A police constable was killed and five people injured in Pakistan on Wednesday, following a gun battle with Taliban militants at a police housing and training complex, security officials said.

Three militants wearing suicide vests attempted to storm the complex in the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan when confronted by guards at the entrance.

"Police personnel deployed at the gate killed one of the suicide bombers," senior police officer Abdul Rehman Luni told Reuters.

"The other two blew themselves up inside the police complex," he said, adding that a senior constable was killed in the attack, and five wounded people were taken to hospital.

The attack was claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, in a statement sent to journalists.

Military cordoned off the area after the attack.

The walled complex comprises police residences and training facilities and is heavily guarded in a province where attacks on security officials are common.

Islamist militant groups and separatists fighting the central government are active in mineral-rich Baluchistan, with frequent attacks on gas and transport infrastructure and security posts.

Baluchistan's coastal city of Gwadar is a strategic port on the Arabian Sea that is being developed as part of the $60-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of China's Belt and Road infrastructure project.

In May, gunmen from the Balochistan Liberation Army insurgent group dressed as military officers stormed a luxury five-star hotel in Gwadar, killing three security guards, an employee, and a naval officer in the ensuing gunbattle.

A police constable was killed and five people injured in Pakistan on Wednesday, following a gun battle with Taliban militants at a police housing and training complex, security officials said.

A police constable was killed and five people injured in Pakistan on Wednesday, following a gun battle with Taliban militants at a police housing and training complex, security officials said. Three militants wearing suicide vests attempted to storm the complex in the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan when confronted by guards at the entrance. "Police personnel deployed at the gate killed one of the suicide bombers," senior police officer Abdul Rehman Luni told Reuters. "The other two blew themselves up inside the police complex," he said, adding that a senior constable was killed in the attack, and five wounded people were taken to hospital. The attack was claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, in a statement sent to journalists. Military cordoned off the area after the attack. The walled complex comprises police residences and training facilities and is heavily guarded in a province where attacks on security officials are common. Islamist militant groups and separatists fighting the central government are active in mineral-rich Baluchistan, with frequent attacks on gas and transport infrastructure and security posts. Baluchistan's coastal city of Gwadar is a strategic port on the Arabian Sea that is being developed as part of the $60-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of China's Belt and Road infrastructure project. In May, gunmen from the Balochistan Liberation Army insurgent group dressed as military officers stormed a luxury five-star hotel in Gwadar, killing three security guards, an employee, and a naval officer in the ensuing gunbattle.

One killed as militants attack Pakistan police housing complex

Afghanistan's President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-president-ashraf-ghani-to-visit-pakistan-will-discuss-talks-with-imran-khan-224176">Ashraf Ghani will visit Pakistan </a>on Thursday to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, less than a week after its neighbour hosted Afghan opposition leaders to discuss ways to end an 18-year-long war.

Ghani's third visit since 2014 comes as efforts have intensified to reach a political settlement with the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/united-statestaliban-aim-to-firm-up-date-for-foreign-force-exit-from-afghanistan-230057">Taliban</a> and end decades of war in Afghanistan, which has long accused Pakistan of supporting the Islamist insurgent movement.

"It is important to see how much regional countries, such as Pakistan, is ready and what kind of help it can provide for peace in Afghanistan," said Haroon Chakhansuri, a spokesman for Ghani in Kabul, the capital.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said the visit would focus on boosting cooperation in areas from security and peace and reconciliation to trade and the economy, adding that officials and a business delegation would accompany Ghani.

Taliban and US officials have held several rounds of talks and say they are close to agreeing a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops and guarantees that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militant attacks on US targets.

But Ghani's government has been shut out of negotiations by the Taliban's refusal to deal with what they consider an illegitimate "puppet" regime.

Ghani this year accused Pakistan of meddling in internal politics, saying the keys to the war are in the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where its government and military are based, and Quetta, location of a key group of Taliban leaders.

Pakistani officials deny supporting the Taliban and say Islamabad strongly favours a political settlement to maintain stability in Afghanistan, but Afghan officials remain cautious.

Pakistan's role in the peace talks is delicate, as it seeks to avoid demonstrating the kind of broad influence over the Taliban long attributed to it by Washington.

US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading the push to broker a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban, has held several rounds of talks with Pakistani officials to smooth the way.

Last week, dozens of Afghan politicians and opposition leaders gathered in Pakistan to discuss ways to achieve peace.

Trade analysts said Afghanistan was a key export market and important hub with central Asia for Pakistan, which faces bleak economic headwinds, including a looming balance of payments crisis likely to be worsened by regional turmoil.

"At this stage Pakistan cannot afford to see Afghanistan slide into chaos when it has been running short of foreign exchange reserves," said Mohammad Jamaluddin of the Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce.

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani will visit Pakistan on Thursday to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, less than a week after its neighbour hosted Afghan opposition leaders to discuss ways to end an 18-year-long war.

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani will visit Pakistan on Thursday to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, less than a week after its neighbour hosted Afghan opposition leaders to discuss ways to end an 18-year-long war. Ghani's third visit since 2014 comes as efforts have intensified to reach a political settlement with the Taliban and end decades of war in Afghanistan, which has long accused Pakistan of supporting the Islamist insurgent movement. "It is important to see how much regional countries, such as Pakistan, is ready and what kind of help it can provide for peace in Afghanistan," said Haroon Chakhansuri, a spokesman for Ghani in Kabul, the capital. Pakistan's foreign ministry said the visit would focus on boosting cooperation in areas from security and peace and reconciliation to trade and the economy, adding that officials and a business delegation would accompany Ghani. Taliban and US officials have held several rounds of talks and say they are close to agreeing a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops and guarantees that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militant attacks on US targets. But Ghani's government has been shut out of negotiations by the Taliban's refusal to deal with what they consider an illegitimate "puppet" regime. Ghani this year accused Pakistan of meddling in internal politics, saying the keys to the war are in the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where its government and military are based, and Quetta, location of a key group of Taliban leaders. Pakistani officials deny supporting the Taliban and say Islamabad strongly favours a political settlement to maintain stability in Afghanistan, but Afghan officials remain cautious. Pakistan's role in the peace talks is delicate, as it seeks to avoid demonstrating the kind of broad influence over the Taliban long attributed to it by Washington. US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading the push to broker a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban, has held several rounds of talks with Pakistani officials to smooth the way. Last week, dozens of Afghan politicians and opposition leaders gathered in Pakistan to discuss ways to achieve peace. Trade analysts said Afghanistan was a key export market and important hub with central Asia for Pakistan, which faces bleak economic headwinds, including a looming balance of payments crisis likely to be worsened by regional turmoil. "At this stage Pakistan cannot afford to see Afghanistan slide into chaos when it has been running short of foreign exchange reserves," said Mohammad Jamaluddin of the Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to visit Pakistan in bid to step up peace effort

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he hopes for a peace deal with the Taliban "before September 1", speaking as he made his first visit to Kabul since Washington launched talks with the insurgents last year.

Pompeo met with President Ashraf Ghani as well as General Scott Miller, who leads NATO's Afghanistan mission and the US war effort in the country, as well as other high-level Afghan officials during the unannounced one-day visit to the Afghan capital.

He said peace was Washington's "highest priority". Last September the US began a fresh push to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end America's longest war. "I hope we have a peace deal before September 1, that's certainly our mission set," Pompeo said during the visit.

US officials have previously said they are hoping for a deal before the upcoming Afghan presidential elections, which have already been delayed twice and are now set for September.

The next round of talks between the Taliban and the US are set to begin on June 29 in Doha.

The talks have centred on four issues: counter-terrorism, the foreign troop presence, an intra-Afghan dialogue, and a permanent ceasefire.

The Taliban have insisted that foreign troops must leave, and refused to speak with the Afghan government in Kabul, whom they deem "puppets".

Pompeo said the US is nearly ready to conclude a "draft text" outlining Taliban promises never to allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for international terrorism again.

"In light of this progress we've begun discussions with the Taliban regarding foreign military presence which today remains conditions-based," he said.

"And while we've made clear to the Taliban that we're prepared to remove our forces, I want to be clear we've not yet agreed on a timeline to do so." Huge swathes of Afghan society worry that if the US does make a deal with the Taliban, the militant Islamists would try to seize power and undo advances in women's rights, media freedoms, and legal protections.

Pompeo's visit also came amid an escalating regional standoff with neighbouring Iran, as Washington announced sanctions against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and US President Donald Trump warned of "overwhelming" retaliation to any attack.

Analysts have warned war with Tehran could have a devastating impact on Washington's efforts to secure a peace deal in Afghanistan.

Iran and Afghanistan share a 900 kilometre (600 mile) border and have long had a complex relationship.

Iran nearly went to war with the Sunni Taliban regime in 1998, and quietly backed the US invasion of 2001.

But Tehran has more recently sought to build relations with the Taliban, mindful of preserving interests in the neighbouring country.

US officials have accused Iran of providing material support, including anti-tank guided missiles and other weaponry, to the Taliban since at least 2007.

"Maybe this fact is too obvious to mention in the news coverage, but the United States' efforts to negotiate an exit from the Afghan war would explode into a thousand pieces in the event of conflict with Iran," Graeme Smith, a Kabul-based consultant with the International Crisis Group, tweeted recently.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a ruthless former warlord, told AFP on the sidelines of a conference in Pakistan on Saturday that "of course" a US war with Iran would affect the Afghan peace process.&nbsp;

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he hopes for a peace deal with the Taliban "before September 1", speaking as he made his first visit to Kabul since Washington launched talks with the insurgents last year.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he hopes for a peace deal with the Taliban "before September 1", speaking as he made his first visit to Kabul since Washington launched talks with the insurgents last year. Pompeo met with President Ashraf Ghani as well as General Scott Miller, who leads NATO's Afghanistan mission and the US war effort in the country, as well as other high-level Afghan officials during the unannounced one-day visit to the Afghan capital. He said peace was Washington's "highest priority". Last September the US began a fresh push to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end America's longest war. "I hope we have a peace deal before September 1, that's certainly our mission set," Pompeo said during the visit. US officials have previously said they are hoping for a deal before the upcoming Afghan presidential elections, which have already been delayed twice and are now set for September. The next round of talks between the Taliban and the US are set to begin on June 29 in Doha. The talks have centred on four issues: counter-terrorism, the foreign troop presence, an intra-Afghan dialogue, and a permanent ceasefire. The Taliban have insisted that foreign troops must leave, and refused to speak with the Afghan government in Kabul, whom they deem "puppets". Pompeo said the US is nearly ready to conclude a "draft text" outlining Taliban promises never to allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for international terrorism again. "In light of this progress we've begun discussions with the Taliban regarding foreign military presence which today remains conditions-based," he said. "And while we've made clear to the Taliban that we're prepared to remove our forces, I want to be clear we've not yet agreed on a timeline to do so." Huge swathes of Afghan society worry that if the US does make a deal with the Taliban, the militant Islamists would try to seize power and undo advances in women's rights, media freedoms, and legal protections. Pompeo's visit also came amid an escalating regional standoff with neighbouring Iran, as Washington announced sanctions against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and US President Donald Trump warned of "overwhelming" retaliation to any attack. Analysts have warned war with Tehran could have a devastating impact on Washington's efforts to secure a peace deal in Afghanistan. Iran and Afghanistan share a 900 kilometre (600 mile) border and have long had a complex relationship. Iran nearly went to war with the Sunni Taliban regime in 1998, and quietly backed the US invasion of 2001. But Tehran has more recently sought to build relations with the Taliban, mindful of preserving interests in the neighbouring country. US officials have accused Iran of providing material support, including anti-tank guided missiles and other weaponry, to the Taliban since at least 2007. "Maybe this fact is too obvious to mention in the news coverage, but the United States' efforts to negotiate an exit from the Afghan war would explode into a thousand pieces in the event of conflict with Iran," Graeme Smith, a Kabul-based consultant with the International Crisis Group, tweeted recently. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a ruthless former warlord, told AFP on the sidelines of a conference in Pakistan on Saturday that "of course" a US war with Iran would affect the Afghan peace process.

Pompeo hopes for Afghan peace deal 'before September 1'

Upcoming peace talks between the United States and the Taliban will focus on working out a timeline for the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan and on Taliban guarantee militants won't plot attacks from Afghan soil, sources said on Monday.

The seventh round of talks between the warring sides begins on Saturday in Qatar's capital of Doha, where US and Taliban negotiators have been trying to hammer out a deal to end to the 18-year-long war since October.

"Once the timetable for foreign force withdrawal is announced, then talks will automatically enter the next stage," said Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha.

"We don't need to wait for the completion of the withdrawal, both withdrawal and talks can move forward simultaneously."

The focus of the talks has been a Taliban demand for the withdrawal of the US and other foreign forces and a US demand the Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant attacks.

Two other main issues in the process are a ceasefire and talks between the rival Afghan sides - the insurgents and the Western-backed government.

But the Taliban has long refused to talk to the Afghan government, denouncing it as foreign "puppet", and fighting has seen no let-up.

Two other sources with knowledge of the talks said the sixth round in May ended with unease on both sides, but since then informal meeting had taken place to work out what can be agreed on.

The US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has also held informal meetings with the Taliban leadership in Doha.

"Based on my recent visits to Afghanistan and Qatar, I believe all sides want rapid progress," Khalilzad said on Twitter.

Khalilzad, an Afghan-born American diplomat has been leading the talks to secure a political settlement with the hardline Islamist group that now controls more Afghan territory than at any time since being toppled in 2001 by US-led forces.

About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are in Afghanistan as part of a US-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some US forces carry out counter-terrorism operations.

At least 3,804 civilians were killed in the war last year, according to the United Nations. Thousands of Afghan soldiers, police and Taliban were also killed.

Nevertheless, the Taliban leader vowed this month to sustain the fight until their objectives were reached.

In March, a draft agreement was reached on the withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for a commitment by the Taliban to cut ties with militant groups such as al Qaeda.

A Taliban source said both sides were expecting some clarity and results on the prime issues in the new round talks.

"A ceasefire and intra-Afghan talks will not be discussed during the seventh round," said the Taliban source, who declined to be identified.

Some Afghan government officials side fear the United States and the Taliban will strike a deal on the withdrawal of foreign forces, enabling the United States to get out of an unpopular war but leaving government forces to battle on alone.

Upcoming peace talks between the United States and the Taliban will focus on working out a timeline for the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan and on Taliban guarantee militants won't plot attacks from Afghan soil, sources said on Monday.

Upcoming peace talks between the United States and the Taliban will focus on working out a timeline for the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan and on Taliban guarantee militants won't plot attacks from Afghan soil, sources said on Monday. The seventh round of talks between the warring sides begins on Saturday in Qatar's capital of Doha, where US and Taliban negotiators have been trying to hammer out a deal to end to the 18-year-long war since October. "Once the timetable for foreign force withdrawal is announced, then talks will automatically enter the next stage," said Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha. "We don't need to wait for the completion of the withdrawal, both withdrawal and talks can move forward simultaneously." The focus of the talks has been a Taliban demand for the withdrawal of the US and other foreign forces and a US demand the Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant attacks. Two other main issues in the process are a ceasefire and talks between the rival Afghan sides - the insurgents and the Western-backed government. But the Taliban has long refused to talk to the Afghan government, denouncing it as foreign "puppet", and fighting has seen no let-up. Two other sources with knowledge of the talks said the sixth round in May ended with unease on both sides, but since then informal meeting had taken place to work out what can be agreed on. The US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has also held informal meetings with the Taliban leadership in Doha. "Based on my recent visits to Afghanistan and Qatar, I believe all sides want rapid progress," Khalilzad said on Twitter. Khalilzad, an Afghan-born American diplomat has been leading the talks to secure a political settlement with the hardline Islamist group that now controls more Afghan territory than at any time since being toppled in 2001 by US-led forces. About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are in Afghanistan as part of a US-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some US forces carry out counter-terrorism operations. At least 3,804 civilians were killed in the war last year, according to the United Nations. Thousands of Afghan soldiers, police and Taliban were also killed. Nevertheless, the Taliban leader vowed this month to sustain the fight until their objectives were reached. In March, a draft agreement was reached on the withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for a commitment by the Taliban to cut ties with militant groups such as al Qaeda. A Taliban source said both sides were expecting some clarity and results on the prime issues in the new round talks. "A ceasefire and intra-Afghan talks will not be discussed during the seventh round," said the Taliban source, who declined to be identified. Some Afghan government officials side fear the United States and the Taliban will strike a deal on the withdrawal of foreign forces, enabling the United States to get out of an unpopular war but leaving government forces to battle on alone.

United States,Taliban aim to firm up date for foreign force exit from Afghanistan

Dozens of Afghan political leaders have attended a conference in neighbouring Pakistan to discuss possible ways to achieve peace in the war-torn country.

US and Taliban to hold talks in Doha

Five terrorists were killed and four others sustained injuries in an exchange of fire between Afghan forces and Taliban in the country's northern province of Takhar on Sunday.

Army spokesperson Abdul Hadi Jamal said that the armed clashes broke out on Sunday morning in the Chahab district of the province.

Three security personnel also sustained injuries in the incident, reported Xinhua news agency.

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban regarding the operation.

Afghanistan is facing an unstable political and security situation due to the activities of the Taliban and the Islamic State.

The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) frequently conduct joint offensive operations to combat terrorism across the country. 
&nbsp;

Five terrorists were killed and four others sustained injuries in an exchange of fire between Afghan forces and Taliban in the country's northern province of Takhar on Sunday.

Five terrorists were killed and four others sustained injuries in an exchange of fire between Afghan forces and Taliban in the country's northern province of Takhar on Sunday. Army spokesperson Abdul Hadi Jamal said that the armed clashes broke out on Sunday morning in the Chahab district of the province. Three security personnel also sustained injuries in the incident, reported Xinhua news agency. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban regarding the operation. Afghanistan is facing an unstable political and security situation due to the activities of the Taliban and the Islamic State. The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) frequently conduct joint offensive operations to combat terrorism across the country.

5 Taliban terrorists killed by Afghan forces in Takhar province

Five Taliban terrorists were killed in an operation by Afghan Special Forces in the country`s northern province of Faryab, the provincial government said on Friday.

The anti-terrorist operation was carried out in the Dara-e-Shakh area of Gurziwan district in the wee hours of Friday.

Two Taliban hideouts were destroyed, reported Xinhua.

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban regarding the operation.

Afghanistan is facing an unstable political and security situation due to the activities of the Taliban and the Islamic State.

The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces have been conducting operations to combat terrorism across the country.&nbsp;

Five Taliban terrorists were killed in an operation by Afghan Special Forces in the country`s northern province of Faryab, the provincial government said on Friday.

Five Taliban terrorists were killed in an operation by Afghan Special Forces in the country`s northern province of Faryab, the provincial government said on Friday. The anti-terrorist operation was carried out in the Dara-e-Shakh area of Gurziwan district in the wee hours of Friday. Two Taliban hideouts were destroyed, reported Xinhua. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban regarding the operation. Afghanistan is facing an unstable political and security situation due to the activities of the Taliban and the Islamic State. The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces have been conducting operations to combat terrorism across the country.

5 Taliban terrorists killed by Afghan forces in Faryab province

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-surveillance-asset-attacked-in-international-airspace-not-over-iran-pentagon-228977">US surveillance asset attacked in international airspace, not over Iran: Pentagon</a>

The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that Iranian forces shot down a&nbsp;US naval surveillance drone&nbsp;but insisted the aircraft was in international airspace, not that of Iran.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-pm-race-boris-johnson-wins-fourth-ballot-sajid-javed-eliminated-228981">UK PM race: Boris Johnson wins fourth ballot, Sajid Javed eliminated</a>

British Conservative Party MPs today voted out Sajid Javid in the fourth ballot while voting heavily&nbsp;in favour of Boris Johnson&nbsp;in the race for next prime minister of United Kingdom.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/will-be-guided-by-our-economic-and-security-consideration-ministry-of-external-affairs-on-huawei-row-228972">Will be guided by our economic and security consideration: Ministry of external affairs on Huawei row</a>

After reports emerged that the&nbsp;US government had written&nbsp;to the external affairs ministry last month warning the government that companies found supplying equipment or other products of American origin to Huawei could face "punitive action", ministry of external affairs(MEA) spokesman Ravish Kumar said the matter was being debated.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/cwc-meeting-on-new-congress-president-may-take-place-soon-228965">CWC meeting on new Congress president may take place soon</a>

Sources in the Congress party&nbsp;have confirmed that a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting may take place in the next fortnight to deliberate on the issue of a&nbsp;new president as Rahul Gandhi&nbsp;has not changed his mind on his decision to quit.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-cannot-negotiate-from-place-of-advantage-india-to-un-228947">Taliban cannot negotiate from place of advantage: India to UN</a>

India has said terror groups can not negotiate from a place of advantage, a remark directed towards groups such as&nbsp;Taliban&nbsp;based in Pakistani territory.&nbsp;

US surveillance asset attacked in international airspace, not over Iran: Pentagon The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that Iranian forces shot down a US naval surveillance drone but insisted the aircraft was in international airspace, not that of Iran.

US surveillance asset attacked in international airspace, not over Iran: Pentagon The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that Iranian forces shot down a US naval surveillance drone but insisted the aircraft was in international airspace, not that of Iran. UK PM race: Boris Johnson wins fourth ballot, Sajid Javed eliminated British Conservative Party MPs today voted out Sajid Javid in the fourth ballot while voting heavily in favour of Boris Johnson in the race for next prime minister of United Kingdom. Will be guided by our economic and security consideration: Ministry of external affairs on Huawei row After reports emerged that the US government had written to the external affairs ministry last month warning the government that companies found supplying equipment or other products of American origin to Huawei could face "punitive action", ministry of external affairs(MEA) spokesman Ravish Kumar said the matter was being debated. CWC meeting on new Congress president may take place soon Sources in the Congress party have confirmed that a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting may take place in the next fortnight to deliberate on the issue of a new president as Rahul Gandhi has not changed his mind on his decision to quit. Taliban cannot negotiate from place of advantage: India to UN India has said terror groups can not negotiate from a place of advantage, a remark directed towards groups such as Taliban based in Pakistani territory.

News brief: Big stories of the day

China on Thursday for the first time acknowledged that it recently hosted Afghan Taliban's chief peace negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar for talks as part of its stepped-up efforts to enlarge its strategic role in Afghanistan and efforts to restore peace in the war-torn country.

Mullah Baradar, one of the four top commanders who formed the Taliban in 1994, was released from jail last year by the Pakistan government. He is believed to be the highest-ranking Afghan Taliban prisoner freed so far.

After his release from the jail, Mullah Baradar has been holding talks with US Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.

China, a close ally of Pakistan, has been trying to iron out differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of providing safe haven to the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani network and other militant groups, which carry out attacks in the war-torn country.

The "head of Taliban political office in Doha, Bardar, visited China", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media here Thursday.

"During his visit, the Chinese officials exchanged views with him on the peace and reconciliation process as well as the fight against terrorism," he said.

Bardar was told about the constructive role being played by China in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, Lu said.

"We always support the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned extensive and inclusive peace and reconciliation as well as the internal dialogue among the Afghanis. So, we have made the position clear with the Taliban chief negotiator," he said.

"This is an important part of our efforts to promote peace talks. Both sides agreed that the exchange is mutually beneficial and we also agreed to seek communication and cooperation for a political settlement of the Afghan issue. We will try and talk through various means and ways to play our due role in realising peace and reconciliation, stability and development in Afghanistan," Lu said.

Mullah Baradar held several senior positions in the Taliban government before its fall in 2001. He was once considered the most influential Taliban leader after Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Asked what the Taliban wants to end the civil war in Afghanistan, Lu said, "I believe the relevant parties in Afghanistan who are committed to peace talks hope to resolve the internal situation in Afghanistan and achieve sustainable peace and reconciliation".

"China is trying to promote the dialogue of Afghanis. Another issue is the joint fight against terrorism," he said.

China has also been holding talks with India over the situation in Afghanistan.

China's special envoy in Afghanistan Deng Xijun visited New Delhi in May last and held talks the top External Affairs Ministry officials.

India and China also conducted a joint programme to train diplomats of Afghanistan.&nbsp;

China on Thursday for the first time acknowledged that it recently hosted Afghan Taliban's chief peace negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar for talks as part of its stepped-up efforts to enlarge its strategic role in Afghanistan and efforts to restore peace in the war-torn country.

China on Thursday for the first time acknowledged that it recently hosted Afghan Taliban's chief peace negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar for talks as part of its stepped-up efforts to enlarge its strategic role in Afghanistan and efforts to restore peace in the war-torn country. Mullah Baradar, one of the four top commanders who formed the Taliban in 1994, was released from jail last year by the Pakistan government. He is believed to be the highest-ranking Afghan Taliban prisoner freed so far. After his release from the jail, Mullah Baradar has been holding talks with US Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. China, a close ally of Pakistan, has been trying to iron out differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of providing safe haven to the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani network and other militant groups, which carry out attacks in the war-torn country. The "head of Taliban political office in Doha, Bardar, visited China", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media here Thursday. "During his visit, the Chinese officials exchanged views with him on the peace and reconciliation process as well as the fight against terrorism," he said. Bardar was told about the constructive role being played by China in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, Lu said. "We always support the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned extensive and inclusive peace and reconciliation as well as the internal dialogue among the Afghanis. So, we have made the position clear with the Taliban chief negotiator," he said. "This is an important part of our efforts to promote peace talks. Both sides agreed that the exchange is mutually beneficial and we also agreed to seek communication and cooperation for a political settlement of the Afghan issue. We will try and talk through various means and ways to play our due role in realising peace and reconciliation, stability and development in Afghanistan," Lu said. Mullah Baradar held several senior positions in the Taliban government before its fall in 2001. He was once considered the most influential Taliban leader after Mullah Muhammad Omar. Asked what the Taliban wants to end the civil war in Afghanistan, Lu said, "I believe the relevant parties in Afghanistan who are committed to peace talks hope to resolve the internal situation in Afghanistan and achieve sustainable peace and reconciliation". "China is trying to promote the dialogue of Afghanis. Another issue is the joint fight against terrorism," he said. China has also been holding talks with India over the situation in Afghanistan. China's special envoy in Afghanistan Deng Xijun visited New Delhi in May last and held talks the top External Affairs Ministry officials. India and China also conducted a joint programme to train diplomats of Afghanistan.

We support Afghan-led peace dialogue, says China while hosting Taliban leader

India has said terror groups can not negotiate from a place of advantage, a remark directed towards groups such as <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/india-cant-avoid-talking-to-taliban-in-current-scenario-206413">Taliban </a>based in Pakistani territory.&nbsp;

Speaking on the situation in Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council, India's Permanent Representative <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/india-supports-afghan-led-inclusive-peace-process-syed-akbaruddin-228915">Syed Akbaruddin</a> said, " We cannot ignore that groups enjoying the support and safe havens carry out violent and terrorist activities from across borders", adding, "They cannot be allowed to negotiate from a place of advantage. "

He said, terrorist activities of the "Taliban, Haqqani Network, Da'esh, as well as Al Qaeda" and its proscribed affiliates such as "Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e Mohammed" need to end.

Explaining further he said, sanctuaries and safe havens provided to terror networks have to be addressed for "genuine and sustainable peace."

Giving an example of Hizb-e-Islami, he said, "peace settlement within the rubric of the current constitution is possible both politically and socially."

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
The Afghan people have for long been victims of transnational terrorism - <a href="https://twitter.com/IndiaUNNewYork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IndiaUNNewYork</a> 
 
For full statement c <a href="https://t.co/GjfDgfc6uZ">https://t.co/GjfDgfc6uZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/Cwi8OmaxtE">pic.twitter.com/Cwi8OmaxtE</a>
— Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/AkbaruddinIndia/status/1141529448191352833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Reiterating India's policy on Afghan peace process which should be "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled", Akbaruddin said, "All of us need to be mindful of the gains that the Afghan people have made in the last 18 years."

India has been engaging with Russia, US, China, Iran and central Asia on the Afghan peace process.

Backing the communique of the Loya Jirga, convened by President Ghani on April 29, 2019, New Delhi said talks with Taliban should be "without pre-conditions" and a "Taliban office to be opened in Afghanistan" while "formation of an inclusive negotiating team".

Last week PM Modi met Afghan president Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek during which New Delhi assured that it will fulfil all the expectations of Afghanistan and the Afghan government.

New Delhi has been Afghanistan's biggest backer in the region. India through its community development scheme since 2005 has supported over 550 projects throughout Afghanistan. Of these, around 345 projects have been completed while the remaining are in various stages of completion.&nbsp;

India is the largest donor to Afghanistan in the region and since 2001 after the fall of Taliban undertaken projects and programmes over $2 billion.

India has said terror groups can not negotiate from a place of advantage, a remark directed towards groups such as Taliban based in Pakistani territory. Speaking on the situation in Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said, " We cannot ignore that groups enjoying the support and safe havens carry out violent and terrorist activities from across borders", adding, "They cannot be allowed to negotiate from a place of advantage.

India has said terror groups can not negotiate from a place of advantage, a remark directed towards groups such as Taliban based in Pakistani territory. Speaking on the situation in Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said, " We cannot ignore that groups enjoying the support and safe havens carry out violent and terrorist activities from across borders", adding, "They cannot be allowed to negotiate from a place of advantage. " He said, terrorist activities of the "Taliban, Haqqani Network, Da'esh, as well as Al Qaeda" and its proscribed affiliates such as "Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e Mohammed" need to end. Explaining further he said, sanctuaries and safe havens provided to terror networks have to be addressed for "genuine and sustainable peace." Giving an example of Hizb-e-Islami, he said, "peace settlement within the rubric of the current constitution is possible both politically and socially." The Afghan people have for long been victims of transnational terrorism - @IndiaUNNewYork For full statement c https://t.co/GjfDgfc6uZ pic.twitter.com/Cwi8OmaxtE — Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) June 20, 2019 × Reiterating India's policy on Afghan peace process which should be "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled", Akbaruddin said, "All of us need to be mindful of the gains that the Afghan people have made in the last 18 years." India has been engaging with Russia, US, China, Iran and central Asia on the Afghan peace process. Backing the communique of the Loya Jirga, convened by President Ghani on April 29, 2019, New Delhi said talks with Taliban should be "without pre-conditions" and a "Taliban office to be opened in Afghanistan" while "formation of an inclusive negotiating team". Last week PM Modi met Afghan president Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek during which New Delhi assured that it will fulfil all the expectations of Afghanistan and the Afghan government. New Delhi has been Afghanistan's biggest backer in the region. India through its community development scheme since 2005 has supported over 550 projects throughout Afghanistan. Of these, around 345 projects have been completed while the remaining are in various stages of completion. India is the largest donor to Afghanistan in the region and since 2001 after the fall of Taliban undertaken projects and programmes over $2 billion.

Taliban cannot negotiate from place of advantage: India to UN

Amidst peace talks and reconciliation efforts with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Trump administration on Wednesday told a Congressional subcommittee that its assistance to the war-ravaged country should not be treated as a "blank check".

"Our assistance is not a blank check," Alice G Wells Senior State Department Official for South and Central Asian Affairs has told House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation in a prepared statement on Wednesday.

The sub-committee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing "US Interests in South Asia and the FY 2020 Budget" on Thursday.&nbsp;

"We expect the Afghan government will continue on a path of reform, and we will use the Afghanistan Compact as a means to monitor progress and discuss new reform objectives to tackle Afghanistan's biggest challenges," she said.&nbsp;

Afghanistan, Wells said, has made some progress on benchmarks in the Compact, including the conviction of high-level officials for corruption, independent management of security for the parliamentary elections, and improved government revenue collection. "Continued progress is needed," the US diplomat said.

President Donald Trump and the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have made clear that their top priority in the region is to end the war in Afghanistan through a sustainable political settlement that ensures that Afghanistan never again serves as a haven for terrorist attacks against the US or its interests.&nbsp;

"As we seek an end to the war, we are working with the Afghan government to define the parameters of a sustainable, long-term partnership with Afghanistan; civilian assistance will continue to play an important role," she said.

In recent discussions in Kabul, the Department of State and the Afghan government have agreed to focus US assistance on our highest priorities: furthering the peace process, ensuring Afghanistan does not serve as a terrorist safe haven, promoting Afghan self-reliance, and maintaining Afghan stability.&nbsp;

The US, she said, has smaller budgetary request for FY 2020 for Afghanistan and anticipates this having more focused portfolio.&nbsp;

However, significant prior year resources in the pipeline will allow US to avoid programme disruptions as they transition to a smaller portfolio and have flexibility to respond to a political settlement.&nbsp;

"We also stand ready to provide humanitarian support as needed, so that a natural disaster or a significant return of refugees won't undermine Afghanistan's push for peace and stability," Wells said.

"At the same time, the US is intensifying its engagement with partners," she said.&nbsp;

"At last year's Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, the United States called on donors to begin planning for post-settlement Afghanistan, and several countries have responded," she added.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Amidst peace talks and reconciliation efforts with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Trump administration on Wednesday told a Congressional subcommittee that its assistance to the war-ravaged country should not be treated as a "blank check".

Amidst peace talks and reconciliation efforts with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Trump administration on Wednesday told a Congressional subcommittee that its assistance to the war-ravaged country should not be treated as a "blank check". "Our assistance is not a blank check," Alice G Wells Senior State Department Official for South and Central Asian Affairs has told House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation in a prepared statement on Wednesday. The sub-committee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing "US Interests in South Asia and the FY 2020 Budget" on Thursday. "We expect the Afghan government will continue on a path of reform, and we will use the Afghanistan Compact as a means to monitor progress and discuss new reform objectives to tackle Afghanistan's biggest challenges," she said. Afghanistan, Wells said, has made some progress on benchmarks in the Compact, including the conviction of high-level officials for corruption, independent management of security for the parliamentary elections, and improved government revenue collection. "Continued progress is needed," the US diplomat said. President Donald Trump and the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have made clear that their top priority in the region is to end the war in Afghanistan through a sustainable political settlement that ensures that Afghanistan never again serves as a haven for terrorist attacks against the US or its interests. "As we seek an end to the war, we are working with the Afghan government to define the parameters of a sustainable, long-term partnership with Afghanistan; civilian assistance will continue to play an important role," she said. In recent discussions in Kabul, the Department of State and the Afghan government have agreed to focus US assistance on our highest priorities: furthering the peace process, ensuring Afghanistan does not serve as a terrorist safe haven, promoting Afghan self-reliance, and maintaining Afghan stability. The US, she said, has smaller budgetary request for FY 2020 for Afghanistan and anticipates this having more focused portfolio. However, significant prior year resources in the pipeline will allow US to avoid programme disruptions as they transition to a smaller portfolio and have flexibility to respond to a political settlement. "We also stand ready to provide humanitarian support as needed, so that a natural disaster or a significant return of refugees won't undermine Afghanistan's push for peace and stability," Wells said. "At the same time, the US is intensifying its engagement with partners," she said. "At last year's Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, the United States called on donors to begin planning for post-settlement Afghanistan, and several countries have responded," she added.

Assistance to Afghanistan not blank check says US

At least 38 militants affiliated to the Taliban have been released from jail in Afghanistan`s Herat province, officials said on Monday.

 
The inmates were among the 900 Taliban detainees lodged in various government jails, the provincial governor`s spokesman Jailani Farhad was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Afghanistan`s President Ashraf Ghani announced the release of 900 Taliban detainees last week as a "good gesture" to encourage Taliban militants to hold a dialogue with the government to find a negotiated settlement to the country`s lingering crisis.

The Taliban, who have refused to hold direct talks with the government, was yet to react to the government`s decision.

At least 38 militants affiliated to the Taliban have been released from jail in Afghanistan`s Herat province, officials said on Monday. The inmates were among the 900 Taliban detainees lodged in various government jails, the provincial governor`s spokesman Jailani Farhad was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

At least 38 militants affiliated to the Taliban have been released from jail in Afghanistan`s Herat province, officials said on Monday. The inmates were among the 900 Taliban detainees lodged in various government jails, the provincial governor`s spokesman Jailani Farhad was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency. Afghanistan`s President Ashraf Ghani announced the release of 900 Taliban detainees last week as a "good gesture" to encourage Taliban militants to hold a dialogue with the government to find a negotiated settlement to the country`s lingering crisis. The Taliban, who have refused to hold direct talks with the government, was yet to react to the government`s decision.

38 Taliban inmates released from Afghan jail

At least 170 Taliban prisoners have been released from the Pul-e-Charkhi and another 130 jail inmates are expected to be freed on Tuesday, a move that has come when peace talks are underway to end the nearly-two decades-long civil war in Afghanistan.&nbsp;

Tolo News reported quoting Afghan government sources that the released prisoners were imprisoned on charges of membership and cooperation with the Taliban.&nbsp;

The announcement about the release of Taliban prisoners was made by <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-president-ashraf-ghani-pledges-to-release-nearly-900-prisoners-224322">President Ashraf Ghani</a> on the closing day of the grand council on peace earlier in May.

&nbsp;The Afghan grand council ended on May 3 with a call for peace with the Taliban and a promise from Ghani to free 175 Taliban prisoners ahead of the Islamic holy week of Ramadan.

&nbsp;Again on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Afghan president announced the release of 887 prisoners as part of his efforts to persuade the resurgent group to engage in intra-Afghan dialogue to end the conflict through diplomatic settlement.

&nbsp;Meanwhile, critics have said the decision will have a possible negative impact on the country`s fragile situation and that the decision has been made without wider consultations.&nbsp;

The move came at a time when diplomatic efforts have taken centre stage in the Afghan peace process, which has hit constant deadlocks due to persistent denial by the Taliban to engage in direct talks with the Kabul government.

At least 170 Taliban prisoners have been released from the Pul-e-Charkhi and another 130 jail inmates are expected to be freed on Tuesday, a move that has come when peace talks are underway to end the nearly-two decades-long civil war in Afghanistan.

At least 170 Taliban prisoners have been released from the Pul-e-Charkhi and another 130 jail inmates are expected to be freed on Tuesday, a move that has come when peace talks are underway to end the nearly-two decades-long civil war in Afghanistan. Tolo News reported quoting Afghan government sources that the released prisoners were imprisoned on charges of membership and cooperation with the Taliban. The announcement about the release of Taliban prisoners was made by President Ashraf Ghani on the closing day of the grand council on peace earlier in May. The Afghan grand council ended on May 3 with a call for peace with the Taliban and a promise from Ghani to free 175 Taliban prisoners ahead of the Islamic holy week of Ramadan. Again on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Afghan president announced the release of 887 prisoners as part of his efforts to persuade the resurgent group to engage in intra-Afghan dialogue to end the conflict through diplomatic settlement. Meanwhile, critics have said the decision will have a possible negative impact on the country`s fragile situation and that the decision has been made without wider consultations. The move came at a time when diplomatic efforts have taken centre stage in the Afghan peace process, which has hit constant deadlocks due to persistent denial by the Taliban to engage in direct talks with the Kabul government.

Amid peace talks, Kabul releases more than 200 Taliban prisoners

At least eighteen terrorists were killed and four others sustained injuries in an anti-terrorism operation carried out by the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the eastern province of Logar on Friday morning.

According to a statement released by the provincial government, the operation was carried out in the Muhmmad Agha district, which lies north of the provincial capital Pul-e-Alam.

The slain terrorists&nbsp;had been involved in terror crimes in the past, reports Sputnik.

The security forces also seized three AK-47 guns, 17 magazines, several ammunition belts and nearly 450 rounds of bullets from the scene of the operation.

No comments have been received by the anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban militants with respect to the report, so far.

Afghanistan is suffering from an unstable political, social, and security situation due to the activities of the Taliban and Islamic State.

The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) regularly conduct joint offensive operations to combat terrorism across the country.&nbsp;

At least eighteen terrorists were killed and four others sustained injuries in an anti-terrorism operation carried out by the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the eastern province of Logar on Friday morning.

At least eighteen terrorists were killed and four others sustained injuries in an anti-terrorism operation carried out by the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the eastern province of Logar on Friday morning. According to a statement released by the provincial government, the operation was carried out in the Muhmmad Agha district, which lies north of the provincial capital Pul-e-Alam. The slain terrorists had been involved in terror crimes in the past, reports Sputnik. The security forces also seized three AK-47 guns, 17 magazines, several ammunition belts and nearly 450 rounds of bullets from the scene of the operation. No comments have been received by the anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban militants with respect to the report, so far. Afghanistan is suffering from an unstable political, social, and security situation due to the activities of the Taliban and Islamic State. The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) regularly conduct joint offensive operations to combat terrorism across the country.

Afghanistan: 18 terrorists killed by government forces in Logar province

At least 83 people were freed from a Taliban prison in Qaisar district in Faryab province on Wednesday night, said Afghan force.

The operation was conducted by Afghan special force, said the Shaheen Corps spokesperson Mohammad Hanif Rezaee.

Taliban militants guarding the facility had fled before the troops arrived.&nbsp;

The civilians were shifted to an army camp for the identification process before being provided accommodation. They would be joining their families soon.

Taliban insurgents frequently detain civilians from across villages and highways on charges of spying for the government security forces.

Taliban has not commented on it yet.

At least 83 people were freed from a Taliban prison in Qaisar district in Faryab province on Wednesday night, said Afghan force. The operation was conducted by Afghan special force, said the Shaheen Corps spokesperson Mohammad Hanif Rezaee.

At least 83 people were freed from a Taliban prison in Qaisar district in Faryab province on Wednesday night, said Afghan force. The operation was conducted by Afghan special force, said the Shaheen Corps spokesperson Mohammad Hanif Rezaee. Taliban militants guarding the facility had fled before the troops arrived. The civilians were shifted to an army camp for the identification process before being provided accommodation. They would be joining their families soon. Taliban insurgents frequently detain civilians from across villages and highways on charges of spying for the government security forces. Taliban has not commented on it yet.

Afghanistan: 83 civilians rescued from Taliban prison

As 10 children from the same family were walking to school last year, they came across an unexploded mortar bomb -- a common sight in Afghanistan, where war still rages between the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-taliban-leader-pledges-to-keep-fighting-until-goals-met-223710">Taliban</a> and US-backed <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/senators-want-visas-for-afghans-now-stranded-after-helping-us-forces-219104">national forces</a>.

Not realising what it was or the dangers it posed, the curious kids picked up the device and took it to show to an aunt and then it exploded. Three children and the older relative were killed, and the remaining seven lost at least one limb each.

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-blast-at-central-explosives-plant-injures-19-authorities-warn-of-more-explosions-223393">explosion</a> in Jalalabad, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, was yet another horrific moment illustrating the burden borne by civilians across Afghanistan, which has been at war in one form or another for four decades.

"I feel very sad when I see other girls walk towards school and I cannot walk like them," 10-year-old Rabia Gul, who lost her right leg in the blast, told AFP during a recent visit to her family's home.

"I was happy when I had legs, but after losing one of my legs I am not happy in my life anymore."

According to the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/peacebuilding-activities-should-align-with-national-priorities-india-at-united-nations-220419">United Nations,</a> 3,804 civilians -- including more than 900 children -- were killed in Afghanistan in 2018, with another 7,189 wounded.&nbsp;

It was the deadliest year on record for civilians in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/players-need-to-get-confidence-says-lasith-malinga-ahead-of-afghanistan-clash-223957">Afghanistan</a>, where decades of conflict have left the battered nation strewn with landmines, unexploded mortars, rockets and homemade bombs.

Rabia was sitting on a bench outside her simple house as six other amputee siblings and relatives, ranging in age from six to 15, placed stockings over their stumps and wriggled into their prosthetics.

"We hope that the Taliban comes and makes peace with the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-government-raises-partial-airspace-ban-matter-with-pakistan-216393">Afghan government</a>, and security will be better in Afghanistan so that no one gets killed or wounded in this country," said Shafiqullah, 15, who lost both his legs.

For the most part, the children are now tutored at home, where walls have been pockmarked by stray bullets from fighting.But sometimes they must walk to school for exams -- a painful journey owing to blisters that develop where artificial limbs rub against the skin.

Such stories are common in Afghanistan, which accounted for nearly half of all civilian casualties in a list of six countries at war, the UN said this year.

In Kot district in Nangarhar province, 70-year-old grandmother Niaz Bibi lost three sons and three grandsons in two separate attacks by the Islamic State group, which has a growing footprint in the region.

&nbsp;Now Bibi is left taking care of their surviving offspring -- about 40 orphans in total.

"I always ask neighbours and other people to donate some food and clothes to feed them," Bibi told AFP, deep lines etched into her face attesting to her unbearable loss.

"I have got this weapon to guard my grandchildren against any possible attacks," she added, as she clasped an AK-47.

Such is the circle of violence, loss and revenge, it is hard to see how Bibi's family can ever break free.

"Though I have lost, if the war goes on like this I will send all these orphaned children when they grow up to serve their country and sacrifice their lives for their homeland," Bibi said.

After 18 years of conflict, the Taliban are in negotiations with the US for some sort of peace settlement. But a resolution still seems far off, with the two sides struggling to agree on several key points.

Despite losing tens of thousands of fighters in the years since the US-led invasion of 2001, the call of jihad against foreign forces remains a powerful draw.

Young men join up for any number of reasons, sometimes it's the only way to make a living, sometimes they have no choice.&nbsp;

Jalalabad resident Rahim Jan, a television actor, first learned his son, Afzal, had joined the Taliban when the phone rang one day in 2015.

The man on the other end of the line said, "Afzal has been martyred, congratulations to you," Jan told AFP.&nbsp;

Jan, 60, has no idea why his son had decided to become a suicide bomber. He had got married just three months before leaving.

In a short video Afzal sent his father, the 19-year-old son said,&nbsp;"I'm with the Taliban, and I'm happy."

When Afzal joined the Taliban, he gave the militants his family's contact details. Fearing for his younger son Wasim's safety, Jan sent him to Turkey.

He has since been deported and returned to Afghanistan, but plans on fleeing again.

"The Taliban have started calling me again, saying come and follow your brother's way and do jihad," Wasim says.

"I will once again try to go abroad at any cost because it is very difficult for me to live here."

As 10 children from the same family were walking to school last year, they came across an unexploded mortar bomb -- a common sight in Afghanistan, where war still rages between the Taliban and US-backed national forces.

As 10 children from the same family were walking to school last year, they came across an unexploded mortar bomb -- a common sight in Afghanistan, where war still rages between the Taliban and US-backed national forces. Not realising what it was or the dangers it posed, the curious kids picked up the device and took it to show to an aunt and then it exploded. Three children and the older relative were killed, and the remaining seven lost at least one limb each. The explosion in Jalalabad, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, was yet another horrific moment illustrating the burden borne by civilians across Afghanistan, which has been at war in one form or another for four decades. "I feel very sad when I see other girls walk towards school and I cannot walk like them," 10-year-old Rabia Gul, who lost her right leg in the blast, told AFP during a recent visit to her family's home. "I was happy when I had legs, but after losing one of my legs I am not happy in my life anymore." According to the United Nations, 3,804 civilians -- including more than 900 children -- were killed in Afghanistan in 2018, with another 7,189 wounded. It was the deadliest year on record for civilians in Afghanistan, where decades of conflict have left the battered nation strewn with landmines, unexploded mortars, rockets and homemade bombs. Rabia was sitting on a bench outside her simple house as six other amputee siblings and relatives, ranging in age from six to 15, placed stockings over their stumps and wriggled into their prosthetics. "We hope that the Taliban comes and makes peace with the Afghan government, and security will be better in Afghanistan so that no one gets killed or wounded in this country," said Shafiqullah, 15, who lost both his legs. For the most part, the children are now tutored at home, where walls have been pockmarked by stray bullets from fighting.But sometimes they must walk to school for exams -- a painful journey owing to blisters that develop where artificial limbs rub against the skin. Such stories are common in Afghanistan, which accounted for nearly half of all civilian casualties in a list of six countries at war, the UN said this year. In Kot district in Nangarhar province, 70-year-old grandmother Niaz Bibi lost three sons and three grandsons in two separate attacks by the Islamic State group, which has a growing footprint in the region. Now Bibi is left taking care of their surviving offspring -- about 40 orphans in total. "I always ask neighbours and other people to donate some food and clothes to feed them," Bibi told AFP, deep lines etched into her face attesting to her unbearable loss. "I have got this weapon to guard my grandchildren against any possible attacks," she added, as she clasped an AK-47. Such is the circle of violence, loss and revenge, it is hard to see how Bibi's family can ever break free. "Though I have lost, if the war goes on like this I will send all these orphaned children when they grow up to serve their country and sacrifice their lives for their homeland," Bibi said. After 18 years of conflict, the Taliban are in negotiations with the US for some sort of peace settlement. But a resolution still seems far off, with the two sides struggling to agree on several key points. Despite losing tens of thousands of fighters in the years since the US-led invasion of 2001, the call of jihad against foreign forces remains a powerful draw. Young men join up for any number of reasons, sometimes it's the only way to make a living, sometimes they have no choice. Jalalabad resident Rahim Jan, a television actor, first learned his son, Afzal, had joined the Taliban when the phone rang one day in 2015. The man on the other end of the line said, "Afzal has been martyred, congratulations to you," Jan told AFP. Jan, 60, has no idea why his son had decided to become a suicide bomber. He had got married just three months before leaving. In a short video Afzal sent his father, the 19-year-old son said, "I'm with the Taliban, and I'm happy." When Afzal joined the Taliban, he gave the militants his family's contact details. Fearing for his younger son Wasim's safety, Jan sent him to Turkey. He has since been deported and returned to Afghanistan, but plans on fleeing again. "The Taliban have started calling me again, saying come and follow your brother's way and do jihad," Wasim says. "I will once again try to go abroad at any cost because it is very difficult for me to live here."

Rural Afghans bear brutal cost of endless war

Afghanistan's new police chief Khoshal Sadat has one of the hardest jobs in the country - rooting out abuses and bringing new energy to a force that for years has been used as a cash machine by corrupt politicians.

Khoshal, a 34-year-old police Special Forces officer who has spent his entire adult life fighting the Taliban, was appointed three months ago by President Ashraf Ghani as part of a broader drive against graft.

Poorly paid, undertrained and often illiterate, and subject to unauthorized interference by local strongmen or Kabul-based politicians, Afghanistan's 180,000 police officers have long been regarded as the poor cousins to the army in the country's security structure.

They include the uniformed national police (ANP) and other units, including irregular local police militias (ALP), and are generally used more as paramilitary troops than for law enforcement, suffering heavy casualties and viewed with suspicion by many Afghans, who often see them as predators rather than protectors.

Speaking in a rapid-fire mix of Dari and the American-accented English typical of the elite young Afghan officers who have come of age alongside U.S. advisers, Khoshal admits he faces "a mess" but insists: "I know how to fix it."

"There is corruption in the (interior) ministry - those earning from contracts, food, fuel. But there is also corruption outside - taking money from hotels, shops, highways," he told Reuters in the same week officials uncovered a major scandal inflated invoices for police rations.

"This is the culture I inherited three months ago."

Some, however, are sceptical about whether one man, however energetic, can succeed in a ministry described last year by Ghani as the most corrupt in the country.

With upcoming presidential elections and uncertainty over peace talks with the Taliban already raising the political temperature, the stakes are high if he cannot.

Night operations

A graduate of the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, Britain's officer training college, as well as the US Army Command and Staff College, Khoshal joined the police Special Forces in 2003, gaining an inside view on problems that have dogged the security forces for years.

Restless and impatient, he still joins some night operations and says he hates sitting in an office.

He first came to wider public attention in March, during a stand-off over the appointment of a new police chief in the northern province of Balkh. Accustomed to being able to defy the government of Kabul in his stronghold city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the powerful former local governor Atta Mohammad Noor refused to allow the man sent by Ghani to take office. In response, Khoshal ordered in a Special Forces unit that fought a gunbattle with local militiamen, killing five of them.

Khoshal said he had sacked 30 of 34 provincial police chiefs for incompetence or corruption since taking charge, replacing them with young Special Forces officers in his own mould.

He has also moved to rotate police more often and pull them off isolated posts, where they are regularly picked off by the Taliban. Casualties, he says, have been cut from 50 a day to around 90 a week.

Extortion has also been reduced, he said, by cutting down informal roadside checkpoints where police extorted money from truckers.

Twice a week he talks with provincial commanders through video links, getting updates and listening to complaints ranging from lack of ammunition and supplies to a shortage of manpower.

"My vision is that the force should do community policing, law enforcement, getting rid of corrupt officials and bring in educated, trained and talented police officers," he said.

"No comprehensive strategy"

The problems facing the new police chief remain huge, the product of years of weak oversight, favouritism and incapacity, despite repeated attempts to fix them and billions of dollars of foreign aid.

A recent report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a US Congressional watchdog, noted that: "there is no comprehensive strategy for a competent civil police force backed by the rule of law." It added that the lack of such a force created "a risk to the long-term stability of the Afghan government".

Apart from corruption, sheer inefficiency and waste has hindered development and allowed rampant abuses that range from selling weapons and equipment on the black market to the notorious payroll lists of non-existent "ghost" police maintained by commanders who pocket the salaries themselves.

"There was zero accountability in the ministry," Khoshal said referring on the interior ministry that overseas the police. "No-one asked about the condition of vehicles, weapons and personnel."

He still regularly fields calls from powerful local politicians and well-connected members of parliament, trying to get favourites appointed to key jobs to protect their interests.

"In one province, the police chief was appointed by one side, his deputy and head of intelligence by other sides. So there was no obedience," he said.

On one recent call, a new police chief in the southern province of Zabul complained that local militiamen were collecting illegal taxes on the highway and 800 police, whose salaries had been paid for years, simply did not exist.

"This is what I am dealing with," said Khoshal, shaking his head.

Afghanistan's new police chief Khoshal Sadat has one of the hardest jobs in the country - rooting out abuses and bringing new energy to a force that for years has been used as a cash machine by corrupt politicians.

Afghanistan's new police chief Khoshal Sadat has one of the hardest jobs in the country - rooting out abuses and bringing new energy to a force that for years has been used as a cash machine by corrupt politicians. Khoshal, a 34-year-old police Special Forces officer who has spent his entire adult life fighting the Taliban, was appointed three months ago by President Ashraf Ghani as part of a broader drive against graft. Poorly paid, undertrained and often illiterate, and subject to unauthorized interference by local strongmen or Kabul-based politicians, Afghanistan's 180,000 police officers have long been regarded as the poor cousins to the army in the country's security structure. They include the uniformed national police (ANP) and other units, including irregular local police militias (ALP), and are generally used more as paramilitary troops than for law enforcement, suffering heavy casualties and viewed with suspicion by many Afghans, who often see them as predators rather than protectors. Speaking in a rapid-fire mix of Dari and the American-accented English typical of the elite young Afghan officers who have come of age alongside U.S. advisers, Khoshal admits he faces "a mess" but insists: "I know how to fix it." "There is corruption in the (interior) ministry - those earning from contracts, food, fuel. But there is also corruption outside - taking money from hotels, shops, highways," he told Reuters in the same week officials uncovered a major scandal inflated invoices for police rations. "This is the culture I inherited three months ago." Some, however, are sceptical about whether one man, however energetic, can succeed in a ministry described last year by Ghani as the most corrupt in the country. With upcoming presidential elections and uncertainty over peace talks with the Taliban already raising the political temperature, the stakes are high if he cannot. Night operations A graduate of the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, Britain's officer training college, as well as the US Army Command and Staff College, Khoshal joined the police Special Forces in 2003, gaining an inside view on problems that have dogged the security forces for years. Restless and impatient, he still joins some night operations and says he hates sitting in an office. He first came to wider public attention in March, during a stand-off over the appointment of a new police chief in the northern province of Balkh. Accustomed to being able to defy the government of Kabul in his stronghold city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the powerful former local governor Atta Mohammad Noor refused to allow the man sent by Ghani to take office. In response, Khoshal ordered in a Special Forces unit that fought a gunbattle with local militiamen, killing five of them. Khoshal said he had sacked 30 of 34 provincial police chiefs for incompetence or corruption since taking charge, replacing them with young Special Forces officers in his own mould. He has also moved to rotate police more often and pull them off isolated posts, where they are regularly picked off by the Taliban. Casualties, he says, have been cut from 50 a day to around 90 a week. Extortion has also been reduced, he said, by cutting down informal roadside checkpoints where police extorted money from truckers. Twice a week he talks with provincial commanders through video links, getting updates and listening to complaints ranging from lack of ammunition and supplies to a shortage of manpower. "My vision is that the force should do community policing, law enforcement, getting rid of corrupt officials and bring in educated, trained and talented police officers," he said. "No comprehensive strategy" The problems facing the new police chief remain huge, the product of years of weak oversight, favouritism and incapacity, despite repeated attempts to fix them and billions of dollars of foreign aid. A recent report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a US Congressional watchdog, noted that: "there is no comprehensive strategy for a competent civil police force backed by the rule of law." It added that the lack of such a force created "a risk to the long-term stability of the Afghan government". Apart from corruption, sheer inefficiency and waste has hindered development and allowed rampant abuses that range from selling weapons and equipment on the black market to the notorious payroll lists of non-existent "ghost" police maintained by commanders who pocket the salaries themselves. "There was zero accountability in the ministry," Khoshal said referring on the interior ministry that overseas the police. "No-one asked about the condition of vehicles, weapons and personnel." He still regularly fields calls from powerful local politicians and well-connected members of parliament, trying to get favourites appointed to key jobs to protect their interests. "In one province, the police chief was appointed by one side, his deputy and head of intelligence by other sides. So there was no obedience," he said. On one recent call, a new police chief in the southern province of Zabul complained that local militiamen were collecting illegal taxes on the highway and 800 police, whose salaries had been paid for years, simply did not exist. "This is what I am dealing with," said Khoshal, shaking his head.

New commander takes on corruption 'mess' in Afghan police

Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States` Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, arrived in Islamabad&nbsp;on Sunday to facilitate a peace process that ends the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-taliban-leader-pledges-to-keep-fighting-until-goals-met-223710">19 years of war in Afghanistan</a>.

Samaa News agency reported that the US envoy will also attend a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/will-continue-to-play-mediatory-role-for-peace-in-afghanistan-and-region-pakistan-tells-us-223706">Pakistan-US advisory meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs</a> on Sunday in the presence of Pakistan government officials and military leaders.

Prior to his arrival, Khalilzad also held meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) summit in Makkah, last week.

In a tweet, he said the meeting will "improve relations between the two countries and help to implement and capitalise opportunities for regional connectivity, integration, and development."

Khalilzad has long been trying to reach a peace deal with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan that has entered its 19th year.&nbsp;

The envoy also held a series of meetings with the Pakistani leadership as a part of Washington`s renewed push to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table.

The latest push for peace comes after President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Prime Minister Khan, seeking Pakistan`s help for the negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict, Express Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, in response to the Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada`s annual message on Eid, Khalilzad also said that the statement provides "a desire to participate in dialogue with other Afghans and in a final political settlement that will require power sharing. "All good things," he added.

On Saturday, the Taliban leader stressed on his previous stance about an end to the presence of the US military in Afghanistan and said the group is open for talks but they expect "honesty" from the United States.

The leader said that "the Islamic emirate is not seeking to monopolize power but it wants all Afghans to have their real role in `government."

Khalilzad continued to say in a tweet that the Taliban leader`s statement suggests the US seeks violence.&nbsp;

"We do not. The level of violence in Afghanistan is unacceptable and we have no desire to perpetuate it," he said.

"Let us find ways to work together to reduce or to immediately end the violence, as we continue negotiations to end the war. The killing of the Afghans must stop," the envoy added.

According to a press statement from the US Department of State, Khalilzad will travel to Afghanistan, Belgium, Germany, Pakistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates from May 31 to June 16, 2019.

The statement read, "He will work to build international support for the Afghan peace process and endeavour to ensure that any peace settlement reached will be sustainable."&nbsp;

Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States` Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, arrived in Islamabad on Sunday to facilitate a peace process that ends the 19 years of war in Afghanistan.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States` Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, arrived in Islamabad on Sunday to facilitate a peace process that ends the 19 years of war in Afghanistan. Samaa News agency reported that the US envoy will also attend a Pakistan-US advisory meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday in the presence of Pakistan government officials and military leaders. Prior to his arrival, Khalilzad also held meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) summit in Makkah, last week. In a tweet, he said the meeting will "improve relations between the two countries and help to implement and capitalise opportunities for regional connectivity, integration, and development." Khalilzad has long been trying to reach a peace deal with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan that has entered its 19th year. The envoy also held a series of meetings with the Pakistani leadership as a part of Washington`s renewed push to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table. The latest push for peace comes after President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Prime Minister Khan, seeking Pakistan`s help for the negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict, Express Tribune reported. Meanwhile, in response to the Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada`s annual message on Eid, Khalilzad also said that the statement provides "a desire to participate in dialogue with other Afghans and in a final political settlement that will require power sharing. "All good things," he added. On Saturday, the Taliban leader stressed on his previous stance about an end to the presence of the US military in Afghanistan and said the group is open for talks but they expect "honesty" from the United States. The leader said that "the Islamic emirate is not seeking to monopolize power but it wants all Afghans to have their real role in `government." Khalilzad continued to say in a tweet that the Taliban leader`s statement suggests the US seeks violence. "We do not. The level of violence in Afghanistan is unacceptable and we have no desire to perpetuate it," he said. "Let us find ways to work together to reduce or to immediately end the violence, as we continue negotiations to end the war. The killing of the Afghans must stop," the envoy added. According to a press statement from the US Department of State, Khalilzad will travel to Afghanistan, Belgium, Germany, Pakistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates from May 31 to June 16, 2019. The statement read, "He will work to build international support for the Afghan peace process and endeavour to ensure that any peace settlement reached will be sustainable."

US Representative arrives in Pakistan to discuss Afghan peace process

The head of the Afghan Taliban pledged on Saturday to continue fighting until the movement's objectives were reached and indicated it was still not ready to open talks with the Western-backed government in Kabul.

In his annual message ahead of next week's Eid al-Fitr holiday, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada sought to reassure Afghans that the Taliban wanted an end to decades of conflict and a government that represented all Afghans.

But he offered little sign of agreeing to a ceasefire or of opening direct negotiations with the Kabul government, which the Taliban regard as an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime.

He also gave no sign the Taliban would repeat last year's truce over the three-day Eid holiday that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which led to unprecedented scenes of Taliban fighters and government soldiers mingling and even embracing in the streets of Kabul.

"No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts of Jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives," he said in the message, adding that the Taliban aimed for "an end to the occupation and establishment of an Islamic system".

Taliban representatives have been talking with US&nbsp;diplomats for months about withdrawing more than 20,000 US&nbsp;and NATO coalition troops in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant attacks.

They have also met senior Afghan politicians and civil society representatives, most recently in Moscow this week, as part of a so-called intra-Afghan dialogue to discuss the country's future.

But they have shown no sign of agreeing to demands for a ceasefire and formal negotiations with President Ashraf Ghani's government, which Mullah Haibatullah accused of trying to sabotage dialogue between the Islamic Emirate and Afghan political figures.

"The Islamic Emirate shall pay no heed to such futile efforts and diplomatic obstructions being created for the intra-Afghan dialogue," he said.

Afghan officials have been deeply suspicious of the talks, which they see as a means of reinforcing the Taliban and powerful regional politicians while sidelining the legitimate government.

The Eid message offered assurances that the Taliban did not seek a monopoly over power and would respect all the rights of male and female Afghans and develop education, commerce, employment and welfare.

But it did not tackle one of the key concerns in Kabul - whether the Taliban would accept the current constitutional framework of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or insist on an Islamic Emirate, the name given to their own system.

"The Islamic Emirate seeks the establishment of a sovereign, Islamic and inclusive government acceptable to all Afghans in our beloved homeland," the message said.

The head of the Afghan Taliban pledged on Saturday to continue fighting until the movement's objectives were reached and indicated it was still not ready to open talks with the Western-backed government in Kabul.

The head of the Afghan Taliban pledged on Saturday to continue fighting until the movement's objectives were reached and indicated it was still not ready to open talks with the Western-backed government in Kabul. In his annual message ahead of next week's Eid al-Fitr holiday, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada sought to reassure Afghans that the Taliban wanted an end to decades of conflict and a government that represented all Afghans. But he offered little sign of agreeing to a ceasefire or of opening direct negotiations with the Kabul government, which the Taliban regard as an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime. He also gave no sign the Taliban would repeat last year's truce over the three-day Eid holiday that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which led to unprecedented scenes of Taliban fighters and government soldiers mingling and even embracing in the streets of Kabul. "No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts of Jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives," he said in the message, adding that the Taliban aimed for "an end to the occupation and establishment of an Islamic system". Taliban representatives have been talking with US diplomats for months about withdrawing more than 20,000 US and NATO coalition troops in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant attacks. They have also met senior Afghan politicians and civil society representatives, most recently in Moscow this week, as part of a so-called intra-Afghan dialogue to discuss the country's future. But they have shown no sign of agreeing to demands for a ceasefire and formal negotiations with President Ashraf Ghani's government, which Mullah Haibatullah accused of trying to sabotage dialogue between the Islamic Emirate and Afghan political figures. "The Islamic Emirate shall pay no heed to such futile efforts and diplomatic obstructions being created for the intra-Afghan dialogue," he said. Afghan officials have been deeply suspicious of the talks, which they see as a means of reinforcing the Taliban and powerful regional politicians while sidelining the legitimate government. The Eid message offered assurances that the Taliban did not seek a monopoly over power and would respect all the rights of male and female Afghans and develop education, commerce, employment and welfare. But it did not tackle one of the key concerns in Kabul - whether the Taliban would accept the current constitutional framework of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or insist on an Islamic Emirate, the name given to their own system. "The Islamic Emirate seeks the establishment of a sovereign, Islamic and inclusive government acceptable to all Afghans in our beloved homeland," the message said.

Afghan Taliban leader pledges to keep fighting until goals met

Pakistan on Sunday told the US that it will continue to play the role of a mediator for the establishment of peace in war-torn Afghanistan and in the region.

Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aftab Khokhar, during his meeting with the visiting US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, also said,"Islamabad encourages all sides to seize the moment to end the prolonged conflict through political settlement".

Khalilzad, who is leading US President Donald Trump's push to broker a peace deal with Taliban, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday.

He is on a 17-day long peace mission during which he will visit Afghanistan, Belgium, Germany, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in efforts to end the long-running Afghan war.

The US envoy will resume peace talks with Taliban in Doha, where the terror group has a political office. He has met with Taliban six times to broker a deal under which the US will pull out troops who were first deployed following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Ahead of Khalilzad's two-weeks tour, the US State Department had said that he will resume talks with the group after a break of around a month to move the peace process forward.

Khalilzad, during his meeting with Khokhar, appreciated the pivotal role played by Pakistan for establishment of enduring peace in the region.

"In line with Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision, Pakistan reiterated its commitment for peace. It encouraged all sides to seize the moment to end the prolonged conflict through political settlement," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said.

Khokhar said, "Pakistan will continue playing its mediatory role in establishment of peace in the region, including Afghan peace process."

Khalilzad was lead a US delegation which include representatives from the Defense and the State departments, while Khokhar led the Pakistani side.&nbsp; 
The two sides also discussed bilateral issues.

Pakistan on Sunday told the US that it will continue to play the role of a mediator for the establishment of peace in war-torn Afghanistan and in the region. Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aftab Khokhar, during his meeting with the visiting US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, also said,"Islamabad encourages all sides to seize the moment to end the prolonged conflict through political settlement".

Pakistan on Sunday told the US that it will continue to play the role of a mediator for the establishment of peace in war-torn Afghanistan and in the region. Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aftab Khokhar, during his meeting with the visiting US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, also said,"Islamabad encourages all sides to seize the moment to end the prolonged conflict through political settlement". Khalilzad, who is leading US President Donald Trump's push to broker a peace deal with Taliban, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday. He is on a 17-day long peace mission during which he will visit Afghanistan, Belgium, Germany, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in efforts to end the long-running Afghan war. The US envoy will resume peace talks with Taliban in Doha, where the terror group has a political office. He has met with Taliban six times to broker a deal under which the US will pull out troops who were first deployed following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Ahead of Khalilzad's two-weeks tour, the US State Department had said that he will resume talks with the group after a break of around a month to move the peace process forward. Khalilzad, during his meeting with Khokhar, appreciated the pivotal role played by Pakistan for establishment of enduring peace in the region. "In line with Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision, Pakistan reiterated its commitment for peace. It encouraged all sides to seize the moment to end the prolonged conflict through political settlement," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said. Khokhar said, "Pakistan will continue playing its mediatory role in establishment of peace in the region, including Afghan peace process." Khalilzad was lead a US delegation which include representatives from the Defense and the State departments, while Khokhar led the Pakistani side. The two sides also discussed bilateral issues.

Will continue to play mediatory role for peace in Afghanistan and region: Pakistan tells US

One person was killed and 17 others wounded Sunday in three successive blasts in Kabul, Afghan officials said, capping a murderous week of mayhem across the city.

Among the wounded was an Afghan journalist who appeared to have been live-streaming the aftermath of the first explosion when a second bomb went off.

The events started with the detonation of a sticky bomb -- a growing menace in Kabul, where insurgents and criminals slap magnetic bombs on the underside of vehicles.

The charge had been placed under a bus carrying officials headed to the Kabul Education University, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.

In the immediate aftermath, two more bombs that had been planted by the side of the road went off, he added.

"In total, one Afghan civilian was martyred and 17 others, including a local journalist and five Afghan forces, have been slightly wounded," Rahimi said. Health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar confirmed the toll.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group have carried out recent blasts.

According to a video circulating on social media, the journalist was hit in the leg by the second bomb.

Last year, nine journalists including AFP Kabul's chief photographer Shah Marai were killed in a secondary explosion after rushing to the scene of an initial blast. Even though the Taliban and the

US are set to begin a new round of peace talks in Doha this month, violence across Afghanistan continues unabated, with civilians often bearing the brunt of the bloodshed.

On Friday, a Taliban car bomber killed at least four Afghan civilians and lightly wounded four US troops in an attack on a US convoy in Kabul.

A day earlier, at least six people were killed and 16 more wounded in an IS-claimed suicide blast outside a military academy in the capital.

And eight Afghan police were killed Saturday and seven others wounded in a suicide attack in the eastern Ghazni city, provincial police spokesman Ahmad Khan Seera told AFP.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had proposed a nationwide ceasefire at the start of Ramadan early last month, but the Taliban rejected the offer.

Last year, the Taliban observed a three-day ceasefire over Eid and many Afghans -- exhausted by decades of war and violence -- had pinned their hopes on another truce this year.

Taliban head Haibatullah Akhundzada said Saturday there would be no "cold water" poured on the insurgents' military efforts.

One person was killed and 17 others wounded Sunday in three successive blasts in Kabul, Afghan officials said, capping a murderous week of mayhem across the city.

One person was killed and 17 others wounded Sunday in three successive blasts in Kabul, Afghan officials said, capping a murderous week of mayhem across the city. Among the wounded was an Afghan journalist who appeared to have been live-streaming the aftermath of the first explosion when a second bomb went off. The events started with the detonation of a sticky bomb -- a growing menace in Kabul, where insurgents and criminals slap magnetic bombs on the underside of vehicles. The charge had been placed under a bus carrying officials headed to the Kabul Education University, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. In the immediate aftermath, two more bombs that had been planted by the side of the road went off, he added. "In total, one Afghan civilian was martyred and 17 others, including a local journalist and five Afghan forces, have been slightly wounded," Rahimi said. Health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar confirmed the toll. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group have carried out recent blasts. According to a video circulating on social media, the journalist was hit in the leg by the second bomb. Last year, nine journalists including AFP Kabul's chief photographer Shah Marai were killed in a secondary explosion after rushing to the scene of an initial blast. Even though the Taliban and the US are set to begin a new round of peace talks in Doha this month, violence across Afghanistan continues unabated, with civilians often bearing the brunt of the bloodshed. On Friday, a Taliban car bomber killed at least four Afghan civilians and lightly wounded four US troops in an attack on a US convoy in Kabul. A day earlier, at least six people were killed and 16 more wounded in an IS-claimed suicide blast outside a military academy in the capital. And eight Afghan police were killed Saturday and seven others wounded in a suicide attack in the eastern Ghazni city, provincial police spokesman Ahmad Khan Seera told AFP. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had proposed a nationwide ceasefire at the start of Ramadan early last month, but the Taliban rejected the offer. Last year, the Taliban observed a three-day ceasefire over Eid and many Afghans -- exhausted by decades of war and violence -- had pinned their hopes on another truce this year. Taliban head Haibatullah Akhundzada said Saturday there would be no "cold water" poured on the insurgents' military efforts.

Afghanistan: Three blasts hit Kabul, killing one and injuring 17

The US envoy <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-leader-indicates-no-ceasefire-anytime-soon-223361">negotiating with the Taliban</a> will hold new talks this month with the insurgents in Qatar, the State Department said Saturday, as momentum builds for a deal to end America's longest war.

Zalmay Khalilzad, a veteran US policymaker who is leading President Donald Trump's push to broker a peace deal with the Taliban, left Friday on a 17-day trip that will also take him to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Germany, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department said.

In Doha, he will resume talks with the Taliban after a break of around a month "to move the peace process forward," the State Department said in a statement.

Khalilzad has already met six times with the Taliban in recent months as he looks to seal a deal under which the United States will pull out troops who were first deployed following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The United States and the Taliban are believed to have largely agreed on the key demand of Washington from 2001 and again now -- that the Taliban not allow Afghanistan to be used by violent extremists.

But a major sticking point remains the refusal of the Taliban to negotiate with President Ashraf Ghani's government, which enjoys international support.

The Taliban, believing they have leverage on the military front, have also rejected Ghani's overtures for a nationwide ceasefire.

"No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts of jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives," Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada said in a rare message released Saturday.

In Kabul, Khalilzad will meet representatives of civil society and women's rights groups, which have been especially concerned about a larger role for the Taliban.

Khalilzad will "encourage all parties to work towards intra-Afghan negotiations that lead to a final peace settlement," the State Department said.

Germany, another of Khalilzad's stops, has voiced willingness to hold a meeting on peace in Afghanistan.

He will start his trip in Pakistan, the chief backer of the Taliban before September 11, which has used its contacts to facilitate the talks with the Taliban.

The US envoy negotiating with the Taliban will hold new talks this month with the insurgents in Qatar, the State Department said Saturday, as momentum builds for a deal to end America's longest war.

The US envoy negotiating with the Taliban will hold new talks this month with the insurgents in Qatar, the State Department said Saturday, as momentum builds for a deal to end America's longest war. Zalmay Khalilzad, a veteran US policymaker who is leading President Donald Trump's push to broker a peace deal with the Taliban, left Friday on a 17-day trip that will also take him to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Germany, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department said. In Doha, he will resume talks with the Taliban after a break of around a month "to move the peace process forward," the State Department said in a statement. Khalilzad has already met six times with the Taliban in recent months as he looks to seal a deal under which the United States will pull out troops who were first deployed following the September 11, 2001 attacks. The United States and the Taliban are believed to have largely agreed on the key demand of Washington from 2001 and again now -- that the Taliban not allow Afghanistan to be used by violent extremists. But a major sticking point remains the refusal of the Taliban to negotiate with President Ashraf Ghani's government, which enjoys international support. The Taliban, believing they have leverage on the military front, have also rejected Ghani's overtures for a nationwide ceasefire. "No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts of jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives," Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada said in a rare message released Saturday. In Kabul, Khalilzad will meet representatives of civil society and women's rights groups, which have been especially concerned about a larger role for the Taliban. Khalilzad will "encourage all parties to work towards intra-Afghan negotiations that lead to a final peace settlement," the State Department said. Germany, another of Khalilzad's stops, has voiced willingness to hold a meeting on peace in Afghanistan. He will start his trip in Pakistan, the chief backer of the Taliban before September 11, which has used its contacts to facilitate the talks with the Taliban.

US heads to new talks with Taliban

The Taliban are unlikely to call a ceasefire any time soon, the group's leader indicated Saturday, though he said the "doors of dialogue" with the US remain open.

The rare message from Haibatullah Akhundzada comes after the sixth round of US-led talks ended last month in Qatar with little sign of progress and amid continued bloodshed across Afghanistan.

"The doors of dialogue and negotiations have been kept open and at this very moment, the (Taliban) negotiation team... Is engaged in negotiations with the American side," Akhundzada said in a message ahead of the upcoming festival of Eid, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had proposed a nationwide ceasefire at the start of Ramadan early last month, but the Taliban rejected the offer.

Last year, the Taliban observed a three-day ceasefire over Eid and many Afghans -- exhausted by decades of war and violence -- had pinned their hopes on another truce this year.

But Akhundzada said: "No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts of jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives." 
In a sign of Afghans' frustration with their country's seemingly unending conflict, a group of protestors have restarted a peace march that last year saw them walking across Afghanistan and into the capital Kabul.

Bismillah Watandost, a spokesman for the People's Peace Movement, told AFP on Saturday that about 30 people had started the walk late Thursday, heading from Lashkar Gah to Musa Qala in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

"We will be marching 150 kilometres (93 miles). Some of our friends have blisters on their feet from wearing old shoes," Watandost said.

"This is our first peace march during the holy month of Ramadan, all of us are fasting." He said the group aims to express to the Taliban the pain and suffering of Afghans.

"Even if we are intimidated with death threats, we won't care about it," Watandost said.

On Friday, former president Hamid Karzai mistakenly declared the Taliban had announced a new ceasefire after hearing an old message the insurgents had put out last year.

Karzai's announcement unleashed a brief spell of confusion across the country, with media outlets firing off tweets and breaking news reports announcing the alleged truce.

The Taliban are unlikely to call a ceasefire any time soon, the group's leader indicated Saturday, though he said the "doors of dialogue" with the US remain open.

The Taliban are unlikely to call a ceasefire any time soon, the group's leader indicated Saturday, though he said the "doors of dialogue" with the US remain open. The rare message from Haibatullah Akhundzada comes after the sixth round of US-led talks ended last month in Qatar with little sign of progress and amid continued bloodshed across Afghanistan. "The doors of dialogue and negotiations have been kept open and at this very moment, the (Taliban) negotiation team... Is engaged in negotiations with the American side," Akhundzada said in a message ahead of the upcoming festival of Eid, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had proposed a nationwide ceasefire at the start of Ramadan early last month, but the Taliban rejected the offer. Last year, the Taliban observed a three-day ceasefire over Eid and many Afghans -- exhausted by decades of war and violence -- had pinned their hopes on another truce this year. But Akhundzada said: "No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts of jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives." In a sign of Afghans' frustration with their country's seemingly unending conflict, a group of protestors have restarted a peace march that last year saw them walking across Afghanistan and into the capital Kabul. Bismillah Watandost, a spokesman for the People's Peace Movement, told AFP on Saturday that about 30 people had started the walk late Thursday, heading from Lashkar Gah to Musa Qala in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold. "We will be marching 150 kilometres (93 miles). Some of our friends have blisters on their feet from wearing old shoes," Watandost said. "This is our first peace march during the holy month of Ramadan, all of us are fasting." He said the group aims to express to the Taliban the pain and suffering of Afghans. "Even if we are intimidated with death threats, we won't care about it," Watandost said. On Friday, former president Hamid Karzai mistakenly declared the Taliban had announced a new ceasefire after hearing an old message the insurgents had put out last year. Karzai's announcement unleashed a brief spell of confusion across the country, with media outlets firing off tweets and breaking news reports announcing the alleged truce.

Taliban leader indicates no ceasefire anytime soon

&nbsp;A Taliban official said on Thursday that decent progress had been made at talks with a group of senior Afghan politicians in Moscow but that there had been no breakthrough and that further talks would be needed, Russian news agencies reported.

The delegation, led by chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund, met politicians, including senior regional leaders and candidates challenging President Ashraf Ghani in this year`s presidential election amid gathering diplomatic efforts to end the 18-year war.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-afghan-officials-to-meet-in-moscow-for-peace-talks-222143">delegation that met a group of senior Afghan politicians&nbsp;</a>in Moscow on Tuesday, insisted&nbsp;that international forces must leave Afghanistan for peace to be agreed.

The&nbsp;Taliban, ousted by US-backed forces weeks after September&nbsp;11, 2001, attacks on the United States, refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate.

Mohammad Karim Khalili, head of the High Peace Council, the main body charged with pursuing peace efforts, said dozens of people were being killed in fighting every day and it was time for a "dignified and just mechanism" to end the bloodshed.

Taliban&nbsp;officials have been talking to US&nbsp;diplomats for months about the terms of withdrawal of more than 23,000 US and NATO coalition troops from Afghanistan and have reached a draft agreement on some issues but no new date for the next round of talks has been set and many obstacles remain.

A Taliban official said on Thursday that decent progress had been made at talks with a group of senior Afghan politicians in Moscow but that there had been no breakthrough and that further talks would be needed, Russian news agencies reported.

A Taliban official said on Thursday that decent progress had been made at talks with a group of senior Afghan politicians in Moscow but that there had been no breakthrough and that further talks would be needed, Russian news agencies reported. The delegation, led by chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund, met politicians, including senior regional leaders and candidates challenging President Ashraf Ghani in this year`s presidential election amid gathering diplomatic efforts to end the 18-year war. The delegation that met a group of senior Afghan politicians in Moscow on Tuesday, insisted that international forces must leave Afghanistan for peace to be agreed. The Taliban, ousted by US-backed forces weeks after September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate. Mohammad Karim Khalili, head of the High Peace Council, the main body charged with pursuing peace efforts, said dozens of people were being killed in fighting every day and it was time for a "dignified and just mechanism" to end the bloodshed. Taliban officials have been talking to US diplomats for months about the terms of withdrawal of more than 23,000 US and NATO coalition troops from Afghanistan and have reached a draft agreement on some issues but no new date for the next round of talks has been set and many obstacles remain.

Taliban says progress made at Afghan talks in Moscow but no breakthrough

Taliban fighters have stormed several security posts providing protection to Afghanistan's historic minaret of Jam, cutting access to the UNESCO World Heritage Site and killing 18 security forces, officials said Wednesday.

The attack comes less than a week after the revered 12th-century minaret, located in a remote part of the western province of Ghor, was threatened by surging floodwaters.

"The Taliban have captured some checkpoints around the minaret. We had to retreat because more fighting would cause damage to the minaret," Sayed Zia Hussaini, the deputy police chief of Ghor, said.

Abdul Hai Khatebi, the provincial governor spokesman, said 15 pro-government militias and three policemen had been killed in the attacks, which started Monday.&nbsp;

"The Taliban have shut off telecommunication towers and have cut any access to the area," Fakhruddin Ariapur, the Ghor province director of information and culture, said.

"The cleaning-up work (from the flood) has stopped and we don't know what is happening there."

Dramatic video footage from late last week showed brown torrents crashing up against the base of the brick minaret, which was built in about 1190.

On Monday, the government said it had hired about 300 local workers to channel floodwaters away from the tower. The work appeared to have saved the minaret from imminent danger.

Located in an area largely under Taliban control, the Jam minaret is the world's second tallest made of bricks, reaching a height of 65 metres (213 feet).

It is situated on the frontier of Ghor and Herat provinces, at the heart of the former Ghorid empire which dominated Afghanistan and parts of India in the 12th-13th centuries.

Taliban fighters have stormed several security posts providing protection to Afghanistan's historic minaret of Jam, cutting access to the UNESCO World Heritage Site and killing 18 security forces, officials said Wednesday.

Taliban fighters have stormed several security posts providing protection to Afghanistan's historic minaret of Jam, cutting access to the UNESCO World Heritage Site and killing 18 security forces, officials said Wednesday. The attack comes less than a week after the revered 12th-century minaret, located in a remote part of the western province of Ghor, was threatened by surging floodwaters. "The Taliban have captured some checkpoints around the minaret. We had to retreat because more fighting would cause damage to the minaret," Sayed Zia Hussaini, the deputy police chief of Ghor, said. Abdul Hai Khatebi, the provincial governor spokesman, said 15 pro-government militias and three policemen had been killed in the attacks, which started Monday. "The Taliban have shut off telecommunication towers and have cut any access to the area," Fakhruddin Ariapur, the Ghor province director of information and culture, said. "The cleaning-up work (from the flood) has stopped and we don't know what is happening there." Dramatic video footage from late last week showed brown torrents crashing up against the base of the brick minaret, which was built in about 1190. On Monday, the government said it had hired about 300 local workers to channel floodwaters away from the tower. The work appeared to have saved the minaret from imminent danger. Located in an area largely under Taliban control, the Jam minaret is the world's second tallest made of bricks, reaching a height of 65 metres (213 feet). It is situated on the frontier of Ghor and Herat provinces, at the heart of the former Ghorid empire which dominated Afghanistan and parts of India in the 12th-13th centuries.

Taliban strike near historic Afghan minaret, 18 security forces killed

Attacks on schools in Afghanistan increased almost threefold last year, making it increasingly difficult to ensure an education for children in many parts of the country, the United Nations children`s fund UNICEF said on Tuesday.

The agency, which promotes education and children's rights, said the number of attacks against Afghan schools jumped from 68 in 2017 to 192 last year. It was the first time since 2015 that a rise in attacks had been recorded.

"Education is under fire in Afghanistan," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. "The senseless attacks on schools; the killing, injury and abduction of teachers; and the threats against education are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children."

More than 1,000 schools across the country remain closed because of security threats from groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State, which have sought soft targets for attacks aimed at extending and consolidating their influence through intimidation.

Although the<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-taliban-claims-responsibility-for-quetta-blast-218492"> Taliban</a> have shifted from their previous opposition to all forms of girls` education, they have faced regular accusations of shutting down schools run in a way they do not approve.

UNICEF said the use of school buildings as voter centres during last year's parliamentary election may have been a factor behind the rise in attacks.

Afghanistan has a young and fast-growing population but about 3.7 million children, or nearly half of all school-age children, are not in formal education, UNICEF said.

Attacks on schools in Afghanistan increased almost threefold last year, making it increasingly difficult to ensure an education for children in many parts of the country, the United Nations children`s fund UNICEF said on Tuesday.

Attacks on schools in Afghanistan increased almost threefold last year, making it increasingly difficult to ensure an education for children in many parts of the country, the United Nations children`s fund UNICEF said on Tuesday. The agency, which promotes education and children's rights, said the number of attacks against Afghan schools jumped from 68 in 2017 to 192 last year. It was the first time since 2015 that a rise in attacks had been recorded. "Education is under fire in Afghanistan," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. "The senseless attacks on schools; the killing, injury and abduction of teachers; and the threats against education are destroying the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of children." More than 1,000 schools across the country remain closed because of security threats from groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State, which have sought soft targets for attacks aimed at extending and consolidating their influence through intimidation. Although the Taliban have shifted from their previous opposition to all forms of girls` education, they have faced regular accusations of shutting down schools run in a way they do not approve. UNICEF said the use of school buildings as voter centres during last year's parliamentary election may have been a factor behind the rise in attacks. Afghanistan has a young and fast-growing population but about 3.7 million children, or nearly half of all school-age children, are not in formal education, UNICEF said.

Education under fire' as attacks on Afghan schools jump: UNICEF

A delegation of Taliban officials is set to attend a two-day meeting with <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/russia-invites-taliban-and-afghan-politicians-to-moscow-meeting-222049/amp">Afghan politicians</a> in Moscow this week, officials confirmed on Monday, as fighting continues to rage in Afghanistan amid troubled peace talks between the United States and the militants.

In a statement, the Taliban said that the group is to attend a conference marking 100 years of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia on May 28, followed by discussions with Afghan politicians about the future of the country on May 29.

The 14-member Taliban delegation is led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in what will be his first international trip since being freed from a Pakistani prison last October.

Meanwhile, among the Afghan politicians, former President Hamid Karzai and chairman of the High Peace Council (HPC) Mohammad Karim Khalili are expected to participate in Tuesday's meeting that focuses on ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the Afghan president's office told Al Jazeera that the Afghan ambassador in Moscow would also attend Tuesday`s ceremony but it was unclear whether he would meet the Taliban delegation.

The Taliban, which has been in peace negotiations with Washington since last year, has repeatedly refused to meet President Ashraf Ghani`s government, calling it a "puppet" of the West.

An "intra-Afghan dialogue" that was to be held in Doha in April was cancelled after the Taliban objected to a new delegation of Afghan officials selected to attend the talks.

After six rounds of talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha ended earlier this month, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that "faster progress" was needed as "the conflict rages" and "innocent people die".

The Taliban and the Afghan government have said that they have agreed a "draft framework" on an agreement for the US troop withdrawal and a guarantee that the Taliban would not harbour "terrorist" groups or allow them to use Afghanistan as a staging ground for global attacks.

A delegation of Taliban officials is set to attend a two-day meeting with Afghan politicians in Moscow this week, officials confirmed on Monday, as fighting continues to rage in Afghanistan amid troubled peace talks between the United States and the militants.

A delegation of Taliban officials is set to attend a two-day meeting with Afghan politicians in Moscow this week, officials confirmed on Monday, as fighting continues to rage in Afghanistan amid troubled peace talks between the United States and the militants. In a statement, the Taliban said that the group is to attend a conference marking 100 years of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia on May 28, followed by discussions with Afghan politicians about the future of the country on May 29. The 14-member Taliban delegation is led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in what will be his first international trip since being freed from a Pakistani prison last October. Meanwhile, among the Afghan politicians, former President Hamid Karzai and chairman of the High Peace Council (HPC) Mohammad Karim Khalili are expected to participate in Tuesday's meeting that focuses on ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan. A spokesman for the Afghan president's office told Al Jazeera that the Afghan ambassador in Moscow would also attend Tuesday`s ceremony but it was unclear whether he would meet the Taliban delegation. The Taliban, which has been in peace negotiations with Washington since last year, has repeatedly refused to meet President Ashraf Ghani`s government, calling it a "puppet" of the West. An "intra-Afghan dialogue" that was to be held in Doha in April was cancelled after the Taliban objected to a new delegation of Afghan officials selected to attend the talks. After six rounds of talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha ended earlier this month, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that "faster progress" was needed as "the conflict rages" and "innocent people die". The Taliban and the Afghan government have said that they have agreed a "draft framework" on an agreement for the US troop withdrawal and a guarantee that the Taliban would not harbour "terrorist" groups or allow them to use Afghanistan as a staging ground for global attacks.

Taliban, Afghan officials to meet in Moscow for peace talks

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-afghan-officials-to-meet-in-moscow-for-peace-talks-222143">A&nbsp;Taliban&nbsp;delegation met a group of senior Afghan politicians </a>in Moscow on Tuesday, insisting that international forces must leave Afghanistan for peace to be agreed, amid gathering diplomatic efforts to end the 18-year war.

The delegation, led by chief&nbsp;Taliban&nbsp;negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund, met politicians, including senior regional leaders and candidates challenging President Ashraf Ghani in this year's presidential election.

"The Islamic Emirate wants peace but the first step is to remove obstacles to peace and end the occupation of Afghanistan," Baradar said, appearing openly on television in what appeared to be a calculated move to establish his legitimacy as one of the main public faces of the&nbsp;Taliban.

The&nbsp;Taliban, ousted by US-backed forces weeks after September&nbsp;11, 2001, attacks on the United States, refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate.

Mohammad Karim Khalili, head of the High Peace Council, the main body charged with pursuing peace efforts, said dozens of people were being killed in fighting every day and it was time for a "dignified and just mechanism" to end the bloodshed.

Taliban&nbsp;officials have been talking to US&nbsp;diplomats for months about the terms of withdrawal of more than 23,000 US and NATO coalition troops from Afghanistan and have reached a draft agreement on some issues but no new date for the next round of talks has been set and many obstacles remain.

Chief among these is the&nbsp;Taliban&nbsp;refusal to deal directly with President Ashraf Ghani's Western-backed government in Kabul, which they dismiss as a "puppet" regime.

Meetings between the&nbsp;Taliban&nbsp;delegation and political figures not formally associated with the government have been seen as a way of preparing the way for full negotiations later. But those contacts are regarded with deep suspicion by many Afghan officials who see them as undermining the legitimacy of the government while reinforcing the position of the&nbsp;Taliban.

The group of politicians attending the ceremony to mark the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia included many of Ghani's most powerful political adversaries.

Atta Mohammad Noor, the former governor of the northern province of Balkh and a leader of the mainly ethnic Tajik Jamiat-e Islami party, said it was in the interests of all sides to establish a good understanding.

"We want to have good relations with the&nbsp;Taliban&nbsp;and we expect peace from them," he said.

However, the presidential election in September is expected to put Afghanistan's political system under heavy strain following bitterly disputed parliamentary elections last year that drew widespread accusations of cheating.

A Taliban delegation met a group of senior Afghan politicians in Moscow on Tuesday, insisting that international forces must leave Afghanistan for peace to be agreed, amid gathering diplomatic efforts to end the 18-year war.

A Taliban delegation met a group of senior Afghan politicians in Moscow on Tuesday, insisting that international forces must leave Afghanistan for peace to be agreed, amid gathering diplomatic efforts to end the 18-year war. The delegation, led by chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund, met politicians, including senior regional leaders and candidates challenging President Ashraf Ghani in this year's presidential election. "The Islamic Emirate wants peace but the first step is to remove obstacles to peace and end the occupation of Afghanistan," Baradar said, appearing openly on television in what appeared to be a calculated move to establish his legitimacy as one of the main public faces of the Taliban. The Taliban, ousted by US-backed forces weeks after September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate. Mohammad Karim Khalili, head of the High Peace Council, the main body charged with pursuing peace efforts, said dozens of people were being killed in fighting every day and it was time for a "dignified and just mechanism" to end the bloodshed. Taliban officials have been talking to US diplomats for months about the terms of withdrawal of more than 23,000 US and NATO coalition troops from Afghanistan and have reached a draft agreement on some issues but no new date for the next round of talks has been set and many obstacles remain. Chief among these is the Taliban refusal to deal directly with President Ashraf Ghani's Western-backed government in Kabul, which they dismiss as a "puppet" regime. Meetings between the Taliban delegation and political figures not formally associated with the government have been seen as a way of preparing the way for full negotiations later. But those contacts are regarded with deep suspicion by many Afghan officials who see them as undermining the legitimacy of the government while reinforcing the position of the Taliban. The group of politicians attending the ceremony to mark the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia included many of Ghani's most powerful political adversaries. Atta Mohammad Noor, the former governor of the northern province of Balkh and a leader of the mainly ethnic Tajik Jamiat-e Islami party, said it was in the interests of all sides to establish a good understanding. "We want to have good relations with the Taliban and we expect peace from them," he said. However, the presidential election in September is expected to put Afghanistan's political system under heavy strain following bitterly disputed parliamentary elections last year that drew widespread accusations of cheating.

Taliban say 'occupation' must end for Afghan peace as delegates meet in Moscow

Afghan politicians are set to attend a two-day meeting with the Taliban in Moscow this week, officials confirmed Monday, as fighting continues to rage in Afghanistan amid ongoing peace talks between the US and the militants.

The meeting -- set to run from the 27th and 28th of May -- will mark the 100th anniversary of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-rivals-say-no-closer-to-direct-talks-after-moscow-meeting-176527">diplomatic relations</a> between Russia and Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told the insurgents were planning to send a delegation to attend the ceremony but provided no further details.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's high peace council -- which is charged with helping facilitate peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban -- said Karim Khalili, who heads the body, will also be in attendance.

Former president Hamid Karzai is also set to make an appearance, with his spokesman Yousof Saha&nbsp;suggesting the Afghan and Taliban delegations might meet on the sidelines of the ceremony for informal talks but noted that nothing was guaranteed.

The potential talks would mark the second time leaders from the militant movement have met with opposition leaders in Russia, following a rare sit down between the two sides in February that saw members of the Taliban and Afghan politicians praying together and chatting over meals. &nbsp;&nbsp;

However, no representatives from the current administration of President Ashraf Ghani were present at those informal talks, spurring fears the administration was being further sidelined in the ongoing peace process. &nbsp;

The latest meeting in Moscow comes weeks after the sixth round of talks between the US and Taliban wrapped in Doha with no tangible progress cited by the negotiating teams as Washington continues to push for a settlement with the militants aimed at ending its 18-year fight in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have said that peace negotiations were stumbling over the fundamental question of when foreign forces would depart Afghanistan.

The US, however, has refused to agree to withdrawal as part of an eventual deal until the Taliban put in place security guarantees, a ceasefire, and other commitments including an "intra-Afghan" dialogue with the Kabul government and other Afghan representatives.

Moscow appears to be gaining influence in the ongoing process, with the US announcing last month that Washington had reached a consensus with China and Russia on the key formula for a peace deal it is negotiating in Afghanistan.

Afghan politicians are set to attend a two-day meeting with the Taliban in Moscow this week, officials confirmed Monday, as fighting continues to rage in Afghanistan amid ongoing peace talks between the US and the militants.

Afghan politicians are set to attend a two-day meeting with the Taliban in Moscow this week, officials confirmed Monday, as fighting continues to rage in Afghanistan amid ongoing peace talks between the US and the militants. The meeting -- set to run from the 27th and 28th of May -- will mark the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told the insurgents were planning to send a delegation to attend the ceremony but provided no further details. A spokesman for Afghanistan's high peace council -- which is charged with helping facilitate peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban -- said Karim Khalili, who heads the body, will also be in attendance. Former president Hamid Karzai is also set to make an appearance, with his spokesman Yousof Saha suggesting the Afghan and Taliban delegations might meet on the sidelines of the ceremony for informal talks but noted that nothing was guaranteed. The potential talks would mark the second time leaders from the militant movement have met with opposition leaders in Russia, following a rare sit down between the two sides in February that saw members of the Taliban and Afghan politicians praying together and chatting over meals. However, no representatives from the current administration of President Ashraf Ghani were present at those informal talks, spurring fears the administration was being further sidelined in the ongoing peace process. The latest meeting in Moscow comes weeks after the sixth round of talks between the US and Taliban wrapped in Doha with no tangible progress cited by the negotiating teams as Washington continues to push for a settlement with the militants aimed at ending its 18-year fight in Afghanistan. The Taliban have said that peace negotiations were stumbling over the fundamental question of when foreign forces would depart Afghanistan. The US, however, has refused to agree to withdrawal as part of an eventual deal until the Taliban put in place security guarantees, a ceasefire, and other commitments including an "intra-Afghan" dialogue with the Kabul government and other Afghan representatives. Moscow appears to be gaining influence in the ongoing process, with the US announcing last month that Washington had reached a consensus with China and Russia on the key formula for a peace deal it is negotiating in Afghanistan.

Russia invites Taliban and Afghan politicians to Moscow meeting 

John Walker Lindh, the&nbsp;American&nbsp;captured in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, is to be&nbsp;released&nbsp;early&nbsp;from&nbsp;federal&nbsp;prison on Thursday as some US&nbsp;lawmakers fear he remains a security risk.

Lindh, photographed as a wild-eyed, bearded 20-year-old at his Afghanistan capture, will leave a federal&nbsp;prison&nbsp;in Terre Haute, Indiana on probation after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, according to a&nbsp;prison&nbsp;official.

Now 38, Lindh is among dozens of&nbsp;prisoners set to be&nbsp;released&nbsp;over the next few years after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan by US&nbsp;forces and convicted of terrorism-related crimes following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

His release brought objections&nbsp;from&nbsp;elected officials who asked why Lindh was being freed early and what training parole officers had to spot radicalization and recidivism among former jihadists.

Leaked US&nbsp;government documents published by Foreign Policy magazine show the federal government as recently as 2016 described Lindh as holding "extremist views."

"What is the current interagency policy, strategy, and process for ensuring that terrorist/extremist offenders successfully reintegrate into society?" asked US&nbsp;Senators Richard Shelby and Margaret Hassan in a letter to the Federal Bureau of&nbsp;Prisons.

Lindh's parents Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lindh's lawyer Bill Cummings declined to comment.

Melissa Kimberley, a spokeswoman for the Terre Haute&nbsp;prison&nbsp;in Indiana, could not confirm details of Lindh's release other than it would be on&nbsp;Thursday.

US-born Lindh converted&nbsp;from&nbsp;Catholicism to Islam as a teenager. At his 2002 sentencing, he said he travelled to Yemen to learn Arabic and then to Pakistan to study Islam. He said he volunteered as a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-taliban-claims-responsibility-for-quetta-blast-218492">Taliban soldier</a> to help fellow Muslims in their struggle or "jihad." He said he had no intention "to fight against America" and never understood jihad to mean anti-Americanism.

Lindh told the court he condemned "terrorism on every level" and attacks by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden were "completely against Islam."

But a January 2017 report by the US&nbsp;government's National Counterterrorism Center, published by Foreign Policy, said that as of May 2016, Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts."

NBC said Lindh wrote a letter to its Los Angeles station KNBC in 2015 expressing support for ISIS, saying the radical Islamist group was fulfilling "a religious obligation to establish a caliphate through armed struggle."

John Walker Lindh, the American captured in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, is to be released early from federal prison on Thursday as some US lawmakers fear he remains a security risk.

John Walker Lindh, the American captured in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, is to be released early from federal prison on Thursday as some US lawmakers fear he remains a security risk. Lindh, photographed as a wild-eyed, bearded 20-year-old at his Afghanistan capture, will leave a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana on probation after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, according to a prison official. Now 38, Lindh is among dozens of prisoners set to be released over the next few years after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan by US forces and convicted of terrorism-related crimes following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. His release brought objections from elected officials who asked why Lindh was being freed early and what training parole officers had to spot radicalization and recidivism among former jihadists. Leaked US government documents published by Foreign Policy magazine show the federal government as recently as 2016 described Lindh as holding "extremist views." "What is the current interagency policy, strategy, and process for ensuring that terrorist/extremist offenders successfully reintegrate into society?" asked US Senators Richard Shelby and Margaret Hassan in a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Lindh's parents Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lindh's lawyer Bill Cummings declined to comment. Melissa Kimberley, a spokeswoman for the Terre Haute prison in Indiana, could not confirm details of Lindh's release other than it would be on Thursday. US-born Lindh converted from Catholicism to Islam as a teenager. At his 2002 sentencing, he said he travelled to Yemen to learn Arabic and then to Pakistan to study Islam. He said he volunteered as a Taliban soldier to help fellow Muslims in their struggle or "jihad." He said he had no intention "to fight against America" and never understood jihad to mean anti-Americanism. Lindh told the court he condemned "terrorism on every level" and attacks by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden were "completely against Islam." But a January 2017 report by the US government's National Counterterrorism Center, published by Foreign Policy, said that as of May 2016, Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts." NBC said Lindh wrote a letter to its Los Angeles station KNBC in 2015 expressing support for ISIS, saying the radical Islamist group was fulfilling "a religious obligation to establish a caliphate through armed struggle."

'American Taliban' to be released early from federal prison

"The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C.”

H R McMaster wrote that statement in his 1997 scathing critique of the Vietnam War, "Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam." He was a major in the Army at that time. Now, he is a retired lieutenant general and former national security advisor to President Donald Trump.

It is indeed ironic that McMaster eventually contributed to what many people thought to be impossible by repeating the mistakes of Vietnam and losing the Afghanistan war—both in the field and in Washington, DC.

The real tragedy is that America’s leaders, in particular, its military leaders, long knew that the war in Afghanistan could not be won having chosen to fight it in a manner that was alien to its nature, thus wasting both treasure and precious lives.

For over seventeen years we have wrongly applied counterinsurgency doctrine to a proxy war waged by Pakistan against the United States and Afghanistan. At the same time, we supplied Pakistan with generous aid packages to bribe them from pursuing a course of action opposed to our own, which they considered in their national interest.

Counterinsurgency was never a winning strategy as long as Pakistan controlled the supply of our troops in landlocked Afghanistan and regulated the operational tempo through its proxy army, the Taliban, which has maintained an extensive recruiting, training and financial support infrastructure inside Pakistan, where it has been immune to attack.

In essence, our leaders, through a combination of incompetence and indifference, allowed the United States to be defeated by Pakistan and paid them to do it.

Pakistan’s objectives for Afghanistan have always been different than those of the United States. Not only has Pakistan not helped the United States in Afghanistan, but from the very beginning through its support of the Taliban, Pakistan has actively worked against our interests and is responsible for the prolongation of the war and the deaths and maiming of thousands of Americans and Afghans.

For example, Jalaluddin Haqqani, then the leader of the Haqqani Network, controlled the Khost region of eastern Afghanistan, which is where most of Osama bin Laden’s training camps and supporters were, was a CIA asset in the 1980s and met with US officials soon after 9/11.

Journalist Steve Coll wrote, “There was always a question about whether Haqqani was really Taliban, because he hadn’t come out of Kandahar; he wasn’t part of the core group. And it was quite reasonable to believe after 9/11 that maybe he could be flipped.”

In early October 2001, Haqqani made a secret trip to Pakistan, where Lt Gen Mahmood Ahmed, a religious hardliner and then director of Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency, the ISI, advised him to hold out and not defect, promising that he would receive help.

Subsequently, Haqqani decided to stay with the Taliban and the Haqqani Network continues to be a threat and a source of instability in Afghanistan.

The United States was aware of Pakistan’s duplicity early on. Gary Berntsen, one of the first CIA operatives to arrive in Afghanistan, said, “I assumed from the beginning of the conflict that ISI advisers were supporting the Taliban with expertise and material and, no doubt, sending a steady stream of intelligence back to [Pakistan].”

The same pattern of duplicitous behaviour by Pakistan has continued over the last seventeen years.

Late last year, during a Taliban attack on the Afghan provincial capital of Ghazni, large numbers of Pakistani nationals were found among the dead, presumably fighting with the Taliban. The bodies were subsequently returned to Pakistan.

In a recently released video, Al Qaeda emphasises its unity with Taliban and its role within the Taliban insurgency, as the jihadists, including Pakistanis, fight together to resurrect the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

And yet American political leaders and senior military officers have done nothing, preferring to remain puzzled or indifferent as to why we have not won in Afghanistan.

Pakistanis openly brag that they have defeated the United States.

Shortly before his death in 2015, Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan’s ISI, a committed Islamist and known as the “godfather of the Taliban,” said in an Urdu language television interview:

“One day, history will say that the ISI drove the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan with the help of USA and another sentence will be recorded that says the ISI drove the USA out of Afghanistan with the help of the USA.”

The Pakistani audience roared with laughter and applauded in approval.

The problem of Pakistan as the actual instigator of the Afghan conflict was never adequately addressed and Taliban safe havens in Pakistan remained largely untouched.

The pressure was never applied to Pakistan’s pain points, its moribund economy and financial insolvency and the existential threat of ethnic separatism, in particular among Pakistan’s Baloch and Pashtun populations.

On the ground in Afghanistan, the war effort has been a programme on automatic pilot, where everyone has been constantly reassured that everything was going according to plan and “progress was being made,” a phrase I heard endlessly during my own 2010 tenure at International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Headquarters in Kabul. If the effectiveness of the strategy was ever questioned within the military chain of command, then it had no obvious effect.

Lacking any new ideas or even a recognition of reality, we chose to continue pursuing a proven inappropriate counterinsurgency approach in Afghanistan, which has now forced the United States into direct negotiations with the Taliban, a concession we had previously refused to consider.

Yet, an American withdrawal will only become a humiliating defeat, if the United States is forced into strategic retreat from South Asia because we do not have a plan in place to address the changing regional conditions in a post–US Afghanistan.

The only bargaining chip the United States has in peace negotiations is our presence in Afghanistan, which has been the primary target of the Taliban negotiators, insisting that the United States announce a six-month withdrawal plan.

The American “presence” argument is tenuous at best. The United States should be identifying new forms of leverage to bolster our negotiating position in the short term and, longer term, provide a basis for a new South Asian strategy.

The recently-announced effort to strengthen military ties with India is a step in the right direction.

The United States should also include measures to thwart plans by the China-Pakistan Axis for regional hegemony. Beijing intends to extend its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) throughout South Asia, including Afghanistan, and follow it with the establishment of military facilities, such as Chinese naval bases on the Arabian Sea.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship of BRI. Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan is CPEC’s centre of gravity and the location of a festering independence insurgency. Just recently, the Balochistan Liberation Army made a daring and high-profile attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel in the heart of the Chinese-run port of Gwadar, CPEC’s centrepiece project.

An independent Balochistan could fulfill a number of US strategic interests in the region, for example: providing Afghanistan a friendly neighbor and access to the sea; eliminating a major area of Pakistan’s terrorist infrastructure; placing additional pressure on Iran, which has its own restive Baloch population; and blocking Chinese ambitions for economic and military dominance of South Asia.

The foundations of a new US strategy in South Asia should include burden shifting and, when necessary, strategic disruption of our adversaries. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
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"The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C.” H R McMaster wrote that statement in his 1997 scathing critique of the Vietnam War, "Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam.

"The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C.” H R McMaster wrote that statement in his 1997 scathing critique of the Vietnam War, "Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam." He was a major in the Army at that time. Now, he is a retired lieutenant general and former national security advisor to President Donald Trump. It is indeed ironic that McMaster eventually contributed to what many people thought to be impossible by repeating the mistakes of Vietnam and losing the Afghanistan war—both in the field and in Washington, DC. The real tragedy is that America’s leaders, in particular, its military leaders, long knew that the war in Afghanistan could not be won having chosen to fight it in a manner that was alien to its nature, thus wasting both treasure and precious lives. For over seventeen years we have wrongly applied counterinsurgency doctrine to a proxy war waged by Pakistan against the United States and Afghanistan. At the same time, we supplied Pakistan with generous aid packages to bribe them from pursuing a course of action opposed to our own, which they considered in their national interest. Counterinsurgency was never a winning strategy as long as Pakistan controlled the supply of our troops in landlocked Afghanistan and regulated the operational tempo through its proxy army, the Taliban, which has maintained an extensive recruiting, training and financial support infrastructure inside Pakistan, where it has been immune to attack. In essence, our leaders, through a combination of incompetence and indifference, allowed the United States to be defeated by Pakistan and paid them to do it. Pakistan’s objectives for Afghanistan have always been different than those of the United States. Not only has Pakistan not helped the United States in Afghanistan, but from the very beginning through its support of the Taliban, Pakistan has actively worked against our interests and is responsible for the prolongation of the war and the deaths and maiming of thousands of Americans and Afghans. For example, Jalaluddin Haqqani, then the leader of the Haqqani Network, controlled the Khost region of eastern Afghanistan, which is where most of Osama bin Laden’s training camps and supporters were, was a CIA asset in the 1980s and met with US officials soon after 9/11. Journalist Steve Coll wrote, “There was always a question about whether Haqqani was really Taliban, because he hadn’t come out of Kandahar; he wasn’t part of the core group. And it was quite reasonable to believe after 9/11 that maybe he could be flipped.” In early October 2001, Haqqani made a secret trip to Pakistan, where Lt Gen Mahmood Ahmed, a religious hardliner and then director of Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency, the ISI, advised him to hold out and not defect, promising that he would receive help. Subsequently, Haqqani decided to stay with the Taliban and the Haqqani Network continues to be a threat and a source of instability in Afghanistan. The United States was aware of Pakistan’s duplicity early on. Gary Berntsen, one of the first CIA operatives to arrive in Afghanistan, said, “I assumed from the beginning of the conflict that ISI advisers were supporting the Taliban with expertise and material and, no doubt, sending a steady stream of intelligence back to [Pakistan].” The same pattern of duplicitous behaviour by Pakistan has continued over the last seventeen years. Late last year, during a Taliban attack on the Afghan provincial capital of Ghazni, large numbers of Pakistani nationals were found among the dead, presumably fighting with the Taliban. The bodies were subsequently returned to Pakistan. In a recently released video, Al Qaeda emphasises its unity with Taliban and its role within the Taliban insurgency, as the jihadists, including Pakistanis, fight together to resurrect the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. And yet American political leaders and senior military officers have done nothing, preferring to remain puzzled or indifferent as to why we have not won in Afghanistan. Pakistanis openly brag that they have defeated the United States. Shortly before his death in 2015, Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan’s ISI, a committed Islamist and known as the “godfather of the Taliban,” said in an Urdu language television interview: “One day, history will say that the ISI drove the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan with the help of USA and another sentence will be recorded that says the ISI drove the USA out of Afghanistan with the help of the USA.” The Pakistani audience roared with laughter and applauded in approval. The problem of Pakistan as the actual instigator of the Afghan conflict was never adequately addressed and Taliban safe havens in Pakistan remained largely untouched. The pressure was never applied to Pakistan’s pain points, its moribund economy and financial insolvency and the existential threat of ethnic separatism, in particular among Pakistan’s Baloch and Pashtun populations. On the ground in Afghanistan, the war effort has been a programme on automatic pilot, where everyone has been constantly reassured that everything was going according to plan and “progress was being made,” a phrase I heard endlessly during my own 2010 tenure at International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Headquarters in Kabul. If the effectiveness of the strategy was ever questioned within the military chain of command, then it had no obvious effect. Lacking any new ideas or even a recognition of reality, we chose to continue pursuing a proven inappropriate counterinsurgency approach in Afghanistan, which has now forced the United States into direct negotiations with the Taliban, a concession we had previously refused to consider. Yet, an American withdrawal will only become a humiliating defeat, if the United States is forced into strategic retreat from South Asia because we do not have a plan in place to address the changing regional conditions in a post–US Afghanistan. The only bargaining chip the United States has in peace negotiations is our presence in Afghanistan, which has been the primary target of the Taliban negotiators, insisting that the United States announce a six-month withdrawal plan. The American “presence” argument is tenuous at best. The United States should be identifying new forms of leverage to bolster our negotiating position in the short term and, longer term, provide a basis for a new South Asian strategy. The recently-announced effort to strengthen military ties with India is a step in the right direction. The United States should also include measures to thwart plans by the China-Pakistan Axis for regional hegemony. Beijing intends to extend its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) throughout South Asia, including Afghanistan, and follow it with the establishment of military facilities, such as Chinese naval bases on the Arabian Sea. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship of BRI. Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan is CPEC’s centre of gravity and the location of a festering independence insurgency. Just recently, the Balochistan Liberation Army made a daring and high-profile attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel in the heart of the Chinese-run port of Gwadar, CPEC’s centrepiece project. An independent Balochistan could fulfill a number of US strategic interests in the region, for example: providing Afghanistan a friendly neighbor and access to the sea; eliminating a major area of Pakistan’s terrorist infrastructure; placing additional pressure on Iran, which has its own restive Baloch population; and blocking Chinese ambitions for economic and military dominance of South Asia. The foundations of a new US strategy in South Asia should include burden shifting and, when necessary, strategic disruption of our adversaries. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Pakistan's duplicity caused the United States to lose in Afghanistan

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