Faryab governor says some soldiers were taken hostage by the Taliban after they attacked their outpost. At least five security force members, including the commander of the sixth battalion of the Afghan army, in Khwaja Sabz Posh district in the northern province of Faryab on Thursday afternoon, the provincial governor Naqibullah Fayiq said on Friday.

Sources and officials said that at least 20 security force members were killed in the clashes. The Ministry of Defense on Friday reported fighting between the government forces and the Taliban in at least 20 provinces in the past 24 hours.

The Pakistani government should never, under any circumstances and no matter the pressure, normalize with Israel. Doing so is not only dangerous – as it will embolden an already vile, racist, violent apartheid Israel – but it would also be considered a betrayal of a historic legacy of mutual solidarity, collective affinity and brotherhood that have bonded Palestinians and Pakistanis […]

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday met with US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, and discussed the Afghan peace process.

At least 16 pro-government forces were killed in clashes with the Taliban militants in Kunduz province on Thursday night, sources confirmed. Mohammad Yousuf Ayubi, head of the provincial council told Ariana News that the clashes started after insurgents attacked a base of the public uprising forces and the NDS in the Khanabad district of the province.

Fierce clashes between security forces and the Taliban have been reported in 25 provinces in the past 24 yours, officials confirmed Friday evening. In Kunduz, Faryab, Helmand and Badghis provinces, more than 30 security forces were killed and several others were injured in this period.

While peace talks present an opportunity for the US to extricate itself from a decades-old conflict in Afghanistan, they will also pose one of the greatest foreign policy challenges for the Biden administration, the International Crisis Group reported in its latest briefing this week.

The Biden administration has been asked to keep US troops in Afghanistan beyond the May 1 deadline and avoid abandoning intra-Afghan peace negotiations. The need for a delay in withdrawing American forces from the country was underlined in a congressionally-mandated report that was released on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The International Union for Muslim Scholars on Wednesday called for all Muslim scholars to work to end the conflict in Afghanistan and ensure the safety of its people. In a statement issued by the IUMS, they said they call “on all scholars and intellectuals to strive for an end to the bloodshed, and to achieve stability and safety for the […]

Noorullah Nazari, Head of NDS for Ghoryan district in western Herat province, was killed in a skirmish with Taliban militants, local officials confirmed.