World News

Foreign missions in Afghanistan call for Taliban ceasefire

KABUL, July 19 (Reuters) - Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Afghanistan urged the Taliban on Monday to halt their military offensives, just hours after the insurgents and…

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Foreign missions in Kabul issue joint call for Taliban ceasefire

Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Kabul joined hands on Monday to urge the Taliban to halt military offensives across Afghanistan, just hours after a peace meeting in…

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Reuters journalist killed covering clash between Afghan forces, Taliban

Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said. Afghan…

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Afghan neighbours wary of new refugee crisis as violence surges

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets regional leaders for talks in Uzbekistan on Thursday as deteriorating security in his country raises fears of a new Afghan refugee crisis with neighbouring Pakistan…

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Afghan Taliban seize border crossing with Pakistan in major advance

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they had taken control of one of the main border crossings with Pakistan, perhaps the most strategic objective they have captured so far in…

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UNHCR warns of imminent humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning of a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as the escalating conflict brings increased human suffering and civilian displacement. An estimated 270,000 Afghans have…

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In symbolic end to war, U.S. general steps down from Afghanistan command

The U.S. general leading the war in Afghanistan, Austin Miller, relinquished command on Monday at a ceremony in Kabul, in what was a symbolic end to America's longest conflict even as…

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India pulls officials from Afghanistan’s Kandahar as Taliban widens control

India said on Sunday it had temporarily brought back officials from its consulate in Kandahar, a major city in southern Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters continue to gain control amid the…

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Taliban seize more territory, say they control much of Afghanistan

Taliban officials said on Friday the Sunni Muslim insurgent group had taken control of 85% of territory in Afghanistan, and its fighters were tightening their grip on strategic areas. Government…

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Taliban aim to present written peace plan at talks as soon as next month

The Taliban plan to present a written peace proposal to the Afghan government side as soon as next month, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgents said even as they make major territorial…

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Western forces pack up to end their war in Afgnaistan, U.S. hands Bagram Airfield to Afghans

Afghan scrap dealers are picking over the detritus of the two-decade U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan, collecting whatever they can of value from heaps of broken military hardware, scrapped machines…

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Biden to meet with Afghan President Ghani as violence surges

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet at the White House with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chairman of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah on Friday to discuss…

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At least 11 people killed by a landmine in northern Afghanistan

At least 11 civilians, including children, were killed when their vehicle set off a landmine in northern Afghanistan, local government officials said on Sunday, accusing Taliban insurgents for planting the…

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Massacre at Kabul mosque during Friday prayers

At least 12 people were killed in an explosion inside a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the second day of the Eid…

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Photo Story – Afghanistan observes day of mourning for victims of school bombing

An Afghan man prays over the grave of his family member who lost her life in the recent attack on Sayyid al-Shuhada school in west Kabul, Afghanistan, 11 May 2021.…

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Afghan Taliban declares three-day ceasefire for Eid celebration this week

Taliban insurgents said on Monday they would observe a three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan for the Muslim religious holiday of Eid, starting this week, after weeks of increasing violence that gripped…

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Afghan school blast toll rises to 58, families bury victims

The death toll from an explosion outside a school in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul has risen to 58, Afghan officials said on Sunday, with doctors struggling to provide medical care to…

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UPDATE – Children among 40 people killed in bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan

Multiple blasts at a school in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens more, mostly female students, officials said, in an attack Afghan President Ashraf…

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Taliban launches huge Afghan offensive after deadline for U.S. pullout

Afghan security forces fought back a huge Taliban offensive in southern Helmand province in the last 24 hours, officials and residents said on Tuesday, as militants launched assaults around the country following…

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Hundreds die in surge of violence in Afghanistan

More than 100 Afghan security force personnel have been killed over the last two weeks amid a surge of Taliban attacks following Washington’s announcement it would pull all U.S. troops…

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Car bomb kills 27 in Afghanistan’s eastern Logar province

KABUL (Reuters) -A huge car bomb blast killed at least 27 people and injured dozens more in Afghanistan's eastern Logar province on Friday evening, with high school students among the casualties,…

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Biden to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, sources say

resident Joe Biden has decided to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, 20 years to the day after al Qaeda's attacks triggered America's longest war, three sources familiar with…

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Three female polio vaccination health workers shot dead in Afghanistan: sources

Gunmen killed three female polio vaccination health workers in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, two government sources said. It was not immediately clear who carried out the two separate shootings, a…

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Photo Story – Persian New Year, Nowruz in Kabul

An Afghan street vendor sells boiled chickpeas on a roadside as he waits for customers on the first day of Persian new year 'Nowruz' in Kabul, Afghanistan, 21 March 2021.…

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Photo Story: Another deadly blast in Kabul

A boy looks out of a shattered window in the aftermath of a bomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, 18 March 2021. At least four people were killed and eleven others…

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Afghan peace talks should rotate among countries, envoy says amid stall

Afghan peace talks, now stalled in Qatar, should be rotated to other venues, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said, indicating the Qatari hosts had not pushed hard enough for the…

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U.S. proposes interim government could run Afghanistan until new polls

A U.S.-drafted peace plan for Afghanistan, reviewed by Reuters on Monday, calls for the current government to be replaced with an interim administration until a new constitution is agreed and…

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Afghan president says ready to discuss elections to advance talks with Taliban

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday, in a bid to push forward peace talks with the Taliban, that his government was ready to discuss holding fresh…

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Photo Story: Afghan army soldiers Celebrate Soldiers Day

Afghan army soldiers perform during the country marked Soldiers Day in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 27 February 2021. Afghan army soldiers mark the Soldiers Day on 27 February across Afghanistan to pay…

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No letdown in violence in Afghanistan

At least four Afghan security force members, including a commander, were killed and seven were critically injured in blasts in eastern and southern provinces on Saturday, officials said, adding that…

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Photo Story: Government official’s vehicle targeted by magnetic mine in Kabul

Afghan security officials secure the scene of a magnetic improvised explosive device (IED) explosion that targeted a soft-skinned vehicle of the Ministry of Telecommunications and IT, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 18…

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Kabul deputy governor killed in bomb attack

The deputy governor of the Afghan capital of Kabul was killed on Tuesday in a bomb attack on his car as he went to work, security officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast that…

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Afghan govt, Taliban reach breakthrough deal

Afghan government and Taliban representatives reached a preliminary deal on Wednesday to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war and welcomed by the…

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Explosion causes carnage among Afghan security forces

A car bombing in the Afghanistan’s central province of Ghazni killed at least 30 Afghan security force members on Sunday, officials said, and casualties could increase given the intensity and…

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EU calls for Afghan ceasefire, warns against Islamic emirate

The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief called on Tuesday for an immediate ceasefire in Afghanistan and said that any move to set up an Islamic emirate would affect the…

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Australia defence chief pledges changes after damning Afghanistan war-crimes report

Australia's top military official said on Sunday the country's defence force must 'own' a recent report on soldiers committing crimes in Afghanistan and pledged changes to ensure that atrocities do…

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Rockets hit Afghan capital Kabul, at least eight killed

Several rockets hit residential areas in the early rush hour in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 31, police officials said. The explosions,…

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Nearly 6,000 Afghan civilians killed or wounded in 2020: U.N.

Nearly 6,000 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first nine months of the year as heavy fighting between government forces and Taliban insurgents rages on despite efforts to…

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24 killed in suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan

A suicide bombing at an education centre in Afghanistan's capital Kabul killed 24 people including teenage students and wounded dozens more on Saturday, officials said. A Ministry of Interior spokesman,…

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Afghan forces kill senior al Qaeda leader al-Masri who was on FBI most wanted list

Afghan security forces have killed Abu Muhsin al-Masri, a senior al Qaeda leader who was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Most Wanted Terrorists list, Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security…

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Afghan peace talks to open in Doha, 19 years after 9/11 triggered war

Talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents start in Qatar’s capital Doha on Saturday with the goal of bringing an end to nearly two decades of a conflict that…

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UPDATED: Afghan vice president targeted by roadside bomb that kills six

A roadside bomb in Kabul targeted First Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday morning, but he escaped unharmed, his spokesman after the attack which killed and wounded at least…

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Afghanistan to release 400 ‘hard-core’ Taliban to start peace talks

Afghanistan agreed on Sunday to release 400 "hard-core" Taliban prisoners, paving the way for the beginning of peace talks aimed at ending more than 19 years of war. Under election-year…

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Mass jailbreak in Afghanistan, at least 24 die in Islamic State attack

A gunbattle between Islamic State fighters and Afghan security forces raged at a prison in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Monday, with at least 24 people killed after the…

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Islamic State claims responsibility for attack in Afghanistan

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, the group's Amaq news agency said on Sunday . At least three bombs exploded outside a jail…

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Russia denies paying Afghan militants to kill NATO troops

Russia has rejected as "baseless" accusations that it offered Taliban-linked militants rewards to kill US and other NATO troops in Afghanistan. The New York Times and Washington Post cited US…

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Afghan government, Taliban agree to Doha as venue for first peace talks

Afghanistan’s government and the Islamist Taliban group have agreed that Doha will be the venue for the first meeting in their peace talks, both sides said. The talks, known as…

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Newborns among 16 dead in Kabul hospital attack

Gunmen disguised as police attacked a hospital in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, killing 16 people including two newborn babies from a maternity clinic run by the international humanitarian…

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Large number of COVID-19 cases among Afghan medics

More than a third of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Afghan capital have been among doctors and other healthcare staff, two senior health officials said, in a sign that the…

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Afghanistan probes report Iranian border guards threw migrants into river with many drowning

Afghan officials on Sunday launched a hunt to retrieve bodies of Afghan migrants from a river in a western province after reports that Iranian border guards tortured and threw…

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Afghanistan’s other war

In Afghanistan, the health ministry has warned that two critical weeks are ahead as the war-torn country recorded its biggest one-day rise of new coronavirus cases, triggered by a…

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Pandemic may derail US-Afghan peace efforts

American Efforts to bring the long-drawn conflict with the Taliban in Afghanistan to an end may be derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. Fighting has tended to escalate in the Spring…

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Photo Story: Kabul attack kills 27 persons

The death toll in an attack on a ceremony in Kabul rose to 27, a ministry of health spokesman said on Friday. Gunmen attacked a ceremony in the Afghan capital…

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War crimes investigation into US forces in Afghanistan can go ahead, ICC rules

An investigation into alleged war crimes by US and others in the Afghanistan war can go ahead, the International Criminal Court has ruled (ICC). The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001…

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US conducts first airstrike on Taliban since peace deal

The US military on Wednesday said it had conducted an airstrike against Taliban forces, just days after signing a historic peace deal with the militant group. In a tweet,…

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US and Taliban sign peace agreement ending 18-year war in Afghanistan

The United States signed a peace agreement with Taliban militants on Saturday aimed at bringing an end to 18 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan and allowing U.S. troops to return…

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Taliban orders halt to attacks in Afghanistan ahead of U.S. agreement

The Taliban ordered all its fighters “to refrain from any kind of attack” on Saturday ahead of the signing of an agreement with the U.S. diplomats aimed at bringing peace…

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