Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 7, 2017 Pope Francis has criticized the naming of the U.S. military’s biggest nonnuclear explosive as “the Mother of All Bombs,” saying motherhood should not be associated with a deadly weapon. Speaking to students at the Vatican on May 6, the Pope said he was “ashamed” when he heard the
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 7, 2017 ISLAMABAD — Heavy fighting is raging in northern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency has overrun several districts since launching its so-called yearly “spring offensive” more than a week ago. The battlefield advances have again brought insurgents close enough to threaten Kunduz, the strategically important city the Taliban had briefly
Tolo News: Afghan and Pakistani border forces met in Spin Boldak district of southern Kandahar province on Friday evening to discuss the security situation – an hour after clashes stopped following a ceasefire. This came after border forces opened fire on each other across the Durand Line after Afghan authorities accused Pakistani officials of having breached
Press TV May 6, 2017 Taliban militants have seized control of a district near the Afghan city of Kunduz after a day of heavy clashes with security forces there. Police sources said the Qala-e-Zal district just outside Kunduz fell to the militants on Saturday morning after Afghan security forces pulled out of the district to avoid
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 5, 2017 ISLAMABAD — Border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 80 others Friday in a disputed area, officials said. A Pakistan army spokesman said the fighting erupted after Afghan forces fired at a government census team near the southwestern border town of
Press TV May 5, 2017 The US military will ask the Donald Trump administration next week to deploy thousands more troops to Afghanistan, a senior official says. US media have reported that the Pentagon will request between 3,000 and 5,000 conventional military personnel, mainly to advise and assist Afghan military and police units in the
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan May 4, 2017 Notorious former Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has called on his Taliban “brothers” to end their insurgency and offered to mediate talks between the militant group and with the government. Hekmatyar’s remarks on May 4 followed his return to the capital, Kabul, months after he signed a peace deal
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News May 3, 2017 ISLAMABAD — Almost three weeks after the United States dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb in Eastern Afghanistan, the Islamic State group continues to show battlefield resilience as well as run its FM radio channel in the area. Earlier this week the Islamic State Khorasan Province, the IS chapter
Press TV May 3, 2017 A bomb attack, apparently targeting a NATO vehicle near the US Embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul, has killed at least eight people and injured more than 25 others, including three American soldiers. The blast occurred during rush-hour morning traffic in Kabul’s busy Macroyan area on Wednesday. It is
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 2, 2017 ISLAMABAD — The Spy chiefs of Pakistan and Afghanistan have held official talks in Kabul on bilateral security and counterterrorism cooperation. Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, Lt. General Naveed Mukhtar, traveled to the Afghan capital Tuesday in a bid to ease tensions between security establishments of the