Afghanistan

Can the Afghan government and the Taliban agree to a political settlement to end decades of conflict? Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday said that his government would release the last batch of Taliban prisoners, ostensibly removing the final hurdle to direct negotiations with the insurgent group. Intra-Afghan negotiations were …

Afghan Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Sadiq Siddiqui called on Iran Monday to prevent Taliban activities in Tehran, in the first comment after some Afghans were seen in pictures waving the Taliban flag at a park in Iran’s capital.

Taliban commanders have confirmed that Russia has offered financial and material support to its members in exchange for attacking US forces in Afghanistan.

Despite strong religious and cultural ties and a long shared border, Iran has a somewhat complicated relationship with Afghanistan. Revolutionary Iran’s tumultuous birth coincided with the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan some four decades ago. Since then, Iran’s attempts to preserve its interests in conflict-ridden Afghanistan have not received much …

Jabhat Ansar al Din (JaD), a longstanding pro-al Qaeda group in Syria, has confirmed the arrest of Abu Saloh al Uzbeki earlier this week. Uzbeki was the founder and former emir of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham’s Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ).

As Western and Afghan officials cling to the hope that they can make peace with the Taliban and integrate the group into the government, the Taliban continues to display its true colors. In a recent video, the Taliban extolled the virtues of jihad and its Islamic Emirate while denouncing “deviants …

Abdelmalek Droukdel was killed by French troops on Thursday in northern Mali near the Algerian border, where the group has bases it uses to carry out bombings and abductions of Westerners, Defence Minister Florence Parly said.

The Taliban has turned down calls for a cease-fire in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins Friday. The Afghan government and others had hoped to enable health officials to better respond to the “common threat” of the coronavirus pandemic.

Afghan government officials are set to meet with a Taliban delegation in the coming days to discuss an initial release of militant prisoners, Afghanistan’s National Security Council says.

A lingering dispute over Afghanistan’s presidential election and an outbreak of coronavirus in the country appear to have complicated further an already troubled effort the United States is making to help find a negotiated end to nearly 19 years of war.