By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan April 2, 2019 KABUL — The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban has played down recent tensions with the Western-backed Kabul government, telling RFE/RL that he hopes 2019 will be the “year of peace.” In an interview in the Afghan capital on April 1, Zalmay Khalilzad said
Ayaz Gul VOA News April 2, 2019 ISLAMABAD — Authorities in Afghanistan say a military-led counteroffensive has evicted the Taliban from a strategically important district in northeastern Badakhshan province, inflicting heavy casualties on retreating insurgents. The Taliban had late last week overrun Arghanj Khwa, located in the vicinity of the provincial capital of Faizabad, disrupting links
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 1, 2019 The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban to end nearly 18 years of war in Afghanistan has returned to Kabul ahead of a new round of talks. Fereydoun Khuzon, deputy spokesman for the Afghan presidential administration, told RFE/RL on April 1 that he expects the visit of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 30, 2019 U.S. actress Angelina Jolie, who is an activist for refugee-related causes, has urged in a speech at the United Nations that women be represented in the peace process aimed at ending the long conflict in Afghanistan. “In Afghanistan thousands of women have recently come together in public risking
Tolo News: “With or without a peace settlement, Afghanistan will likely continue to grapple with multiple violent-extremist organizations, who threaten Afghanistan and the international community …With or without a peace agreement, Afghanistan runs the risk of becoming a ‘narco-state’ and has already been described as such by former officials from the US government and international organizations,”
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 27, 2019 The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban to end nearly 18 years of war in Afghanistan is heading back to the region amid growing tensions between Washington and Kabul over the absence of the Afghan government from the talks. “I’m on the road again to
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 26, 2019 Afghanistan has recalled its ambassador from Pakistan over statements made by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to the media that suggested Kabul should set up an interim government. Khan told Pakistani journalists on March 25 that forming an interim Afghan government would help peace talks between the
The New York Times: When the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and toppled the Taliban government, even those who surrendered were treated as terrorists: handcuffed, hooded and shipped to the American detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Now, in a stark demonstration of the twists and contradictions of the long American involvement in Afghanistan, five
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 26, 2019 KABUL — During a visit to Kabul, the European Union’s top diplomat has said that the bloc supports “an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.” Speaking at a joint press conference with President Ashraf Ghani on March 26, EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU had
Tolo News: Heads of mainstream political parties in Afghanistan and some high-ranking government officials took to social media on Tuesday to dismiss the controversial remarks by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, who proposed an interim setup in Afghanistan as a possible solution to an “impasse” in the ongoing peace process. Khan said the Afghan government creates