Taliban Reject Cease-Fire Extension in Afghanistan
The Taliban rejected a call by President Ashraf Ghani to extend a three-day cease-fire the group observed during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, saying in a statement that the militants will resume operations against “foreign invaders and their internal supporters” (Washington Post)
Separately, two attack in Nangarhar Province claimed by the Islamic State over the weekend killed at least fifty-five people and wounded nearly two hundred others (Los Angeles Times)
Taliban Cease-Fire Begins in Afghanistan
The Taliban’s limited cease-fire began today, with the group pledging not to attack Afghan security forces for the next three days during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr. The Taliban’s cease-fire overlaps with the Afghan government’s own cease-fire, in effect since Tuesday (Voice of America)
Dozens Killed in Afghanistan Despite Cease-Fire
At least thirty government forces across six Afghan provinces were reported killed yesterday, in the second day of an Afghan government cease-fire that suspends offensive operations against the Taliban (Tolo)
Taliban Calls for U.S. Talks in Eid Message
Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada called for the withdrawal of U.S. and “other occupying forces” from Afghanistan and direct talks to find a peaceful resolution (Tolo)
Dozens of people were killed in Taliban attacks across Afghanistan yesterday, the first day of an Afghan government unilateral cease-fire (RFE/RL)
Bombing in Kabul Targets Rural Development Ministry
At least a dozen people were killed and more than thirty others wounded in a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State outside a government ministry building in Kabul today (BBC)
Taliban Announce Temporary Cease-Fire
The Taliban announced a three-day cease-fire in which they would not attack Afghan government forces during Eid al-Fitr. The announcement comes after a day of heavy fighting that saw at least fifty and as many as seventy Afghan security forces personnel killed in Taliban attacks across four provinces (New York Times)
Afghanistan Announces Cease-Fire With Taliban
President Ashraf Ghani’s government announced a weeklong, unilateral cease-fire with the Taliban to begin next Tuesday. U.S. military officials said that U.S. troops would honor the ceasefire with the Taliban, but that counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and other terrorist group will continue (New York Times)
Kabul Bombing Targets Afghan Clerics
A suicide bomber killed at least fourteen people today as religious scholars were leaving a Kabul gathering. Clerics had issued a fatwa during the event condemning war and insurgency. The Taliban denied involvement in the attack (Tolo)
Some Taliban Fighters Talking With Government, Says U.S. Commander
Some mid- and senior-level Taliban militants are communicating with Afghan officials “off the stage”, General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said yesterday (Reuters)
Separately, a series of strikes over ten days in late May reportedly killed more than seventy Taliban leaders in Helmand province (NATO Resolute Support)
U.S. Efforts in Afghanistan ‘Mostly Failed,’ Says Report
The $4.7 billion U.S. stabilization effort in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2017 “often exacerbated conflicts, enabled corruption, and bolstered support for insurgents,” the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report released yesterday (Tolo)
Dozens Dead in Fighting Across Afghanistan
Local officials in Ghazni province report that more than forty security forces personnel have been killed over several days of heavy fighting in eastern Afghanistan, and that the Taliban has taken control of two districts in the province (Voice of America)
Separately, at least sixteen people were killed in an explosion in Kandahar yesterday, as bomb disposal teams failed to defuse a car bomb (New York Times)
U.S. Watchdog Says New Afghanistan Strategy Shows Little Result
The revamped U.S. strategy in Afghanistan has made little progress against the Taliban, U.S. inspectors general said in a new report, which noted there continues to be a high risk of casualties among civilians, as well as Afghan and U.S. forces (Associated Press)
Afghan Forces Regain Control of Provincial Capital
Afghan security forces, backed by U.S. air power and drone strikes, cleared Taliban fighters out of the city of Farah, the capital of western Farah province near the Iranian border, after the militants assaulted and overran several areas of the city yesterday. Since the Taliban announced the start of the annual spring offensive last month, they have seized or threatened district centers in at least six provinces across the country (Reuters)
Taliban Kill Dozens of Afghan Police Officers
More than thirty police officers were killed in western Farah province overnight in attacks by the Taliban on police bases in separate districts (Reuters)
Several Explosions Reported in Kabul
At least five people were killed and more than fifteen wounded in attacks on police stations in two Kabul neighborhoods today. The Taliban and the Islamic State each claimed responsibility for one of the attacks (Associated Press)
Scores of Children Killed or Wounded in Afghan Strike
An air strike by the Afghan Air Force on an alleged Taliban target in Kunduz province last month killed thirty-six people and injured more than seventy others, according to a new UN report. Eighty-one of the casualties were children. The government had reported fifty suspected militants were killed in the strike (Tolo)
Bombing in Afghanistan Kills Seventeen
A bombing at a mosque being used a voter registration center in eastern Khost province yesterday killed at least seventeen people and wounded nearly forty others, according to local officials (BBC)
The number of Afghan security forces, including military personnel and police, stood at 296,400 in January of this year, a 10.6 percent drop from a year earlier, according to a new report from the U.S. inspector general for Afghanistan (Reuters)
Separately, one U.S. service member was killed and another injured in an attack in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, marking the second U.S. military combat death in 2018 (New York Times)
Dozens Dead in Twin Bombings in Kabul
Coordinated suicide bombings in Afghanistan’s capital killed at least twenty-nine people, including several journalists who were covering the first blast, and wounded nearly fifty others. The Islamic State claimed the attacks; the initial target was the headquarters of the national intelligence agency in the city’s Shash Darak neighborhood, which also hosts several foreign embassies and NATO (Washington Post)
Taliban Launches Annual Spring Offensive
The militant group announced its new combat push despite a peace process proposed by the government. It comes as preparations are underway for long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections, which are set to be held in October (Voice of America)
Coalition Bombs in Afghanistan Hit Fifteen-Year High
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan dropped 1,186 weapons on the country in the first quarter of 2018, a record high for any three-month period over the last fifteen years. The United States has not published air strike data for 2001–2003 (Voice of America)
Dozens Killed in Afghanistan in Attack on Kabul Voter Center
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack yesterday that killed nearly sixty people and wounded more than on hundreds others outside a voter registration center in a predominantly Shia neighborhood of Kabul (RFE/RL)
The attack was the fifth against such centers in a week (Tolo)
Bombing Kills Five in Eastern Afghanistan
A roadside bomb killed five and wounded fourteen other in the eastern Nangarhar province, Afghan official said, blaming the Taliban who regularly plant roadside bombs in the region (Associated Press)
Taliban Reject Participation in Upcoming Afghan Elections
The Taliban issued a statement rejecting a call by President Ashraf Ghani for the militant group to participate in October parliamentary and district elections, saying that voters were “cheated” in past elections and decisions were ultimately made by U.S. officials (Tolo)
Clashes Break Out on Afghanistan-Pakistan Border
Several people were reported dead, including at least two Pakistani soldiers and two Afghan police officers, in clashes yesterday in the eastern Afghan province of Khost (RFE/RL)
Fresh clashes broke out along the border in Paktia province today (Tolo)
Separately, at least 26 government security officers were killed in attacks on government outposts on over the weekend in northern and eastern Afghanistan, and two schools were burned down (New York Times)