Ayaz Gul VOA News August 31, 2016 ISLAMABAD — More than 900 Afghan security personnel died in July while battling Taliban insurgents, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan said Wednesday. General John Nicholson of NATO’s Resolute Support mission made the revelation during a year in which Taliban fighters have made territorial advances, fighting
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 31, 2016 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban confirmed to VOA Tuesday it has been holding a Canadian man, his American wife and their two children hostage, saying the insurgent group is waiting for the U.S. and Canadian governments to meet its demands. Joshua Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman, in a video
Press TV August 31, 2016 The US State Department is reportedly evaluating a video released by the Taliban in Afghanistan that shows a Canadian man and his American wife warning that they will be killed unless their captors’ demands are met. John Kirby, the US State Department spokesman, made the announcement in a press briefing
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 30, 2016 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged Pakistan to join other nations in tackling terrorism, saying there can be no distinction between “good and bad terrorists.” Kerry made the comments on August 30 at a joint press conference with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi. Citing
Press TV August 27, 2016 A US drone attack has killed 22 Afghan soldiers held by Taliban militants in the southern Helmand province, while Taliban have overrun a strategic district elsewhere. Provincial officials announced the fatalities on Saturday. Taliban also confirmed the death toll, saying the airstrike had killed three of the group’s members in the Nad-e-Ali district on Thursday.
Carla Babb VOA News August 25, 2016 PENTAGON — NATO special operations forces, whom world leaders say have not been in a combat role since the end of 2014, are still out in the field with Afghan forces almost nightly, a U.S. general in Afghanistan said Thursday. “On average, we [NATO] probably have somebody out every
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) — Pakistan on Thursday conveyed its serious concern to Dr. Peter Lavoy, Special Assistant to U.S. President Barack Obama, over the halt of 300 million U.S. dollars in military aid to the country, officials said. U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter decided this month against making a certification to Congress stating
VOA News August 23, 2016 Ayaz Gul ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — An American soldier died as a result of wounds sustained during operations in the southern Afghan province of Helmand Tuesday while another was wounded, the U.S. military said. It said in a statement released in Kabul that the wounded soldier is in stable condition. Six Afghan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 22, 2016 Around 100 U.S. troops in Afghanistan have been deployed to a southern city at risk of falling to the Taliban. The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said the soldiers had arrived in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, to provide training and support to Afghan forces.
Michael Hughes: The United States is pivoting towards New Delhi at the expense of Islamabad vis-à-vis the rivals’ proxy war inside Afghanistan. One could argue that given Pakistan is unlikely to ever abandon terrorism as a foreign policy tool, the U.S. and India might as well collaborate on containment. Yet Pakistan, seeing Indian influence in Kabul