RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan August 8, 2020 A traditional Afghan council is expected to back a proposal for the government to release a final group of 400 Taliban prisoners, a move that potentially paves the way for intra-Afghan peace talks. Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Loya Jirga gathering Afghan politicians and community leaders, said
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 7, 2020 ISLAMABAD – A traditional public assembly, known as a Loya Jirga, opened in Afghanistan Friday to determine whether a last set of 400 hard-core prisoners from the Taliban insurgency should be freed to clear the way for long-awaited direct peace talks between Afghanistan’s warring sides. Afghan President Ashraf
Ariana: A traditional consultative council, or Loya Jirga, will convene in Kabul on Friday to decide the fate of the last 400 Taliban prisoners who have not yet been released in accordance with the US-Taliban Doha agreement. The agreement called for the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 government personnel that were being held
Ayaz Gul VOA News August 4, 2020 ISLAMABAD – U.S. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan will be reduced to “anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000” troops by November this year. Trump’s remarks to Axios for HBO came as the Afghan Taliban has said its chief peace negotiator in a video
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan August 4, 2020 The Afghan government will convene a grand assembly of elders, known as the Loya Jirga, in Kabul on August 7 to decide the fate of hundreds of Taliban prisoners that Taliban leaders insist should be released before they join peace talks with the government. Last week, President Ashraf
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 2, 2020 An attack on a prison in Afghanistan has left several people dead and dozens wounded as violence continues unabated in the war-torn nation. Assailants on August 2 set off a car bomb outside a prison in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar and then proceeded to storm it,
Ariana: In an exclusive report by Reuters, published on Saturday, the news agency stated the US has proposed that hundreds of Taliban prisoners be transferred to house arrest in a supervised facility when they are freed from Afghan jails. Citing three senior official sources, Reuters reported that this was a proposed solution for a deadlock
Jeff Seldin VOA News July 31, 2020 WASHINGTON – U.S. and coalition defense officials fear the Taliban are successfully ratcheting up attacks against the Afghan government, hoping to push it past its breaking point, while often keeping allied forces at bay. The officials, who spoke with the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), warn
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 29, 2020 Top U.S. officials have hailed a three-day cease-fire proposed by the Taliban and agreed by the Afghan government, raising hopes that the long-delayed intra-Afghan peace talks could begin next week. The two foes announced a halt in hostilities for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday starting on July 31,
Ariana: The Taliban’s leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada stated Tuesday that the group is on the threshold of “establishing a pure Islamic government” and warned the United States and the international community to take the Doha-agreement seriously and “stop creating further problems”. He said in his Eid ul-Adha message: “Our Jihad was and continues to be