The speed of the Afghan insurgents’ advances is “really troubling,” Erdogan told CNN Turk. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Wednesday that he may meet with leadership of the Afghan Taliban as the insurgents sweep across the country amid NATO withdrawal. “The latest developments and the situation of the Afghan public are really, really troubling,” Erdogan told CNN Turk on […]

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested yesterday he may meet with Taliban leadership. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan called for “face-to-face” dialogue between Turkish officials and the Taliban over stability in Afghanistan as that country descends further into civil war. Khan said efforts would be made to establish such talks after meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, who visited Pakistan’s […]

In the span of three days, at least four provincial capitals in Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, with the strategically significant city of Kunduz on the brink. On August 6, the first Afghan provincial capital fell to the Taliban in the wake of the nearly-complete U.S. withdrawal and intensified fighting across the country. By August 9, three other provincial capitals […]

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani led a government delegation to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday morning to assess the security situation in the northern provinces. Ghani’s visit to the capital of Balkh province comes amid escalating violence across the country, particularly in the north. According to the Presidential Palace, Ghani’s senior security and political affairs adviser Mohammad Mohaqiq and former mujahideen commander Juma […]

Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum said Wednesday that the Taliban are now trapped in the north and will not be able to flee that part of the country and that security forces will “crackdown” on the militants. Speaking to journalists in Balkh province, Dostum said: “The Taliban have been trapped in the north several times and this time it is not […]

The Afghan government has brought changes in key army positions amid intensified clashes between the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the Taliban militants across the country. Commander of the Special Operations Corps General Hebatullah Alizai has been appointed as Chief of Army Staff, replacing General Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai. Ahmadzai was removed as Chief of Army Staff after […]

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 […]

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday said the international community needed to look into the failures of Afghan security forces in the face of Taliban offensives across Afghanistan, Reuters reported. Taliban fighters have swiftly gained territory across Afghanistan since May, including six provincial capitals in the last three days, as international forces near a complete withdrawal from the […]