At a Kabul museum honouring Afghanistan’s war victims, talking to visitors reveals just how many layers and generations of pain and grief have piled up during four decades of unrelenting conflict. Fakhria Hayat recalled an attack that changed her family forever. It was 1995, and the Afghan capital was under siege, pounded by rockets […]
Tag Archives: Taliban
U.S. launches airstrikes against Taliban in response to attacks in Afghan province – National
American forces carried out several airstrikes in support of Afghan security forces under attack by the Taliban in southern Helmand province, a spokesperson for the U.S. military in Afghanistan said Monday. Col. Sonny Leggett said the recent Taliban attacks in Helmand are “not consistent” with a U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February and undermine ongoing […]
Taliban welcomes Trump’s tweet on early troop withdrawal from Afghanistan – National
The Afghan Taliban on Thursday welcomed a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump in which he promised to have the last of U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Christmas. If that withdrawal happens, it would be months ahead of schedule and the tweet made no reference to a Taliban promise to fight terrorist groups […]
Trump says all remaining U.S. troops in Afganistan will be ‘home by Christmas’ – National
All U.S. troops in Afghanistan should be “home by Christmas,” President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, just hours after his national security adviser said Washington would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 2,500 by early next year. A landmark deal between the United States and the Taliban in February said foreign forces would leave […]
Government airstrikes kill 24 civilians in northern Afghanistan, witnesses say – National
Government airstrikes in northern Afghanistan killed 24 civilians, including children, and wounded six others, witnesses told The Associated Press on Sunday. The two witnesses contacted by the AP said most of those killed in Saturday’s airstrikes, which struck the village of Sayed Ramazan in northern Kunduz province, were civilians. The Khanabad district in the […]
Taliban almost took key to Afghan city weeks before historic peace talks: examination – National
Khan Agha has endured years of violence in Kunduz, but it was the Taliban’s attack on the strategic city in northeastern Afghanistan, as the government and insurgents were preparing for historic peace talks, that unnerved him. “Like me, the majority of Kunduz residents are living in fear,” Agha, a 46-year-old driver, told Reuters. “Looking […]
Long-awaited peace talks between Afghanistan, Taliban officially begin in Qatar – National
The opening ceremony for talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents began in Qatar’s capital Doha on Saturday, marking the start of negotiations aimed at ending two decades of war that has killed tens of thousands of combatants and civilians. The 19-year conflict is also the United States’ longest overseas military action, vexing […]
Upcoming Afghanistan peace negotiations likely to be ‘contentious,’ Pompeo says – National
Much anticipated negotiations between Afghanistan’s warring parties are likely to be “contentious,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Friday, but are the only way forward if Afghans are to find peace after decades of relentless conflict. Pompeo made his comments en route to the Middle Eastern State of Qatar, where intra-Afghan negotiations are […]
Taliban say negotiating team in Qatar for Afghan peace talks
The Taliban’s negotiating team has arrived in Qatar, a spokesman said on Saturday, in a sign that long-delayed peace talks with the Afghan government are inching closer to starting. A date for the talks, to be hosted in Doha, has not been set but the warring sides have this week made signals that negotiations could […]
Afghan women negotiators to face hardline Taliban in peace talks
Five Afghan women who endured the Taliban’s oppressive rule and fought for fragile gains since the militants were ousted are now preparing to face the hardline group in peace talks. Their presence at the negotiating table is significant in patriarchal Afghanistan, though they will be outnumbered by the rest of the Afghan government’s team of […]