Ayaz Gul VOA News March 7, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The Taliban says its peace pact with the United States does not alter the status of the insurgent group’s supreme leader as the “lawful ruler” of Afghanistan, saying he is duty-bound by religion to establish an “Islamic government” after foreign “occupation” troops exit the country. The
Ayaz Gul VOA News February 29, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States and the Taliban signed a landmark agreement Saturday in Doha, Qatar, setting the stage for ending a nearly 19-year-old war in Afghanistan and bringing back home thousands of American troops deployed there. U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 16, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Pakistan announced Thursday the Taliban is ready to reduce violence in Afghanistan, calling it a major breakthrough toward reaching a long-awaited peace deal the insurgent group has been negotiating with the United States. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi revealed in a video message that Islamabad has
Associated Press: The Taliban promised Washington during months of negotiations that the United States would never again be attacked from Afghan soil. Such a pledge would have included al-Qaida, which planned the 9/11 attacks from inside Afghanistan. Yet jihad, or holy war, and a shared history continue to bind the two militant groups, and there’s no
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 17, 2019 Afghanistan’s Taliban says the killing of the brother of their leader in an August 16 bomb attack in Pakistan will not derail peace talks with the United States. Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada was not in the mosque when the bomb went off but his younger brother, Hafiz Ahmadullah,
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal August 16, 2019 The brother of the leader of the Afghan Taliban is reported to have been among those killed in a bomb blast at a mosque in southwest Pakistan. Police said four people were killed and more than 20 injured on August 16 in the explosion at the mosque some
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