VOA News December 9, 2019 The Washington Post newspaper has published a trove of government documents that reveal senior U.S. officials misled the public about the 18-year war in Afghanistan by making overly optimistic pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding evidence that the conflict had become unwinnable. The Post says the documents contain more than
Ayaz Gul VOA News December 9, 2019 ISLAMABAD – A Taliban suicide bomber Monday detonated his explosives-laden vehicle near a military base in southern Afghanistan, killing at least nine soldiers and injuring several others. Officials said the insurgent bombing occurred near the center of Nad Ali district in Helmand province, where most of the territory
Tolo News: During the first day of talks on Saturday, the focus of discussion was on the reduction of violence that is intended to lead to intra-Afghan negotiations and a ceasefire, according to a US source. A Taliban source said that so far, the two sides have held discussions on the reduction of violence, ceasefire and
Ayaz Gul VOA News December 7, 2019 ISLAMABAD – The United States and the Taliban restarted peace negotiations Saturday, three months after President Donald Trump abruptly stopped the yearlong process aimed at finding a political settlement with the insurgent group and ending the war in Afghanistan. The Afghan-born U.S. special reconciliation representative, Zalmay Khalilzad, led
Ayaz Gul VOA News December 6, 2019 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – New clashes between government security forces and the Taliban in northern Afghanistan are said to have killed around 20 combatants on both sides. The predawn fighting in Kunduz province erupted after insurgents assaulted several Afghan police outposts in the volatile Imam Sahib district. A provincial
Ayaz Gul VOA News December 4, 2019 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Unknown gunmen have killed a Japanese aid worker and his five colleagues in eastern Afghanistan. Officials said the deadly shooting took place Wednesday morning in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. A provincial government spokesman told VOA that slain Dr. Tetus Nakamura and members of
Ariana: U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday that any future troop drawdowns in Afghanistan were “not necessarily” linked to a deal with Taliban insurgents, suggesting some lowering of force levels may happen irrespective of the ongoing peace push. The remarks by Esper in an interview with Reuters came on the heels of a Thanksgiving
Michael Hughes: President Donald Trump during a visit to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving Day surprised the world by announcing that the United States had resumed talks with the Taliban and surprised the Taliban by suggesting that the implementation of a ceasefire was on the negotiating table. Shortly after Trump’s announcement the Taliban underscored that their stance has
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan November 30, 2019 A high-ranking Taliban official has been killed in clashes with security forces in Jowzjan Province in Afghanistan’s north, a local official said. Qari Nuriddin and his four bodyguards were killed in the district of Mengajik, where the militant group has a strong presence, provincial government spokesman Abdul
Ayaz Gul VOA News November 30, 2019 ISLAMABAD – Officials in southern Afghanistan say a bomb explosion Saturday killed a senior military commander and wounded at least three other people, including a local journalist. Separately, an apparent drone attack in the southeast part of the country is said to have killed at least six civilians,