U.S. lead negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad is expected to meet Qatar-based Taliban envoys later this week to find out whether the insurgent group is ready to reduce violence in Afghanistan for the sake of resuming peace talks.

The latest Taliban attacks underscore that the insurgents are at their strongest point since the beginning of the 18-year war.

On December 30, 2019, Associated Press (AP) reported that 5,000 Taliban prisoners will be freed as part of a deal between the U.S. and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization).[1] The AP report, quoting a Taliban official familiar with the U.S.-Taliban talks in Qatar, states that the release of the Taliban prisoners “has been written in to the […]

Afghan security forces have captured a Taliban key commander in the northern Faryab province, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Karim Yurash said Sunday.

Four militants and a police officer were killed in a clash outside Kunduz city, capital of the northern Kunduz province on Sunday morning, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi said.

Afghanistan’s incumbent President Ashraf Ghani has apparently won a second five-year term based on preliminary results announced Sunday for the disputed September 28 presidential vote.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy for reconciliation in Afghanistan, recently returned to Kabul to jumpstart political negotiations with the Taliban.

A fresh Taliban attack in Afghanistan has killed 17 pro-government forces, even as the insurgent group is reported to be mulling over a brief cease-fire to try to seal a foreign troop withdrawal deal with the United States.

xThe Taliban has denied press reports indicating the group was on the cusp of declaring a ceasefire in Afghanistan, saying this is “false and baseless.”

Afghan authorities say sustained bombing campaign has significantly reduced the threat of ISIL. Al Jazeera speaks to rural communities caught in crossfire.