More than 100 militants have been killed in conflict-battered Afghanistan over the past three days as government forces have stepped up crackdown on Taliban group, officials said Monday.

New Delhi: The Taliban’s leadership is providing safe havens and resources to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups targeting India, a report produced by a United Nations expert group has revealed. “Foreign fighters continue to operate under the authority of the Taliban in multiple Afghan provinces at undiminished levels,” the United Nations’ Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team’s […]

Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in a which a militant on foot targeted in Afghanistan’s eastern city of Jalalabad, killing at least nine people including civilians, the group’s Amaq news agency said on Thursday. The group did not give evidence for its claim.

Asim Umar, a senior al Qaeda official, has released a lengthy statement praising the Taliban’s “victory” in Afghanistan. He claims that America’s “defeat” proves that its superior technology is no match for the jihadists’ faith, adding that America’s army no longer wants to fight.

In an effort to convince the Taliban to open negotiations, the Afghan government has freed hundreds of Taliban prisoners without conditions, and will free hundreds more. The Taliban has not responded to the prisoner release, and continues to refuse to negotiate with the Afghan government.

An oft-cited assessment used to measure U.S. progress in Afghanistan, recently tossed aside by commanders, is still being collected, but is no longer available to the public.

Last week, members of the Afghan Taliban along with Afghan politicians and power brokers met in Moscow to discuss the contours of a potential peace deal for the war-ravaged country. Representing the Taliban was one of the group’s original co-founders, Abdul Ghani Baradar, who offered support for a negotiated political settlement.

As the West continues to hold out hope for peace talks within Afghanistan, the Taliban presses its military efforts to take control of more areas of the country.

An Afghan military spokesman says troops have freed 84 prisoners from a Taliban-run facility in the northern Faryab province.

The Afghan Taliban is unlikely to call a ceasefire any time soon, the group’s leader has indicated, even though the “doors of dialogue” with the United States to end the 18-year-long war in the country remain open.