In a sign that a logjam in Afghanistan over entering peace talks with the Taliban could be easing, the Afghan government announced Sunday that it had named a council of senior political leaders who will appoint negotiators, create their mandate for talks and oversee their work.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A large attack by the Taliban in western Afghanistan on Thursday killed at least 30 soldiers and police officers, Afghan officials said, in a sign of intensifying spring fighting across the country despite American efforts to reach a peace deal. Hundreds of Taliban fighters stormed the center of Bala Murghab District in Badghis Province in the predawn […]

It’s still the most dangerous border on Earth. Yet compared to the recent tweets of President Donald Trump, it remains a marginal news story. That doesn’t for a moment diminish the chance that the globe’s first (and possibly ultimate) nuclear conflagration could break out along that 480-mile border known as the Line of Control (and, given the history that surrounds […]

KABUL — Taliban insurgents repeatedly ambushed the convoy of Vice President Abdurrashid Dostum and killed two of his guards, Afghan officials said Sunday, but the powerful former warlord escaped injury. Dostum, a military general and member of Afghanistan’s Uzbek minority, was traveling in the north of the country when his heavily armed entourage came under fire. “By the grace of […]

HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) — Too poor to even buy pens and notebooks for school, Mehdi left his home in Afghanistan soon after his 17th birthday and headed to Iran, hoping to make his way to Europe and find work. Instead, Mehdi ended up fighting in Syria’s civil war, a conflict he had nothing to do with, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) […]

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2019 — The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of twenty-four (24) MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters for an estimated cost of $2.6 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

DAKAR (Reuters) – Africa’s Sahel region has seen a huge surge in civilian deaths in the past five months because of attacks by Islamist militants and ethnic militias, researchers said on Thursday. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), which is financed in part by the U.S. State Department, said it had documented 2,151 reported killings in 724 […]

SRINAGAR, India — He was the kind of professor students adored, always ready to help with books, advice or small loans. His colleagues in the sociology department found him reliable and ambitious, a scholar whose research on consumerism might propel him to a post elsewhere in India. So it was out of character when Mohammad Rafi Bhat failed to attend […]

The US envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban to end 17 years of war is heading back to the region for a new round of talks, the State Department said Tuesday. Zalmay Khalilzad will head to Afghanistan as well as neighboring Pakistan during the trip that began Monday and is scheduled to run through April 10. The State […]

KABUL, Afghanistan — The European Union’s top diplomat has expressed support for U.S.-led efforts to resolve Afghanistan’s 17-year war but stressed that the Afghan government should have a leading role in the process. The remarks by EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini reflect the bloc’s displeasure that the peace talks with the Taliban have so far sidelined the government in […]