Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 4, 2019 Afghan officials say a Taliban attack in the northwestern province of Badghis has killed at least 20 government soldiers and police. Abdul Aziz Baig, head of the Badghis Provincial Council, said Taliban fighters stormed several security checkpoints outside the government headquarters in the district of Bala Murghab during
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 21, 2019 Multiple explosions on March 21 killed at least six people and wounded 23 near a Shi’ite shrine in Kabul, Afghan officials said. The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. Two children were among the wounded in the blasts, Kabul’s Emergency Services director Muhammad
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 17, 2019 KABUL — An affiliate of the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the killing on March 15 of an Afghan TV journalist in the eastern province of Khost. The group did not say in its March 17 statement why it targeted Sultan Mahmoud Khirkhwa, a
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 6, 2019 An Afghan official says the death toll of a militant attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 17. Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said three militants stormed a construction company near the main airport in the provincial capital,
Michael Hughes: In some of the most advanced countries in the world citizens are continuing to fight – with just cause – for rights such as freedom of speech, freedom from discrimination and freedom from all sorts of state oppression. Yet in certain countries there are virtually no de facto rights. In fact, one could argue that many
Al Jazeera: Comprising 15 percent of the population, the mostly Shia Muslim ethnic minority has long suffered targeted killings – The Hazara have long suffered oppression and persecution in Afghanistan. They are now often targeted by groups swearing allegiance to ISIL. In the 1990s, thousands were killed by al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. The Taliban declared them as “non-Muslims” during their rule from 1996
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 24, 2019 The United Nations says a record number of Afghan civilians were killed in 2018, blaming the increase on unprecedented suicide bombings by militant groups and air strikes carried out by U.S.-led forces. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the conflict in Afghanistan killed 3,804 civilians and wounded
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 20, 2019 An Afghan official said six civilians were killed after their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in the eastern province of Laghman. Asadullah Dawlatzai, the provincial governor’s spokesman, said the victims were travelling in Qarghayi district when the bomb went off on February 19. No group has
Hasib Danish Alikozai VOA News December 28, 2018 WASHINGTON — Despite challenges on multiple fronts, Afghanistan seems more likely than at any time in recent history to come to a favorable political settlement, according to a report released this week by the Pentagon, which cited the effects of a recent military escalation coupled with diplomatic initiatives.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 27, 2018 The Afghan National Army says a leading spokesman for the affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan has been killed in a drone strike. An army statement on December 27 said Sultan Aziz Azam was killed the day before in an “IS hideout” in the