By Ayaz Gul VOA News | May 15, 2020 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The United States said Friday it had “assessed” that Islamic State was behind deadly attacks on a maternity clinic and a funeral earlier this week in Afghanistan. “ISIS has demonstrated a pattern for favoring these types of heinous attacks against civilians and is a
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 8, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The Taliban said Friday it has conveyed to the United States the insurgent group is not holding an American hostage missing in Afghanistan. U.S. envoy for Afghan peace and reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, has confirmed he called for the release of Mark Frerichs, a Navy veteran-turned contractor,
1TV:US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has met with Taliban deputy leader Mullah Baradar in Qatar, the group said on Thursday. Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for Taliban’s political office in Doha, said that they discussed quick release of prisoners, launch of intra-Afghan talks and full implementation of their deal. Click here to read
By Ayaz Gul VOA News April 26, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States has again demanded that Afghanistan’s feuding leaders and the Taliban insurgency set internal disputes aside and cease armed violence to focus on combating the coronavirus pandemic. American peace envoy to the country, Zalmay Khalilzad, made the call Sunday through a series of tweets
Press TV April 21, 2020 US officials have reportedly expressed concern about a possible failure of Washington’s bid to end its war in Afghanistan if Taliban and government prisoners die of coronavirus infection before being swapped as outlined under a US-Taliban deal. Four sources familiar with the matter said that if Taliban and government prisoners
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan April 13, 2020 U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated a deal with the Taliban, has welcomed a prisoner exchange between the militants and the Afghan government as an “important step” toward peace. “Both sides should accelerate efforts to meet targets specified in the U.S.-Taliban agreement as soon as possible,” Khalilzad said on
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News March 23, 2020 ISLAMABAD – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul Monday to try to resolve a political dispute between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah. The dispute threatens to derail a deal that the United States and the Taliban signed last
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 20, 2020 At least 24 Afghan security forces were killed early on March 20 in an insider attack on their base in southern Zabul Province, officials say. Several “infiltrators” opened fire on their comrades as they slept, Zabul Governor Rahmatullah Yarmal said, in one of the deadliest attacks since the
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 19, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States is calling on warring sides in Afghanistan to start a prisoner swap without further delay, citing urgency in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. reconciliation envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in a series of tweets Wednesday appeared frustrated at the delay in the next
Tolo News: The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, is back in Kabul and has met with Abdullah Abdullah, close to aide to Abdullah said on Wednesday as election crisis prevails in the country. Tackling the ongoing political crisis and the peace process were on the agenda of the meeting between Abdullah and