The first peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban have begun in Qatar on Saturday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Doha for the opening ceremony. He termed the meeting “historic”. The peace negotiations were due to begin after a US-Taliban deal in February. Masoom Stanekzai, a former intelligence chief, is … Read more
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the release of an additional 500 Taliban prisoners to show goodwill following the Taliban’s announcement of a ceasefire on Eid ul-Adha. It may be recalled that the Taliban had declared a three-day ceasefire on Eid-ul-Adha and in response, the Afghan government had ordered a ceasefire to the security forces. … Read more
The United States has withdrawn its troops from five bases in Afghanistan, reducing the number of its troops under a peace deal with the Taliban. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement that the number of US troops in Afghanistan is over 8,000 and that the bases previously held by US forces have now … Read more
The government of Afghanistan has suspended the release of the last batch of Taliban prisoners involved in serious crimes, while a suicide car bomber killed three policemen in a district bazaar in the eastern province of Nangarhar. According to Afghanistan’s news channel TOLOnews, the Afghan government on Monday reiterated its stance not to release 600 … Read more
The Afghan government let go off 100 Taliban prisoners as part of a peace process. Differences over the prisoner release question have been complicating United States brokered attempts to create a lasting peace agreement to end more than 18 years of conflict in Afghanistan. “The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan released 100 Taliban … Read more
