The Taliban have killed at least 23 Afghan troops and nine civilians, officials said Monday, as a fresh wave of violence grips Afghanistan despite a deal with the US and a worsening coronavirus crisis.

Afghan authorities have arrested a suspected pro-Islamic State Bangladeshi militant who is wanted in Dhaka for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to bomb an event attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2017, police here confirmed on Wednesday.

Bottom Line Up Front: With Afghanistan sharing a border with Iran, one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic, government officials in Kabul have warned that COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan could eventually reach into the tens of millions.

Authorities in Kabul will ban motorcycles and scooters in the Afghan capital in a bid to control rampant crime and stop assailants on two-wheelers from conducting targeted killings, officials said Tuesday.

Washington peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Pakistan’s military chief Tuesday, a day after discussing the lagging U.S.-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan with the chief negotiator for the insurgent movement.

In a newly released video, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP) honors its former leader Hakeemullah Mehsud and pays tribute to his life in jihad. In doing so, however, the group highlights the often overlooked close relationship between the Afghan Taliban, its Pakistani brothers, and Al Qaeda, and Pakistan’s complicity in propping up terror networks.

The chief U.S. negotiator and the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan held talks on Monday with Taliban officials in Doha on a prisoner release dispute that helped stall U.S.-led peace-making efforts, a Taliban spokesman said.

The Pitfalls of a Shady Peace in Afghanistan There are several fundamental problems with the “deal” touted by the administration as a ticket to peace in a land torn by war since the 1970s. To start with, it is not at all certain that the cast of characters that negotiated the “deal” actually do represent the Taliban…. Like the Mafia […]

The Taliban released a first group of 20 prisoners on Sunday, effectively moving forward a crucial swap with the Afghanistan government aimed at kick-starting peace talks between Afghan parties to the war.

Shelling across the border between India and Pakistan killed three Indian civilians and wounded two Pakistani civilians, military officials from the two sides said on Sunday.