Taliban territorial gains have raised doubts about the Afghan military’s strength with foreign troops all but gone — a showdown between two very different forces in which experts say morale could be as decisive as equipment and personnel. It is not a conventional military engagement, but one that pits a large army — raised and […]
Kabul
U.S. mulling downsizing embassy in Kabul amid deteriorating security situation: report
Amid the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, U.S. officials in Kabul are developing plans to reduce the large contingent of contractors and other personnel at the massive U.S. Embassy complex, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Saturday. Citing embassy officials and contractors, the newspaper said in a dispatch from Kabul that State Department officials […]
Pakistan should ease tensions with Kabul, build consensus: ICG report
BRUSSELS: Pakistan has been given a number of suggestions on how to resolve the current crisis in Afghanistan by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group in its recent report. Three of these suggestions are crucial in the reported titled, ‘Pakistan: Shoring up Afghanistan’s Peace Process’. The ICG report advised Pakistan to ease tensions with the Kabul […]
FM says Pakistan’s interests lie in peace with India, peace in ‘sovereign’ Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan’s interests lie in peace with India and peace in Afghanistan. “Our interests lie in peace with India and peace in Afghanistan,” he said in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera TV. “Afghanistan is a ‘sovereign’ country and they could have relations with India,” […]
Pakistan urges Afghanistan to utilize available forums to address bilateral issues
ISLAMABAD – Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri on Monday rejected allegations made by the Afghan leadership as baseless. Pakistan has conveyed its serious concerns to the Afghan side by making a strong demarche with the ambassador of Afghanistan in Islamabad on the recent irresponsible statements and baseless allegations made by the […]
Bodies of school blast victims buried at Kabul’s hilltop cemetery
KABUL: Dozens of young girls were being buried Sunday at a desolate hilltop cemetery in Kabul, a day after a secondary school was targeted in the bloodiest attack in Afghanistan in over a year. A series of blasts outside the school during a peak holiday shopping period killed more than 50 people, mostly girl students, […]
At least 20 killed, 50 injured in attack on VP candidate’s office in Kabul
KABUL: At least 20 people were killed and 50 injured in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Sunday in a suicide bombing and gun battle at vice presidential candidate Amrullah Saleh’s office, the government said in a statement on Monday. Saleh, a running mate of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, was slightly injured in the attack. Afghan forces […]
Afghan officials: 10 wounded in Kabul minibus bombing
Afghan officials say 10 people were wounded when a sticky bomb attached to a minibus carrying government workers detonated in the capital of Kabul. Police spokesman Ferdus Faramarz says one of the wounded is in critical condition. Arab Haidari, from the religious affairs ministry, says all the wounded are ministry’s employees who were on their […]
Kabul murder highlights Afghan women’s plight
When gunmen killed former journalist Mena Mangal on a busy Kabul street, observers first wondered if she had been murdered by the Taliban, the Islamist extremists who have long marginalised women. But police quickly said they were looking at Mangal’s broad-daylight killing as the result of a family dispute, saying her ex-husband had “probably” played […]
Renowned journalist, Mena Mangal shot dead in Kabul
KABUL: Mena Mangal, just days after announcing on the social media that she was afraid that her life was in danger, was shot dead on Saturday here. Mangal was a renowned journalist and political advisor. The attack against her committed during the day and that too, in a public space led to vehement protests from […]