AFGHANISTAN Fighting escalated between government security forces and a Hazara militia in Wardak province after a helicopter carrying special forces troops was shot down on 18 March by what appeared to have been advanced weaponry, killing at least ten government soldiers. Crisis Group expert Andrew Watkins says the government blames the militia and has dispatched reinforcements in Wardak, targeting areas […]

A bomb explosion in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province Tuesday killed at least four people and wounded 13 others. Police said the explosive device was hidden in a motorcycle parked near an office of the Levies paramilitary force in Chaman, a remote Pakistani town next to the Afghan border. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing. Rescue workers and […]

Tensions are mounting between Afghanistan’s government and a powerful local warlord, with deadly clashes erupting in a rural province between his fighters and government troops. The fear is that the violence could be a harbinger of more chaos as U.S. troops head toward the exits. The government has launched an assault in central Maidan Wardak province, vowing to punish the […]

The U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan warned Tuesday that peace talks won’t succeed unless escalating violence stops, and urged any peace agreement to reflect that half the population today was born after the 2001 defeat of the Taliban and saw women rise to positions of economic and political power. Deborah Lyons told the U.N. Security Council that these Afghans are […]

The Biden administration is weighing the option of whether to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the May 1 deadline or to extend through November 2021. Department of Defense officials have reportedly presented President Biden with several options, including pulling all troops in the beginning of May; keeping troops in Afghanistan indefinitely; and extending the deadline for withdrawal until November. […]

US intelligence agencies have told the Biden administration that the Taliban could overrun most of Afghanistan within two to three years if US troops leave before a power-sharing deal is reached between the warring sides, a news report said on Friday. Such a takeover potentially would allow al Qaeda to rebuild in Afghanistan, the New York Times reported, quoting anonymous […]

Afghan national security adviser says Taliban hoping for chaos to grab power in absence of peace deal, foreign troops The Afghan government on Saturday warned of chaos and civil war in case of a haphazard withdrawal of the US and NATO forces without a peace deal in place. Addressing a news conference in the capital Kabul a day after the […]

At least 10 police force members, including Abdul Mohammad Sarwari, the police chief of Sangin district, were killed in a Taliban attack in the city of Lashkargah last night, a source said. Zaman Hamdard, a spokesman for Helmand police chief, said that three security force members, including the police chief, were killed and two more were wounded. He said that […]

At least 10 police force members, including Abdul Mohammad Sarwari, the police chief of Sangin district, were killed in a Taliban attack in the city of Lashkargah last night, a source said. Zaman Hamdard, a spokesman for Helmand police chief, said that three security force members, including the police chief, were killed and two more were wounded. He said that […]

National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib on Saturday warned that Afghanistan could slide into an all-out civil war if the US withdraws its forces without a peace agreement. He reiterated that the Taliban will not succeed to take over the power through military pressure and war. The Taliban’s negotiators so far have not offered any roadmap for peace and that they […]