Abdul Zuhoor Qayomi-KABUL: Members of the Wolesi Jirga (WJ) on Monday expressed concerns over secret peace talks with the Taliban, and termed the closed-door-negotiations fruitless. The MPs said that talks between the Taliban and Afghan officials would end nowhere as Afghan security forces were rendering sacrifices without any pause. Monawar …

AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: Three terror suspects were held and dozens of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were recovered by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives in southern Kandahar province. According to the NDS, the suspects planned to carry out attacks on government compounds in Kandahar city, the central city of …

AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: The High Peace Council (HPC) has praised what it calls change in Taliban’s stance towards women’s rights in Afghanistan, following a meeting between the Taliban’s representatives and Afghan female lawmakers in Norway. The Taliban’s representatives held talks with female lawmakers and civil society members in Oslo earlier …

TACOMA: The US soldier who murdered 16 Afghan villagers in 2012 says he had lost compassion for Iraqis and Afghans over the course of his four combat deployments. The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain an eight-page letter former Staff Sgt Robert Bales …

Children are the most unfortunate segment of the society. Young boys and girls work on streets at the age which is supposed to be for playing and education. In addition to forced labor children are sexually exploited, used for begging, construction, crimes and in terror attacks. Both sophisticated organized crime …

FAIZABAD: Three Urban Development Ministry officials were Monday arrested in northern Badakhshan province on corruption charges as they attempted to flee to neighboring Tajikistan, an official said on Monday. The Badakhshan governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Naveed Frotan, told Pajhwok Afghan News the three tainted officials were trying to cross the border …

AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: The Chief Executive, Abdullah Abdullah, during his visit to Tajikistan met with a number of Tajik leaders, including Tajik President, Emomali Rahmon, where they discussed expansion of bilateral ties between the two countries. According to the Chief Executive’s office, the Tajik President in his meeting with Abdullah …

KABUL:  The nine deminers who were abducted by unidentified gunmen have been released in central Logar province, an official said on Monday. A day earlier, the Taliban militants abducted nine de-miners of Halo Trust organization along with their vehicle in Daud Khail area in Pul-i-Alam district. Din Mohammad Darwaish, governor …

PUL-I-ALAM: Police on Sunday arrested the mayor of central Logar province from his office on corruption charges in compliance with orders from the president, an official said. Logar police chief Brig Gen Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai told Pajhwok Afghan News the mayor, Ahmad Khan Ulfat, was arrested in the afternoon. He …

AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: An Iranian MP on Sunday confirmed that a delegation from the Afghan Taliban has visited Iran last month. A member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Esmail Kowsari, said the delegation, which visited Tehran, belongs to a branch of the Taliban who believe …