Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani in a decree on Saturday approved 48 members of the High Council for National Reconciliation, which is led by Abdullah Abdullah, thus taking a major step towards preparing for the imminent intra-Afghan talks. Ghani in his decree called on religious scholars, the parliament, the private sector, media and provincial councils to
By Roshan Noorzai VOA News August 28, 2020 WASHINGTON – As Afghanistan’s warring sides prepare to hold long-awaited negotiations next week to establish peace, Pakistan is trying to push the Taliban to come to the table in a move that experts say is an attempt by Islamabad to increase its influence in postwar Afghanistan and counter
Ariana: Intra-Afghan negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban will start next week, said Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, on Thursday. The first round of talks are expected to take place in Doha, Qatar and will likely focus on a ceasefire. Talks were due to start early this month
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 26, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Pakistan said Tuesday it was “hopeful” about prospects of U.S.-backed peace talks between Afghanistan’s warring parties to end the country’s long conflict. The optimism stemmed from a meeting Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held Tuesday with a visiting Afghan Taliban delegation led by the insurgent
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal August 24, 2020 A Taliban political team arrived in Pakistan on August 24 amid ongoing efforts to start negotiations between the Afghan government and the militants. The talks, envisaged under a landmark peace agreement signed in February between Washington and the Taliban, had been expected to start earlier this month but were stymied by
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 21, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has issued an order for full compliance with U.N. Security Council sanctions against Afghanistan’s Taliban and groups associated with the Islamist insurgency. The directives are contained in a “statutory notification” (SRO) that was published by the foreign ministry on its website earlier in the week
The Christian Science Monitor: Afghanistan’s government has a delicate balancing act. As it jockeys for position ahead of talks with the Taliban, it must maintain support from both progressive and conservative segments of the Afghan people. In the late 1990s, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, the hard-line Islamists imposed a range of restrictions on Afghan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 20, 2020 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says that “all barriers and excuses have been removed” ahead of expected peace talks between the government in Kabul and the Taliban militants. In a televised message to Afghan security forces on August 20, Ghani said his government had “met all conditions for a
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 16, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States has called on Afghanistan’s warring sides to start negotiations without further delay to deter “those who seek to disrupt the peace process.” U.S. special envoy to the war-torn country Zalmay issued the call in response to Friday’s attempt on the life of a
Tolo News: Two days after the attack on peace negotiator Fawzia Koofi, there isn’t any information about the perpetrators of the incident. Koofi, however, who is under treatment at a hospital in Kabul, said on Sunday that she will continue defending women’s rights and working for peace in the country. Click here to read more