Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Thursday reported 18 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,027 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry says the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 55,575, the total number of reported deaths is 2,430, and the total number of recoveries is 48,798. Click
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 17, 2021 Unusually high levels of fighting in the winter by Taliban militants risks further endangering an already fragile peace process in Afghanistan, according to the commander of U.S. forces in the war-wracked country. “Taliban violence is much higher than historical norms,” General Scott Miller told Reuters on February 17.
Tolo News: Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov in an interview with Sputnik said that Moscow prefers that all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan agree on the establishment of an inclusive and transitional coalition government. Answering a question about the Taliban’s alleged agenda to take complete control of Afghanistan, the Russian envoy stated
By Radio Free Afghanistan February 17, 2021 Two Afghan policemen were shot dead in eastern parts of Kabul on February 17, officials said, in the latest such attack in the capital. Police said unidentified gunmen opened fire on the pair’s vehicle, killing them, while a security official said the two were father and son. Kabul has
Tolo News: The joint task team made up of members of the private sector and the House of Representatives, which went to the Islam Qala customs area to investigate the cause of the fire that started on Saturday, said that a “non-standard method of sampling of liquid natural gas” by the Afghanistan National Standards Authority.
Tolo News: Nasratullah Akhonzada, an Afghan mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, announced that he is prepared to attend an event in Russia in March hosted by the Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA) organization. Another Afghan MMA fighter, Abdul Azim Badakhshi, has also announced a fight abroad. Click here to read more (external link).
Michael Hughes: NATO defense chiefs at their upcoming ministerial are expected to approve a plan to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond the May Doha agreement deadline due to the Taliban’s alleged failure to divorce al-Qaeda and the need to support intra-Afghan talks. However, the irony is the decision will ensure a nearly dead peace process
Daily Beast: Earlier this month, a study group established by Congress recommended that President Joe Biden extend the May 1 deadline for withdrawing troops from America’s longest war. It’s a strategy that many experts say runs the risk of abrogating the U.S.-Taliban agreement and potentially setting back the potential peace process in Afghanistan—or even dooming