Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 14, 2019 A senior Afghan official has accused the U.S. special envoy to his country, Zalmay Khalilzad, of “delegitimizing” the Kabul government by excluding it from peace negotiations with the Taliban and acting like a “viceroy.” The comments on March 14 by Hamdullah Mohib, who serves as Afghan President Ashraf
Tolo News: Gen. Abdul Raqib Mubariz took office as the new police chief of the northern Balkh province despite opposition by former Balkh governor Atta Mohammad Noor. Forces loyal to Atta Mohammad Noor resisted for almost the entire day against the appointment of the new police chief but Gen. Mubariz took office while surrounded by commando
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 12, 2019 The Taliban is using peace talks with the United States for “propaganda purposes,” Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah told RFE/RL, urging Washington to keep troops in the country until a formal settlement that includes Kabul has been signed with the militants. Abdullah also said Afghans were “concerned”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 12, 2019 Taliban fighters have launched attacks on several army posts in western Afghanistan, killing at least 13 Afghan soldiers, officials say. Jamshid Shahabi, a spokesman for Badghis Province’s governor, said on March 12 that 42 militants were also killed and 15 troops were wounded in the fighting in the
1TV: “Presence of international troops in Afghanistan could be discussed in peace talks, but the question is when would the issue of Taliban’s ties with Pakistan be discussed?” Ghani said in a ceremony in the presidential palace on International Women’s Day. Click here to read more (external link). Related Ghani: Taliban funding sources and the armed group’s
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 7, 2019 KABUL — An Afghan presidential candidate and eight bodyguards of a rival candidate have been injured by a mortar barrage in western Kabul at a ceremony honoring a prominent Afghan Shi’ite leader who was killed by the Taliban. Amid conflicting reports about the overall death toll, RFE/RL
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 6, 2019 ISLAMABAD — Two influential members of the United States Senate have introduced legislation that would end the nearly two-decade long war in Afghanistan. The move comes at a time when U.S. officials are engaged in direct talks with Taliban insurgents to negotiate a draw-down plan and counterterrorism guarantees. The
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 6, 2019 An Afghan official says the death toll of a militant attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 17. Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said three militants stormed a construction company near the main airport in the provincial capital,
Task & Purpose: Like Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, U.S. officials have a five-year plan — for ending America’s longest war, that is. The New York Times reports that a new U.S. government plan would see the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan in the next three to five years, with half of the 14,000 American
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 1, 2019 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban carried out a pre-dawn assault Friday against a major military base in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 25 troops and taking “a number of others” hostage. Afghan officials and Taliban sources say a group of heavily armed insurgents in military uniforms, including suicide bombers, stormed