Ayaz Gul VOA News October 2, 2019 ISLAMABAD – U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political negotiators have arrived in neighboring Pakistan amid a renewed diplomatic push to resurrect peace talks between Washington and the insurgent group. The Taliban delegation arrived in Islamabad early Wednesday hours after the Khalilzad-led team landed
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 19, 2019 Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, will brief a House of Representatives committee on peace negotiations in a compromise after the panel subpoenaed him in frustration over his refusal to meet with its members. The House Foreign Affairs Committee said that Khalilzad will hold a classified
Associated Press: The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday issued a subpoena to the Trump administration’s envoy to the U.S.-Taliban talks, demanding that he testify at an open congressional hearing next week. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., complained that the Trump administration was keeping Congress and the American people “in the dark” about negotiations
Ken Bredemeier VOA News September 9, 2019 WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt cancellation of planned peace talks with Taliban leaders creates new uncertainty about his vow to end the country’s 18-year military effort to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and could lead to more bloodshed ahead of Afghan elections late this month. Trump called
By Ken Bredemeier VOA News September 8, 2019 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that President Donald Trump “made the right decision” to call off peace talks with Taliban leaders at his presidential retreat because of the terrorist group’s on-going attacks in Afghanistan. “We need to see them capable of delivering on their
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News September 8, 2019 ISLAMABAD – The Afghan Taliban have denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to call off peace talks with the insurgent group, claiming American interlocuters were happy with a deal both sides had negotiated in Doha, and that September 23 had been decided as a date to move to the
By Steve Herman VOA News September 8, 2019 John Walker of VOA’s Afghanistan service contributed to this report. WHITE HOUSE — U.S. President Donald Trump says he has called off secret talks that were to be held Sunday at Camp David with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and “major Taliban leaders.” Trump, in a series of
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 7, 2019 ISLAMABAD – Officials in Afghanistan Saturday announced that security forces have recaptured a key northeastern district from the Taliban after five years, as heavy clashes raged in provinces elsewhere in Afghanistan. The Taliban has intensified attacks even as its representatives are engaged in a fresh round of peace
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 6, 2019 ISLAMABAD – Officials said Friday Taliban militants conducted an overnight attack on the western Afghan city of Farah, the capital of Farah province. There was no immediate word about casualties among Afghan forces or the Taliban. On Thursday, the NATO-led military alliance said an American soldier and a
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 5, 2019 At least 12 people have been killed — including a U.S. and a Romanian soldier — and dozens more injured when a car bomb struck a checkpoint on September 5 in a neighborhood of Kabul that houses the embassies, government buildings, and local NATO headquarters. The fundamentalist Taliban