While the peace talks are underway in Doha Taliban on Friday in a statement blamed US forces in Afghanistan for conducting airstrikes in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces resulting in civilian deaths. The Taliban claims that at least 11 civilians died of US airstrikes in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces and wounded two others.

Responding to US Charge d’Affaires Ross Wilson’s comment about the Taliban wanting the release of an additional 7,000 prisoners, Afghanistan’s National Security Council (NSC) said on Tuesday that such a move, before a peace agreement and a permanent ceasefire, will not help the peace process.

Ghazni provincial governor’s spokesman Wahidullah Juma Zada has confirmed that parts of Andar district came under attack on Tuesday night by the Taliban.

Russian Helicopters, the manufacturer of Mi-17V-5 choppers used in Afghanistan, has warned that the lives of US and Afghan soldiers could be at risk as the helicopters are being repaired by unauthorized enterprises in Ukraine.

The House on Tuesday passed a $741 billion defense policy bill that would take steps to slow or block US President Trump’s planned drawdown of American troops from Germany and Afghanistan.

Taliban militants have shot dead seven police personnel of the Mazar-Sheberghan highway after they were captured by the insurgent group in northern Balkh province, an official said on Wednesday.

Local officials claim as many as 450 foreign insurgents have been fighting alongside Taliban insurgents in northeastern Badakhshan province and trying to control border areas.

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the assassination of journalist Malalai Maiwand who was gunned down in Jalalabad in Nangarhar early Thursday morning.

With less than 50 days before president-elect Joe Biden takes office, speculation is growing as to how the US counterterrorism policies will shift under a new administration, with one expert saying it is naive to think the Taliban will stick to its promises, work in good faith with the Afghan government and break ties with al-Qaeda.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s political deputy and head of the group’s Qatar office, told a virtual meeting at the Center for Humanitarian Conflict Studies in Doha that Afghanistan’s future system must be Islamic and inclusive.