Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Hizb-e-Islami party, says that President Ashraf Ghani along with a number of politicians has agreed to form an eight-member “decision-making” council. In an exclusive interview with Ariana News, Hekmatyar stated that the council would make the final decisions on national issues in Afghanistan. Ghani, former President Hamid Karzai, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Jamiat-e-Islami leader Salahuddin Rabbani, […]

A major Taliban attack in Baghlan province has been pushed back by Afghan security forces, local officials confirmed Tuesday. According to them, at least 25 militants were killed and 10 were wounded. Provincial officials said the Taliban attacked the Baghlan-e-Markazi district from four directions but faced serious resistance from the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). A clearance operation […]

China says it is willing to deepen counter-terrorism and security cooperation with Afghanistan and to help Kabul strengthen its counter-terrorism capacities. In a phone conversation on Monday night, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Afghan counterpart Haneef Atmar that China will also continue to provide necessary support to Afghanistan and other South Asian countries in their fight against the […]

The Afghan National Security Council (NSC) said the Taliban has focused on continuing the war and that the group has “ideological” and “financial” ties with terrorist groups Rahmatullah Andar, a spokesman for the NSC, said in a series of tweets Tuesday that the Taliban has no will to bring peace to Afghanistan and that the Taliban still has firm ties […]

The US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday predictions that the Taliban will quickly overrun Afghan government forces and conquer Kabul once U.S. and coalition forces have withdrawn are unduly pessimistic. Testifying before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Khalilzad said: “I personally believe that the statements that their (Afghan) forces will disintegrate and the Talibs will take […]

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that about 115 C-17 military cargo loads of material have been flown out of Afghanistan and more than 5,000 pieces of equipment have been turned over to the Defense Logistics Agency for destruction. According to a statement issued by CENTCOM, the U.S. has officially handed over five facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. “U.S. […]

Two districts in Afghanistan’s northwest offer a glimpse into life under the Taliban, who have completely cut off education for teenage girls. The order to shut down the girls’ schools was announced at the mosque, in a meeting with village elders. The news filtered through the teachers, in subdued meetings at students’ homes. Or came in a curt letter to […]

Cody Towse didn’t want to miss the war. Already a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Elk Ridge, Utah County, he joined the Army shortly after graduating from Salem Hills High School because it assured him a position as a medic. Assigned to Fort Bliss upon completing basic training, he sought out a unit that would be deploying in a few […]

President Biden and his Pentagon chiefs say the U.S. will assist Afghanistan’s military from afar after American troops pull out. They haven’t announced the details, but they do have a common refrain: “over the horizon.” “We will maintain an over-the-horizon capacity,” Biden said in his recent address to a joint session of Congress. “We will continue to support (the Afghans) […]

Afghan forces have launched operations to retake three districts–one in Baghlan, one in Maidan Wardak and one in Logar province two days after a three-day ceasefire ended, according to army forces on the ground. The centers of Charkh district in Logar, Burka district in Baghlan and Nerkh district in Maidan Wardak fell to the Taliban weeks ago. “In order to […]