Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has opened a four-day Loya Jirga, or grand assembly, with more than 3,200 delegates seeking to agree on a common approach to peace talks with the Taliban.
Afghanistan is scheduled on April 29 to convene a rare Loya Jirga -- a traditional gathering of elders, religious scholars, and prominent Afghans.
The United States, Russia, and China have agreed on the goal of withdrawing foreign forces from Afghanistan and to seek an "inclusive Afghan-led" peace process, the three countries declared in a joint statement.
Differences between Afghanistan’s hard-line Taliban and the Afghan government hang over a planned weekend gathering in Qatar seen as a stepping stone toward eventual negotiations between the two.
The Afghan government says it will send 250 delegates for talks with the Taliban in Qatar this week that are seen as a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the nearly 18-year war.
American and Taliban officials have indicated their months-long peace dialogue remains on track, despite the intensification of hostilities in Afghanistan that came with the start of the insurgent group's spring offensive.
Pakistan’s leading rights watchdog says it has documented the “unprecedented level” to which the freedom of expression and press freedom has shrunk in the country.
A Taliban spokesman says the UN Security Council has at least temporarily removed sanctions on members of the militant group’s negotiating team.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi said he has "reliable intelligence" that India will attack his country later this month and has informed the UN about the matter.
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