Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 19, 2017 The Afghan Air Force (AAF) has received its first U.S.-made UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as part of a planned replacement of its aging fleet of Russian-made helicopters. “The first Afghan Air Force UH-60s arrived today at Kandahar Air Field” in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said
VOA News / September 18, 2017 Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the U.S. is sending another 3,000 troops to Afghanistan, an increase of over 25 percent in the number of American forces there. Mattis told reporters Monday at the Pentagon that the boost in U.S. troop strength would be “over 3,000,” but he declined to
VOA News / September 18, 2017 Ayaz Gul ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Afghanistan’s branch of the Islamic State terrorist group has expanded its extremist activities to the country’s seven provinces, as opposed to only one province last year, a United Nations report revealed Monday. While fighting over territorial control between Afghan forces and Taliban insurgents escalated in
VOA News / September 18, 2017 Ayaz Gul A suicide blast near one of Pakistan’s two main border crossings with Afghanistan has wounded at least 22 people, including several members of the security forces. Monday evening’s attack prompted Pakistani authorities to swiftly suspended all traffic at the southwestern Chaman post. Officials said personnel of the
Tolo News: Pakistan’s new prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said the bombers behind a deadly truck bombing in the diplomatic zone of Kabul in May, which killed over 150 people, were likely to have come from Pakistan. In an interview with Financial Times, published Monday, Abbasi also admitted the limitations of its operations but said
The Guardian (UK): An asylum seeker has been flown back to the UK from Afghanistan after the Home Office was ordered by the courts to bring him back because he had been deported illegally. Samim Bigzad, 23, was returned to the UK on Sunday night after a legal battle during which judges said four times it
Press TV September 17, 2017 Four people have been killed in a powerful explosion at a mobile phone market in Afghanistan’s southeastern province of Khost. Khost provincial police chief Faizullah Khairat said the blast on Sunday was caused by a “remote controlled bomb.” He said the explosion “happened at around noon in a market where people go to download
Michael Hughes: The United States is not satisfied with simply intensifying airstrikes and loosening rules of engagements to terrorize the Afghan population because now it appears the White House is tempted to launch a CIA-run covert drone war. “The C.I.A. is pushing for expanded powers to carry out covert drone strikes in Afghanistan and other
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal September 16, 2017 Officials in Pakistan have reopened the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan, one day after a grenade attack injured more than a dozen people. Torkham was reopened on September 16, one day after eight soldiers and a child were injured on the Pakistani side of the crossing and seven people
Tolo News: Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Saturday went to northern Balkh province where he attended a ceremony that was held to mark Martyrs Week. Abdullah was welcomed by Balkh governor, Atta Mohammad Noor, despite ongoing tension between the two officials over a range of issues including Abdullah’s inability to secure Jamiat-e-Islami party’s share in government.