Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 30, 2020 Militants have killed 28 members of the Afghan security forces, police officials and authorities said on March 30, as the government postponed a release of Taliban prisoners. Militants stormed the compound of a top police official in the northeastern province of Takhar on March 29, killing 13 police
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 29, 2020 The Afghan government has slammed the Taliban after the militant group rejected Kabul’s negotiating team for upcoming intra-Afghan peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 19-year war. Waheed Omar, President Ashraf Ghani’s adviser, told reporters in Kabul on March 29 that the Taliban “should not make excuses any
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 28, 2020 Taliban forces have taken control of a district headquarters in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Badakhshan, an overnight development that was followed on March 28 by an announcement that the militant group will not negotiate with a team recently unveiled by the Afghan government. The district headquarters in Yumgan
VOA News March 28, 2020 By Hasib Danish Alikozai, Niala Mohammad, Roshan Noorzai WASHINGTON – While the government of President Ashraf Ghani downplays the repercussions of a potential $1 billion cut in U.S. aid to Afghanistan, ordinary Afghans and experts warn the country is not in a position to withstand such a financial blow as it struggles with
Tolo News: Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has finalized a list of 20 representatives to negotiate with the Taliban, an important step towards the much-awaited intra-Afghan talks. These are the names on Ghani’s peace negotiating team, released on Wednesday night: Masoom Stanikzai Zakia Wardak Click here to read more (external link). Related Political Parties React to
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 26, 2020 The United States has publicly hailed its agreement with the Taliban as a “historic opportunity” to end the nearly 19-year war in Afghanistan. But several crucial issues are either vague or entirely absent from the accord, prompting fears that the deal will not achieve a lasting
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 24, 2020 KABUL — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says a cut in aid from the United States will not affect “key” areas of daily life in the war-torn country even as it battles to stem the coronavirus outbreak. The U.S. State Department announced late on March 23 that it was
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 23, 2020 In the mid-1990s, U.S. oil company Unocal attempted to secure a gas-pipeline deal with the Taliban, which had seized control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, after a devastating civil war. It was the United States’ first attempt to forge a partnership with the fundamentalist Taliban regime,
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News March 23, 2020 ISLAMABAD – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul Monday to try to resolve a political dispute between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah. The dispute threatens to derail a deal that the United States and the Taliban signed last
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 19, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States is calling on warring sides in Afghanistan to start a prisoner swap without further delay, citing urgency in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. reconciliation envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in a series of tweets Wednesday appeared frustrated at the delay in the next