William Gallo VOA News August 24, 2018 WASHINGTON — The United States and the Taliban are reported to be in the early stages of discussions for the first time since 2012. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Christopher Kolenda, who fought in Afghanistan and later served as a senior Pentagon adviser, was instrumental in helping set up those
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 24, 2018 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban insurgency claimed Friday that U.S. airstrikes killed 16 of its fighters in eastern Afghanistan who were battling militants loyal to the rival Islamic State. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, asserted Friday that Taliban fighters were carrying out attacks against Islamic State bases in eastern provinces
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 24, 2018 Pakistan has called on Washington to correct what the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad describes as a “factually incorrect” account of an August 23 phone call between Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. A description of the call released by the U.S. State
WASHINGTON, August 23 (Sputnik) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan wished him success, and discussed the importance of Pakistan taking decision action against terrorists, the Department of State said in a press release on Thursday. “Secretary Michael R. Pompeo spoke today with Pakistani Prime
Tolo News: Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak on Thursday held a meeting with senior ministry and police officials to discuss Tuesday’s rocket attack on Kabul, which was launched during the president’s Eid message. In a live broadcast of the meeting, officials were seen giving the minister a report back on the attack – that happened
Carla Babb VOA News August 22, 2018 PENTAGON — The commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan says the Trump administration’s strategy for the war-torn country is yielding progress, despite no significant changes on the battlefield and several deadly Taliban attacks. “I believe the strategy is working,” U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson told reporters at
Hasib Danish Alikozai VOA News August 21, 2018 WASHINGTON — Tuesday marks one year since U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his South Asia strategy with a focus on Afghanistan. Since then, Afghanistan has seen some of the worst violence since the U.S.-led invasion almost 17 years ago. In 2017, while announcing the strategy, Trump put forth
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News August 21, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency issued a statement Tuesday claiming responsibility for what it called a mortar strike on the presidential palace earlier in the day. A barrage of rockets hit Kabul, just as President Ashraf Ghani was on television delivering his address for the Muslim holy
MOSCOW, August 21 (Sputnik) – The Russian Foreign Ministry denied on Tuesday the allegations by the Afghan ambassador in Russia that Moscow was planning to use the Taliban against militants from the Islamic State terrorist group (IS banned in Russia) in Afghanistan. “We paid attention to the recent statement by the Ambassador of the Islamic
MOSCOW, August 21 (Sputnik) – All militants who were involved in a major rocket attack on the presidential palace in Kabul have likely been eliminated, local media reported Tuesday, citing the Afghan Interior Ministry. Earlier in the day, Afghan media reported that the Taliban fired up to 22 rockets in Kabul during President Ashraf Ghani’s