Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby at a press conference on Monday said that talks with Pakistan continue over the insurgents’ safe havens. “We continue to have conversations with Pakistani leadership about the safe havens that exist along that border between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Kirby said. “And we’re mindful that — that those safe havens are only providing a source […]

Meanwhile, the Afghan interior minister says gov’t arming local groups as part of plan to fight back against the Taliban. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani returned to the capital Wednesday after a flying visit to the besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to rally his beleaguered forces, with Taliban fighters having now taken more than a quarter of the country’s provincial capitals […]

Taliban insurgents claim advances in 2 more provincial centers amid deadly violence Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in the frontline province of Balkh on Wednesday to boost the morale of security forces as Taliban insurgents marched on two more provincial capitals. Flanked by his close aides and senior political figures, Ghani landed in Balkh’s capital early in the morning to […]