VOA News Ayaz Gul May 25, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Afghanistan’s Taliban says Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed the new chief of the group following the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. In a Pashto language statement on Wednesday, the Tailban also formally confirmed Mansoor was killed in a U.S. drone attack last week. “Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 25, 2016 Afghan authorities claimed security forces killed a senior Taliban commander they identified as the “shadow governor” of the southern province of Helmand. The Taliban denied the report, which came days after Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur was killed by a U.S. airstrike in southwestern Pakistan. Omar Zwak, a
Tolo News: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a meeting with President Ashraf Ghani in Tehran that New Delhi is ready to hand over more helicopters to the Afghan Air Force, said the president’s deputy spokesman Sayed Zafar Hashemi. “India’s Prime Minister has tasked his security delegation to talk with an Afghan delegation about
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 24, 2016 Five civilians have been reported killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the Afghan southern province of Kandahar. The governor’s spokesman, Samim Khpolwak, said four other people were wounded in the attack in Shah Wali Kot district early on May 24. No group has claimed responsibility
VOA News Ayaz Gul, Carla Babb May 23, 2016 ISLAMABAD/PENTAGON—U.S. President Barack Obama said the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor “removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces.” Obama discussed the killing of the Afghan Taliban leader during a news conference Monday
Tolo News: The Afghan government is providing military and financial support to a breakaway Taliban faction, said some Afghan and U.S coalition officials. According to officials, Rassoul’s faction and other splinter groups have been getting cash, ammunition and weapons from the Afghan government. However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s deputy spokesman Sayed Zafar Hashemi rejected these claims. Click
VOA News Ayaz Gul, Carla Babb May 22, 2016 ISLAMABAD/PENTAGON—The Afghan intelligence agency confirmed that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan near the Afghan border. Pakistan says it was informed by the U.S. after the drone strike was carried out but lashed out at Washington for violating its “sovereignty.”
VOA News / May 22, 2016 U.S. military officials said Saturday that an American drone strike had most likely killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in a remote area of Pakistan near Afghanistan’s border. A U.S. official who spoke on background said President Barack Obama had authorized the strike, which occurred Saturday afternoon local
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 20, 2016 An Afghan guard at a United Nations compound in Kabul turned his gun on colleagues on May 20, killing a Nepalese guard and wounding another security officer there. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan said one of its staff members at the compound also was wounded by
VOA News Zabihullah Ghazi, Noor Zahid May 20, 2016 An Islamic State (IS) commander in Afghanistan killed 11 of his fellow fighters in the Achin district of eastern Nangarhar province, Afghan provincial authorities said. The Nangarhar governor’s spokesperson, Attaullah Khogyani, told reporters on Friday about the unusual killings carried out by IS commander, Zameen Jan —