Tolo News: Referring to COVID-19, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid was quoted by the Associated Press on Wednesday as saying: “If, God forbid, the outbreak happens in an area where we control the situation then we will stop fighting in that area.” But a Western security source says attacks–from all sides–are occurring alongside the COVID-19 spread
Asia Times: The terrorist attack that killed 27 Sikhs in a centuries-old gurdwara (Sikh temple) last week highlighted yet again the continued and systematic decimation of Sikhs and other religious minorities in Afghanistan. Once a thriving religious minority, the Sikh population in Afghanistan has over the last couple of decades declined significantly, with current estimates
Press TV April 2, 2020 Afghanistan is set to release from prison 100 Taliban militants in a prisoner exchange for 20 of its security forces personnel, the government and Taliban sources say. Both sides on Thursday confirmed that the Taliban prisoners were to be released at the Bagram military base north of the capital, Kabul.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 1, 2020 At least eight civilians, mostly children, were killed when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the civilians were traveling in a minivan in Helmand’s Gereshk district on April 1 when the
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 1, 2020 The UN Security Council has called on political rivals in Afghanistan to “rally together” and finalize talks with the Taliban to help end the country’s long, costly war. Ingrid Hayden, the UN secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan, said on March 31 that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and political rival
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 30, 2020 Militants have killed 28 members of the Afghan security forces, police officials and authorities said on March 30, as the government postponed a release of Taliban prisoners. Militants stormed the compound of a top police official in the northeastern province of Takhar on March 29, killing 13 police
1TV: The chief minister of an Indian state on Saturday called for evacuation of stranded Sikh families from Afghanistan, following a deadly attack on a temple in Kabul. “Dear @DrSJaishankar, there are a large number of Sikh families who want to be flown out of Afghanistan. Request you to get them airlifted at the earliest.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 29, 2020 The Afghan government has slammed the Taliban after the militant group rejected Kabul’s negotiating team for upcoming intra-Afghan peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 19-year war. Waheed Omar, President Ashraf Ghani’s adviser, told reporters in Kabul on March 29 that the Taliban “should not make excuses any
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 28, 2020 Taliban forces have taken control of a district headquarters in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Badakhshan, an overnight development that was followed on March 28 by an announcement that the militant group will not negotiate with a team recently unveiled by the Afghan government. The district headquarters in Yumgan
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 26, 2020 The United States has publicly hailed its agreement with the Taliban as a “historic opportunity” to end the nearly 19-year war in Afghanistan. But several crucial issues are either vague or entirely absent from the accord, prompting fears that the deal will not achieve a lasting