US President Donald Trump boasted about the economy, job growth and his "America first" policy during his first State of the Union address, which was met by protests both inside and outside of Congress. "This, in fact, is our new American moment," Trump said on Tuesday evening as he addressed the current state of the US and laid out his top priorities for the...
US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said that US strategy changes depending on the circumstances and if Taliban are willing for talks, they are open to peace negotiation with them. Earlier US President Donald Trump told visiting members of the UN Security Council that the United States would no longer talk with the Taliban following the spate of recent attacks Kabul, Nangarhar,...
At least 26 Taliban insurgents were killed and 22 injured in an Afghan security forces’ airstrike in Bata area of Andar district of Ghazni yesterday. The strike was conducted when Taliban militants were gathered planning terrorist attacks. A press release from Ministry of Interior Affairs stated that among those killed are prominent Taliban commanders as well. The statement added that some weapons and vehicles of Taliban...
Pakistan has handed over more than two dozen suspects belonging to the Taliban and their affiliated Haqqani network to Afghanistan, Pakistan Foreign Office said on Tuesday. The handover took place in November last year just weeks after the visit of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to Kabul. However, the extradition of 27 suspected members of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network was kept confidential...
US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan held meetings in Kabul on Tuesday to reaffirm the United States’ support for Afghanistan at this difficult time, the US Embassy in Kabul said in a statement. The top US official met Afghan officials to discuss joint efforts to achieve the objectives of the US South Asia strategy and set the conditions for a peaceful resolution...
Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mahmoud Saikal on Monday accused Pakistan’s premier intelligence network of training one of the Kabul attackers. “Abdul Qahar, father of one of the terrorists involved in last week’s attack on Kabul Intercontinental Hotel, concedes his son was trained in Balochistan province by the ISI,” Saikal tweeted. The Taliban claimed responsibilities for the attack. Pakistan, as expected, denied its...
Visiting Washington DC, Qatar's Defence Minister Khalid Bin Mohammad Al Attiyah said his country will expand the American airbase that currently houses about 10,000 US military personnel. The expansion at the Al Udeid base - home of the US Central Command - will allow for 200 more housing units for officers and their families, Attiyah said. "It will very soon become family oriented place for...
The Afghan government and the World Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a new aid package worth 100 million USD which will be used to support the financial sector in Afghanistan. An agreement to that effect was signed between Afghan Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi and the World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan, Shubham Chaudhy on the sidelines of the High Economic Council...
Officials at Maintenance Department of Salang said that the highway has opened for traffic after one-day closure. General Mohammad Rajab, head of the maintenance department of Salang, told Killid this morning that heavy snowfall and storms have stopped and passengers can use the highway. He asserted that all drivers should use chains while driving and drive slowly. Salang Highway connects the northern provinces of Afghanistan with...
US President Donald Trump on Monday rejected the idea of talks with the Taliban after a series of deadly attacks in Afghanistan, in an apparent contradiction of his own strategy to end America’s longest foreign war. Trump condemned the militant group for the carnage in Kabul and pledged to “finish what we have to finish.” Trump’s comments suggest he sees a military victory over the...