The U.S. military carried out what it called a “defensive strike” against Taliban fighters Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, hours after President Donald Trump spoke by phone with a top Taliban leader about a peace deal the two sides signed aimed at ending the nearly 19-year war in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors have been given the green light to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan – and beyond its borders – linked to Afghan, Taliban and US troops, the International Criminal Court said on Thursday.

Backed by ‘all weather friend’ China, Pakistan again escaped the ignominy of being put into the ‘club’ of High-Risk Jurisdictions, commonly referred to as the ‘black list’, by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran are the two present members of the ‘club’.

Afghan officials say at least six people have been killed in a Taliban attack in the northern Balkh Province, amid a weeklong “reduction of violence” agreed between the United States and the Taliban.

Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces clashed in parts of Afghanistan on Saturday, a day after a week-long “reduction in violence” was announced, but the incidents did not spark immediate alarm on either side.

Pakistan won an extra four months to meet international anti-terrorism financing norms on Friday when a global dirty money watchdog decided to keep the country off its blacklist for now.

Pakistani security forces said Saturday that five suspected militants were killed in an overnight raid in the country’s northwest, and that two other militants were arrested in a separate operation.

The United States has ceased offensive military operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban in accordance with an agreement to reduce violence ahead of a possible peace deal, the top U.S. military commander here announced Saturday.

On 21 February, U.S. and Taliban representatives announced a deal paving the way for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and talks among Afghan parties to the conflict. In this Q&A, Crisis Group expert Andrew Watkins explains what the agreement entails and what comes next.

The Trump administration is hoping to reach a peace deal with the Taliban that would end America’s longest war and begin the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.