RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan September 2, 2020 KABUL — Afghan officials say the government is dispatching a delegation to Qatar ahead of long-delayed peace talks after authorities pressed ahead with the release of Taliban prisoners. Kabul broke an impasse with the Taliban this week by resuming a prisoner exchange, a key hurdle in the launch of negotiations
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 1, 2020 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Taliban insurgents have staged a suicide car bombing and armed assault against a police base in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least three security officers and injuring several others. Tuesday’s attack in the border province of Paktia came hours after U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan September 1, 2020 Afghan officials say they have released about another 100 Taliban prisoners as part of a prisoner swap meant to clear the way for the start of peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban. Afghan officials have described the remaining prisoners as the most dangerous, accusing them of masterminding
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 26, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Pakistan said Tuesday it was “hopeful” about prospects of U.S.-backed peace talks between Afghanistan’s warring parties to end the country’s long conflict. The optimism stemmed from a meeting Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held Tuesday with a visiting Afghan Taliban delegation led by the insurgent
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 20, 2020 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says that “all barriers and excuses have been removed” ahead of expected peace talks between the government in Kabul and the Taliban militants. In a televised message to Afghan security forces on August 20, Ghani said his government had “met all conditions for a
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 16, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States has called on Afghanistan’s warring sides to start negotiations without further delay to deter “those who seek to disrupt the peace process.” U.S. special envoy to the war-torn country Zalmay issued the call in response to Friday’s attempt on the life of a
VOA News August 14, 2020 Afghanistan has begun releasing the last 400 of its Taliban prisoners, government officials said Friday. Eighty of the prisoners were released Thursday officials said. The release is a condition for starting peace negotiations in the war-ravaged country. The U.S and the Taliban signed a prisoner release agreement earlier this year, calling for the Taliban to release the 1,000 government and military
1TV: The United States is considering to release Bashir Noorzai, an Afghan heroin kingpin, who is imprisoned since 2005, it has been reported. Noorzai was given a life sentence in 2009 after being convicted of conspiring to import heroin into the US and conspiring to distribute it. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News August 10, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Nineteen Afghan civilians were killed in multiple roadside mine blasts in Kabul and Kandahar Sunday. Two of the blasts occurred in Arghistan district of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. In the first incident, a Toyota pickup carrying civilians hit a roadside mine near Shana Nari village killing nine
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 9, 2010 Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani Sunday announced the release of a last batch of 400 Taliban prisoners, clearing the way for an early start to a U.S.-brokered peace dialogue with the Islamist insurgency. Ghani’s decision came after a government-sponsored grand public assembly, known as a Loya Jirga, advised him