The United States and Turkey reached an agreement under which Turkey is to secure Kabul’s airport after the withdrawal of all American and NATO allied troops from Afghanistan by the end of August, 2021. This prompted a vigorous condemnation from the Taliban including the threat of Jihad: “We consider stay of foreign forces in our homeland by any country under […]

President Ashraf Ghani said Tuesday after a prayer ceremony at the Presidential Palace marking Eid al-Adha, an event marred by a rocket attack, that the Taliban has no intention of working for peace. Despite the rockets falling, Ghani and other high-ranking officials calmly continued praying. Mirwais Stanekzai, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, stated that the first rocket hit […]

President Vladimir Putin in June offered U.S. counterpart Joe Biden the use of Russian military bases in Central Asia for information gathering from Afghanistan, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Saturday, as American troops leave the country. Taliban fighters have made major advances as U.S. forces pull out after 20 years of war, a security headache for Moscow which fears refugees […]

Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, said in a message issued on the occasion of Eid al-Adha on Sunday that the Taliban group “with all its victories and military advances, is a serious supporter of a political solution to the country’s problem.” He said that the Taliban would use any opportunity that “would lead to the uprising of the Islamic […]

The Afghan government and the Taliban negotiating teams have discussed the establishment of three separate working teams to pursue peace talks, sources said Sunday. The seven-member delegations from both sides have held four rounds of talks behind closed doors since Friday. Sources familiar with the process in Doha, in Qatar, where talks are underway, told Ariana News that the teams […]

President Ashraf Ghani led a high-ranking delegation on Monday to the western province of Herat to assess the security situation, said the Presidential Palace (ARG) in a series of tweets. According to ARG, Ghani met Afghan National Defense and Security Forces’ (ANDSF) members, scholars, and tribal elders and held a security session in the province. Ghani said that Taliban has […]

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 […]

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 […]