NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Cornelius Zimmermann has stressed timely holding of upcoming election, saying, “With transparent polls, people’s trust in the democratic process increases.” Zimmermann made the remarks during a meeting with a number of Afghan journalists at his office. He said the new US strategy on Afghanistan encouraged NATO member countries to enhance their support.

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that terrorism being a transnational threat can only be defeated through intelligence-sharing and coordinated effective border management. Addressing the meeting of the Quadrilateral Counter Terrorism Coordination Mechanism (QCCM) held here on Sunday, he highlighted achievements of Pakistan in fight against terrorism. The participants also signed an outline cooperative mechanism which […]

Afghan forces have recaptured a remote village where Taliban and Islamic State (IS) fighters allegedly massacred dozens of civilians earlier this month, officials said on Tuesday. Militants killed about 50 men, women and children in Mirzawalang, a mainly Shiite village in Sayad district of northern Sar-e Pul province, on August 5 after overrunning a government-backed militia, according to officials and […]

The Afghan security forces recaptured the control of Nawa district from the Taliban insurgents in southern Helmand province. The control of the district fell to Afghan forces after days of clashes and months after it was captured by the Taliban insurgents. Provincial governor’s spokesman Omar Zwak confirmed that the Afghan forces seized the control of the key areas of Nawa […]

Pakistan Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz Sunday reiterated that Pakistan wanted peaceful relations with all its neighbours including India. Addressing a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the advisor said Pakistan has consistently emphasised that peace and stability in Afghanistan was in its interest and a stable Afghanistan would help promote shared agenda […]

Washington will not allow Afghanistan to be a safe haven for terrorism, say Secretaries of State and Defence in Australia. The U.S. will keep its military engagement in Afghanistan open-ended, Secretary of Defence James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have indicated. Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, where the senior officials of the Trump administration attended the Australia-U.S. Ministerial […]

President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif this weekend held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana in Kazakhstan and agreed to intensify their joint efforts to fight terrorism. Ghani’s office said in a statement that Sharif joined the president in condemning the recent terror attacks, especially the wave of violence […]

For nearly a decade the international community has supported Afghanistan’s political, social, and economic reconstruction—and opposed the return to power of the Taliban. While Afghans have seen many improvements over that decade, there has been a Taliban resurgence across much of the country. Despite the recent increase in fighting, neither side has been able to vanquish the other militarily. Moreover, […]

One of our foremost authorities on modern Afghanistan, Barnett R. Rubin has dedicated much of his career to the study of this remote mountain country. He served as a special advisor to the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke during his final mission to the region and still serves the Obama administration under Holbrooke’s successor, Ambassador Marc Grossman.

A former senior mujahidin figure and an ex-counter-terrorism analyst cooperating to write a book on the history and legacy of Arab-Afghan fighters in Afghanistan is a remarkable and improbable undertaking. Yet this is what Mustafa Hamid, aka Abu Walid al-Masri, and Leah Farrall have achieved with the publication of their ground-breaking work.