The US State Department said the new US embassy in Jerusalem will open in May 2018, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence. The state department called the move a "historic step" in a statement issued on Friday. The announcement means the relocation comes much faster than expected. US Vice President Mike Pence in late January said the controversial embassy would open...
Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) said that an explosion rocked Kabul PD 9th, Shahdarak area, around 8:30 am today. Najib Danish, MoI spokesman, said that one person was killed and six injured in the blast. He added that the target of the blast is yet to be determined and security forces have launched an investigation. He further stated that identities of victims have not been ascertained...
Negotiations are being held with the government of Qatar on closing Taliban’s political office in Doha, the national security advisor said on Friday. Mohammed Hanif Atmar said in an interview the Taliban’s political bureau in Qatar had not helped in promoting peace talks and that was why Kabul was seeking its closure. “One of the main reasons for my trip to Saudi Arabia is to...
Zakia Rezaee, women director at Daikundi province, said that a 28-year old woman hanged herself to death in Kakrak area of Meromor district yesterday. She said that the motive behind the incident is yet to be known and an investigation is underway. She added that a man has been arrested in connection with the crime. The woman, married three years ago, left behind a one-year old...
Some residents of the Payeen Kent area of Sar-i-Pul province complain of nighttime suspension of telecom services. Abdul Raziq, a leader of Imam Jaffar village, said the suspension of telecom services at night creating serious problems for residents. He had no idea why the telecom networks deferred their services at night. However, the community elder urged the government to resolve the issue at the earliest...
At least 21 people were either killed or injured in a traffic accident in Herat today. Abdul Ahad Walizada, spokesman for Herat police, told Killid that a Toyota vehicle collided with another vehicle in Sarhar Sorkhak area of Adraskan district. He added that eight passengers were killed and 13 injured. He further stated that four women and two children are among those injured. Over-speeding, non-compliance with traffic...
Deadly air strikes and artillery fire continued on Tuesday with more than 100 people in Syria's Eastern Ghouta enclave killed, bringing the number of civilian deaths to 250 over the last 48 hours, a war monitor reported. It was the highest two-day death toll since a 2013 chemical attack on the besieged enclave, which killed hundreds, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The UK-based...
The government’s capacity building programme is five years old but there has been no evaluation of its effectiveness. The Commission of Administrative Reforms and Civil Services reasons that evaluation should take place once the programme ends. Hashmatullah Hashemi, the member of the recruitment committee and commissioner, says that an evaluation launched mid-way through the programme had to be abandoned because of staff shortage. “We carried...
The inspiring story of a child of drug addicts. Roya was abandoned by first her mother and then her father. Fourteen years ago her mother walked out on her father. Later Murad, her drug addict father, was to leave her to live under Pol e Sukhta bridge, a notorious hangout for drug addicts in Kabul. An addict herself, Roya was left alone in their home....
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the United States and NATO coalition have been trying to downplay the existence of Daesh militants in Afghanistan. "We are alarmed as unfortunately, the US and NATO military in Afghanistan makes every effort to silence and deny Daesh group’s presence in Afghanistan,” Lavrov told reporters after talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Muhammad Asif in Moscow. He said...