Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said. Afghan special forces had been fighting to retake the main market area of Spin Boldak when Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed in what they described as Taliban crossfire, […]

Pakistan’s military rescued five telecommunications workers kidnapped by Islamist militants last month close to the Afghan border in a series of operations in which two soldiers were killed, the military said on Friday. Northwest Pakistan’s border regions have become relatively peaceful after years of violence but Pakistani Taliban militants have been more active recently amid concern that surging violence in […]

An Afghan military pilot was killed in an attack by unknown armed men in northern Parwan province on Friday, sources said. Nusrat Koshan, an Afghan Air Force officer, was killed at around 6:30 Friday evening during a skirmish with armed men in the Bagram district of the province, sources added. Bagram Governor Lala Shirin Raufi told Ariana News that the […]

Aziz-ur-Rahman Tawab, Deputy Governor of Kapisa, was killed during clashes between the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and Taliban militants in Najrab district of the province on Friday, police confirmed. Abdul Shayaq Shorish, a spokesman for Kapisa police, told Ariana News that Tawab was killed in the Dare Afghania area of the district on Friday morning. Tawab and […]

Turkey has undertaken to protect Kabul’s airport. It is a risky job, but also one which promises some substantial strategic rewards. The Taliban do not shy away from assertive statements, nor do they hesitate to commit war crimes. So, this week’s statement by the group castigating Turkey’s offer to remain and protect Kabul’s international airport as ‘ill-advised, a violation of […]

Prolonging the UK military presence in Afghanistan would not have helped so long as the fundamental problem of the absence of a strategy remained unaddressed. But the manner of leaving and what follows still matter a great deal to the UK. It feels a lot like 1989. Once again, the insurgents are threatening Kabul. Once again, the discussion is about […]

As NATO troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by 11 September in the face of a Taliban surge, a question remains unanswered: why did the international intervenors fail in their mission to bring stability to Afghanistan? Five reasons stand out: The West’s best wasn’t good enough. The lives of 3,500 international troops plus an estimated 200,000 Afghans have not been sufficient […]

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said Pakistan is continuing its efforts to achieve stability and security in Afghanistan. In a tweet, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had a telephonic conversation with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and invited him to attend a “special” conference on Afghanistan situation the country would organise soon. Geo News reported […]

Badghis Governor Hesamuddin Shams said Thursday government forces and the Taliban militants have declared a ceasefire following mediation of tribal elders in the province. The ceasefire was declared at 10 am Thursday and the Taliban have also retreated from the outskirts of the provincial capital Qal-e-Naw city, sources told Ariana News. According to the sources, the ceasefire will continue until […]

Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries issued a joint statement following a meeting in the format of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group on Wednesday. The foreign ministers stand for the development of Afghanistan as an independent, neutral, united, peaceful, democratic and prosperous state, according to the statement. They realize that peace and stability in that country is […]