Afghanistan Times

AT-KABUL: Taliban gunmen once again kidnapped 47 passengers in northeastern Kunduz from the main highway, where government launched rescue operation to release the hostages. The passengers were kidnapped from Badakhshan-Kunduz highway in Khanabad district of Kunduz Wednesday morning when Taliban intercepted a bus and a small passenger car, Mahfuzullah Akbari, …

Taking their “development partnership” to the next level, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the Salma Dam during an impressive ceremony in western Herat province on 4 June. It was Modi’s second official visit to Afghanistan. In December last year, he made a pit stop …

By Farhad Naibkhel-KABUL: The Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) said in a report that health sector had lost people’s trust and donors due to corruption. The MEC and ministry of public health have carried out a survey, interviewing people in Kabul and 12 provinces. “Survey reveals that corruption exists extensively …

By Akhtar M. Nikzad-KABUL: Ministry of Interior accused Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence of supporting the armed insurgents in fighting against Afghan National Security Forces in Helmand province. Deputy minister Abdul Rahman told senators that the ISI directly supports Taliban, Lashkar-e Taiba and al-Qaeda terrorist groups in operations against Afghan troops. “The …

AT-KABUL: The Ministry of Energy and Water on Tuesday signed the contract of the Kajaki hydropower dam extension with a Turkish company. Minister of Energy and Water Ali Ahmad Osmani said that the dam would produce 150 megawatts of electricity after its extension. “The reservoir capacity of the dam would …

AT-KABUL: At least five militants, loyal to the Islamic State, known as Daesh, were killed in an airstrike in Nangarhar province, the security official said on Tuesday. In a press statement, the Ministry of Defense, said that the strike was carried out by the Afghan Air Force in the Kot …

The high-ranking security officials including the acting defense and interior ministers have been repeatedly urged by the provincial authorities, troops on the ground, security affairs analysts, and common people to pay heed to the rising insecurity in volatile areas. In southern Afghanistan, Helmand and adjacent provinces had become a hotbed …

At least 11 people killed and several wounded in bomb attack on police bus in the central district of Beyazit. A bomb attack targeting a police vehicle in a central Istanbul district has killed at least eleven people, including seven members of the police force, the city’s governor has said. …

A new investigation today reveals how Afghanistan’s 6,500 year old lapis mines are driving corruption, conflict and extremism in the country. Global Witness has found that the Taliban and other armed groups are earning up to 20 million dollars per year from Afghanistan’s lapis mines, the world’s main source of …

David Gilkey, an NPR photojournalist who chronicled pain and beauty in war and conflict, was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday along with NPR’s Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna. David and Zabihullah were on assignment for the network traveling with an Afghan army unit, which came under attack killing David and Zabihullah. …