By Abdul Qadir Ghafoori and Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 29, 2016 He calls it matrimony. Her parents call it kidnapping. Whatever the case — and it’s a complicated case — an Afghan mullah finds himself behind bars following his purported marriage to a 6-year-old girl. Sayed Mohammad Karim, a 50-something religious figure in a
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 29, 2016 The Afghan government lost control of nearly 5 percent of its territory between January and May 2016, despite the delayed U.S. troop withdrawal, a new report from the top U.S. government watchdog says. The report, published by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said the Afghan government
KABUL, July 29 (Xinhua) — Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has vowed to keep high pressure on corruption as the country is preparing for a key international conference to be held later this year, Arg, the country’s Presidential Palace said in a statement on Friday. On Thursday, Ghani chaired the first meeting of National High
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 29, 2016 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is set to hold a joint meeting with foreign ministers of five Central Asian states in Washington on August 3, a State Department official says. Daniel Rosenblum, deputy assistant secretary of state for Central Asia, told reporters during a telephone briefing on
VOA News Carla Babb July 28, 2016 PENTAGON—Increases in airstrikes, U.S. injuries, and a wider range of authorities for U.S. troops are revealing a much more involved U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, despite a planned reduction of troops there by the end of the year. The top U.S. general in Afghanistan said Thursday his forces
VOA News July 28, 2016 Five U.S. special operations troops in Afghanistan have been wounded in combat with Islamic State fighters, according to the top U.S. commander in the country. General John Nicholson, top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters Thursday that the troops were hit by small arms fire or
Ayaz Gul, Noor Zahid VOA News | July 28, 2016 ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON—Authorities in Pakistan say tens of thousands of families who took refuge in Afghanistan two years ago after fleeing a Pakistani counter-militancy offensive have until Monday to register to return home. Pakistani authorities have been pushing for the families from the North Waziristan tribal region to
SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, July 28 (Xinhua)– Taliban militants launched massive offensives on Khan Aqa and Faizabad districts in Afghanistan’s Jauzjan province Thursday morning, triggering heavy fighting which has been continuing, spokesman for provincial government Abdul Razaq Ghafori said. “More than 120 Taliban rebels launched coordinated attacks against government interests in Khan Aqa and Faizabad districts Wednesday
Associated Press: The Islamic State group presence in Afghanistan is directly linked to the parent organization in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. Army general in charge of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan said on Wednesday. Gen. John Nicholson, speaking to The Associated Press in an interview, says IS loyalists in Afghanistan have financial, communications and strategic
VOA News Ayaz Gul July 27, 2016 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN—Afghanistan has alleged for the first time that the former leader of an outlawed Pakistani militant group, who is wanted in the United States and India, is overseeing attacks by Islamic State fighters in the war-torn country. During a meeting between Afghan and Pakistani military officials in Kabul Tuesday, Afghan officials