Tolo News: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Hizb-e-Islami party, at an Islamabad press conference on Tuesday said that the United States has been “defeated in Afghanistan,” adding that Washington has “no choice except to leave the country.” Regarding the current peace process between the negotiating sides in Doha, Hekmatyar said that the current talks
1TV: According to Abdullah… Pakistan has influence over the Taliban and it should encourage the group to be flexible. He said that no country will be harmed if Afghanistan is peaceful. Click here to read more (external link). Related Abdullah: Early US Troop Pullout Will Affect Peace Process Taliban Endorses Trump Re-Election Campaign, Hopes for
Tolo News: A 15-member Taliban team that the National Directorate of Security claims was formed to carry out assassinations has revealed during an investigation that they received training in Pakistan, the NDS said. Members of the group, who were captured by Afghan intelligence agency two days ago, confessed in the initial rounds of interrogation that
The Print: Pakistan is key to get the stalled Afghan-Taliban talks back on keel. PM Modi knows India must bide its time. Abdullah knows, as do Ghani and the rest of Afghanistan, that if the Taliban is back to the negotiating table after so many years, it is the Pakistanis who have nudged them. That
Michael Hughes: Pakistani officials recently had a golden opportunity to provide Afghan counterparts a glimmer of hope that a ceasefire with the Taliban was a possibility. A gesture of any sort would have been uplifting, considering the militant group has shown no signs that they will let up on their offensives inside Afghanistan, despite the
By Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News September 30, 2020 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The man heading Afghanistan’s peace efforts said Iran did not attend the ceremony marking the opening of talks with the Taliban due to tensions with the United States. “Iran was invited…Sometimes their relations with the United States which [are] under a lot of tension at
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 30, 2020 Afghanistan’s top peace negotiator says Afghanistan and Pakistan are on the threshold of a new relationship characterized by “mutual respect, sincere cooperation, and shared prosperity.” Abdullah Abdullah, who is on a bridge-building mission to Pakistan, said the neighboring countries should shun the suspicion, rhetoric, and conspiracy theories that
By Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News September 29, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Afghanistan’s senior leadership has told its team in Doha to be flexible in negotiating with the Taliban in order to seize the opportunity to end the country’s conflict, according to Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation. “We’ve asked our own delegation,
By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 16, 2020 The Taliban’s burgeoning financial might could make the militant group immune to pressure from the international community as it negotiates a role in postwar Afghanistan, according to a confidential report commissioned by NATO and obtained by RFE/RL. The Taliban “has achieved, or is close to achieving,
By Ayaz Gul VOA News September 14, 2020 ISLAMABAD – America’s peace envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, visited Pakistan on Monday and conveyed Washington’s gratitude for the “important role” Islamabad has played in easing the start of reconciliation talks between warring Afghan parties, officials said. The historic, intra-Afghan negotiations began last Saturday in Doha, Qatar, where