A Taliban attack on a Pakistani school leaves scores of children dead, 121 more injured and several staff killed, according to estimates from the Pakistan army.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot by the Taliban, has attacked the “atrocious and cowardly” killing of more than 100 schoolchildren in Pakistan by the Islamist extremists.
Alex Thomson
Across swathes of Afghanistan, many Afghans already know the game is over – and what law and order they may enjoy is at the dispensation of the armed insurgent warlords.
The Taliban in Afghanistan release a new video detailing an operation inside Camp Bastion, Helmand province, just over a month after British troops handed over control of the base.
Malala Yousafzai becomes the youngest Nobel prizewinner ever, taking the award alongside child slavery campaigner Kailash Satyarthi of India.
The Pakistani Taliban is reported to have pledged to send fighters to support the Islamic State group in the fight against the “enemies who are united against you”.
Alex Thomson
A New York Times article at the weekend suggests the Afghan police and army, whose efficiency was used to justify the US and British exit, are not up to the job.
Alex Thomson
Afghanistan’s leading presidential candidates have disputed the election results since the first round of voting in April. The potential for political implosion is very real now.
Alex Thomson
A 24 per cent spike in civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first half of 2014 suggests the Taliban and other insurgent groups are on the march again.
The Afghanistan Taliban claims responsibility for setting fire to 200 oil tankers – which it says were delivering fuel to Nato forces – near Kabul.
Sunni rebels in Iraq claim they have fully captured the country’s main oil refinery at Baiji, north of Baghdad.
Pakistani officials say they are giving people a chance to escape before they launch a fully-fledged ground offensive.
Pakistani fighter jets bomb suspected Taliban hideouts in the tribal North Waziristan region after the attack on the country’s busiest airport a week ago, according to reports.
US marine commander Elliot Ackerman tells Channel 4 News there is no appetite to intervene in Iraq but former ambassador James Jeffrey says Iraq is sinking “slowly under the control of terrorism”.
Conflicting reports emerge over an attack on the airport security force academy in Karachi, with one senior officials saying the incident was a “misunderstanding”.