Afghanistan Times
AT-KABUL: The Taliban have overrun four villages in Faizabad district of Jawzjan province, local authorities said Monday, as conflict is escalating in the tumultuous northern region. The villages of Garjak, Shishakhana, Turkmania, Shirabad, and Khairabad are among the collapsed ones. The Shibighan-Balkh Highway would be closed to traffic if no …
Read More »Abdullah against ‘safe zone’ blueprint
AT-KABUL: As the spectre of ceding the Taliban autonomous regions in the south as part of a ploy to reconcile the unruly faction is gaining traction, the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has delivered a scathing critique over likely so-called safe zones, which he argued would unleash irreversible consequences as insurgent …
Read More »Anti-polio drive begins; Unrest prevents vaccination of one million children
By Farhad Naibkhel-KABUL: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday announced the launch of a campaign to administer polio vaccines to children countrywide, amid fears anti-polio workers may not reach out to over one million children due to widespread unrest. “In each polio vaccination drive, MoPH targets about 6.5 million …
Read More »Don’t beg for peace, dismantle terrorists instead; Senators
AT-KABUL: As full-fledged efforts of the government and its allies are underway to resuscitate an ailing reconciliation initiative, a handful of senators on Saturday heaped scorns on what they called the “policy of begging for peace” which would prove counterproductive, saying that stringent measures to dismantle terrorist networks were more …
Read More »Tensions high as gov’t covertly poised to prolong tenure
AT-KABUL: The Afghan government and the United States are making systematic arrangements to prolong tenure of the current government of national unity through a Constitutional Loya Jirga. Political analysts believe that the government neither has the intention of neither holding transparent elections nor bringing peace; and that elections are engineered …
Read More »Editorial: Ceasefire ended
The unilateral ceasefire that lasted for 18 days ended. But anytime could be resumed. President Ashraf Ghani already said he was ready to extend the ceasefire anytime when the Taliban are ready. Offensive operations took up again on Saturday after Ghani called off truce with the Taliban. There was much …
Read More »Gen. Raziq says encouraging Quetta Shura for peace talks
AT-KABUL: Southern Kandahar’s Police Chief Gen. Abdul Raziq has claimed that he had recently participated in talks with Taliban’s Quetta Council leaders and is encouraging them to contemplate entering peace talks with the Afghan government. And according to Gen. Raziq, almost half of the Taliban leaders representing the Quetta Shura …
Read More »ICG supportive of Afghanistan rapprochement with Taliban
AT-KABUL: An international conglomerate for development assistance has lent support to the Afghan government’s continued efforts for rapprochement with the Taliban group. The members of International Contact Group (ICG) in a meeting in Azerbaijan have described truce overture of the Afghan government as a ‘bold step’ which defines commitments of …
Read More »Gunmen assassinate Paktika commander of Special Forces
AT-KABUL: The Ministry of Interior says that unidentified gunmen on Thursday shot and killed Azizullah Karwan, commander of Paktika province’s 01 Unit of Special Police Force in Kabul. Najib Danish Interior Ministry Spokesperson confirmed Commander Karwan was assassinated in an armed attack on Thursday evening in the third Marcroryan’s Ferdowsi …
Read More »Editorial: More international interest to Afghan peace
Recently, the International Contact Group (ICG) on Afghanistan has declared its support for the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Efforts for reaching a sustainable peace has been done by the governments for more than a decade, when the Taliban once ruling the country and toppled by a US-led international invasion, …
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