1TV: Taliban leader Hebatullah Akhundzada said on Thursday the United States had raised a cloud of uncertainty and doubts about its intentions in peace talks. In a message released to mark the coming Eid al-Adha, Akhundzada said that the Taliban is enaging in the negotiations with “utmost seriousness,” and called on US to pursue the process
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 1, 2019 ISLAMABAD — The chief of the Taliban is calling on the United States to accept his insurgent group’s “logical proposals” for advancing peace negotiations between the two adversaries on ending the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan. Hibatullah Akhundzada made the remarks in his annual message ahead of next week’s Muslim
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 30, 2018 Afghan officials say clashes between two Taliban factions have killed dozens of militants in the country’s west. Jilani Farhad, the spokesman for the governor of Herat Province, said at least 28 Taliban fighters were killed and 25 wounded in the Shindand district on November 30. Hekmatullah Hekmat, the
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan August 20, 2018 KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — The Taliban has reportedly rejected an offer by the Afghan government for a cease-fire, with militant commanders vowing to carry on their attacks after Taliban fighters in the north seized nearly 200 hostages from a convoy of passenger buses. A Taliban spokesman said Taliban leader
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 18, 2018 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The fugitive Taliban leader renewed his call Saturday for direct talks with the United States, dismissing as impractical and unacceptable “propositions” he asserted Washington has offered to promote a negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan. Malawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, in a message to his followers ahead
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan August 18, 2018 The leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban has said there can be no peace in the country as long as foreign “occupation” goes on. In an August 18 statement to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada repeated that the Taliban remain committed to “Islamic goals” and the sovereignty
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 27, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reiterated Wednesday he is ready to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban leader, Mawlawi Hibatulluah Akhunzada, anywhere he wants. In an opinion piece published by the New York Times Wednesday, Ghani called for building on unprecedented separate cease-fires his government and the Taliban observed
Mohammad Habibzada VOA News June 18, 2018 WASHINGTON — The Afghan Taliban attacked security forces in at least nine provinces Monday, making good on a threat to resume fighting, even as the government extended by 10 days a unilateral cease-fire. “The cease-fire was violated in some parts of the country, during which 12 of our soldiers
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 15, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Warring sides in Afghanistan have temporarily ceased battlefield hostilities for the first time in nearly 18 years after a Taliban limited cease-fire went into effect on Friday. The Afghan government already has halted its counter-insurgency operations for a week starting from last Tuesday to encourage the Islamist
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 12, 2018 ISLAMABAD — The leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, renewed his call Tuesday for direct talks with the United States to end the war, dashing renewed hopes the insurgent group might be mulling to engage in a peace dialogue with the Kabul government. In his “message of felicitation” on