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by Ammu KANNAMPILLY / with Hakim HASAS in Kunduz Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — The US launched an airstrike against Taliban fighters to defend Afghan forces Wednesday, an American military spokesman said, as violence spirals after a string of deadly attacks by the insurgents, throwing the country’s nascent peace process into grave doubt. News of the airstrike in southern Helmand province — the first in 11 days — came hours after US […]
by Hakim HASAS Agence France Presse KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (AFP) — Taliban militants killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a string of overnight attacks, government officials told AFP Wednesday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he had a “very good” chat with their political chief. The militants have ramped up violence against Afghan security forces in recent days, ending a partial truce put in place during the run-up to a landmark […]
by Gregory WALTON Agence France Presse DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — The United States signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on Saturday, laying out a timetable for a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months as it seeks an exit from its longest-ever war. The agreement is expected to lead to a dialogue between the Taliban and the Kabul government that, if successful, could ultimately see an end to the grinding 18-year conflict. […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Afghanistan has detected its first novel coronavirus case, the country’s health minister said Monday, involving a patient who had recently traveled to Iran, where 12 people have died from the outbreak. “I announce the first positive coronavirus (case) in Herat,” health minister Firozuddin Feroz told a press conference, calling on citizens to avoid travel to the western province which borders Iran. Afghan authorities had earlier announced a suspension of suspending air […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — The United States is preparing to sign a deal with the Taliban on February 29, building on an agreement on reducing violence across Afghanistan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday. “Upon successful implementation of this understanding, signing of the US-Taliban agreement is expected to move forward,” he said in a statement released after visiting Saudi Arabia. A week-long “reduction in violence” between the Taliban, the US and Afghan security […]
GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) — A US military jet crashed in mountainous territory in eastern Afghanistan, where there is a heavy Taliban presence, the Pentagon confirmed Monday, rejecting the insurgents’ suggestions that it was shot down. Afghanistan US Forces spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett confirmed in a statement that the aircraft was a US Bombardier E-11A, a type of jet used as a military airborne communications node in the region. “While the cause of crash is […]
GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) — A US military jet crashed in the mountainous territory in eastern Afghanistan, where there is a heavy Taliban presence, the Pentagon confirmed Monday, rejecting the insurgents’ suggestions that it was shot down. Afghanistan US Forces spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett confirmed in a statement that the aircraft was a US Bombardier E-11A, a type of jet used as a military airborne communications node in the region. “While the cause of the crash […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — A strong earthquake rattled Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday afternoon, the US Geological Survey said, forcing residents into the streets in Kabul and Islamabad. The 6.1-magnitude quake hit around 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Jurm in northern Afghanistan and was over 200 kilometres deep, the USGS said. In both capital cities, residents felt two short tremors in quick succession, however there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake […]
A Japanese doctor who dedicated almost 40 years of his life helping poor people in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and who won the Philippines’ Ramon Magsaysay Awards in 2003, was among six people killed Wednesday in an attack in the east of the country, officials said. The armed assault in Jalalabad city, the capital of Nangarhar province, was the second deadly incident involving aid workers in recent days and prompted appalled reaction in Afghanistan and […]
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) — Villagers searched for the bodies of their loved ones on Saturday in the rubble of a mosque in eastern Afghanistan that collapsed in a blast during Friday prayers, killing 70 people including dozens of children, officials said. The attack — the country’s second most deadly this year — took place in Haska Mina district of eastern Nangarhar province and also wounded at least 36 people. “We have reports that the […]
HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) — Dozens of passengers, mainly women and children, were killed in western Afghanistan early Wednesday when the bus they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb, officials said. The attack, which came one day after the United Nations said Afghan civilians are being killed and wounded at a “shocking” level and as the country gears up for presidential elections, occurred around 6:00 am (0130 GMT), authorities said. “A passenger bus travelling on […]
An Afghan court Sunday sentenced two teenage boys to 30 years in prison for the abduction and killing of a young girl whose brutal murder provoked a national outcry. Six-year-old Mahsa Ahmadi was snatched off a Kabul street in March and was killed after her parents were unable to pay a ransom of $300,000. Police eventually arrested two boys and released a video clip showing them confessing. They said they had picked up Mahsa, driven […]
