The US Secretary of State John Kerry has said 9,800 American troops will remain in Afghanistan through most of this year. “Tomorrow we will discuss Afghanistan. And we’re going to review the progress of the Resolute Support mission and the need to continue our financial assistance for Afghan Security Forces and the imperative of planning for a new, flexible, regional ...

Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan addressing a press conference in Mardan MARDAN: Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has opposed demands for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation over the Panama leaks scandal and highlighted the need for “across-the-board accountability” over the offshore holdings. Asfandyar was speaking to journalists in Mardan on Thursday. According to a press release issued ...

AFGHANISTAN: The Russian helicopters company officials have said they are prepared to establish a service center in Afghanistan to provide repair and other technical services to the Afghan Air Force. The Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Helicopters Alexander Mikheev has said the company is also prepared to assist the Afghan Air Force in training the Afghan technical staff and ...

AFGHANISTAN: A top Afghan army general Abdul Basir Sharwan was martyred in an explosion southern Kandahar province, the third senior Afghan general martyred in a span of almost 4 months. According to the provincial government media office, Gen. Sharwand, the commander of the 1st Brigade of 205th Atal Corps of Afghan National Army, was martyred while he was on his ...

AFGHANISTAN: The United States Department of States said Wednesday that the Taliban a group has a choice to participate in direct peace talks with the Afghan government as the 5th round of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) group in Pakistan. The State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters Ambassador Olson, the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was the representative ...

KABUL: NATO foreign ministers would discuss common interests with regard to the security situation in Afghanistan at a meeting in Brussels on Friday, a US diplomat said on Thursday. Ahead of the meeting, Ambassador Douglas Lute told a media briefing: “For NATO, I think it’s safe to describe Afghanistan as unfinished business.  And so for the Warsaw Summit we have ...

Kabul, Afghanistan: Despite conflict and poverty, Afghanistan has made reasonable progress in its reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health over the last decade, says the first systematic analysis and case study of the country. Afghanistan, with over four decades of conflict and political instability, has some of the worst health and mortality indicators seen globally. Although progress has been made, ...

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan government has signed the draft peace agreement with Hezb-e-Islami group led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Deputy Chief Executive Mohammad Khan said. He told reporters that the draft agreement has been signed and will become enforceable once the Hezb-e-Islami party signs it. Khan further added that the group has agreed to have no links with the anti-government armed militant ...

AFGHANISTAN: The United States has welcomed political negotiations between the Afghan government and Hezb-e-Islami party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. “We support an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process for a negotiated resolution of the conflict in Afghanistan,” said John Kirby, spokesman of the US Department of State. Kirby further added that all relevant groups, including Hezb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, should be a part ...

LONDON: Former London mayor Boris Johnson claimed the European Union was behaving like Hitler by trying to create a superstate in an interview out on Sunday which unleashed a wave of criticism. Johnson, the leading figure campaigning for Britain to leave the EU in a June 23 referendum, was attacked by opponents at home who called his remarks “offensive and ...