At least 26 anti-government militias including several Pakistani citizens were killed during latest clashes with Afghan security forces in southern Helmand province last night.

Amrullah Saleh, the first vice president, says the Taliban-Islamic State has warned that if one of their members is executed, they will turn Kabul into Shia massacre ground.

US Congress overwhelming passes US military budget bill that President Donald Trump has promised to veto. The United States Congress has overwhelmingly approved a national defence bill authorising an annual $740bn US military budget – the world’s largest – for the 2021 fiscal year, despite President Donald Trump’s promise to use his veto.

The United Nations General Assembly’s resolution on the situation in Afghanistan was adopted on Friday by a majority of 131 votes, supporting an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and calling on all Afghan actors to make sustained efforts to reduce and end violence in the country.

Starting with General Zia-ul-Haq’s martial law in the late 1970s, the anomaly of military control has become a permanent feature of Pakistan’s hybrid military-civilian system. Over the years it has also become a factor in tilting the balance in favor of the generals when it comes to calling the shots in framing the security and foreign policies of the state.

Two Daesh militants, who were involved in an attack on Vice President AmrullahSaleh and recent attacks in Shinwari district of Nangarhar province, have been arrested, an official said on Thursday.

Ariana News presenter Faridin Amini died on Friday under mysterious circumstances. Police and Amini’s colleagues confirmed the journalist’s death but offered no details.

The government has announced arresting suspects in the killing of two journalists — Malalai Maiwand and Ilyas Daee. Radio Azadi reporter Ilyas Daee was killed last month in southern Helmand province when a magnetic bomb attached to his vehicle exploded.

Journalists based in eastern Nangarhar province on Friday asked the government to try in public and award severe punishment to the killers of TV and radio presenter Malalai Maiwand.

While the peace talks are underway in Doha Taliban on Friday in a statement blamed US forces in Afghanistan for conducting airstrikes in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces resulting in civilian deaths. The Taliban claims that at least 11 civilians died of US airstrikes in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces and wounded two others.