BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan. Tillerson visited Bagram Air Base for talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and other senior officials to outline for them the Trump administration’s new South Asia policy. He also underscored the ongoing … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Afghanistan
Army Sgt. Bergdahl pleading guilty to desertion, misbehavior
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl told a military judge on Monday that he’s pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. “I understand that leaving was against the law,” said Bergdahl, whose decision to walk off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009 prompted intense search and recovery missions, during … Continue reading
US-Canadian family held 5 years by militants leaves Pakistan
WASHINGTON (AP) — The parents of an American woman freed with her family after five years of captivity say they are elated, but also angry at their son-in law for taking their daughter to Afghanistan. “Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable,” … Continue reading
Family held captive by Taliban-linked group released
ISLAMABAD (AP) — An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. U.S. officials say Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua … Continue reading
Afghanistan wants more US help in fight against Taliban, IS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghanistan wants the United States to send more forces to help meet shortfalls in the battle against the Taliban and the Islamic State group, the nation’s top diplomat said Tuesday. Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani welcomed a recent call by U.S. Gen. John Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan, for a few … Continue reading
Serbia introduces lockdown for migrants in Belgrade center
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia on Wednesday, Feb. 1 introduced a lockdown for migrants in their refugee center outside Belgrade after an alleged attack against a woman walking with her children. The measure comes amid widespread claims that the migrants are being forcefully pushed back and beaten when they try to enter Hungary and Croatia, … Continue reading
Canadian man and his wife kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Tuesday it is evaluating a video released by the Afghan Taliban showing a Canadian man and his American wife warning that their Afghan captors will kill them and their children unless the Kabul government ends its executions of Taliban prisoners. The video, which has not been independently verified … Continue reading
Militants attack American University in Afghanistan, 1 dead
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Militants attacked the American University of Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least one person and wounding another 18, officials said. AP photographer Massoud Hossaini was in a classroom with 15 students when he heard an explosion on the southern flank of the campus. “I went to the window to see what … Continue reading
Afghan president condemns killing of NPR reporters in south
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The president of Afghanistan on Monday condemned the killings of David Gilkey, a veteran news photographer and video editor for National Public Radio, and Afghan journalist Zabihullah Tamanna in an insurgent ambush while on assignment. Gilkey and Tamanna were traveling Sunday in the south with an Afghan army unit near Marjah … Continue reading
Amnesty says 1.2 million Afghans internally displaced by war
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Amnesty International said Tuesday May 24th, that more than 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to flee their homes due to violence in the past three years and urged the Kabul government and the international community to tackle the country’s growing crisis of refugees internally displaced by war. Those numbers are … Continue reading
Dozens killed in Taliban attack on Afghan security agency
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban attackers in Afghanistan staged an assault on a government security agency in the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday, Apr. 19, morning, killing at least 28 people and wounding more than 320. The assault, which include at least two attackers and a car rigged with explosives, came a week after the Taliban announced … Continue reading
AP Explains: Violence against Christians in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The suicide bombing in the city of Lahore on Easter underscores how Pakistan’s Christian minority has become an easy target for the country’s Islamic militants, although Muslims also were among the victims. There are barely 2.5 million Christians in the mostly Muslim country of 180 million, and they say they worry about … Continue reading
Afghan official: Indian consulate attack kills 2, wounds 19
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — At least two civilians have been killed in an attempted car bomb attack on the Indian consulate in the eastern city of Jalalabad, an Afghan official said on Wednesday, Mar. 2. Another 19 civilians were wounded in the suicide bombing. He says all five attackers were killed, said Attaullah Khogyani, the … Continue reading
Change in command of US-NATO forces in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Army General John W. “Mick” Nicholson took command Wednesday, Mar. 2, of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, inheriting America’s longest war and a vicious Talban-led insurgency. Nicholson, 58, took over from U.S. Army General John F. Campbell, who oversaw the end of the international combat mission in 2014 and a … Continue reading
Top US commander says war in Afghanistan is not a lost cause
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top American commander in Afghanistan told lawmakers on Tuesday, Feb 2., that the war is not a lost cause and underscored his optimism with a personal story about his son, an Army sergeant preparing for his third deployment to the war-torn country. In sobering testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, … Continue reading