The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) Management Committee and the World Bank this week approved three projects totaling $793 million that will provide urgent and essential food, livelihood, and health services to the people of Afghanistan. According to a statement issued by the World Bank, all three projects will be implemented off-budget out of the interim government’s control, through United […]

The Pakistani Taliban said Thursday they have indefinitely extended a cease-fire with the government in Islamabad, following two days of talks with a delegation of Pakistani tribal elders that were hosted by the Afghan Taliban. According to Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan group or TTP, the decision was made after “substantial progress” in the talks with […]

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are maintaining close ties with al-Qaida as they consolidate control over the country, and their main military threat is coming from the Islamic State extremist group and guerrilla-style attacks by former Afghan government security personnel, U.N. experts said in a new report. The experts said in the report to the U.N. Security Council that with the onset […]

The United States shares Tajikistan’s desire to see the emergence of a peaceful political process in which all of Afghanistan’s communities take part, Washington’s special envoy, Thomas West, said on Thursday. West made the remarks after visiting Tajikistan where he met with senior local officials including President Emomali Rahmon. He said that Tajikistan has a long and mountainous border with […]

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met this week in Ankara for discussions and pledged to strengthen bilateral ties and work together to help promote peace and stability in Afghanistan. The two leaders meanwhile raised concerns about the growing number of illegal Afghan immigrants in their countries but said they have agreed on ways to […]

An Indian delegation led by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Joint Secretary J.P. Singh met Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials in Kabul on Thursday where they discussed various issues including diplomatic relations. “Today, IEA Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi received Indian MEA Joint Secretary J.P. Singh and accompanying delegation. The meeting focused on India-Afghan diplomatic relations, bilateral […]

Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), has said that the government has made good progress in its diplomacy with the world. Speaking at a meeting with the government’s spokesmen, Muttaqi said that IEA’s meetings with the United States and EU helped ease economic sanctions. He went on to say foreign embassies have started […]

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, Acting Minister of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), said this week that once firm diplomatic ties have been established with India, the new Afghan government will look at securing defense relations with New Delhi. “Before starting defense relations, the first condition is to have good diplomatic relations and to advance them. When we […]

Pakistan’s government on Wednesday sent a 50-member delegation of tribal elders to Kabul to negotiate an extension of a truce with the Pakistani Taliban that expired this week, two security officials said. Talks between the two sides that led to cease-fires in the past have been mediated by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban — known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan […]

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Deborah Lyons on Wednesday in Almaty and reaffirmed Kazakhstan’s commitment to supporting Afghanistan. According to the Kazakhstan presidential press service they discussed prospects for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UN as part of international efforts to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and provide humanitarian […]