Category: Afghanistan

UN special envoy in Tehran to discuss Afghan peace process

The UN special envoy on Afghanistan Jean Arnault met with Iranian foreign minister’s advisor Mohammad-Ebrahim Taherian on Monday in Tehran to discuss the Afghanistan situation. According to Iran’s IFP news, the two sides discussed Afghan peace talks and the security situation in the country. Taherian said Iran considers Afghanistan’s peace and security as its own, and supports the peace process […]

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Italy lowers flag in Herat, ending almost 20 year Afghan mission

Italy’s Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini arrived in Herat Tuesday to oversee the lowering and removal of the Italian flag at Camp Arena, marking the end to Italy’s almost 20-year mission in Afghanistan. According to Italy’s Ansa News Rome’s decision is in line with the US and NATO troop withdrawal process. However, Ansa reported that US troops will have completely withdrawn […]

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Turkey offers to run Kabul airport, but puts conditions in place

Turkey has offered to guard and run Kabul’s airport after the United States and other NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan, but U.S. officials say Ankara is imposing conditions which need to be resolved as their leaders prepare to meet next week, Reuters reported. Turkish officials say Ankara made the proposal at a NATO meeting in May when the United States […]

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Almost 1,500 Taliban attacks recorded since start of US retrograde

Afghan National Security Council’s (NSC) spokesman Ramatullah Andar said that since the start of the foreign troops’ withdrawal process, on May 1, the Taliban has conducted 1,455 attacks across the country. Andar said however that the Afghan security and defense forces have inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy in repelling these attacks “Also 63 armed and explosive attacks were prevented,” […]

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Can Afghan forces hold off the Taliban after American troops leave?

The army is weaker than the one left behind by the Soviet Union, but so are the militants opposing them LITTLE MORE than a month after its final phase began, the pace of America’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan is accelerating. President Joe Biden has declared that all American troops will be out by September. Now it seems possible that they […]

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Iran’s Long-Standing Strategic ‘Hedging’ in Afghanistan to Intensify Due to US Troop Withdrawal

Iran has long claimed to support political stabilization in neighboring Afghanistan while at the same time expanding its ties with the Taliban, a contradictory policy that’s likely to breed more chaos and violence as the Sept. 11 deadline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan draws closer, experts say. This policy of simultaneously supporting the Afghan government and the Taliban—what the […]

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Britain’s war in Afghanistan has cost over $31 billion

Britain’s war in Afghanistan has cost UK taxpayers £22.2billion ($31.3 billion), the United Kingdom’s government has revealed. According to a report in the UK’s Mirror on Monday, is likely to be even higher because the bill disclosed by Defence Minister James Heappey only counts cash from a special Whitehall fund for the conflict. Revealing the cost in a written parliamentary […]

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Taliban ‘invites’ translators to remain in their own country

As concerns deepen for the safety of Afghan translators who worked alongside US and NATO forces for 20 years, once foreign troops have left the country, the Taliban on Monday issued a statement urging them not to leave Afghanistan. In a statement issued by the group, the Taliban said it “invites them to return to their normal lives and serve […]

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CIA scrambles for new approach in Afghanistan: NYT reports

As US troops withdraw from Afghanistan, the CIA is reportedly under intense pressure to find new ways to gather intelligence and carry out counterterrorism strikes in the country, the New York Times reported Monday. But, according to the report, the spy agency has few good options. The CIA, has been at the heart of the 20-year American presence in Afghanistan, […]

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Khalilzad calls on Afghan leaders to start talks with Pakistan on peace issue

Zalmay Khalilzad, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, has urged Afghan leaders and politicians to start “serious negotiations” with Pakistan in order to resolve the Afghan peace issue, sources said. A number of Afghan politicians, who have recently met with Khalilzad, stated that Khalilzad has urged Afghanistan to send a high-ranking delegation to negotiate with Pakistan. Pakistan has played a […]

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