U.S. Watchdog: ‘Enemy Attacks’ in Afghanistan Hit Record High
The Taliban and other insurgent groups in the country carried out 8,204 attacks in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a new report from the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, marking the highest such total since the group began keeping records in 2010 (Wall Street Journal)
Taliban Attacks Police Station in Afghan Provincial Capital
Taliban fighters entered a police base in Pul-e Khumri and killed at least eleven Afghan policemen and wounded six others, according to a provincial official. The Taliban disputed these casualties and claimed that its attack killed seventeen police officers and captured one (Al Jazeera)
Afghan Forces Kill Fifty-One Taliban Fighters
Government forces conducted a series of ground and air attacks over the weekend that killed fifty-one Taliban militants, Afghanistan’s defense minister announced (Reuters)
Separately, a U.S. military plane crashed in a Taliban-held area of central Ghazni province today (NBC News)
Afghan Government Says Cease-Fire Needed for Peace Talks
Afghanistan’s minister for peace affairs said the Taliban’s promise to temporarily reduce violence against Afghan forces was unacceptable, and that the group must agree to a cease-fire in order to begin peace talks with the government (TOLO)
U.S. negotiators are in Doha, Qatar, to discuss a possible cease-fire, and the Taliban has shown a willingness to engage in talks with Afghan officials, according to reports (Reuters)
Taliban Offer Temporary Cease-fire in Afghanistan
The Taliban offered a U.S. envoy a cease-fire of seven to ten days, Taliban officials said. Such a cease-fire could lead to a peace deal in Afghanistan, but the Taliban has resisted U.S. efforts to include Afghan officials in peace talks (Associated Press)
Two U.S. Service Members Killed in Afghanistan
Two U.S. troops were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack (Wall Street Journal)
Taliban Attacks Kill Dozens of Afghan Security Forces
At least twenty-six Afghan security personnel in the country’s northern provinces were killed in three different attacks claimed by the Taliban, officials said (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Taliban Agrees to Temporary Cease-Fire in Afghanistan
The militant group’s ruling council has agreed to a temporary cease-fire, during which a peace deal with Washington could be signed, Taliban officials said. They did not specify when the cease-fire would occur (Associated Press)
Taliban Abducts Afghan Peace Convoy
The Taliban has reportedly abducted at least twenty-six peace activists in western Farah Province, a police spokesperson said (Associated Press)
Taliban Attacks Kill U.S. Soldier, Seven Afghan Soldiers in Afghanistan
Taliban attacks killed seven Afghan soldiers in northern Balkh province and one U.S. soldier in northern Kunduz province, officials said (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Twenty American service members have been killed in combat this year (New York Times)
Afghanistan’s election commission announced long-delayed preliminary results of a September vote in which President Ashraf Ghani won 50.4 percent of votes and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah won approximately 39.5 percent. Abdullah denounced the results as “fraudulent” (TOLO)
U.S. Special Representative Meets With Afghan Leaders to Discuss Peace Talks
U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad met with politicians including Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, former President Hamid Karzai, and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah to discuss Afghan peace negotiations (TOLO)
Inside Attack Kills More Than Twenty in Afghanistan
An infiltrator from the Taliban killed at least twenty-three sleeping Afghan soldiers during an attack at a military base in the eastern Ghazni Province, according to officials (New York Times)
Peace Talks With the Taliban Paused
The United States has temporarily paused talks with the Taliban after the group backed a car bombing on a U.S. air base outside Kabul that left two dead on Wednesday, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said (Reuters)
Attack on Main U.S. Base in Afghanistan Kills One, Injures Dozens
Attackers detonated a car bomb at a medical facility construction site on Bagram Air Base, killing one person and wounding more than eighty others, officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack (New York Times)
U.S. Government Misled Public About Afghan War
A new report containing internal inspections and memos about the eighteen-year U.S. war in Afghanistan found that officials repeatedly hid “unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable” and misled the public over three presidential administrations (Washington Post)
Taliban Says Peace Talks Have Resumed With U.S.
Peace talks between the Taliban and the United States resumed on Saturday, a Taliban spokesperson tweeted. He said a former Taliban prisoner released in a recent prisoner swap participated as a negotiator (CNN)
U.S.-Taliban Talks to Restart in Qatar
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad will rejoin official talks with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan (U.S. State Department)
Six People Killed by Gunmen in Afghanistan
Gunmen in Afghanistan ambushed a United Nations vehicle in Jalalabad, killing six people including the head of a Japanese humanitarian aid program. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack (Reuters)
Drone Strike Kills Five in Afghanistan
A U.S. drone strike on a car in the country’s southeast killed five people on Friday, according to Afghan officials and family members. The U.S. military said that a Thursday strike in the area killed several Taliban fighters and that it is investigating allegations of civilian casualties (New York Times)
Trump, in Afghanistan, Says Talks Restarted With Taliban
U.S. President Donald J. Trump made a surprise visit to Afghanistan yesterday, his first visit to the country. In remarks to U.S. troops, he said that he had restarted peace talks with the Taliban that were called off in September (Washington Post)
U.S.-Taliban Talks Reportedly Underway
Unofficial discussions between the United States and the militant group are underway in Doha, Qatar, according to a report from an Afghan news agency. U.S. President Donald J. Trump said in a Fox News interview that the United States is “working on an agreement now” (TOLO)
Taliban Surpasses Islamic State as Deadliest Terrorist Group in 2018
The Taliban overtook the Islamic State to become the world’s deadliest terrorist group in 2018, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Terrorism Index. Terrorism-related deaths attributed to the Taliban accounted for 38 percent of the global total (Global Terrorism Index)
Two U.S. Service Members Killed in Afghanistan
Two U.S. service members were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan today; the Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter, a claim dismissed by the U.S. military (Associated Press)
Afghan Government, Taliban Complete Prisoner Swap
The Taliban freed an American and an Australian the group had held hostage for more than three years in exchange for the Afghan government’s release of three senior Taliban leaders, officials said (New York Times)