Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 23, 2020 In the mid-1990s, U.S. oil company Unocal attempted to secure a gas-pipeline deal with the Taliban, which had seized control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, after a devastating civil war. It was the United States’ first attempt to forge a partnership with the fundamentalist Taliban regime,
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 7, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The Taliban says its peace pact with the United States does not alter the status of the insurgent group’s supreme leader as the “lawful ruler” of Afghanistan, saying he is duty-bound by religion to establish an “Islamic government” after foreign “occupation” troops exit the country. The
Tolo News: The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned recent statements by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, calling them an “irresponsible interference” in Afghanistan’s affairs. Pakistan’s FM Qureshi gave opinions about َthe prisoner release, and a retired Pakistani general called for a regime change in Kabul [using Pakistan’s “asset” the Taliban]. Click here to
Michael Hughes: The newly-inked U.S.-Taliban “peace” agreement – a pact that excludes the actual sitting internationally-recognized government of Afghanistan – will never bring peace to the war-torn country because it was never really designed to. The agreement and February 29 signing ceremony in Doha are all part of a publicity charade that will weaponize President Donald
1TV: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday called on the Taliban to leave Pakistan and open office in Afghanistan. “If the Taliban talk prisoner release and have it as a condition, we also have conditions, they should tell me when will they leave Pakistan?,” Ghani asked during a visit to eastern Nangarhar province. The Taliban
Press TV March 2, 2020 Taliban will not take part in intra-Afghan talks unless about 5,000 of its prisoners are released, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says, against the backdrop of a recently signed tentative peace agreement between the United States and the militant group. The Taliban spokesman said on Monday that the majority of the prisoners
Tolo News: Any reservations Afghanistan has with Islamabad should be resolved bilaterally rather than involving the United States, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Sunday, in reference to part of a joint US-Afghan declaration on peace efforts.“They should talk directly to Pakistan. The US is planning to withdraw and we will always remain neighbors,” Foreign Minister
Ayaz Gul VOA News February 29, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States and the Taliban signed a landmark agreement Saturday in Doha, Qatar, setting the stage for ending a nearly 19-year-old war in Afghanistan and bringing back home thousands of American troops deployed there. U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the
TRT: … Pakistan is “the main actor” in the ongoing Taliban talks because “key people” participating in the negotiations are “under the influence of Pakistan”. Some of the exiled Taliban leaders have allegedly lived in Pakistan since the US occupation of Afghanistan. In the wake of the Taliban talks, Pakistan quietly released Mullah Abdul Ghani
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 24, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump says he is ready to sign a peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan if a temporary truce between the two sides holds. “We think they want to make a deal, we want to make a deal. I think it’s gonna work out, we