VOA News July 16, 2018 A report in a leading U.S. newspaper says President Donald Trump has instructed “top diplomats” to pursue “direct talks” with the Taliban in an effort to “jump-start” negotiations with the militant group in the hope of bringing an end to the 17-year war in Afghanistan. The New York Times said
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 10, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Islamic scholars from around the world opened a two-day conference in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to debate the Afghanistan war and urge the Taliban insurgency to seek a settlement through peace negotiations. But a Taliban statement issued just hours before the meeting has warned participants against declaring
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan July 9, 2018 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Kabul on an unannounced visit, an Afghan government official has told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity. The July 9 visit is Pompeo’s first since becoming the top U.S. diplomat. Pompeo is expected to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad Habibzada VOA News July 8, 2018 WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia is hosting an international Muslim scholars conference on peace and stability in Afghanistan next week, Afghan officials told VOA. Delegations from 57 Islamic countries are expected to participate in the two-day conference Tuesday and Wednesday in Jeddah and Islam’s holy city of Mecca, officials of
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News July 6, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan played a key role in the June cease-fire Afghanistan made with the Taliban designed to allow the country to celebrate the holy festival of Eid peacefully, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Islamabad said Thursday. “The recent cease-fire … I should acknowledge that Pakistan did have a role to
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 5, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has urged the Taliban to accept the Afghan government’s unconditional offer of peace talks and rejected once again U.S. demands to single-handedly bring the insurgents’ leaders to the negotiating table. At a weekly news conference Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal reiterated Pakistan’s “full support” for
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 4, 2018 The United States is pushing hard to take advantage of the momentum for peace talks generated in Afghanistan due to a brief cease-fire during the Muslim holy festival of Eid last month. “I think it creates this impulse for everyone to renew their efforts to find a negotiated
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 2, 2018 ISLAMABAD — A U.S. diplomat has begun crucial meetings with officials in Pakistan to seek their cooperation in pushing Taliban insurgents to engage in peace and reconciliation talks with the Afghan government. Alice Wells, principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, Monday met with Pakistani Foreign Secretary
MOSCOW, June 30 (Sputnik) – Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has declared the end of truce with the Taliban movement, saying that the operations of the country’s armed forces will resume, local media reported on Saturday. “The nation has shown they are ready for reconciliation,” Ghani said, as quoted by the TOLO news broadcaster, adding that
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 27, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reiterated Wednesday he is ready to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban leader, Mawlawi Hibatulluah Akhunzada, anywhere he wants. In an opinion piece published by the New York Times Wednesday, Ghani called for building on unprecedented separate cease-fires his government and the Taliban observed