The US State Department’s spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday night that the Istanbul Conference was never meant to replace the Doha talks but rather it was part of a broader diplomatic effort to secure a political settlement. Addressing a press conference, Price said the Doha talks “is an effort that continues to be ongoing and it’s an effort where […]

The German military plans to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan by as early as July 4, dpa news agency reported. This is earlier than previously planned, the Defence Ministry informed Germany’s parliament on Wednesday. According to dpa, the German military is currently holding talks with partners in NATO that could see Germany’s 1,100 troops leave by July 4. The […]

Two members of public uprising forces were killed and several more were wounded in a Taliban attack in Herat province early hours of Tuesday morning, provincial governor Sayed Waheed Qatali said. The attack took place at around 2 am in Ghorian district in Herat province following a car bomb explosion close to police HQ and a public uprising force outpost, […]

Meeting scheduled from April 24 – May 4 to be held after Ramadan, says foreign minister Turkey announced Tuesday that it is postponing a much-anticipated Afghan peace conference in Istanbul until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. “We thought that it would be beneficial to postpone it …We consulted Qatar, the US and the UN and decided […]

Foreign troop withdrawals have raised concerns that Afghanistan could become a fractured state, erupt in civil war A top US general said on Tuesday that he had grave doubts about the Taliban’s reliability as a negotiating partner, as the United States is set to remove all its troops from Afghanistan in the coming months and focus on diplomacy. Last week […]

America’s ability to strike extremist targets in Afghanistan will be significantly constrained once U.S. forces depart this year, making the task of containing terrorism threats extremely difficult but “not impossible,” a top general said Tuesday. Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, told members of the House Armed Services Committee that he is developing plans to address extremist […]

Ata Jan Haqbayan, the head of the provincial council in Zabul, was wounded in an explosion that happened within the compound of the provincial governor in the southern province on Tuesday, his brother Ismail Zabuli said, but local officials have not commented. Haqbayan’s family members said his condition is stable. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. Haqbayan survived […]

The Afghan government on Tuesday said that the list of delegates to represent the republic in Istanbul has been finalized. A high-level Afghan government official who spoke on condition of anonymity told TOLOnews that there is the possibility that a 15- or 17-member team will represent the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the conference scheduled for April 24. Meanwhile, the […]

Despite not officially announcing a spring fighting season, the Taliban has increased attacks in various regions of the country—including the strategic areas of Kandahar in the south, Balkh in the north, Herat in the west and Nangarhar in the east. Meanwhile, military analysts attributed the surge in violence by the Taliban to the group’s attempt to pressure the Afghan government, […]

A powerful blast rocked Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Tuesday night. A security source told TOLOnews that the blast occurred as a result of a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy of the Afghan intelligence agency—the National Directorate of Security (NDS)–at Shaheed Roundabout in PD15 of the city. A security source said that so far four wounded have been brought to […]