Tag Archives: Afghan
IS claims deadly attack on Afghan ministry
The Islamic State group Sunday claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 10 people and trapped around 2,000 for hours inside the communications ministry in the Afghan capital the previous day. Four IS jihadists detonated explosives near the ministry, then entered and “battled Afghan security forces with machine guns and hand grenades for numerous hours”, the group said in a statement on its social media channels. The attack in central Kabul killed seven civilians and three members of the security forces, the interior ministry said on Sunday, in a new toll after three people died of their wounds.
Suicide bombers in deadly attack on Afghan ministry
Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the communications ministry in central Kabul on Saturday, officials said, in a deadly, hours-long assault that destroyed weeks of relative calm in the capital. The Taliban said it had “nothing to do” with the attack, which left some 2,000 people stranded in the tall office building for hours at the start of the Afghan work week. “As a result of today’s explosion/attack in Kabul city, two people have been martyred (killed) and 6 others are wounded,” the health ministry spokesman wrote in a tweet, adding 3 of the injured were women.
US watchdog: Peace with Taliban won't resolve Afghan crises
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan will remain dependent on international donors and foreign help even after a peace deal with the Taliban is reached, a U.S. watchdog said Thursday.
Twin bombing at Afghan ceremony kills 4, including official
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A twin bombing at a public ceremony in southern Afghanistan on Saturday killed at least four people, including a provincial official, and wounded more than 30, officials said.
U.S. tries to safeguard Afghan peace push from India-Pakistan crisis
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been publicly focused on lowering tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals since a Feb. 14 suicide car bomb in an Indian-controlled area of Kashmir triggered the first Indian air strikes inside of Pakistan since a 1971 war. Senior U.S. officials told Reuters that as the United States spoke with senior Pakistani officials, emphasizing the need to lower the risk of conflict with India, Islamabad privately offered warnings on Afghanistan. Pakistani officials said their ability to support Afghan peace talks could be in jeopardy in the event of a full-blown crisis, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trump's Afghan envoy intensifies peace efforts with Taliban
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's special envoy for Afghanistan is returning to the country after stops in Europe and the Middle East for an extended diplomatic tour aimed at pushing a U.S. peace initiative.
Afghan lawmaker says airstrikes kill 21 civilians
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Airstrikes in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province have killed 21 civilians, including women and children, a lawmaker from the region said Sunday.
Afghan president says he will oppose peace deal without his government
Ghani’s government has so far been shut out of the evolving peace talks between Taliban negotiators and U.S. envoys to end more than 17 years of war, with the hardline Islamist movement branding his government as a U.S. puppet. “At the end of any peace deal, the decision-maker will be the government of Afghanistan,” Ghani told TOLO News, the country’s largest private television station. “No power in the country can dissolve the government,” he said, adding that he was ready to “stand and defend our country”.
US, Taliban see significant progress in ending Afghan war
The United States and the Taliban said Saturday they had made substantial headway in negotiations to end the 17-year US war in Afghanistan, although sticking points remained. Zalmay Khalilzad, who was named by President Donald Trump’s administration to find a way out of the war, held an unusually long six days of talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar. Khalilzad — who headed to Qatar after talks in Afghanistan and its key neighbors — said he was returning to Kabul to discuss the negotiations.
Taliban say they hold talks with U.S. Afghan envoy in Qatar
KABUL/PESHAWAR,Pakistan (Reuters) – The Taliban met U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar on Monday, the militant group said, days after threatening to pull out of Afghan peace talks and hours after Taliban fighters killed more than 100 members of the Afghan security forces. “Talks between Taliban leaders and U.S. officials have started today in Qatar,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.
