Newly appointed acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller has signalled he could accelerate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the Middle East in the final weeks of the Trump administration. Miller, a former U.S. special forces officer and counterterrorism expert, was this week given the role by President Donald Trump who fired defense secretary Mark Esper.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Kabul this week, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Saturday. Gran Hewad, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Afghan peace process and strengthening political, security, trade and economic ties will be discussed during this trip.

The Afghan government on Saturday expressed deep concerns over continued violence in the country, saying that there is a need for the Taliban to stop violence and make efforts for peace. Presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that continuation of violence by the Taliban is not acceptable.

Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, on Saturday said the Taliban prisoners were released in the hope for ending the war or reducing violence in the country, but the expectations from the move were not met.

A suicide attacker with a car bomb was identified and killed by Afghan National Security Forces on Friday evening in Helmand province, the ministry of defense said in a statement.

The New York Times quoting intelligence officials said, that Abu Muhammad al-Masri, al Qaeda’s second-highest leader, accused of being one of the masterminds of the deadly 1998 attacks on American embassies in Africa, was killed in Iran three months ago.

Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan Saturday claimed that his country has provided “irrefutable evidence” of India’s sponsored terrorism inside Pakistan. Pakistan reportedly has submitted the evidence to the United Nations. Khan also warned that Pakistan “cannot remain indifferent or silent.”

The explosion targeted a government forces’ checkpoint near the gate of the Afghan capital. A suicide car bomb exploded at the western entry gate of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least three soldiers and wounding four others, an Afghan official said.

Afghan forces have captured the mastermind of two brutal attacks on education institutes in the country’s capital which killed nearly 50 people, officials said Saturday. Mohammad Adel planned an attack on his alma mater Kabul University on November 2 and a bombing at another education centre in October, officials said.

At least 10 civilians and five security personnel were killed in cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan on Friday, in one of this year’s deadliest days along the heavily militarized frontier separating the nuclear-armed rivals, officials said. Indian officials said the barrage of mortars and other weapons along several parts of the Line of Control — the de-facto border — […]