By Steve Herman VOA News August 20, 2019 Nike Ching and Ayaz Gul contributed to this report. WHITE HOUSE — “Good discussions” are under way about Afghanistan, including between the United States and the Taliban, President Donald Trump said Tuesday. But he cautioned a U.S. troop withdrawal agreement might not be realized. “I don’t know
Associated Press: The Taliban fighters arrived with hammers and hatred. What they left behind is laid out on tables at the National Museum of Afghanistan, 18 years later: shattered pieces of ancient Buddha figurines, smashed because they were judged to be against Islam. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV: Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday questioned President Ashraf Ghani over the release of Khalilullah Ferozi, a former bank manager convicted of multimillion-dollar fraud. Addressing his supporters at an election campaign gathering in Kabul, Abdullah criticized the release of Delawar Khan, a former Senate adviser who was arrested over links with militants. Abdullah suggested
The New York Times: Even as the United States and the Taliban seem close to a deal on an American troop withdrawal, the Islamic State in Afghanistan is making clear that it stands to inherit the role of violent spoiler if any peace agreement is reached. That message was punctuated on Saturday by a suicide bomber who killed
Amin Alemi Press TV, Bamyan August 20, 2019 It seems to be like a dream to spend days in the nature for picnic in one of the world’s most dangerous countries, Afghanistan. But here in the central part of the country, people enjoy the beauties of one of the UNESCO world’s heritage sites in a
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 20, 2019 The Afghan ambassador to Spain has been mugged in Barcelona, police and diplomatic sources say, the latest in a string of high-profile robberies in Spain’s northeastern Mediterranean port. The assailants attacked Humayoon Rasaw on a street in the center of the city on August 18, throwing him to
The Telegraph (UK): Afghanistan is seeing a boom in methamphetamine drug production, potentially providing a new revenue stream for the Taliban in a country already notorious for opium and heroin. The United Nations said Afghan seizures of the powerful stimulant drug had increased exponentially in the past five years and then “gone off the scale” in 2019. Click
Gallup: Gallup will publish at least an article a week that reports on what Afghans are thinking on all these topics. August 19: Law and Order August 26: Food and Shelter September 4: Institutions and Infrastructure September 9: Good Jobs September 16: Wellbeing September 23: Brain Gain Click here to read more (external link). Related Inside