By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal February 17, 2019 Afghanistan has expressed concerns to the UN Security Council about a planned visit by Taliban negotiators to Pakistan, asserting that the militant group’s members traveling to Islamabad are under UN sanctions and that Kabul should have been consulted prior to any such meeting. Taliban negotiators on February 14
Michael Hughes: The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attack on Indian troops in Kashmir could waste some of the goodwill Pakistan had built up with the Trump administration vis-à-vis the Taliban peace talks. Islamabad was on the verge of a major diplomatic coup in Kabul but now may have “snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” as they say.
1TV: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Afghan Taliban representatives are likely to meet each other in Pakistan amid stepped up diplomatic efforts for peace in Afghanistan, it was reported on Saturday. The prince’s visit to Pakistan is expected to start on Sunday. Taliban have already confirmed their plan to meet US officials
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 16, 2019 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that a hasty U.S. pullout from Syria runs the risk of strengthening the roles of Russia and Iran in the Middle East. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 16, Merkel questioned whether the planned U.S. withdrawal was “a good idea.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 15, 2019 The Save the Children International charity says at least 100,000 babies die every year because of armed conflict and related effects, with Afghanistan listed as among the 10 worst countries to be a child. “Increasingly, the brunt of armed violence and warfare is being borne by children,” the
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 15, 2019 The U.S. military is expected to trim troop levels in Afghanistan by more than 1,000 soldiers, a U.S. general told Reuters on February 15. U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress this month he intended to reduce U.S. forces in Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban
Tolo News: Hundreds of Afghans, who said they are families of war victims, gathered at the Loya Jirga tent in Kabul on Friday to mark the 30th anniversary of Soviet troops withdrawal from Afghanistan. The war lasted nine years and, in that time, an estimated one million civilians, including children, were killed, along with 90,000 Mujahideen
By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 14, 2019 n February 14, 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped at gunpoint, held hostage in a Kabul hotel, and killed in a botched rescue attempt. Forty years on, the precise circumstances surrounding the death of the 58-year-old diplomat remain shrouded in mystery.