Ayaz Gul VOA News July 25, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan said Friday that violence in the war-torn country had lately been “too high,” but that fatalities among Afghan government security forces battling the Taliban insurgency had dropped 35 percent to 40 percent compared with the same period in 2019. Zalmay
Ariana: Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, said the group is ready to release the remaining government prisoners by Eid al-Adha, in case the government also releases the remaining 600 prisoners of the Taliban according to the list already shared with the government. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 21, 2020 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Fresh clashes between government forces and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have reportedly killed dozens of combatants on both sides. The deadly Afghan violence rages as disputes over an ongoing prisoner swap between the two foes have remained unresolved, hampering U.S.-led diplomatic efforts aimed at starting
Tass: No contacts on Afghanistan are currently being planned in any format as the process of prisoner exchange between Kabul and the Taliban radical movement (outlawed in Russia as a terrorist organization – TASS) has stalled, Russian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan and director of the Russian foreign ministry’s second Asia department, Zamir Kabulov, told
Ariana: Following the Afghan government’s demand for providing a revised list of Taliban prisoners, the group rejected the offer and insisted on the release of all those inmates mentioned in the list already shared with the government. Sources close to the Taliban said the group has asked the Afghan government to clarify why the group’s
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 12, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Afghanistan’s Taliban has dismissed as “illogical” escalating domestic and foreign calls for the insurgent group to cease hostilities before the commencement of intra-Afghan peace negotiations. The long-delayed dialogue is stipulated in a landmark deal the United States and the Taliban sealed in February aimed at ending
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News July 9, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The Taliban denied news reports Thursday that they have agreed to an alternative list of prisoners to break a deadlock over prisoner exchange which is holding back the start of negotiations to reach a political settlement. “This is not true. The prisoner commission has told me
1TV: Afghan government said on Sunday it will not release 597 prisoners that are included in Taliban’s list of 5,000 prisoners they are demanding. The Office of Prisons Administration said that most of those prisoners are convicted of criminal offenses and moral crimes, including murder. Click here to read more (external link). Related Freed Taliban
By Ayaz Gul VOA News June 24, 2020 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – A top Afghan official leading peacemaking efforts with the Taliban said Wednesday that he would be open to discussing formation of an interim government with the Islamist insurgent group when the two sides begin long-awaited peace negotiations. Abdullah Abdullah, head of Afghanistan’s High Council for
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 31, 2020 The Afghan government and the Taliban have released more captives as part of a major prisoner swap ahead of formal peace talks aimed at ending the 18-year war. The prisoner exchange is part of a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February that called on the Afghan government to release