Washington’s special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in the Afghan capital and will “rejoin talks with the Taliban,” the State Department said Wednesday. Khalilzad’s visit comes just days after President Donald Trump visited U.S. troops in Afghanistan for the Thanksgiving holiday, when he hinted at a resumption of peace talks with the Taliban.

At least 15 Taliban militants were killed as fighting planes pounded the hideouts of the Taliban fighters in the southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces on Thursday, said an army statement released on Friday.

On Dec. 4, FDD’s Long War Journal reported on a new video released by the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), an al-Qaeda-affiliated group that is loyal to the Taliban and fights under its umbrella in Afghanistan. The video shows TIP members training and and fighting in Afghanistan. Overall, the video is a pretty typical example of jihadist messaging.

More than 40 Taliban militants have been killed within past 24 hours as the Afghan army, backed by air force and NATO-led coalition’s aircraft, continued to pound militants by conducting daily operations, the Afghan Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

An American working for the United Nations has been killed when his car was attacked with a grenade in the Afghan capital.

Two Afghan security force members and 24 militants were killed in fresh clashes in Darzab district of northern Jawzjan province during Friday night, a spokesman of provincial government said Saturday.

President Donald Trump on Friday seemed to suggest that formal negotiations with the Taliban were back on — months after the peace talks with the militant group collapsed.

The killing of the United Nations employee underscores the growing threat to aid workers at a time Afghanistan is in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

U.S. President Donald Trump made an unannounced Thanksgiving visit to American troops in Afghanistan where he disclosed his administration had resumed peace talks with the Taliban and the insurgent group is willing to observe a cease-fire.

Five militants were killed and five others were arrested after Afghan Special Operations Forces waged an operation in southern Kandahar province during Tuesday night, local police said on Wednesday.