Afghanistan’s president has announced the release of 175 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture. Ashraf Ghani was responding to demands submitted to him by a traditional council, or loya jirga, which met in Kabul this week to discuss peace. The…
Taliban ‘not seeking to seize Afghanistan’ (BBC)
The Taliban official who has led the group’s peace negotiations with the US has told the BBC the insurgents do not want to seize “the whole country by [military] power”. “It will not bring peace to Afghanistan,” Sher Mohammad Abbas…
India rejects Trump’s ‘sermons’ on Afghanistan (Nation)
India’s ruling and opposition parties condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments this week mocking New Delhi’s role in Afghanistan, where the South Asian country has invested billions of dollars in economic projects and military training. The U.S. and India have…
Afghan presidential election delayed by three months (BBC)
Next year’s presidential election in Afghanistan has been postponed by three months, election authority sources say. It was initially due in April. A new date in mid-July or early August is to be announced on Thursday. Many potential candidates had…
Boy who wore plastic bag to look like Messi forced to flee home by Taliban (Metro)
An Afghan boy who won the hearts of football fans across the world after wearing a homemade Lionel Messi shirt has been forced to leave his home by the Taliban. Murtaza Ahmadi, seven, was smuggled out of Ghazni by his…
Nigeria third most terrorised country, says report (Nation)
Nigeria is still the third most terrorised country in the world, according to the 2018 Global Terrorism Index. The report, released on Wednesday, blamed the spate of terrorism in Nigeria and the “increase in violence involving Fulani extremists, even as…
At least 22 Afghan police killed in Taliban ambush (Vanguard)
At least 22 police were killed in a Taliban ambush in western Afghanistan, a health official said Monday, in another blow to Afghan forces already suffering record casualties. The attack on the police convoy in Farah province on Sunday also…