Ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Afghan government has released another 55 Taliban prisoners, the National Security Council has said.

The Taliban has turned down calls for a cease-fire in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins Friday. The Afghan government and others had hoped to enable health officials to better respond to the “common threat” of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Afghan government on Tuesday, April 21 released an additional 71 Taliban prisoners in seven provinces, even as the group continues deadly attacks across the country.

As the U.S. is relying on the Taliban to keep Afghanistan from being a haven for terrorists in the wake of an agreement between the two parties, the Taliban lauds Mullah Omar’s defense of Osama bin Laden after Al Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

The Sindh police claimed on Sunday to have apprehended four suspected Al-Qaeda militants during a raid in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighbourhood.

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.