In a sign that a logjam in Afghanistan over entering peace talks with the Taliban could be easing, the Afghan government announced Sunday that it had named a council of senior political leaders who will appoint negotiators, create their mandate for talks and oversee their work.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A large attack by the Taliban in western Afghanistan on Thursday killed at least 30 soldiers and police officers, Afghan officials said, in a sign of intensifying spring fighting across the country despite American efforts to reach a peace deal. Hundreds of Taliban fighters stormed the center of Bala Murghab District in Badghis Province in the predawn […]

KABUL — Taliban insurgents repeatedly ambushed the convoy of Vice President Abdurrashid Dostum and killed two of his guards, Afghan officials said Sunday, but the powerful former warlord escaped injury. Dostum, a military general and member of Afghanistan’s Uzbek minority, was traveling in the north of the country when his heavily armed entourage came under fire. “By the grace of […]

HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) — Too poor to even buy pens and notebooks for school, Mehdi left his home in Afghanistan soon after his 17th birthday and headed to Iran, hoping to make his way to Europe and find work. Instead, Mehdi ended up fighting in Syria’s civil war, a conflict he had nothing to do with, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) […]

The US envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban to end 17 years of war is heading back to the region for a new round of talks, the State Department said Tuesday. Zalmay Khalilzad will head to Afghanistan as well as neighboring Pakistan during the trip that began Monday and is scheduled to run through April 10. The State […]

KABUL, Afghanistan — The European Union’s top diplomat has expressed support for U.S.-led efforts to resolve Afghanistan’s 17-year war but stressed that the Afghan government should have a leading role in the process. The remarks by EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini reflect the bloc’s displeasure that the peace talks with the Taliban have so far sidelined the government in […]

Introduction Nearly two decades have passed since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to topple the Taliban regime and root out al-Qaeda, and it is now the longest war in American history. Amid growing pressure at home, not least from President Donald Trump, to wind down American involvement and ongoing U.S.-Taliban talks in Doha, we […]

The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban to end nearly 18 years of war in Afghanistan is heading back to the region amid growing tensions between Washington and Kabul over the absence of the Afghan government from the talks. “I’m on the road again to build on what was achieved earlier this month. Follow me here as […]

The Afghan military has suffered its worst loss of the year in southern Afghanistan, with at least 40 security force members killed in a Taliban attack this past week, but senior officials had still not released a death toll two days later, according to residents and functionaries from the area who spoke on Sunday.

Islamic state claimed responsibility for several explosions in the Afghan capital Kabul that killed six people and wounded 23, the group’s news agency AMAQ said on Thursday without providing evidence of its claim. The attack happened during celebrations to mark the Persian new year, an Afghan government spokesmen said.