The Afghan government is in talks over the security of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, the Office of the National Security Council (NSC) said on Wednesday. Afghanistan will decide about the issue in light of its national interests, the NSC said. Meanwhile, the Presidential Palace has also pledged that all airports in Afghanistan will remain operational once the foreign […]

Afghan security forces retook the center of Dawlat Abad district in northern Faryab province on Wednesday morning, the Army’s 209 Shaheen Corps said in a statement. Security forces launched a clearing operation on Tuesday night with air support in the center of the district and cleared it of Taliban, the statement said. The statement did not provide further details about […]

Zalmay Khalilzad, US special envoy for Afghanistan said in a series of tweets that he met with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Doha on Tuesday and that the country will play a vital role in the Afghan peace process. India “will continue to have a vital role as we work together, and alongside the rest of the international community, […]

Amnesty International in a statement on Wednesday called on the Afghan authorities to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of a “brutal” series of attacks amounting to war crimes that have killed at least 24 civilians in little over a week. Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner stated: “The targeting of civilians with near-total impunity continues unabated. While […]

Bismillah Mohammadi has been appointed as Acting Interior Minister, replacing Hayatullah Hayat, sources said Wednesday. Mohammadi, a member of Jamiat-e-Islami Party, previously has worked as Minister of Defence, Minister of Interior Affairs, and Chief of the Army Staff. The development comes as violence dramatically increased across Afghanistan. The Taliban militants captured at least 33 districts following heavy clashes since May […]

The Taliban are reportedly opposed to a Turkish initiative for a contingent of Ankara’s troops to remain in the country to guard Kabul airport after US and international forces complete their withdrawal from the country in September. Contacted by Reuters via text, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen bundled Muslim-majority Turkey together with other NATO members, affirming the groups’s stance that it […]

Amidst reports of Ankara’s proposal to guard and run Kabul’s airport after the withdrawal of US and coalition forces from the country, a Taliban spokesman has said that Turkey should pull its troops from Afghanistan under the Doha agreement, adding another layer of complexity to concerns about consequences of troop pullout. Quoted by Reuters, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said that […]

The centers of two districts in northern and northeastern Afghanistan have fallen to the Taliban, two lawmakers said on Friday, urging the Ministry of Defense to send reinforcements to the provinces to repel a possible collapse of some strategic areas to militants. So far, sources and officials have confirmed that the centers of at least 17 districts have fallen to […]

Taliban militants captured the Arghanjkha district of Badakhshan province on Wednesday evening, sources said. The government, however, stated that the Afghan Security and Defense Forces (ANSDF) retreated from the district following two days of heavy clashes with the militants. At least 11 soldiers and one member of the public uprising forces have been killed in the skirmish. Khalil-ul-Rahman, Badakhshan Police […]

Turkey should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan under the 2020 deal for the pullout of U.S. forces, a Taliban spokesman said on Thursday, effectively rejecting Ankara’s proposal to guard and run Kabul’s airport after U.S.-led NATO forces depart. The development raises serious questions for the United States, other countries and international organizations with missions in Kabul about how to securely […]