36 IS militants killed in US bombing, Afghan defence ministry says
Kabul (dpa) – 36 militants were killed after the US dropped a massive bomb on an Islamic State cave complex in Achin district of Nangarhar province Thursday night, the Afghan defence ministry said on Friday. The ministry said no civilian casualties were inflicted in the bombing, but an important Islamic State command centre had been […]
Afghan Taliban Declines to Support Moscow-Backed Peace Talks
The Afghan Taliban says that it does not support Russia-sponsored multi-nation talks on Afghanistan because the process seems to be motivated solely by the “political agenda” of the organizers. The Islamist insurgency issued its reaction a day before delegates from Afghanistan as well as its immediate and far neighbors are due to meet in Moscow […]
US drops ‘mother of all bombs’ on ISIL in Afghanistan
The United States has dropped a massive GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat, in eastern Afghanistan on a series of caves used by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to the Pentagon. The bomb was dropped on Thursday from a MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district […]
US, Afghan Forces Promise to Finish IS and Contain Taliban in 2017
The United States military, in partnership with Afghan forces, has promised to eliminate Islamic State terrorists in Afghanistan this year and contain a resurgent Taliban, citing recent battlefield successes against the two groups. U.S. counterterrorism airstrikes in support of Afghan operations against IS strongholds in the eastern border provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar have killed […]
Officials: Pakistani Religious Schools Increasingly Linked to Afghan Taliban
When Afghan intelligence officials, assisted by international investigators, probed a terror attack last month that killed five Emirati diplomats in Kandahar, they traced the suspects to a conservative religious seminary in Pakistan. “The attack was planned in Mawlawi Ahmad Madrassa in Chaman, Quetta,” said Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Interior. The […]
Young Afghan Photographer’s Work Highlights Plight of Children, Women
At 21, Shagofa Alikozay is a bright woman who isn’t far removed from childhood in Afghanistan, which she illustrates with her photos, sketches and poetry. Her goal is to bring to light the challenges, problems and miseries of living in one of the world’s poorest countries, a place riven by war and religious extremism, where […]
Pakistan, Afghanistan Move to Defuse Border Tensions
Pakistan and Afghanistan have issued conciliatory statements in an apparent attempt to defuse days of border tensions stemming from charges Afghan soil was used for masterminding last week’s terrorist attacks in Pakistani cities. Pakistani troops have been staging cross-border shelling to target what authorities claimed were camps of Jammat-ul Ahrar, or JuA, a splinter faction […]
Afghan Taliban Writes ‘Open Letter’ to President Trump
The Taliban, in a so-called “open letter” to U.S. President Donald Trump, has called on him to help end what it denounced as a “futile” and “un-winnable” American war in Afghanistan. A copy of the letter, written by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, was released to journalists Wednesday.
UN Seeks $550M in Aid for Millions of Vulnerable Afghans
The United Nations appealed Saturday for $550 million in humanitarian assistance in 2017 to meet the needs of Afghans affected by conflict, or natural disasters, and for those returning home from neighboring countries. The assistance will reach an estimated 5.7 million “most vulnerable and marginalized” people in Afghanistan, said U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator, Mark Bowden, while […]
US Confirms Airstrike Killed 33 Afghan Civilians in Kunduz
A joint military operation in northern Afghanistan in early November killed 33 Afghan civilians and wounded 27 more, the United States military said Thursday while releasing details of its investigation into the incident. The deadly attack in Boz village in the restive Kunduz province flattened dozens of houses, according to residents and Taliban insurgents.