The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has expressed its deep concerns over civilians’ casualties in southern Helmand province as the Taliban continue offensives across the country. UNAMA said Tuesday that at least 40 civilians have been killed and 118 others wounded within the last 24 hours in clashes between the Afghan army and the Taliban militants. “Deepening concern […]

David Martinon, the French Ambassador to Kabul said this week that France is very disappointed in the slow progress around the peace talks but that the Afghan Republic has made huge concessions while the Taliban has not done the same. In an exclusive interview with Ariana News, he said: “We felt a very strong willingness from the republican side to […]

Thousands of Kabul residents took to the streets of the city at 9pm on Tuesday night chanting slogans, including Allahu Akbar (God is Great), in support of the Afghan security forces who are battling the Taliban on multiple fronts across Afghanistan. In addition to chanting slogans, residents waved the country’s flag, showing support for the republic system and the government […]

Troops from Russia and Uzbekistan began joint military drills on Monday near the Afghan border amid fears in both countries over a worsening security situation in Afghanistan that could spill over into Central Asia, Reuters reported. Russia said 1,500 Russian and Uzbek troops would take part in the five-day exercises that began at the Termez military site in Uzbekistan, the […]

Helmand, Kandahar and Herat have been hit hard these past few days by intense battles between the Afghan security forces and the Taliban, officials confirmed. One of the hardest hit has been Herat, which has witnessed two days of solid fighting around the city itself, while heavy attacks have been launched on villages to the west of the city. As […]

The U.S. and British embassies in Kabul said on Monday the insurgent Taliban may have committed war crimes in southern Afghanistan by carrying out revenge murders of civilians, a charge denied by the insurgents. Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban negotiating team member based in Doha, told Reuters that tweets containing the accusations were “baseless reports.” The U.S. Embassy in the capital […]

The Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) and the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) on Monday jointly declared their support for the country’s Republic system, the Constitution, freedom of expression, women’s rights and government’s security forces. Their declaration came after a special session that was addressed by President Ashraf Ghani who called on all MP’s and Senators to mobilize […]

The Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) stated Sunday that four journalists were arrested in southern Kandahar province this week for “collaborating” with the Taliban militants. The journalists – three reporters from Nation Voice [Millat Ghag] Radio, Bismillah Watandost, Qudratullah Sultani, and Mohibullah Obaidi; and Sanullah Siam who claimed to be working with China’s Xinhua news agency – were arrested […]

Amid the unrelenting violence in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday said that in the past two decades, the Taliban has become “more cruel and more oppressive.” During a virtual cabinet meeting, Ghani said, “Yes, they (Taliban) have changed but negatively. They have no wish for peace, for prosperity, or progress; we want peace but they want surrender (subdued people […]

Clashes continued in key parts of Lashkargah city in District 1 near the police headquarters and the provincial governor’s office on Sunday, causing concerns to ratchet up over the situation in the province. Security sources said many parts of the city have fallen to the Taliban in recent weeks. Helmand MPs said that the city will be out of the […]