WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has met its goal of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500 by Friday, a drawdown that may have violated a last-minute congressional prohibition. The reduction could complicate matters for the incoming Biden administration, which must determine how to...
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan forces killed a provincial council member suspected of ties with the Taliban during a gunbattle in western Ghor province, the Afghan intelligence service said late Thursday. The fighting near the provincial capital of Faroz Koh also killed one officer and wounded another,...
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces raided two militant hideouts in a former insurgent stronghold in Pakistan's northwest Thursday, triggering shootouts that left three soldiers and two insurgents dead, the military said. The separate raids took place in the North Waziristan district of Khyber...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused Iran of having secret ties with the al-Qaida network and imposed new sanctions on several senior Iranian officials. Pompeo’s comments come just a week before the Trump administration leaves office and appeared aimed at...
ISLAMABAD (AP) — An influential Afghan Shiite leader is visiting Pakistan where members of the minority sect are still reeling from the brutal killing of 11 Shiite coal miners, nine of whom were Afghan immigrants, earlier this month. The miners, who were abducted and killed by militants from the Islamic...
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen riding on a motorcycle shot and killed a policeman in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday as he escorted a team of polio workers. The attack in the district of Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province came on the second day of a nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign that...
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's military said Monday it has nearly completed a fence along the border with Afghanistan, which Islamabad says is necessary to prevent militant attacks from both sides. Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar, spokesman for Pakistan’s armed forces, said more than 83% of the fence along...
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Despite a steady rise in coronavirus cases, Pakistan on Monday launched a five-day vaccination campaign against polio amid tight security, hoping to eradicate the crippling children’s disease this year. The drive is the first anti-polio campaign in 2021. The previous campaign took...
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A roadside bomb exploded in Afghanistan's capital Sunday, killing at least three people in a vehicle. It was the latest attack to take place as government negotiators in Qatar resume peace talks with the Taliban. Tariq Arian, spokesman for the interior minister, said a spokesman...
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The latest round of peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators that began this week in Qatar has been off to a slow start as concerns grow over a recent spike in violence across Afghanistan. The talks, which are taking place in Qatar where the Taliban maintain a...