WASHINGTON: Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump on Thursday favored American troops staying in Afghanistan because its neighbor Pakistan has nuclear weapons, which needs to be secured.  “I think you have to stay in Afghanistan for a while, because of the fact that you’re right next to Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons, and we have to protect that. Nuclear weapons change the ...

PESHAWAR: Afghan ambassador Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal has said the atmosphere of mistrust and fears has marred the relations between his country and Pakistan and therefore, concrete measures should be taken to build mutual trust. “There is no dispute between the two countries except distrust. Both the countries should take serious steps for building trust,” he said during a brief chat ...

KABUL: US Army General John W. “Mick” Nicholson on Wednesday took command of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, warning Taliban militants to renounce insurgency. The change of command ceremony took place at the NATO’s Resolute Support Mission headquarters in Kabul where Gen. Nicholson replaced outgoing US and NATO forces commander Gen. John Campbell. Top military and civil leaders ...

AFGHANISTAN: The Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah promised that the government will not comprise on women’s rights as efforts are underway to revive peace talks with the anti-government armed militant groups. In his speech during an event to mark the International Women’s Day, Abdullah said as the government is preparing for peace there will not be any compromise on women’s ...

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal has said the Afghan Taliban support and want peace, expressing optimisms that the group will likely participate in peace negotiations with the Afghan government in the near future. Citing persistent issues the Afghan peace process is facing, Zakhilwal said “I am confident we will soon be talking to the Taliban and ...

KABUL – Afghanistan Ministry of Commerce and Industries Spokesman welcomed India’s $156m-investment decision to develop Chabahar and regarded it as profitable for India. Afghanistan welcomes India’s decision to invest in Chabahar Mosafer Ghughandi told IRNA on Sunday that undoubtedly Afghanistan will also take advantage of India’s investment in Chabahar. Ghughandi said that increasing the capacity of loading and unloading in ...

The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that the Pakistani leadership wanted recognition of Durand Line during his tenure in a bid to improve ties between the two nations. In his inaugural address at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, the former President recalled his visits to Pakistan while serving the nation as the Afghan President, saying “During my ...

AFGHANISTAN: During the regime of Taliban, Islamabad tried to make the over 2,000-kilometre Durand Line a permanent border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a former diplomat of Taliban reveals. Mullah Abdul Salam Zaif who was ambassador of Taliban to Islamabad says the country tried three times to formalize the border but it repeatedly received a negative response. According to Mullah Zaif, ...

KABUL: Twenty-five people were killed in two attacks in Afghanistan Saturday, including one in the capital, with the blasts putting attempts by Kabul to persuade the Taliban to join peace talks set for next month in jeopardy. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attack near the Defence Ministry in the centre of Kabul. “Twelve people, including two Afghan soldiers ...

KABUL – A senior U.N. official has urged Pakistan to resolve the status of more than 2.5 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan whose registration cards have expired or who remain unregistered. While Europe has grappled with the exodus of people from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Pakistan hosts the world’s largest long-term refugee population, according to the United Nations refugee ...