From warlord to Afghan presidential candidate - Associated Press

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

News Type: USIP in the News

From American ally to U.S.-declared terrorist, and now a presidential candidate in Saturday’s polls, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s past is inextricably linked to Afghanistan’s volatile history over four decades of war. In an interview in his sprawling compound in the Afghan capital this week...

Karzai says Afghan election threatens peace - Associated Press

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

News Type: USIP in the News

A presidential election that is days away in Afghanistan threatens the troubled nation’s best chance of making peace with the Taliban and ending 18 years of war, former President Hamid Karzai told The Associated Press on Tuesday, comparing the vote to asking a heart patient to...

Taliban want US deal, but some in bigger hurry than others - Associated Press

Thursday, September 12, 2019

News Type: USIP in the News

Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders agreed they wanted a deal with the United States, but some were in more of a hurry than others. Taliban negotiators were at odds with their Council of Leaders, or shura, about whether to travel to Camp David even before...

Karzai worries Pakistan talks risk peace pact - AP

Saturday, February 16, 2019

News Type: USIP in the News

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that previously unscheduled peace talks between the Taliban and the United States in Pakistan risk engulfing the country in regional rivalries. In an interview with The Associated Press in the capital Kabul, Karzai worried that the accelerated peace process was being hijacked by...

Huge attack shows Taliban strength at outset of talks

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

News Type: USIP in the News

With one of the deadliest attacks of Afghanistan’s 17-year insurgency just hours before a new round of peace talks, the Taliban rammed home its message that it intends to agree any settlement from a position of strength on the...

Chaotic and violent Afghan parliamentary elections draw to a close - AP

Saturday, October 20, 2018

News Type: USIP in the News

Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in eight years suffered from violence and chaos Saturday, with a multitude of attacks killing at least 3 people, key election workers failing to show up and many polling stations staying open hours later than scheduled to handle long lines of voters. Problems surrounding the elections — already three years overdue — threaten to compromise the credibility of polls which an independent monitoring group said were also marred by incidences of ballot stuffing and intimidation by armed men affiliated with candidates in 19 of...

Why is the U.S. talking to the Taliban? - PBS NewsHour

Friday, August 17, 2018

News Type: USIP in the News

When the Afghan government and Taliban fighters declared a cease-fire in mid-June for the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, there were three days of blissful quiet. Since then, the Taliban and the Islamic State group, which was not part of the temporary truce, have unleashed attacks...

Taliban’s political stature rises with talks in Uzbekistan - Associated Press

Sunday, August 12, 2018

News Type: USIP in the News

In a rare diplomatic foray and the strongest sign yet of increasing Taliban political clout in the region, the head of the insurgents’ political office led a delegation to Uzbekistan to meet senior Foreign Ministry officials there, Uzbek and Taliban officials said. Taliban political chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai represented the insurgents in the four-day talks that ended on Friday and included meetings with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister...

Brazen Taliban attack raises pressure on Afghan forces - Associated Press

Friday, August 10, 2018

News Type: USIP in the News

A brazen and bloody overnight assault Friday by the Taliban on a key provincial capital in central Afghanistan has increased pressure on U.S.-backed Afghan forces that are withering under relentless attacks, prompting President Ashraf Ghani to call an emergency meeting of his security officials. While government security forces in the city of Ghazni repulsed the multipronged attack with the help of U.S. air support, Taliban insurgents remained...