World May 14, 2020
Maternity ward massacre shakes Afghanistan and peace process
No group has claimed responsibility for the massacre of 24 people, including 16 women and two newborns.
Asia Pacific Dec 16, 2019
U.S. to announce 4,000-troop drawdown from Afghanistan: media
The Trump administration will announce as early as this week plans to withdraw around 4,000 troops from Afghanistan, U.S. media reported. Talks between the United States and the Taliban resumed a week ago as the parties sought a path to reduce violence or even reach ...
Asia Pacific / Politics Sep 30, 2019
Afghan polls set to see big drop in voter numbers amid Taliban threat and lack of interest
At least 2.2 million people voted in Afghanistan's presidential election with more votes to come, the election commission head Maulana Abdullah said on Sunday, indicating a very low turnout that could mar the result. Tight security ensured the election took place on Saturday in relative ...
Asia Pacific Sep 19, 2019
At least four killed as suicide bomber and gunmen attack Afghan government building
At least four people were killed and a dozen injured when gunmen stormed a crowded government building in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday following a suicide bombing, with desperate survivors leaping from windows to escape the fighting, witnesses and officials said. Security forces rushed to the scene ...
Asia Pacific Sep 18, 2019
Taliban kill at least 48 in bloody day ahead of Afghan polls
Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 48 people and wounded dozens more in two blasts Tuesday — one at a campaign rally for the president and the other in Kabul — with the insurgents warning of more violence ahead of elections. The first attack saw ...
Asia Pacific / Politics Sep 9, 2019
Taliban says Trump's decision to cancel Afghan talks will mean more U.S. lives lost
The Taliban on Sunday said U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to cancel peace talks would lead to fresh losses of American lives in Afghanistan at a time when the insurgent group was ready to finalize a deal to end the war. The Islamist group ...
Asia Pacific Aug 7, 2019
Taliban threaten Afghan presidential elections and warn voters to steer clear of rallies
The Taliban warned Afghans on Tuesday to keep away from election rallies and ordered its fighters to "stand against" the planned September vote. The threat came as fresh violence gripped Afghanistan, including a bicycle bombing in Kabul that killed five people, even while the Taliban ...
Asia Pacific Aug 5, 2019
'Sticky bomb' kills at least two aboard Kabul TV bus; rogue cop slays seven in Kandahar
Two people were killed in a blast targeting workers for an Afghan television station Sunday, while elsewhere in the war-torn nation at least seven police officers died in an "insider attack" by Taliban loyalists, officials said. The deadly attacks come amid surging violence across Afghanistan ...
Asia Pacific / Politics Jul 24, 2019
Ghani seeks 'clarification' after Trump says he could wipe Afghanistan off the map
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Tuesday the US should clarify remarks President Donald Trump made about Afghanistan, including a claim he could easily win the war but didn't "want to kill 10 million people. Trump had made several controversial statements a day earlier alongside Pakistan ...
World / Social Issues Jul 15, 2019
U.N. official in Afghanistan calls for 'zero tolerance' of sexual harassment
A senior U.N. official in Afghanistan has called on government offices to adopt policies of "zero tolerance" toward sexual harassment, amid a swirling scandal that has seen women allege routine misconduct in the corridors of power. The controversy erupted in May when Gen. Habibullah Ahmadzai, ...
Asia Pacific / Politics Jun 26, 2019
Mike Pompeo visits Kabul, hoping for a peace deal before Sept. 1
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during an unannounced visit to Kabul on Tuesday to discuss ongoing peace talks with the Taliban and the security situation ahead of Afghan presidential polls in September. Pompeo stopped over on his way to ...
World May 14, 2018
At least 15 killed as attackers set off multiple blasts, engage in firefight in Jalalabad
Afghan security forces battled for hours against a group of attackers who stormed a government building in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday after a coordinated assault that killed at least 15 people and wounded 42, local officials said. A car bomb was detonated ...