remnants of Maute/ISIS (IS of Iraq and Syria) group. We monitored (such recruitment) in the municipalities around Marawi, the immediate vicinity of Marawi,” Arevalo told reporters.

“They continue to intensify, in the sense that they do not stop their recruitment. They continue to encourage anyone to join their force. And of course, they continue to offer financial remunerations. They also use social media as a tool for their recruitment activities,” he added.

Arevalo cited in particular the group led by a certain Abu Turaife, who has been tagged by the AFP as Hapilon’s potential successor as IS emir in Southeast Asia.

He said that while Turaife’s group has only 22 members, it was still deemed a “big threat” because of its capability to endanger the lives of the people in Mindanao.

“Hindi po kasi natin sila pwedeng i-underestimate dahil ganun lamang ang kanilang number (We cannot underestimate them because they are only few). But maybe the 22 is what we could mention with certainty or report with certainty. But their ability to recruit, their mobility, the weapons that they have, and their capability to conduct ng terrorist activity cannot be measured by their number,” Arevalo said.

“Hindi naman po natin kailangang maging napakarami (We don’t need to be a large group). But then, the point we’re saying is, they are capable, among other reasons that they are cited (as basis)for the extension of martial law,” he added. “Kasama po sila sa itinuturing nating malaking banta sapagkat ang grupo po ni Abu Turaife ay may leaning towards extremism (They are among those considered as a big threat because the group of Abu Turayfie has leaning towards extremism).”

According to Arevalo, these extremist groups are targeting to recruit their relatives and “vulnerable” children.

“And that is what we are intensely working on to prevent them from continuing to recruit these vulnerable sectors of our society,” he said.

To counter the terrorists’ recruitment efforts, Arevalo said the government has launched several programs for the youth.

“We are countering violent extremism dialogues with the youth. We also have youth leader summit. And just recently, we concluded the education tour of Muslim youth in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our objective is to give our fellow countrymen, especially the youth, a chance to realize what is extremism (and) how recruitment is being done by these extremists,” he said.

“These are among the ways we see to promote unity and have a fruitful and mutual co-existence,” the military spokesman added.

Mindanao has been under military rule since May 23, when fighting broke out between the Maute terror group and government forces in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur.

Under the Constitution, martial law may be declared for 60 days if there is an actual rebellion or invasion and when public safety requires it.

Upon the recommendation of President Rodrigo Duterte before the expiration of his martial law proclamation on July 22, Congress extended it to December 31, 2017.

Congress, in a joint session on December 13, granted the President’s request for a one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao to allow the police and military to eradicate all terrorist groups and armed lawless elements in Mindanao.

With the additional extension, martial law will be in effect in Mindanao from January 1 to December 31, 2018.

The Taliban have captured Baloch area and two security posts in Sherin Tagab district of northern Faryab province, an official said on Friday, like reported by pajhwok.com.

The security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Pajhwok Afghan News the Taliban attacked two security posts manned by uprising forces on Thursday night.

The militants killed an uprising commander and captured Baloch area, bringing to an end a three-month old siege, the official said.

He said the Taliban had surrounded the posts over the past three months and the uprising men had been demanding weapons and bullets, but no one paid heed.

Finally after coming under attack, the uprising forces abandoned the posts and allowed the insurgents to capture them.

A local influential figure, Daud, also lashed out at the provincial government for not coming to the aid of the besieged uprising forces in three months.

Faryab deputy police chief Col. Mohammad Naeem also confirmed the fall of the posts and Baloch area into Taliban’s hands.

At least 13 Daesh insurgents were killed in ground and air operations in eastern Nangarhar province, local officials said on Thursday according to tolonews.com.

Ten other insurgents were wounded.

The operation was launched in Khoghyani district of the province to clear the insurgents, officials said, adding that “a number of Daesh commanders were also among the dead.”

Officials did not provide further details about the operation.

The Philippines’ Congress has approved President Rodrigo Duterte‘s request to extend martial law until the end of 2018 in the country’s southern region of Mindanao to “totally eradicate” ISILsupporters and communist fighters, like reported by aljazeera.com.

Wednesday’s move was approved by 226 legislators in the House of Representatives against 23 objections.

In the Senate, it had 14 supporters and four opposers, according to Rappler, a local online publication.

Duterte appealed for the extension on Monday in a letter to legislators, saying it was necessary to contain an ongoing rebellion by supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and “the communist terrorists (CTs) and their coddlers, supporters, and financiers”.

Al Jazeera’s Jamila Alindogan, reporting from the capital Manila, said on Monday that some feared that Duterte might be “rehearsing” a nationwide enforcement of strongman rule.

The issue was raised by the legislators on Wednesday during the four-hour deliberations.

The presidential office told them the Duterte administration wanted “unlimited peace” not “unlimited martial law”.

Duterte initially imposed military rule across Mindanao in May. It was limited by the constitution to 60 days, but in July, a five-month extension was issued until December 31.

Hundreds of gunmen had rampaged through Marawi in what authorities said was part of a campaign to establish a Southeast Asian caliphate for ISIL.

A US and Chinese-backed military campaign took five months to defeat the group, with the conflict claiming more than 1,100 lives and leaving large parts of Marawi in ruins.

Although Duterte declared in October that Marawi had been “liberated” and military chiefs said most leaders of the group had been killed, authorities have continued to warn that others who escaped are regrouping and recruiting in Mindanao.

In a move to cripple the Afghanistan‘s insurgent group, the United States carried out raids on their revenue stream and destroyed at least 80 million dollars in narcotics money as part of a campaign to target Taliban, like reported by aninews.in.

According to the Tolo News, the US military officials confirmed that a US-led coalition has eliminated 25 illegal drug-processing laboratories in southern Helmand province.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch, head of the Resolute Support’s future operations division, reportedly said US President Donald Trump’s new Afghan strategy gave the US-led coalition new permissions to target the Taliban‘s command-and-control nodes, illicit revenue-generating ventures, and logistical networks.

“This new air interdiction campaign directly strengthens the Afghan defense forces and their continued battlefield successes,” he said.

Bunch pointed out that narcotics is a major source of revenue for Taliban as it receives at least USD 300 million to USD 400 million a year with almost $200 million of it coming from the production of heroin.

“They have been completely unable to achieve any objectives from their declared Operation Mansouri during this fighting season,” Bunch said. “In addition to their unrealistic goals, they have been unable to take a provincial capital or even a single city.

Afghanistan’s military is set to launch a major operation aimed at stopping the Takfiri Daesh terrorists from making inroads into the country’s northern provinces, like reported by presstv.com.

“(The) ministry of defense is planning to launch an operation against Daesh in the northern provinces of Sari Pul, Faryab and Jowzjan,” Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said Tuesday.

“We know there are foreign fighters among them, but we will eliminate all of them regardless of their nationality,” he said, without elaborating further.

Taking advantage of the chaos fueled by local Taliban militants, Daesh terrorists first emerged in Afghanistan’s eastern and northeastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar in 2015.

The Takfiri outfit is now seeking to strengthen its foothold in the war-torn country after it lost the territories it had captured across Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The terror group has claimed a number of deadly attacks against mosques and security posts in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, over the past year.

The security operation comes amid reports that foreign militants, including French nationals, are joining the ranks of Daesh in northern Afghanistan.

Mohammad Reza Ghafoori, a spokesman for the governor of Jowzjan, told AFP that more than 40 foreign Daesh militants, mostly Uzbeks, are present in Darzab and Qushtepa districts “to recruit locals and train them.”

“The government is planning to launch an operation to clear the area from them soon,” he said, without giving further details.

Taliban kill 3 Afghan soldiers

Meanwhile, local Taliban militants launched attacks on military checkpoints in Afghanistan eastern province of Ghazni early Tuesday, killing three soldiers.

At least five other soldiers also sustained injuries in the gun battles, which occurred in the districts of Andar and Muqar, said Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor.

He further said that the two districts are now under the control of Afghan security forces.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying the militants were able to overrun the checkpoints and seize weapons and ammunition.

In October, the militants launched a number of deadly assaults on a number of checkpoints and military bases across the war-ravaged country, leaving over 100 soldiers dead and dozens others injured.

The Taliban, mostly based in the south and east of Afghanistan, has been behind many attacks in the north of the country in the recent past.

Afghanistan is engulfed by violence and many parts of the country remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops. The United States and its NATO allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001, which toppled a Taliban regime.

At least 76 Taliban insurgents were killed in a five-day military operation conducted by the Afghan National Army Commando Corps in Kunduz province, spokesman of the corps Jawed Salim said, like reported by tolonews.com.

Dozens of other militants were wounded in the military operation, he said in a statement released on Monday.

The military operation was started in Imam Sahib district five days ago to clear the areas of insurgents, Salim said.

He added that a number of the villages were cleared of militants and the operation ended early on Monday morning.

“An officer was also killed and two commandos were wounded during the operation,” he said.

He did not provide further details. Taliban has not yet commented on the report.