WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Tuesday said Pakistan was ‘the most influential’ external actor affecting Afghan stability and the military alliance’s mission. “Pakistan views the outcome of Afghanistan to be in its vital national interest and thus remains driven by its India-centric regional policy objectives,” the Pentagon said in its six monthly report to the Congress. It said the Afghan-oriented militant groups, including the ...

WASHINGTON: Weeks ahead of presenting the revised Afghan strategy to the US President Donald Trump, the Defense Secretary James Mattis on Thursday called for a regional construct to bring lasting peace in this country. “Our military posture is part of a larger regional context in South Asia,” Mattis said before a Congressional subcommittee Thursday morning. “The revised Afghanistan strategy with ...

US President Donald Trump (C) holds a bouquet of flowers upon being welcomed by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) during the former’s arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on May 20. ─ AFP United States President Donald Trump has landed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on his first trip abroad since taking office. He is reportedly also ...

KABUL: The US president Trump administration has taken the initiative to frame a new policy with an aim of not allowing terrorist outfits to use Afghanistan and Pakistan’s soil for launching terrorist attacks in any part of the world, ANI reported. The US National Security Adviser Gen. McMaster has said that the new US policy would be applied to both ...

KABUL: The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance will soon decide regarding the request to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan. Speaking to media during his trip to London, Stoltenberg said “We have received a request from our military authorities to increase our military presence in Afghanistan with a few thousand troops.” Stoltenberg further added “We are ...

KABUL: Around 3,000 more US troops could be sent to Afghanistan to stem a spike in insurgent-related violence, international media reports said on Tuesday. Under the proposals from the Pentagon and State Department, military commanders might be empowered again to hit Taliban leaders with air strikes, the BBC reported. The plan, including a request that other NATO members send 3,000-5,000 ...

KABUL: The United States government will grant 2,500 more visas for the Afghan nationals have worked with the US military in Afghanistan, it has been reported. The Afghan nationals will be granted with the visas under the deal that concluded on Sunday worth around $1 trillion. This comes as the US government had approved 1,500 more visas for the Afghan ...

KABUL: US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned of “another tough year” in Afghanistan as he arrived here on an unannounced visit on Monday, hours after his Afghan counterpart resigned over a deadly Taliban attack that triggered anger and left the embattled army in disarray. Paying his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, Mattis met President Ashraf Ghani and other senior officials, as ...

KABUL: The U.S Secretary of Defense, James Mattis said the US would continue to support Afghanistan and that both Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State (IS) militants, aka, Daesh terrorists would be defeated. Pentagon chief made a surprise visit to Kabul on Monday where he met with high-ranking Afghan officials. He also held discussion with US-led Resolute Support Commander Gen. ...

US President Donald Trump delivers a statement about missile strikes on a Syrian airbase, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, April 6.— Reuters US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from which a deadly chemical attack was launched and added there could be no dispute that ...