VOA News July 29, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump told the Axios news site that he did not discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin an alleged Russian plot to pay militants for attacks on American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Trump, in an excerpt of the interview released Wednesday, said he discussed “other things” with
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 29, 2020 Top U.S. officials have hailed a three-day cease-fire proposed by the Taliban and agreed by the Afghan government, raising hopes that the long-delayed intra-Afghan peace talks could begin next week. The two foes announced a halt in hostilities for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday starting on July 31,
Ariana: The Taliban’s leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada stated Tuesday that the group is on the threshold of “establishing a pure Islamic government” and warned the United States and the international community to take the Doha-agreement seriously and “stop creating further problems”. He said in his Eid ul-Adha message: “Our Jihad was and continues to be
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 27, 2020 There were 1,282 civilian deaths in Afghanistan in the first half of the year, while another 2,176 people were wounded over the same period, the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report published on July 27. Those numbers include 340 children killed and another 727 wounded, the report
Ariana: The Taliban’s political chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, warned on Sunday that the group “would make the necessary decisions” if the US failed to leave Afghanistan within the timeline agreed to earlier this year. In an interview with Iran’s Tasnim news agency, Baradar said the US-Taliban agreement, signed earlier this year in Doha, stipulated
Tehran Times: Iran’s embassy in Kabul has issued a statement reiterating support for peace talks in Afghanistan led by the Afghan leaders. The statement came as a response to a claim made by Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States’ chief negotiator with the Afghan Taliban, about Iran’s lack of support for a U.S.-led attempt to get
Ariana: Eleven Afghan Sikhs are expected to leave Kabul on Sunday for India, after being granted visas by the Indian government. Chhabol Singh, a community leader in Kabul, told India’s Sunday Express that among those leaving Sunday was Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was kidnapped in Paktia last month before being freed, and the 15-year-old girl
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 26, 2020 More than 6,000 Pakistani insurgents are hiding in Afghanistan, a fresh UN report says. The report released earlier this week said most of the militants belonged to the outlawed Pakistani Talibani group that is responsible for attacks on Pakistani military and civilian targets. According to the report, the
1TV: According to the report, al Qaeda leadership maintains close contact with the Haqqani Network. In February this year, al-Zawahiri met with Yahya Haqqani, the primary Haqqani Network contact with Al-Qaida since mid-2009, to discuss ongoing cooperation. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 25, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan said Friday that violence in the war-torn country had lately been “too high,” but that fatalities among Afghan government security forces battling the Taliban insurgency had dropped 35 percent to 40 percent compared with the same period in 2019. Zalmay