Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Tuesday at a virtual conference that US President Joe Biden’s decision, endorsed by NATO, to withdraw all foreign troops from the country has been a “game-changing and game-shaping decision”. Addressing delegates at the Looking towards Peace in Afghanistan after the US-NATO Withdrawal Conference, organized by the Arab Center Washington, Ghani said: “By ending the guessing […]

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an interview with AP on Sunday said that the US came to Afghanistan to fight extremism and bring stability and is leaving nearly 20 years later having failed at both. “The international community came here 20 years ago with this clear objective of fighting extremism and bringing stability … but extremism is at the […]

Bangi and Khwaja Ghar districts in the northern Takhar province were retaken from the Taliban in an operation by government and public uprising forces on Monday morning, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The operation was launched on Sunday night with Air Force support and “the districts were cleared of Taliban this morning,” the ministry said. “The Taliban […]

People in various provinces including Takhar, Balkh and Baghlan in the north, Badghis in the west, and Parwan in central Afghanistan, have taken up arms to fight the Taliban amid an escalation of violence by the group. Public uprising forces commanders in the provinces said they will stand beside the security forces to retake the lost districts. Some politicians said […]

Fifty of Afghanistan’s 370 districts have fallen to Taliban militants since May, according to the UN’s special envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons, as the United States continues its military withdrawal from the country. “The Taliban recent advances are even more significant and are as a result of an intensified military campaign; more than 50 of Afghanistan’s 370 districts have fallen […]

The Taliban may be aiming to claim Afghanistan’s provincial capitals once U.S. military forces are withdrawn, said Deborah Lyons, U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan. Lyons stated that learning of President Joe Biden’s rapid plan to pull all troops by Sept. 11 this year caused “a seismic tremor through the Afghan political system and society at large.” When Biden announced the […]

Following repeated attacks by the Taliban in various parts of the country, particularly in the north, President Ghani’s senior adviser Waheed Omer said on Tuesday that the group, with its attacks and “subversive” activities in the last month, has proved that it has not changed at all. Addressing a gathering to introduce Brig. Gen. Ajmal Omar Shinwari as spokesman for […]

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Tuesday that a number of Taliban infiltrators were arrested in northern Kunduz province amid a sharp increase in Taliban attacks across the country. The MoD said in a statement that the infiltrators – under the guise of tribal elders – had spoken to the Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) to hand over a security […]

On June 14, 2021, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke at the inaugural Pakistan-Afghanistan Bilateral Dialogue in Islamabad. His tone was mildly aggressive. Talking about USA’s pullout from Afghanistan, Qureshi said: “If the objective of going to Washington is starting a new blame game and holding Pakistan responsible for all the ills and the lack of progress in the […]

The Taliban insurgents have seized control of another 17 districts in eight provinces in the past 24 hours. A member of Takhar provincial council told Ariana News that the Taliban overrun the Dasht-e-Qala, Darqad, Namak Aab, Chaal, Khwaja Ghar, Hazar Samuch, Yangi Qala, and Khwaja Baha-u-Din districts of the province. Meanwhile, the Afghan forces have also retreated from the Dara […]