ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have put the son of the movement's feared founder in charge of their military wing and added several powerful figures to their negotiating team, Taliban officials said. The shake-up, one of the most significant in years, comes ahead of expected talks with Kabul aimed at ending...
AP Sources: White House Aware of Russian Bounties in 2019
Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence. The assessment was...
Death Toll From Attack on Kabul Maternity Clinic Rises to 24
KABUL, Afghanistan — Officials on Wednesday raised the death toll from a militant attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul to 24, including mothers, nurses and two babies. A day after the shooting rampage, 20 infants were under medical observation, lying swaddled in blankets in hospital cribs. Militants had stormed...
Political Turmoil in Kabul Dogs Negotiations With Taliban
KABUL, Afghanistan — After months of deliberation, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday announced his 21-member team to negotiate peace with the Taliban, only to have his political opponent reject it as not inclusive enough. Afghanistan's political turmoil has impeded each tentative step toward negotiations with the Taliban — negotiations...
Trump Says He Spoke to Taliban Leader, Had 'Good Talk'
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he spoke Tuesday with the leader of the Taliban, days after the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement that calls for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan after more than 18 years. Trump is believed to be the first U.S. president...
US, Taliban Set Peace Signing for America's Longest War
WASHINGTON — America's longest war may finally be nearing an end. The United States and the Islamists it toppled from power in Afghanistan are poised to sign a peace deal Saturday after a conflict that outlasted two U.S. commanders in chief and is now led by a third eager to...
US, Taliban to Begin a Countdown to Afghan Peace Deal
ISLAMABAD — The countdown to the signing of a peace agreement between the Taliban and the United States on Feb. 29 to end the 18 years of war in Afghanistan will begin at midnight Friday, when a seven-day “reduction of violence" promised by the Taliban goes into effect, an Afghan...
Suicide Bombing Near Military Academy in Kabul Kills 6
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber targeting a military academy in the Afghan capital on Tuesday killed at least six people, including two civilians and four military personnel, the Interior Ministry said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing in Kabul, but both the Taliban and militants from the...
In Afghanistan, Jailed Taliban Await Peace, Their Freedom
PUL-E-CHARKHI, Afghanistan — Thousands of Taliban prisoners jailed in Afghanistan as insurgents see a peace deal being hammered out between the United States and the Taliban as their ticket to freedom. They know a prisoner release is a key pillar of any agreement that brings an end to Afghanistan’s 18-year...
A Tattoo at a Time, Afghan Woman Takes on Society’s Taboos
KABUL, Afghanistan — A female tattoo artist, a rarity in ultra-conservative Afghanistan, is taking a big risk with every customer she takes on. It’s been 18 months since Suraya Shaheedi started her mobile tattoo shop in the capital, Kabul. She’s received death threats for taking on the taboo of the...