Ashraf Ghani

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Taliban Makes a Vow to All Afghan Women

Officials say right to education will be protected, urge women to join government

(Newser) - An Afghan journalist showed her outrage Monday during a Pentagon press briefing, speaking of the fears of the Afghan people, especially women, now that the Taliban has marched on the capital. "I'm very upset today because Afghan woman didn't expect that overnight all the Taliban came,"...

Afghan President Leaves Nation as Taliban Reach Kabul

Ashraf Ghani flies out with militants on brink of total takeover of Afghanistan

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s embattled president left the country Sunday, joining his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban and signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan, per the AP . The Taliban, which for hours had been in the outskirts of Kabul, announced...

Amid Stunning Taliban Advance, Afghan Leader Finally Speaks

Ashraf Ghani: We won't give up our 'achievements' over past 2 decades

(Newser) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivered a televised speech on Saturday, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains, in which he vowed not to give up the "achievements" of the 20 years since the US toppled the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks. "We have started consultations, inside...

Austin Travels, Unannounced, to Afghanistan for Talks

Defense secretary, Ghani meet after Biden said withdrawal date would be tough to meet

(Newser) - With the scheduled May 1 withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan approaching, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin flew unannounced to Kabul on Sunday for talks, saying the US wants "a transition to something else." In the first visit by a member of the Biden administration, Austin met with...

Afghanistan to Meet Condition Set by Taliban

President Ghani says he'll sign decree freeing final 400 prisoners

(Newser) - Thousands of delegates from across Afghanistan endorsed releasing the nation's final 400 Taliban prisoners in an effort to encourage the start of peace talks. "The Taliban have said that if the 400 prisoners are released the direct talks between our negotiating team and the Taliban will start three...

1.5K Taliban Prisoners Are About to Go Free

Afghan president making release as goodwill gesture to spur negotiations

(Newser) - After a series of delays, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree early Wednesday promising to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture to get intra-Afghan negotiations started. A recent peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban called for the release of up to 5,...

This News Could Finally Tip the Odds in Taliban Talks

Looks like President Ashraf Ghani has a 2nd term

(Newser) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appears to have narrowly won a second term, according to preliminary results from September's balloting that were announced Sunday, although his main challenger rejected the outcome as illegitimate, the AP reports. If the outcome stands despite the complaints of ballot fraud, it could give Ghani...

The Bride and Groom Survived. 63 Others Didn't

Afghanistan vows to crush ISIS after wedding attack

(Newser) - Afghanistan's president on Monday vowed to "eliminate" all safe havens of the Islamic State group as the country marked a subdued 100th Independence Day after a horrific wedding attack claimed by the local ISIS affiliate. President Ashraf Ghani's comments came as Afghanistan mourns at least 63 people,...

A Deadly Blast, 'Then I Couldn't Find Anyone'

ISIS claims suicide bombing at Kabul wedding that killed at least 63

(Newser) - The Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the Kabul wedding blast that killed at least 63 on Saturday night. A statement by the militant group posted on an ISIS-linked website on Sunday says that a Pakistani ISIS fighter seeking martyrdom targeted a large Shiite gathering...

Afghanistan Wants Clarification About Trump's Comments

US president said he could wipe Afghanistan off the Earth if it came to that

(Newser) - President Trump's matter-of-fact statement about destroying Afghanistan isn't sitting well in that country. "I could win that war in a week, I just don't want to kill 10 million people," Trump said Monday as he met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Oval...

'No Choice': Why Afghans Keep Signing On for Deadly Duty

New York Times: Options are limited in war-torn country

(Newser) - It's a tough choice people face in Afghanistan, where almost constant war has raged on for more than four decades: Keep fighting and sustaining massive casualties, or broker peace with the Taliban to end these mass deaths—and risk putting enemies into power who may then slaughter members of...

Deal Reportedly Close to End Long US War in Afghanistan

'We have a draft of the framework,' US envoy tells 'New York Times' after Taliban talks

(Newser) - The wording is couched to be sure, but the New York Times reports that a deal is in the works to end America's nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan. Here is how the chief US negotiator in talks between the US and the Taliban puts it to the newspaper: "...

50 Killed in Attack on Gathering of Clerics

Afghanistan death toll expected to rise

(Newser) - A suicide bomber targeted a gathering of hundreds of Islamic scholars in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing at least 50 people as Muslims marked the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad. Another 83 people were wounded in the attack, with 20 of them in critical condition and the toll likely...

Kabul Attack Called 'Crime Against Humanity'

Dozens died in suicide attack on Shiite center

(Newser) - Authorities say an attack on a Shiite Muslim cultural center in the Afghan capital has left at least 35 people dead and 20 wounded. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish says an unknown number of suicide attackers set off an explosion outside the Kabul center before storming it, the AP reports....

Pics From Secret Tillerson Meeting Raise Eyebrows

Expert says one photo was doctored, and both US and Afghanistan claimed wrong meeting location

(Newser) - Rex Tillerson's visit to Afghanistan Monday was cloaked in mystery in more ways than one. Following the secretary of state's surprise meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani—which was only reported after the fact—the US Embassy released a photo of the two men seated together in a...

Karzai: Ghani a 'Traitor' for Allowing MOAB

Afghanistan's former leader wants the US out of his country after massive bombing

(Newser) - Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai is mincing no words in assessing the United States' bombing of an ISIS stronghold with its second-largest non-nuclear device, reports the New York Times : "Shame, shame," he says of current President Ashraf Ghani's admission that his government coordinated the bombing with the...

Taliban Issues a Very Odd 'Special Message'

Leader would like everyone to please plant trees

(Newser) - Springtime in Afghanistan usually brings a spike in violence as the Taliban takes advantage of the thaw to launch a wave of fresh attacks, reports the AP . But the Taliban's leader has just issued a statement calling on Afghans to plant more trees. In a public letter issued Sunday...

US Slows Withdrawal of Troops From Afghanistan

About 10,000 will be there at year's end, not 5,500

(Newser) - Afghan's new president gets along much better with the US than did predecessor Hamid Karzai, and today that paid off for him: President Obama agreed to Ashraf Ghani's request to slow down the withdrawal of US troops from the country. Under the original plan, nearly half of the...

US Eyes Slow Afghan Exit
 US Eyes Slow Afghan Exit 
Feb 22, 2015 1:40 PM CST

US Eyes Slow Afghan Exit

And Afghanistan readies for new Taliban talks

(Newser) - The US is considering slowing its military exit from Afghanistan by keeping a larger-than-planned troop presence this year and next because the new Afghan government is proving to be a more reliable partner, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said yesterday. Carter, on his first overseas trip since starting the Pentagon...

US, NATO Formally End Afghanistan War

Afghan forces set to take over as Taliban remains deadly as ever

(Newser) - The United States and NATO formally ended their war in Afghanistan today with a ceremony at military headquarters in Kabul as the insurgency they fought for 13 years remains as ferocious and deadly as at any time since the 2001 invasion that unseated the Taliban. The symbolic ceremony marked the...

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