Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Sunday denied claims that the daughter of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan in Islamabad had been abducted, saying it was an “international racket” led by Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to defame Pakistan. Ambassador Najibullah Alikhil’s daughter, Silsila Alikhil, was allegedly kidnapped on Friday from the capital’s commercial hub by unidentified persons, […]

Officials confirmed that Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have retaken control of two districts in Helmand and Samangan provinces in the past 24 hours. According to the officials Garmsir district in Helmand and Dara-i-Sawf in Samangan provinces were reclaimed by the ANDSF. “Due to the operations of security, and uprising forces, the Dara-i-Sawf district has been recaptured,” said […]

President Ashraf Ghani led a high-ranking delegation on Monday to the western province of Herat to assess the security situation, said the Presidential Palace (ARG) in a series of tweets. According to ARG, Ghani met Afghan National Defense and Security Forces’ (ANDSF) members, scholars, and tribal elders and held a security session in the province. Ghani said that Taliban has […]

Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said. Afghan special forces had been fighting to retake the main market area of Spin Boldak when Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed in what they described as Taliban crossfire, […]

Pakistan’s military rescued five telecommunications workers kidnapped by Islamist militants last month close to the Afghan border in a series of operations in which two soldiers were killed, the military said on Friday. Northwest Pakistan’s border regions have become relatively peaceful after years of violence but Pakistani Taliban militants have been more active recently amid concern that surging violence in […]

An Afghan military pilot was killed in an attack by unknown armed men in northern Parwan province on Friday, sources said. Nusrat Koshan, an Afghan Air Force officer, was killed at around 6:30 Friday evening during a skirmish with armed men in the Bagram district of the province, sources added. Bagram Governor Lala Shirin Raufi told Ariana News that the […]

Aziz-ur-Rahman Tawab, Deputy Governor of Kapisa, was killed during clashes between the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and Taliban militants in Najrab district of the province on Friday, police confirmed. Abdul Shayaq Shorish, a spokesman for Kapisa police, told Ariana News that Tawab was killed in the Dare Afghania area of the district on Friday morning. Tawab and […]

Turkey has undertaken to protect Kabul’s airport. It is a risky job, but also one which promises some substantial strategic rewards. The Taliban do not shy away from assertive statements, nor do they hesitate to commit war crimes. So, this week’s statement by the group castigating Turkey’s offer to remain and protect Kabul’s international airport as ‘ill-advised, a violation of […]

Prolonging the UK military presence in Afghanistan would not have helped so long as the fundamental problem of the absence of a strategy remained unaddressed. But the manner of leaving and what follows still matter a great deal to the UK. It feels a lot like 1989. Once again, the insurgents are threatening Kabul. Once again, the discussion is about […]

As NATO troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by 11 September in the face of a Taliban surge, a question remains unanswered: why did the international intervenors fail in their mission to bring stability to Afghanistan? Five reasons stand out: The West’s best wasn’t good enough. The lives of 3,500 international troops plus an estimated 200,000 Afghans have not been sufficient […]