Tag Archives: Kabul

The U.S. embassy in Kabul urged Americans to leave Afghanistan “immediately” due to a deteriorating security situation and the limited number of staff available to help U.S. citizens in the country. “Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited …

The Taliban captured an Afghan provincial capital and assassinated the government’s top media officer in Kabul on Friday, dealing twin high-profile blows to the Western-backed administration. A police spokesman in southern Nimroz province said the capital Zaranj had fallen to the hardline Islamists because of a lack of reinforcements from …

The Taliban shot and killed the director of Afghanistan’s Government Information Media Center on Friday, the latest killing in a series of attacks on journalists and rights activists in recent months. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that the groups’ fighters had killed Dawa Khan Menapal, who ran …

Taliban fighters on Friday intensified clashes with Afghan forces and targeted militias allied with the government, officials said, stretching their dominance of border towns and closing in on two provincial capitals as foreign forces leave. At least 10 Afghan soldiers and a commander of armed members belonging to the Abdul …

The Taliban have switched strategy from targeting rural areas of Afghanistan to attacking provincial cities in response to increased US airstrikes across the war-ravaged country, militant sources say. Some media outlets quoting Taliban commanders said on Thursday that they were focused on capturing the western city of Herat, Lashkar Gah, …

The Taliban claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a car bomb attack on the residence of Afghanistan’s acting defence minister, while a blast near the office of the main security agency in Kabul just hours later wounded three people. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the group targeted the residence on Tuesday …

Two gunmen were reportedly in on the loose in an affluent part of Kabul. No one has claimed the attack yet, but it comes as tensions between the government and Taliban rise. Three people have died following an explosion in the green zone of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. While no group …

The Iranian embassy in Afghanistan has issued an urgent warning calling on citizens to immediately leave cities outside the capital Kabul amid a deteriorating security situation in the country. “It is recommended to the nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran who live or do business in Afghan districts and …

Government forces are fighting Taliban assaults on major cities, including in Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar, whose airport was bombed by the Taliban. Afghan forces fought fierce street battles and bombed Taliban positions as the group’s fighters swarmed major cities amid an intensifying nationwide offensive. Hundreds of commandos were deployed …

Afghan forces have captured four Taliban fighters including a militant commander for carrying out this week’s rocket attack targeting the presidential palace in Kabul during the Muslim Eid al-Adha prayers, officials said Sunday. At least three rockets landed near the palace on Tuesday as President Ashraf Ghani and his top …

Afghanistan has imposed a night-time curfew to limit the movements of the Taliban across the country, a day after the group demanded the removal of President Ashraf Ghani. “To curb violence and limit the Taliban movements, a night curfew has been imposed in 31 provinces across the country,” the Afghan …

At least three rockets landed near the Afghan presidential palace on Tuesday as the country’s leader Ashraf Ghani held outdoor prayers with top officials to mark the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, it was the first rocket attack on Kabul …

Washington’s point man in talks aimed at ending decades of war in Afghanistan made a brief visit Monday to Pakistan as relations between Islamabad and Kabul reached a new low. Zalmay Khalilzad’s visit came just hours after Afghanistan withdrew its ambassador from Pakistan late Sunday after the diplomat’s daughter was …

The envoy and other senior diplomats would be back to Kabul until all the security threats are removed, Afghanistan said, a day after the daughter of the Afghan ambassador was briefly kidnapped and tortured in Islamabad. Afghanistan has decided to recall its ambassador to Islamabad and all senior diplomats over …

This comes amid a recent surge in violence in Afghanistan following the start of the withdrawal of international troops from the country in line with an agreement reached between the Taliban* and the US in Doha last year. The delegations of the Afghan government and the Taliban issued a joint …

Afghanistan’s authorities say the daughter of the ambassador to Pakistan was briefly kidnapped and “severely tortured” in the Pakistani capital. According to a statement by the Afghan Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Silsila Alikhail, the daughter of Ambassador Najibullah Alikhail, was kidnapped and tortured by unidentified men on her way home …

A delegation of Afghan political leaders led by top peace official Abdullah Abdullah left for Qatar on Friday to attempt to breathe life into stalled talks with the Taliban as violence escalates around the country. Abdullah, head of the country’s High Council for National Reconciliation and former government chief executive, …

The Taliban on Tuesday warned Turkey against extending its troop presence in Afghanistan when US-led forces leave the country, insisting the decision was “reprehensible”. “The decision… is ill-advised, a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and against our national interests,” the group said in a statement, days after Ankara …

More Afghans are likely to flee their homes due to escalating violence, the U.N. refugee agency warned on Tuesday, as the Taliban take control of more territory in response to the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces. “Afghanistan is on the brink of another humanitarian crisis. This can be avoided. This …

The top US general in Afghanistan relinquished command Monday at a ceremony in the capital, the latest symbolic gesture bringing America’s longest war nearer to an end even as the Taliban continue a bloody onslaught across the country. General Austin “Scott” Miller — the highest-ranked officer on the ground in …