Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, addressing a gathering of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Lahore, Pakistan on Saturday, said that NATO has “accepted” its defeat in Afghanistan and is now seeking ways to leave the country. He said the Afghan government was responsible for the ongoing situation and said he would attend upcoming conferences on Afghan peace in Istanbul and Moscow.

The Islamic republic system has been the longest-running political system in the country after the end of the absolute monarchy led by King Mohammad Zahir. The monarchy lasted for 40 years, and the current republic has been in place for the past two decades. The Afghan government has often emphasized the need to preserve the republic when it comes to […]

Afghan leaders on Sunday held a meeting under the leadership committee of the High Council for National Reconciliation to discuss in detail the US-proposed draft for Afghanistan’s peace and the upcoming international conferences on the reconciliation process. The leaders agreed that the Afghan republic should thoroughly review the proposed draft for peace and then share it with the United States. […]

At least three people have been killed and 12 wounded on Sunday evening in two separate explosions in Kabul city, police confirmed.

As US President Joe Biden’s administration wrestles with whether to extend troop presence in Afghanistan or withdraw by May 1 as per the deal with the Taliban, officials have said there are in fact more American troops on the ground than the reported 2,500.

A car bombing, a roadside blast and insurgent raids killed at least 22 people, including security forces and civilians, officials in Afghanistan said Saturday. The violence injured nearly 70 people, most of them civilians. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said Saturday the car bomb blast targeted a police base in the province of Herat, which borders Iran.

The Defense Ministry’s plan to dissolve the Afghan Army’s 217 Pamir Corps and merge it with the 209 Shaheen Army Corps has been faced with widespread reaction from lawmakers and analysts who say it will have severe consequences on the security situation in some northern and northeastern provinces, especially the Kunduz province.

Following an eight-month period of shuttle diplomacy and challenging negotiation, the US and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in February 2020. The process did not include the Afghan government, which was then faced with a fait accompli placing them at the negotiating table without real ownership of the confidence-building measures agreed upon by US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and […]

The Afghan National Security Advisor (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib said Saturday that Afghanistan will attend the Moscow and Istanbul peace conferences scheduled to take place in the next few weeks. The Russia-backed Moscow summit is scheduled for March 18, while the US-backed peace conference will be held in Turkey in April.

Afghanistan’s Interior Minister Masoud Andarabi warned on Saturday against a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan of foreign troops, saying that the Taliban’s ties to al-Qaeda remain intact and that a swift pullout would worsen global counterterrorism efforts.