Editorial

A new blow to the Afghan presidential election came on Sunday as the incumbent CEO Abdullah Abdullah, also a presidential candidate and longtime rival of President Ashraf Ghani, withdrew his team of observers from the ongoing official vote recount process – which the Independent Election Commission (IEC) began despite opposition …

The election controversies are seemingly further escalating while at the same time the Independent Election Commission (IEC) is under immense pressure – having already missed one deadline – as it is supposed to announce the preliminary results of the Afghan presidential election on Nov. 14th. The recent developments in tallying …

Intensification of war in different parts of the country has underscored the lasting trauma of the escalating conflict that overshadows the impact of peace efforts to at least reduce violence to some level. The assassination of an Afghan government employee while his daughter was next to him has accentuated the …

The horrific news and photos of a man having been brutally murdered in broad daylight while his 3-year-old child sitting next to him in a car, went viral on social media and sparked vehement condemnation from people across the country. The slain man was reportedly an employee of one of …

Freedom of the press is an essential pillar to any democracy and fortunately, journalists enjoy a significant level of freedom in Afghanistan – a climate for journalists which is better than some regional countries. Conversely, Afghanistan is also full of grave dangers to journalists who put their lives at stake …

A damning report by a US advocacy group, the Human Rights Watch (HRW), accused CIA-backed Afghan strike groups of committing extrajudicial executions, orchestrating disappearances, conducting indiscriminate airstrikes, attacking medical facilities and carrying out other violations of international humanitarian law. The 61-page-long report alleged that these strike units belonging to the …

Flying in the face of all international laws, the Pakistani military has yet again brazenly violated Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by trying to establish military posts inside the Afghan territory of Nari district in eastern Kunar province. After Afghan forces stopped them from doing so along the de-facto Durand …

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the emir of the self-proclaimed Islamic State or Daesh terrorist group which also has IS Khorasan ‘chapter’ active in Afghanistan, has died in an American raid in Syria. The US President Donald Trump proudly announced this on Sunday as he explained the US troops’ operation on the …

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US’ point man for Afghanistan reconciliation, has recently met with the top officials in Kabul for the first time since American President Donald Trump abruptly called off the peace talks with the Taliban last month. This trip of Khalilzad shows that the initial steps to reinvigorate the …

The efforts for revival of the peace talks are in full swing as the US chief peace negotiator for Afghanistan met leaders in Kabul after arriving in the country on an unannounced visit on Sunday. It’s his first visit to Afghanistan since President Donald Trump halted talks with the Taliban …