Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 9, 2020 A new breakaway Afghan Taliban faction that has close ties to neighboring Iran and opposes efforts aimed at ending the 18-year insurgency in Afghanistan has emerged. The Hezb-e Walayat-e Islami, or Party of Islamic Guardianship, is believed to have split from the mainstream Taliban soon after
Tolo News: Sirajuddin Haqqani, the deputy leader of the Taliban, said that despite the group’s belief in the peace negotiation talks as one of the core components of the solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, the Taliban will still continue the path of jihad (holy war) and strengthen its military power. According to the UN
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan June 2, 2020 Taliban officials have denied a report that its leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, died after contracting the coronavirus. Foreign Policy magazine, citing unnamed Taliban officials, reported on June 1 that Mullah Akhundzada contracted COVID-19 and possibly died while receiving treatment abroad. Foreign Policy quoted Mawlawi Mohammad Ali Jan Ahmad, a senior
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News February 21,2020 ISLAMABAD – In simultaneously issued statements, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the Taliban announced Friday that a deal between the U.S. and the Taliban will be signed February 29, paving the way toward ending the longest American war in history. The deal calls for a phased withdrawal
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan November 12, 2019 KABUL — The Afghan government has released three key Taliban prisoners, including Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajjuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network, in exchange for two professors of the American University of Afgahnistan in Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced. The prisoners
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 4, 2018 The founder of the Haqqani Network, one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous and feared militant groups, has died after a long illness, the network’s ally, the Afghan Taliban, announced early on September 4. Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose son Sirajuddin Haqqani now heads the brutal group and is also the Taliban’s
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 12, 2017 The Afghan Taliban’s second-in-command and head of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network has denied any involvement in recent deadly attacks in Kabul and Herat. Sirajuddin Haqqani issued the denial in an audio message distributed to the media late on June 11 by a Taliban spokesman. A May 31 truck
Reuters: The wife of an American author who disappeared on a research trip in Afghanistan more than two years ago appealed for his freedom on Thursday in a Pakistani newspaper. Paul Overby, 74, went missing in Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province shortly after May 17, 2014, the last contact he had with his family. He was hoping
Michael Hughes: Taliban senior leaders continue to operate without restrictions inside Pakistan including the insurgent group’s most lethal arm, the Haqqani Network, the Pentagon said in a report released on December 16. The Pakistanis persist on allowing this absurd arrangement to the detriment of the people of Afghanistan and the chagrin of Washington, whose entreaties have,
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 24, 2016 The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan says neighboring Pakistan has not yet placed “adequate pressure” on the Haqqani Network of militants to prevent them from plotting deadly cross-border attacks. Afghan authorities allege leaders of the group, which is fighting alongside the Taliban, are directing “high-profile”