Zarif meets with UN envoys for Yemen and Afghanistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with UN Secretary-General�s Personal Envoy on Afghanistan Jean Arnault and Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for Yemen. Zarif and Arnault discussed the developments in Afghanistan. During the meeting, Zarif explained the views of the Islamic Republic...

US troops withdrawal now 50 percent complete: CENTCOM chief

The US has completed about half of its withdrawal from Afghanistan and remains on track to meet the September 11 deadline to leave, US General Frank McKenzie said on Monday. The head of the US military�s Central Command (CENTCOM) said the coming months would be critical for Afghanistan�s future and...

US to keep embassy in Kabul as long as it�s �welcome�

The United States will keep its embassy in Kabul once foreign troops have withdrawn unless Afghanistan�s next government tells U.S. officials to leave, the head of U.S. Central Command conceded Monday. According to Defense One News, U.S. and coalition forces and the international embassies supporting...

UN special envoy in Tehran to discuss Afghan peace process

The UN special envoy on Afghanistan Jean Arnault met with Iranian foreign minister�s advisor Mohammad-Ebrahim Taherian on Monday in Tehran to discuss the Afghanistan situation. According to Iran�s IFP news, the two sides discussed Afghan peace talks and the security situation in the country. Taherian...

Sullivan Confirms US Had Intel, Military Talks with Pakistan

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed on Monday that the United States had discussions with Pakistan in the military, intelligence and diplomatic channels to make sure that Afghanistan never again becomes a base from which terrorist groups would not attack the US - but he did not go into...

Center of Faryab�s Dawlat Shah District Falls to Taliban

The center of Dawlat Shah district in the northern province of Faryab fell to the Taliban on Monday evening, a member of the provincial council, Abdul Ahad Elbek said on Tuesday. Elbek said that a number of the security forces have evacuated the center of the district after heavy clashes with the...

Blinken pledges to speed up US visa process for Afghan translators

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday the US is looking at "every option" to help the United States� Afghan employees - interpreters, drivers, construction workers and other staff - who may become victims of the Taliban once foreign troops have withdrawn. Testifying before the House...

CIA scrambles for new approach in Afghanistan: NYT reports

As US troops withdraw from Afghanistan, the CIA is reportedly under intense pressure to find new ways to gather intelligence and carry out counterterrorism strikes in the country, the New York Times reported Monday. But, according to the report, the spy agency has few good options. The CIA, has been...

Britain�s war in Afghanistan has cost over $31 billion

Britain�s war in Afghanistan has cost UK taxpayers £22.2billion ($31.3 billion), the United Kingdom�s government has revealed. According to a report in the UK�s Mirror on Monday, is likely to be even higher because the bill disclosed by Defence Minister James Heappey only counts cash from a...

Four killed in Paktia roadside IED explosion

At least four civilians were killed Sunday in a roadside IED explosion in Paktia province, local officials confirmed. Provincial governor Halim Fedaee said the blast occurred in the Ibrahimkhel area of Gardez, the provincial capital. "Two women and a child and the driver were killed in the blast,"...

Khalilzad heads to Kabul and Doha in push for peace

U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and a U.S. inter-agency delegation, including the National Security Council, Department of Defense, and USAID will meet with Afghan government officials and other political leaders this week to discuss the peace process. In...

Security Forces Suffer �Heavy Casualties� in Faryab Clashes

At least 14 security force members, including Saifurrahman Dehzad, the police chief for Qaisar district of Faryab were killed in clashes with Taliban on Saturday night, said Nader Saeedi, a member of provincial council. Taliban launched attack on the police HQ and other parts of the district on Saturday...

Zabul�s Shinkai district falls to the Taliban

Zabul�s Shinkai district police headquarters, district building and bazaar have been seized by the Taliban, sources told Ariana News Saturday morning. According to sources, Afghan National Army soldiers based in the district withdrew to another ANA base on the outskirts of Shinkai. This, said sources,...

Two district police chiefs, 8 soldiers killed in Baghlan, Ghazni clashes

At least ten security force members, including police chiefs from two Baghlan provincial districts, were killed in Taliban attacks on Friday night in Julga district, security sources confirmed. According to them, the Taliban launched an attack on Julga district, just after midnight, from a number...

China�s Wang says Afghans �can control own destiny� post withdrawal

China�s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this week that while the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan will bring some uncertainties, the move will give the Afghan people the chance to control their own future. Following a video dialogue on Thursday with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts,...

Abdullah: Political Division Will Cause Collapse

Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council of National Reconciliation (HCNR), on Thursday said the system will collapse if Afghan leaders do not forge a consensus on the issues of national importance. Speaking at the 10th assassination anniversary of Gen. Daud Daud, the former commander of 303...

Another four killed in second explosion in one day in Kabul

At least four civilians were killed in an explosion in PD6 in Kabul city on Thursday evening, police said. According to police, an IED targeted a passenger vehicle in the Pul-e-Sokhta area of PD6 in the west of the city. At least five others were wounded in the blast, police added. So far, no group...

Taliban Still Closely Tied to Al Qaeda: UN Report

A report by the UN Monitoring Team released on Wednesday said that "the Taliban and Al-Qaeda remain closely aligned and show no indication of breaking ties." 18 Member States report "no material changes to this relationship, which has grown deeper as a consequence of personal bonds of marriage and...

Pentagon reports military leaders planning post-withdrawal financial support

Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said on Wednesday that the US is currently focusing on the post-withdrawal support process, which he says will be largely financial. In a press briefing Wednesday, Kirby said: "I want to stress ... that, right now, the focus of the post-withdrawal support to...

Four killed in magnetic IED blast in Kabul

At least eight people were killed or wounded in a blast on Thursday in Kabul city, police said. Kabul police said the incident occurred in PD6 in Charqala area when a private car was targeted in a magnetic IED explosion. Four people were killed and more than four were wounded in the blast, police...

US military says it mistakenly killed 20 Afghan civilians last year

The US military says air and ground operations it conducted in Afghanistan last year unintentionally killed 20 civilians. According to an annual report on civilian casualties submitted to Congress, the US Department of Defense (DoD) "assesses that there were approximately 23 civilians killed and approximately...

Six Pakistani al-Qaeda militants killed in Helmand airstrike

Six Pakistani members of al-Qaeda on the Indian Subcontinent, along with eight Taliban members were killed in airstrikes on hideouts on Wednesday in Helmand Province. According to the Ministry of Defense, a local al-Qaeda leader, Abbas, was among those killed in the airstrikes on Nawa district of...

China, Pakistan, Afghanistan foreign ministers to meet

China will chair a meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan on Thursday as Beijing looks to step up its engagement with both Kabul and Islamabad amid the withdrawal of U.S. forces. China�s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday the fourth meeting between the three countries� foreign...

Three civilians killed in NDS convoy blast in Nangarhar

At least three civilians were killed and 12 others were wounded Wednesday morning when a 02 NDS unit convoy was targeted in Nangarhar province, local officials confirmed. Provincial governor Ziaulhaq Amarikhail said that the incident occurred in PD4 in Jalalabad city. The Nangarhar governor said...

Taliban captures check posts in Nangarhar in series of attacks

Taliban insurgents launched a series of attacks on Afghan security posts in Pachiragam, Haska Mina and Surkhrod districts in eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday night, officials said Wednesday. Hijratullah, Pachiragam district chief, said the Taliban had attacked check posts belonging to Afghan...

UN underscores urgent need to protect civilians

The UN team in Afghanistan said that heavy civilian casualties recently documented by the UN mission underscores the need for all parties to do much more to protect civilians from harm. In a briefing by Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General on Wednesday, the United Nations...

RSF asks ICC to probe killings of Afghan journalists

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has formally asked the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to investigate murders of journalists and media workers in Afghanistan since March 2020. In this time, 11 media workers, including journalists, have been killed in targeted attacks. RSF...

NATO Defense Ministers agree to keep civilian footprint in country

NATO Defence Ministers on Tuesday agreed that continued support for the Afghan forces, the government and the people is the best way for them to contribute towards the peace process and that they will keep a civilian diplomatic presence in Kabul. In a virtual meeting Tuesday, the ministers also agreed...

US completes as much as 44% of retrograde process

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said late Tuesday the Department of Defense has retrograded the equivalent of approximately 300 C-17 loads of material out of Afghanistan and has turned over nearly 13,000 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency for disposal. In a statement issued by CENTCOM,...

Turkey agrees to run Kabul airport in NATO deal: UAE report

The Turkish government has agreed to take over responsibility for Kabul�s international airport in a $130 million deal with NATO, an Afghan government official told the UAE�s The National newspaper. This comes after weeks of uncertainty over the security of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in...