By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 27, 2020 Afghanistan’s flagging peace process was on the verge of collapse following weeks of devastating militant attacks, mounting public anger, and the halt of a major prisoner swap. But a brief cease-fire between the government and the Taliban has breathed new life into efforts to negotiate an
By Sayed Hasib Maududi, Roshan Noorzai VOA News | May 27, 2020 KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Rafiullah Noori, 35, is not participating in this year’s Eid al-Fitr festivities, a three-day thanksgiving festival celebrated by Muslims around the word to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Noori, a resident of Kabul, lost his 27-year-old wife, Nazia,
By Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska VOA News May 27, 2020 HERAT, AFGHANISTAN – Farhad Karimi’s eyes fill with tears as he recalls the events of August 1, 2017. It was a warm Tuesday evening and he was attending prayers in the Jawadia mosque in Herat, Afghanistan, along with his 18-year-old brother and a college friend. Suddenly, a large
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 21, 2020 U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has urged a reduction in violence “by all sides” in Afghanistan, saying innocent Afghans are bearing too much of the brunt of the war. Khalilzad, the architect of a February agreement with the Taliban clearing the way for a U.S. troop withdrawal,
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan May 20, 2020 KABUL — U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is in Kabul to press the Taliban and Afghan government to start delayed talks amid an uptick in violence — including two more deadly attacks overnight — that threatens to unravel a landmark peace deal between Washington and the militants
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 19, 2020 The United Nations has called for an immediate reduction of violence in Afghanistan, warning that civilian deaths by both the Taliban and Afghan security forces are on the rise, as the U.S. special peace envoy opened another round of talks with the Taliban to press the militants to
Michael Hughes: The Taliban and ISIS differ only in terms of geographic aspirations. They embrace similar extremist ideologies and envision a society regulated by a harsh religious code. They even share the same tactics – like suicide bombings – and recruit from each other’s flocks. Despite what U.S. officials want the world to believe, the
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan May 16, 2020 Afghan officials say the Taliban has killed at least 11 government soldiers in separate attacks on security checkpoints in the country. At least eight soldiers were killed in an overnight attack on a checkpoint in the eastern province of Paktia, provincial councilor Mohammad Rahman Qaderi said on May
By Ayaz Gul VOA News | May 15, 2020 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The United States said Friday it had “assessed” that Islamic State was behind deadly attacks on a maternity clinic and a funeral earlier this week in Afghanistan. “ISIS has demonstrated a pattern for favoring these types of heinous attacks against civilians and is a
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Medical staff in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have been caring for newborn babies left motherless in a deadly attack on a maternity hospital by gunmen on May 12. Volunteers have come forward to breastfeed the children. It’s still unclear who was behind the atrocity.