Ariana: The Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) on Saturday voted in favor of 10 nominated ministers, including those for defense, interior, and foreign affairs. Haneef Atmar secured 197 votes of confidence for the position of the foreign minister; Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal got 205 votes as finance minister; Asadullah Khalid with 206 votes as defense
By Ayaz Gul VOA News November 17, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Top government officials in Afghanistan are downplaying reports the United States may be planning to withdraw U.S. troops, saying local forces are independently conducting almost all security operations across the country and rely only on a small aerial support from foreign partners. U.S. media reports
By Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News | July 23, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Afghanistan’s acting defense minister said the government would soon share evidence that an airstrike in Herat province Wednesday that locals say targeted a wedding party actually killed Taliban militants. Asadullah Khalid told a gathering in Kabul Thursday that his ministry had the video footage of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 20, 2020 At least 24 Afghan security forces were killed early on March 20 in an insider attack on their base in southern Zabul Province, officials say. Several “infiltrators” opened fire on their comrades as they slept, Zabul Governor Rahmatullah Yarmal said, in one of the deadliest attacks since the
Press TV March 8, 2020 Afghanistan’s defense minister says the government forces would switch from ‘defense mode’ to offensive if the Taliban militant group does not stop attacks by the end of the week. “Afghan forces will remain in defense mode until the end of this week under the guidance of President Ashraf Ghani
Tolo News: Addressing Army soldiers at a ceremony in central Maidan Wardak province, Acting Defense Minister Assadullah Khalid said the Afghan forces are fighting for peace and that any deal in the peace talks which will result in “transition of power” will not be acceptable to them. His remarks come amid ongoing efforts by the Afghan
Ariana: Acting Defense Minister Assadullah Khalid on Saturday said the Taliban’s spring offensive has failed and the group has made no progress in the battlefields since the start of their offensive. Speaking at the introduction ceremony of the new commander of the Special Operations Forces in Kabul, Khalid said that the Taliban has failed to move
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 12, 2019 ISLAMABAD — A global watchdog demanded Saturday international donors impose sanctions against Afghanistan’s new defense minister, Asadullah Khalid, saying there is “credible evidence” linking him to serious rights abuses. Khalid’s appointment in December was part of a shake-up President Ashraf Ghani ordered amid sustained countrywide battlefield setbacks inflicted on
Tolo News: Assadullah Khalid, who took the charge as the acting defense minister following a decree by President Ghani last week, vowed further reforms in the Ministry of Defense and a thorough attention to the Afghan forces, who he described as the owners and decision makers of this country. Click here to read more (external
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan December 23, 2018 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced that Assadullah Khalid, the former head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), as the country’s defense minister and Amrullah Saleh, also a former intelligence chief, as interior minister. Ghani made the announcement in a December 23 decree in which he