Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 5, 2019 Afghan special forces have rescued 12 people from a Taliban prison in the country’s south on the same day that the militants kidnapped a group of 15 government employees in the west, officials said. The National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country’s main intelligence agency, said in a
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 4, 2019 U.S. President Donald Trump is in the “process of evaluating” whether to withdraw some troops from Afghanistan, said Vice President Mike Pence. Pence’s remarks came amid reports that Trump had ordered the Pentagon to prepare for the withdrawal of 7,000 American troops deployed in Afghanistan, about half of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 3, 2019 WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump urged other countries, specifically Russia, Pakistan, and India, to become more involved in the fighting in Afghanistan as he argued against continued long-term presence of U.S. troops in the war-torn country. In televised comments to reporters during a cabinet meeting on January 2,
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 2, 2019 ISLAMABAD — Taliban insurgents have detonated a powerful bomb near a major military base in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, killing at least five soldiers and wounding six others. The attack happened Tuesday night in the volatile Maiwand district, where Taliban rebels dug a two-kilometer tunnel into the Afghan National
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 1, 2019 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban has killed more than 20 pro-government forces and captured several security outposts in northern Afghanistan. The insurgents staged the deadly offensive to try to take control of oil fields in Sayyad district in Sar-e-Pol province, a local government spokesman told VOA Tuesday. Zabihullah Amani said
Ayaz Gul VOA News December 31, 2018 ISLAMABAD — China has advised the United States against staging an abrupt troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and called for collective international efforts to help initiate a peace process between the South Asian nation’s warring parties. The remarks by a top Chinese diplomat Sunday in neighboring Pakistan come amid unconfirmed
Ayaz Gul VOA News December 31, 2018 ISLAMABAD — An Afghan Taliban delegation visited Iran on Sunday and held bilateral talks on promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan. The development comes as the Afghan insurgent group claims it has established control over 61 of the 407 Afghan districts during the 2018 fighting season. Iran’s Foreign Ministry
Tolo News: Assadullah Khalid, who took the charge as the acting defense minister following a decree by President Ghani last week, vowed further reforms in the Ministry of Defense and a thorough attention to the Afghan forces, who he described as the owners and decision makers of this country. Click here to read more (external
Hasib Danish Alikozai VOA News December 28, 2018 WASHINGTON — Despite challenges on multiple fronts, Afghanistan seems more likely than at any time in recent history to come to a favorable political settlement, according to a report released this week by the Pentagon, which cited the effects of a recent military escalation coupled with diplomatic initiatives.
Press TV December 28, 2018 Former German Defense Chief General Harald Kujat has warned that a probable American military withdrawal from Afghanistan may jeopardize German troops and force them to leave. “If the United States reduces itself to a small contingent in Afghanistan there’s no reason for us to continue the mission anymore,” Kujat told the German Tagesspiegel newspaper on