Mustafa Sarwar

NATO’s Afghanistan Representative Sees Peace Talks Soon

Stefano Pontecorvo, NATO’s new Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan, indicated that long awaited peace negotiations between the Taliban and the representatives of the Islamic Republic, the current political system, will soon begin after negotiators recover from coronavirus infections.

With A Power-sharing Agreement In Sight, Afghan Political Feud Expected To End

Following months of intense political squabbling Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his top political rival former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah are now set to conclude another power-sharing agreement.

China Ramps Up Role In Afghanistan Ahead of U.S. Withdrawal 

As the United States and its allies begin what looks like a final drawdown of their forces from Afghanistan, China appears to be expanding its role and influence in the country.

Afghan Defense Minister Vows To Preserve Achievements Of The Past Two Decades

Asadullah Khalid, a former spy chief and current Afghan defense minister, says his country’s forces are committed to preserving the gains of the past two decades.

NATO Envoy: Afghans Need To Benefit From Reduction In Violence

Nicholas Kay, NATO’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, says that both the Afghan security forces and civilians need to see a significant reduction in violence as part of an imminent peace deal between the Taliban and the United States.

Afghan Migrants In Sweden Say Deportation Is A ‘Death Warrant’

Some 7,000 Afghan migrants in Sweden face an uncertain future after authorities handed them formal deportation orders requiring them to return to Afghanistan.

Afghan War Takes Heavy Toll On Schoolchildren

Will The IS Leader’s Killing Undermine Afghanistan Branch?

After years of fighting against the Taliban and military operations by Afghan and U.S. forces in Afghanistan’s mountainous east, an affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group has proved resilient.

Fear Lingers In Remote Afghan District After Taliban Are Pushed Out

Reading Afghan Challenger’s Motives Amid Political Acrimony

One of the frontrunners for Afghanistan’s presidency is carefully playing his cards as he presses for victory in another election apparently snowballing into a dispute between the leading candidates.

Are The Taliban Capable Of Coexistence?

As the United States and the Taliban inch toward an agreement, the pivotal question of whether the hard-line Islamist movement will be able to peacefully coexist or merge into the more secular Western-backed Afghan republic looms large.

Ultra-Radical Islamists Recruiting At Afghan Universities

A range of hard-line Islamist groups including the ultra-radical Islamic State (IS) are attempting to recruit on Afghan university campuses to turn the seats of higher learning into sanctuaries and breeding grounds for their violent campaigns and revolutionary ideologies.

IS Militants Pose Major Threat In Afghanistan

Nearly two decades after a major U.S.-led military campaign toppled Afghanistan’s hard-line Taliban regime for hosting Al-Qaeda, senior U.S. and NATO officials are saying that the ultra-radical Islamic State (IS) militants in Afghanistan are a major threat capable of inspiring attacks in the West.

Thousands Displaced Amid IS, Taliban Clashes In Eastern Afghanistan

Clashes between the Islamic State militants (IS) and the Taliban have forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes in two provinces in eastern Afghanistan.

In Push For Afghan Peace, Society Weighs Tradition And Modernity

NATO Wants Guarantees Of Taliban’s Counterterrorism Pledge

Taliban Revive Harsh Rule In A Remote Afghan Province

Now billing themselves as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, formal name of the Taliban, the movement still focus on curtailing individual freedoms, imposing gender segregation, strict rules, and punishments in the name of Islamic Shari’a law.

Amid U.S. Peace Talks, Taliban Ramp Up Assassinations

As Washington attempts to negotiate peace with the Taliban to bring 17 years of war in Afghanistan to a close, the militant group has ramped up its military campaign by targeting powerful provincial opponents.

Afghan Singer’s Legacy Continues At Home And Abroad

Born in 1945, Afghan singer Ahmad Zahir rose to prominence in the 1960s and early ’70s and became a household name for millions.

Amid IS Attacks, Hazaras Fear Dangerous Sectarian Divide In Afghanistan

Afganistan's Shi'ite Hazara minority is widely fearful of efforts to foment a Shi’a-Sunni divide that could plunge the country into sectarian and political rifts not seen since the fratricidal civil war of the 1990s.