KABUL, Afghanistan: Over a dozen mortar shells slammed into different parts of the Afghan capital on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding 11 others, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Heath Ministry officials put the death toll at five with 25 injured. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in figures. The shells … Read more
KABUL: Afghanistan‘s insurgent Taliban on Tuesday called on the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to stick to the February agreement to withdraw U.S. troops. The United States has been pulling out troops under the deal which envisages the withdrawal to be complete by May, subject to certain security guarantees, while the Taliban holds … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan‘s controversial Interior Minister Brigadier (retired) Ijaz Shah, who is known for his links with terrorist groups, has threatened opposition parties of attacks by the Taliban. Pakistan Opposition has sought the interior minister’s resignation and said such statements “validate” the allegations of supporting terrorists, being levelled against the country by the world, Dawn reported. … Read more
LASHKAR GAH: Two Afghan army helicopters collided while transporting wounded soldiers in the southern Helmand province, killing nine Afghan service members, the country’s Defense Ministry and local officials said Wednesday. The two Soviet-era Mi-17 helicopters crashed due to technical problems while taking off in Nawa district, the Afghan Defense Ministry statement said. The nine dead … Read more
KABUL—Deadly violence in Afghanistan has marred the first-ever direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban, underscoring the high stakes that face the warring sides as they struggle to get negotiations off the ground to end nearly two decades of fighting. Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban kicked off a historic first round of … Read more
Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban sat down Sunday to kick off a historic round of direct talks this week aimed at ending the two-decades-long conflict, a day after delegations met for the first time in a hotel in Qatar. The meetings over the weekend, brokered by the Trump administration as part of … Read more
The Afghanistan government and the Taliban began on Saturday their first direct talks to end nearly two decades of fighting, a negotiation brokered by the U.S. as part of its plan to withdraw from its longest war. Officials from the warring sides have convened in Doha, Qatar’s capital, for the talks, with Secretary of State … Read more
A bombing targeting the convoy of Afghanistan’s first vice president killed at least 10 people in the country’s capital, an indication of the high stakes in the U.S.-backed talks between Kabul and the Taliban to end nearly two decades of fighting. A bomb placed in a wheelbarrow detonated near Amrullah Saleh’s convoy in Kabul early … Read more
KABUL—Afghanistan’s government and the Taliban are set to begin their first-ever direct talks next week toward ending nearly two decades of fighting, after the U.S. signed a deal with the insurgent group to extricate America from its longest war. Representatives of the warring factions are expected to convene as early as Monday in Qatar’s capital … Read more