Coinciding with the announcement by the United States that American troop numbers are now down to 2,500 in Afghanistan, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh told the BBC in an interview that Washington has made a mistake by conceding too much to the Taliban.

National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib said on Friday the Taliban wants to seize power by forcing the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. Mohib also accused the Taliban of wasting time in Doha, saying the developments around the talks show that the Taliban wants to seize power by force.

Two Taliban drones hovered over 217 Pamir Corps in Kunduz for about half an hour on Friday and fired off a number of mortar rounds, officials said. The corps commander General Murad Ali Yazdani said the Taliban drones had flown over the base for about half an hour and had fired off mortar rounds that landed on the football field. […]

The attack happened on the Orta-Boz outpost in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz on Thursday night. At least 14 members of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces were killed in Taliban attacks in Kunduz and Kandahar over the last 24 hours, sources and provincial council members said.

Attacks took place on police checkpoints in Kunduz province, while a civilian died in Ghazni during an attempted suicide attack. At least nine Afghan security personnel have been killed in attacks on two police checkpoints overnight in the restive northern Kunduz province, with government officials blaming the Taliban for the attacks.

Miller said the United States will continue to take any action necessary to ensure protection of its citizens. The US Department of Defense on Friday confirmed that the number of US forces in Afghanistan has reached 2,500 as directed by President Donald Trump.

At least 36 Taliban insurgents were killed in clashes with the Afghan security forces in southern Kandahar province on Thursday, police said.

The Afghan authorities said yesterday they had foiled a plan by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group to assassinate the top US envoy in Kabul, as a wave of targeted killings continues to rock the country. Intelligence officers dismantled a four-member ISIS cell in the eastern province of Nangarhar that had planned to murder Mr Ross Wilson […]

Abstract: A key question for the future of Afghanistan is if the United States withdraws the remainder of its forces from the country, would Afghanistan’s security forces or the Taliban be stronger militarily? According to a net assessment conducted by the author across five factors—size, material resources, external support, force employment, and cohesion—the Taliban would have a slight military advantage […]

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Haneef Atmar met with US Embassy’s Charge d’affairs in Kabul Ross Wilson to discuss cooperation with the incoming US administration on the Afghan peace, security, stability, and issues of bilateral interests.