Badghis Governor Hesamuddin Shams said Thursday government forces and the Taliban militants have declared a ceasefire following mediation of tribal elders in the province. The ceasefire was declared at 10 am Thursday and the Taliban have also retreated from the outskirts of the provincial capital Qal-e-Naw city, sources told Ariana News. According to the sources, the ceasefire will continue until […]

Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries issued a joint statement following a meeting in the format of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group on Wednesday. The foreign ministers stand for the development of Afghanistan as an independent, neutral, united, peaceful, democratic and prosperous state, according to the statement. They realize that peace and stability in that country is […]

The American withdrawal from Afghanistan coupled with the exponential growth of those parts of the country under the rule of the Taliban have caused alarm in Russia. Kommersant’s foreign policy expert Maxim Yusin painted a series of gloomy scenarios. The Taliban could expend into the former Soviet republics in Central Asia; Tens of thousands of Afghan Tajiks and Uzbeks fleeing […]

The worsening security situation across Afghanistan in the wake of foreign troop withdrawal and Taliban advances, has forced an estimated 270,000 from their homes since January, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Tuesday, bringing the total internally displaced to more than 3.5 million. The agency said that families were fleeing extortion by non-State armed groups and the dangers posed […]

The lightning speed with which the Taliban has overrun large swathes of rural territories in Afghanistan’s north has shocked locals and surprised foreign observers with some worrying whether the internationally recognized government in Kabul can weather the storm. But the speed of the Taliban’s advances has everyone asking how a group composed of ragtag militants could overrun dozens of districts […]

Britain will work with the Taliban should they enter the government in Afghanistan, British Defence Minister Ben Wallace told the Daily Telegraph in an interview published on Tuesday. “Whatever the government of the day is, provided it adheres to certain international norms, the UK government will engage with it,” he was quoted as saying in the newspaper https://bit.ly/3r4LR6U. However, Wallace […]

Ned Price, US State Department spokesman, on Wednesday, urged Afghanistan’s neighbors to play a constructive role in Afghan peace talks “in order for there to be a just and durable peace” in the country. “What Iran is trying to do or is in the process of doing by hosting this meeting may well be constructive. I think the jury is […]

Tajikistan has appealed to member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for help in dealing with security challenges emerging from neighboring Afghanistan, Tajik media reported Thursday. In an appeal on Wednesday, Dushanbe reportedly said it could not manage the instability at its border without external assistance. “Given the current situation in the region, as well as the remoteness […]

Badghis provincial capital, Qala-e-Naw, was the scene of heavy clashes Thursday between the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the Taliban, local sources told Ariana News. Provincial officials meanwhile said that security forces were able to push back the Taliban and keep them from entering the city. This comes after Taliban on Wednesday launched their offensive on Qala-e-Naw […]

President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday said the Taliban rejected a peace proposal and labeled them a rebel group. Addressing a program on mineral’s week, Ghani said that following the US troop withdrawal announcement Afghanistan has faced problems. But he was confident the problems will be resolved. According to Ghani Afghans have a strong will to build their country. “We proposed […]