US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met his special envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and discussed matters related to Afghan peace process.

“Senior commanders and governors have been directed to return to their positions and attend special sessions and discussions,” one leader said. Taliban fighters have been called out of their traditional winter break from fighting to front-line duty, three militant leaders tell NBC News, amid growing concerns in their ranks that the Biden administration will not withdraw foreign troops by an […]

Taliban insurgents have killed at least 21 government troops in new attacks in Afghanistan as U.S.-brokered peace talks between the two warring sides remain stalled. The fighting comes as the United States is reviewing a February 2020 agreement with the Taliban, which required remaining American and allied forces to leave Afghanistan by May of this year.

‘Taliban’s definition of peace is very different from that of the US or the Afghan govt’ The agreement between the US and the Taliban has no element of peace and is basically a withdrawal pact for American troops from war-torn Afghanistan, a former Pakistani diplomat has said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, and discussed the Afghan peace process.

Fierce clashes between security forces and the Taliban have been reported in 25 provinces in the past 24 yours, officials confirmed Friday evening. In Kunduz, Faryab, Helmand and Badghis provinces, more than 30 security forces were killed and several others were injured in this period.

While peace talks present an opportunity for the US to extricate itself from a decades-old conflict in Afghanistan, they will also pose one of the greatest foreign policy challenges for the Biden administration, the International Crisis Group reported in its latest briefing this week.

The Biden administration has been asked to keep US troops in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 deadline and avoid abandoning intra-Afghan peace negotiations. The need for a delay in withdrawing American forces from the country was underlined in a congressionally-mandated report that was released on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Noorullah Nazari, Head of NDS for Ghoryan district in western Herat province, was killed in a skirmish with Taliban militants, local officials confirmed.

A bipartisan report to US Congress stated that Washington should not abandon Afghanistan and instead extend the May 1 deadline for withdrawing the remaining troops.