VOA News June 5, 2016 A veteran American journalist and his Afghan translator were reported killed in Afghanistan Sunday, after coming under attack while traveling with an Afghan army unit in southern Helmand province. The U.S.-based National Public Radio identified the dead as photojournalist David Gilkey and translator Zabihullah Tammana. Two other journalists in their
VOA News Ayesha Tanzeem June 3, 2016 ISLAMABAD—After days of heavy fighting, Afghan forces have regained control of parts of Helmand province previously in the Taliban hands. Neither the province of Helmand, nor its capital, Lashkar Gah, was in danger of falling to the Taliban, according to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. General Daulat Waziri,
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 31, 2016 ISLAMABAD—Afghan officials said Tuesday that the Taliban took dozens of people hostage near the northern city of Kunduz. The insurgents apparently set up a check-point in a pre-dawn action on the main road near the provincial capital and stopped buses and vehicles heading to Kunduz from the national
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
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, May 20 (Xinhua) — A total of 13 Taliban fighters including three key commanders have been killed in Marja district of the southern Helmand province on Friday, an army spokesman in the province, Brigadier Mohammad Rasoul Zazai said. “Security forces launched major offensive against Taliban rebels in Marja district late Thursday night
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 19, 2016 An Azerbaijani cargo plane has crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing seven of its nine crew. A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan said the plane crashed on takeoff from Camp Dwyer, a military airport in Helmand Province, on May 18. There was “no military involvement” in the crash, he
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 14, 2016 At least three policemen have been killed after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a police training base in southern Afghanistan. Omar Zwak, spokesman for the governor of Helmand Province, said 10 others were wounded in the attack on May 14. Zwak said the attack targeted
Press TV May 10, 2016 Fifteen Afghan police were killed in an attack by the Taliban militants on two checkpoints close to Afghanistan’s southern city of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province Tuesday. A senior security official of Helmand released the number of fatalities, saying, “The situation is very critical near” the city. Speaking on condition
VOA News Ayaz Gul May 6, 2016 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN—Afghan army commandos, with the support of the international military coalition, conducted an overnight raid and freed more than 60 prisoners from a Taliban-run detention center in southern Afghanistan, officials said Friday. A statement from NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Kabul said the illegal prison was located
Khaama Press: The acting Minister of Defense Masoom Stanikzai has said he will resign if the control of Helmand province falls to Taliban militants. The remarks by Stanikzai comes as the Taliban group has intensified offensive in this province during the past several months in a bid to capture the province. Click here to read more (external