And those other elements have come out of those safe havens that ultimately threaten my troops, threaten the Afghan troops, and the Afghan society, the Afghan civilians, and ultimately the Afghan government.
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Some Afghan and U.S. officials say the campaign is alienating the Afghan population and undermining American efforts to strengthen Afghan institutions.
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The American bombs also struck the Afghan outpost, with from four to eight Afghan soldiers killed, according to varying Afghan estimates.
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Several hundred Afghan forces were involved, according to Afghan officials.
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The Afghan army is taking heavy losses defending Afghan territory.
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It was by Afghan people and for the Afghan people.
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One Afghan soldier was killed, Afghan officials had said on Monday.
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An Afghan official denied that Afghan forces had fired into Pakistan.
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Last week, Chinese, American, Pakistan and Afghan officials met in Kabul, the Afghan capital, to discuss how to renew the stalled Afghan peace process.
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In northern Samangan, Taliban fighters nearly overran an Afghan military outpost, killing at least six Afghan police officers and soldiers, according to Afghan officials.
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Supplemental Afghan air power, flown with Afghan markings, would include a contractor safety pilot, but only the onboard Afghan officer would make weapons decisions.
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"Initial reports indicate this was an Afghan-on-Afghan incident," said Col.
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"We remain absolutely committed to an Afghan-led Afghan reconciliation," Mattis said.
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"It's a very bad situation for Afghan people and Afghan students," he said.
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The SCA has more than 6,000 Afghan employees operating in 14 Afghan provinces.
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The Afghan Border Police officer's body was flown to Kabul, the Afghan capital.
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The attack happened as U.S. and Afghan forces were conducting a mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's (ISIS) Afghan branch, according to Afghan officials.
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The Afghan Ministry of Defense said in a statement released Sunday that an Afghan soldier was also killed in the attack on the joint US-Afghan operation.
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"The U.S. and Afghan presidents agreed on the resumption of peace negotiations but with close participation and coordination with the Afghan government," a senior Afghan official said.
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Of the ones given to the Afghan government, the Afghan National Army got 225 bases, the Afghan National Police got 118 and other government entities got 48.
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Trump administration officials have promised to use their voice to protect the role of women in Afghan society, but the US is punting any formal decisions about Afghan women to the intra-Afghan negotiations that are set to occur among the Afghan government, members of Afghan civil society and the Taliban later this month.
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Rahmatullah Raufi, a former Afghan Army general who now commands the Afghan Border Police.
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At least seven Afghan soldiers on board were killed, the Afghan Defense Ministry said.
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"But the Afghan government totally ignores Afghan women on the peace process," she said.
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Afghan officials at the time said 3,000 Afghan staff members had been laid off.
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A senior Afghan official said the Afghan government had signed off on the reduction.
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Second, the new strategy seeks to empower the Afghan government and the Afghan people.
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But Afghan ground commanders complain that calls for Afghan air support often go unheeded.
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Afghan leaders have for years voiced similar frustrations about the freedom enjoyed by Afghan Taliban militants to organize attacks on Western and Afghan soldiers from their bases in Pakistan.
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The report verified 38 cases of children being used by Afghan national security forces, including 27 recruited by the Afghan Local Police and one by the Afghan National Army.
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The agreement — negotiated without Afghan government representatives or civil society, including Afghan women — supports the release of Taliban prisoners ahead of intra-Afghan talks and promises to remove sanctions.
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The United States must remain committed throughout to strengthening the Afghan state, including support for the Afghan Army, so that the Afghan government delegation has a strong negotiating position.
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We couldn't start that way with the Afghan army because there was no Afghan army.
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To be sustainable, it must also focus on stabilizing the Afghan government and Afghan economy.
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Our goal is a stabilized Afghanistan achieved through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process.
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Earlier, three Afghan officials had said that two to six Afghan soldiers were also killed.
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A central failing of Pakistan's Afghan policy has been its failure to generate Afghan trust.
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These have corroded the Afghan army and permeate the Afghan police and anti-Taliban militias.
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Bolstering the number of elite Afghan units like the Afghan Special Security Forces is a central tenet of the Afghan government's strategy for defeating ISIS and the Taliban, and NATO hopes to help the government double the number of Afghan commandos in the coming years.
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NATO Soldier Killed as Concern Rises Over Afghan Insider Attacks: An Afghan commando targeted NATO soldiers, days after an infiltrator killed a top Afghan commander and wounded an American general.
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Aside from the Afghan security guard, the BBC said an Afghan driver who worked for the network had died, as did a technology worker for the Afghan television channel ToloNews.
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Resolving deeper disputes, about how Afghanistan should be governed, will depend on Afghan-to-Afghan talks.
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Afghan neutrality, backed by the United States, should substantially reduce Pakistan's fears of Indo-Afghan aggression.
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That film, about a reporter in Afghanistan, failed to cast Afghan actors in key Afghan roles.
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Sopko said the Afghan air force and Afghan special forces have "improved dramatically" with US assistance.
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The Afghan Foreign Ministry identified one of the dead as Abdullah Waheed Poyan, an Afghan diplomat.
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US commanders would bring in additional advisers to support Afghan special forces, the Afghan air force, and the Afghan army and police professional schools, such as the infantry and artillery schools.
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While the Taliban refuse to negotiate with the Afghan government, the Afghan government has thus far failed to meaningfully incorporate women into peace building initiatives in preparation for intra-Afghan dialogue.
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It is incumbent upon the United States and the Afghan government to underscore the indispensable message that Afghan women are and must remain key participants in the fabric of Afghan society.
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Qais Mangal, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, confirmed that the airstrikes had taken place after another Afghan unit attacked a joint convoy of Afghan Special Forces and American troops.
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Bush was in Washington and met with Afghan first lady H.E. Rula Ghani to promote their joint effort calling for the advancement of Afghan businesswomen as part the US-Afghan Women's Council.
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Why it matters: The Taliban has repeatedly refused to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, a long-standing impediment to the U.S. strategy of an "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" peace process.
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They said that Afghan-to-Afghan negotiations remain the goal of any engagement with the militants, however.
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The U.S. and regional powers insist that the peace process should be "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned".
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The attack took place at Kandahar Air Field, inside an Afghan Special Forces compound, Afghan officials said.
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Shanahan reportedly met with Afghan military leaders, and was set to talk with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
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But Trump has secured agreement from the Afghan president that U.S. companies will "help … develop" Afghan resources.
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Bahadur has traditionally fought Afghan and NATO forces across the nearby Afghan border rather than Pakistani troops.
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Assuming this obstacle can be overcome, those Afghan-to-Afghan negotiations will be difficult and time consuming.
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A declaration issued at the end of conference supports an "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" political settlement.
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Separate attacks have left at least 20 people — 20 Afghan soldiers — More than 20 Afghan soldiers — Dead.
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Separate attacks have left at least 19 people — 20 Afghan soldiers — More than 20 Afghan soldiers — Dead.
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Separate attacks have left at least 20 people — 20 Afghan soldiers — More than 20 Afghan soldiers — Dead.
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A senior Afghan security official in Kabul said the Afghan government considered Mr. Khan a Taliban infiltrator.
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There are genuine underlying grievances that have to do with Afghan politics, various cleavages within Afghan society.
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Three Georgian soldiers, one Afghan interpreter and seven Afghan civilians were also injured in the attack. Gen.
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Earlier in the week, a person in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on Afghan troops and American forces in Sherzad District in Nangarhar, killing two American service members and one Afghan soldier.
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Pakistan insists it wants to help the Afghan peace process, and last week it hosted a meeting of senior Afghan politicians and members of the Taliban as part of an intra-Afghan dialogue.
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There were soldiers living 24 hours a day beside Afghan soldiers of Afghan police trying to train them.
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There would also be great resistance among Afghan Shias to any sort of mobilisation against the Afghan state.
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Afghan security forces issued a formal complaint over Iran providing logistics and military support for the Afghan Taliban.
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Afghan carpets are really Afghan-Pakistani carpets: woven in Afghanistan, but usually cut, cleaned and sold in Pakistan.
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"We will continue to defend the Afghan security forces," he said, as quoted by the Afghan channel ToloNews.
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Afghan deaths in Mr. Assad's war have forced several Afghan clerics to speak out against the Iranian strategy.
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Earlier, an American airstrike in southern Afghanistan accidentally killed at least two Afghan policemen, according to Afghan officials.
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Several attackers then entered the base, engaging in a firefight with Afghan and coalition forces, Afghan officials said.
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Although the Afghan and American militaries no longer publish Afghan government casualties, an estimated 50,000 Afghan security force members have been killed in the last five years — sometimes more than a dozen a day.
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Mattis is expected to meet Afghan officials and U.S. troops while in Kabul, but his arrival coincided with an announcement that his Afghan counterpart, Defence Minister Abdullah Habibi, and the Afghan army chief of staff had resigned after more than 140 Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack last week.
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The shortages include personnel to train parts of the Afghan security apparatus, like the Afghan special operations forces and the Afghan Air Force, both of which have been championed by American and Afghan officials, including President Ashraf Ghani, as integral to the country's four-year "road map" to drive violence down.
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Under such conditions, the mini-surge of 85033,900 additional U.S. troops would be crucial in tilting the Afghan stalemate in favor of the Afghan government and would help boost the offensive capabilities of Afghan forces.
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This would include doubling the size of Afghan special forces to 30,000 soldiers, bolstering the Afghan air force and improving the leadership and intelligence collection capabilities of Afghan forces that will serve as force multipliers.
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He said nothing about adding support for the Afghan national police and Afghan local police, which have shown they lack the capability to provide local security and comprise well over 40 percent of Afghan forces.
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Cricket first took hold among Afghan refugees who had fled the Afghan-Soviet War to Pakistan during the 1980s.
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The general also said additional resources were needed to develop the Afghan air force and grow Afghan special forces.
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The Times, quoting two Afghan officials, reported that five or six American soldiers and six Afghan soldiers were killed.
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NATO has committed to maintaining support to Afghan security forces through 22017, helping sustain a struggling Afghan security force.
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According to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, 45,000 Afghan soldiers have been killed since 2014, a demoralizing and unsustainable figure.
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The Associated Press quoted an Afghan official who said the casualties resulted from an attack by an Afghan soldier.
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Abas described his fellow Afghan fighters being pitched into battles that resembled the brutality of the Afghan civil war.
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When attacked, Afghan forces often call for airstrikes by the American-trained Afghan Air Force to dislodge the enemy.
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With the tempo of the Afghan conflict steadily increasing, it was a bad few days for the Afghan government.
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Thus prominent Afghans were rationalizing the killings of Afghan children by the Afghan government in pursuit of the Taliban.
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Despite the reduction in future aircraft for Afghan forces the Afghan Air Force made some positive strides in 2019.
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It has padded Taliban ranks by recruiting among Afghan Sunni refugees in Iran, according to Afghan and Western officials.
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Last fall, the Afghan government made a deal with the European Union that ensured the deportation of Afghan refugees.
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Political turmoil within the Afghan government could also complicate talks by giving Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a weakened hand.
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Throughout decades of war and upheaval, millions of Afghan refugees fled to Iran, where a large Afghan population remains.
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Losses by Afghan security forces had been mounting, yet are now classified under an order from the Afghan government.
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Afghan officials say more than 6,200 Afghan soldiers and police officers were killed and more than 12,000 were wounded.
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In return, the Afghan government appointed Mr. Samad commander of about 70 Afghan Local Police militiamen in Khas Oruzgan District.
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KABUL (Reuters) - A blast in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday caused numerous casualties, Reuters witnesses and Afghan officials said.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declared Sunday to be a national day of mourning in honor of the Afghan forces killed.
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Afghan elites demand that the United States begin bombing Pakistan to force the latter into turning against the Afghan Taliban.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani estimated the Taliban lost nearly 2,000 fighters in its failed attempt to capture an Afghan city.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently announced that about 29,000 Afghan soldiers and police had been killed or wounded since 2015.
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"The United States is not a substitute for the Afghan people or the Afghan government," Nicholson said in a statement.
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In a meeting at Camp Morehead, an American special forces camp training Afghan commandos, the top Afghan Commando, Lt. Gen.
|
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Since 220006, the U.S. has spent more than $2202 billion financing Afghan security forces, including the Afghan military and police.
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More terrorist bombings in Kabul and other Afghan cities would put the Afghan government in a difficult position, he said.
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Within hours, Mr. Khan was arrested by Afghan troops and was taken into custody by Western forces, Afghan officials said.
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Afghan officials have described the weaponry as American-made, suggesting it was either captured, stolen or bought from Afghan forces.
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Leggett said that U.S. forces are responsible for defending their Afghan allies according to agreements between U.S. and Afghan governments.
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Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quickly rejected the deal's requirement to release 28500,6900 Taliban prisoners ahead of intra-Afghan talks.
|
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He said Afghan officials and media played down the civilian toll caused in rural areas by Afghan and American operations.
|
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Four broadcasters for Afghan news outlets were also killed, according to Nai, an Afghan nongovernmental organization working on media freedom.
|
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Afghan, international and Taliban forces will observe a reduced violence period beginning at midnight (1930 GMT), an Afghan official said.
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He is expected to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Munich, a former senior Afghan official said on Wednesday.
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The group has been responsible for suicide bombings against Afghan civilians, as well as attacks on Afghan and American forces.
|
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" Despite the new approach, American officials have insisted that the peace process would still be "Afghan-owned and Afghan-led.
|
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The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on the 209th Afghan Army Corps base near the historic city of Mazar-i-Sharif that has killed at least 140 Afghan soldiers and wounded scores of others.
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U.S. and Czech Troops Investigated for Death of Afghan Prisoner: The prisoner, an Afghan commando, was accused of killing a Czech soldier in one of four deadly insider attacks this year by Afghan soldiers on NATO troops.
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The Afghan military has also failed to train enough air controllers and liaisons, according to a Defense Department Inspector General report, which found that just 2.5% to 7.5% of airstrikes by Afghan aircraft involved tactical Afghan air controllers.
|
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Two other main issues in the process are a ceasefire and talks between the rival Afghan sides, or inter-Afghan talks.
|
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An additional six U.S. service members and three Afghan soldiers were wounded in the incident, according to Afghan Ministry of Defense.
|
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More than 28,000 Afghan security forces and police have been killed since 2015, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said earlier this month.
|
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – An Afghan official says a suicide car bomb attack by the Taliban has killed at least two Afghan soldiers.
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Situation is 'critical' The Trump administration worries that if the Afghan government were to fracture so, too, would the Afghan army.
|
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But the Afghan and Pakistani governments said that all three attackers and seven Afghan forces died, but no Pakistani officials did.
|
|
The MOAB strike, rather than snuffing out Afghan resistance, may instead anneal discordant Afghan insurgent groups together against a common enemy.
|
|
The Afghan government wants coalition backing to double the number of Afghan commandos and special forces, which have been stretched thin.
|
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The Afghan government's exclusion problematically confines the bargaining to the interests of the U.S. and the Taliban, not the Afghan people.
|
|
On Monday, an Afghan border police commander also confirmed that reinforcements had been deployed to the Afghan side of the border.
|
|
Both the American military and the Afghan government declined to comment on whether Afghan forces had intended to target the hospital.
|
|
On the one hand, the United States wants Pakistan to facilitate direct talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government.
|
|
Early in 2007, the Afghan Defense Ministry decided it needed a "new and distinctive uniform" to set the Afghan army apart.
|
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We stand with the Afghan people and the Afghan government as they work to build peace and security in the country.
|
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The Afghan government has given Pakistan a list of specific insurgents with whom it hopes to negotiate, the Afghan official said.
|
|
"The killer was born an Afghan, of Afghan parents who immigrated to the United States," Trump said of Mateen's ethnic background.
|
|
The Afghan government, our international partners and the Afghan Taliban must learn from these days of peace as we move forward.
|
|
Afghan soldiers and police officers are dying in record numbers, and the casualties among Afghan forces have been increasing every year.
|
|
Quickly taken into NATO custody, he was beaten and returned to Afghan troops unconscious, Afghan and American officials told our journalists.
|
|
After a stint of occupation by the Afghan Army, now the Afghan police have an outpost in part of the school.
|
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Zarif expressed Iran's willingness to support dialogue between all Afghan parties with the participation of the Afghan government, according to IRNA.
|
|
That agreement would also set out a roadmap for direct Afghan-to-Afghan talks, mapping out the country's post-war future.
|
|
"They attacked my wife and son because I am serving in the ranks of the Afghan National Army," Sergeant Afghan said.
|
|
"They attacked my wife and son because I am serving in the ranks of the Afghan National Army," Sergeant Afghan said.
|
|
A former Afghan women's soccer player, who recently fled overseas, was critical of FIFA for not penalizing other Afghan federation officials.
|
|
It said Khalilzad continued to coordinate his efforts with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and other Afghan stakeholders.
|
|
Resolute Support, the NATO-led "train, advise and assist" mission in Afghanistan, calculates that there are currently 3,231 women in the Afghan National Police, 1,22013 women in the Afghan National Army, which includes the air force, and 22010 women in the Afghan Special Security Forces, making up, in aggregate, roughly 22014 percent of Afghan security forces.
|
|
While the Trump administration refuses to hold direct negotiations with the Taliban, U.S. officials are still asking Pakistan to facilitate Afghan–Taliban peace talks, as part of the administration's support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
|
|
"According to the Afghan National Army Corps and Afghan National Police Zone commander and a National Directorate of Security chief, the six individuals killed in a strike in Badghis Province are recorded as Afghan Local Police," said Lt. Col.
|
|
Thirteen civilians were killed by American airstrikes in the district of Hesarak in Nangarhar, and six Afghan soldiers were killed in an American airstrike in Oruzgan Province, after Afghan soldiers targeted a joint convoy of Afghan and American forces.
|
|
Afghan village elders sit at an Afghan and U.S. Special Forces base in Deh Bala district, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan July 7, 2018.
|
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said last month that since 2015 more than 28,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed.
|
|
Khan's government is also due to receive U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad and the Afghan Taliban next week for Afghan peace talks.
|
|
The $100 million annual commitment comprises an $80 million contribution to the Afghan National Army and $20 million for the Afghan police.
|
|
Recruitment and retention, a major problems for the Afghan army, both ISIS and the Taliban pay fighters more than the Afghan army.
|
|
A day earlier, two Afghan workers for the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, were killed after gunmen launched an attack.
|
|
At the time, both were advisors stationed overseas: Burkel, to the Afghan Air Force; and Gangnuss, to the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
|
|
According to Afghan officials, the next round of talks between the Taliban and Afghan representatives is slated for this month in Beijing.
|
|
The Taliban often exaggerate claims about attacks on Afghan government targets, as well as against the NATO-led coalition assisting Afghan forces.
|
|
Most of the Afghan men are recruited or drawn from the Afghan diaspora within Iran, a crucial ally of the Assad government.
|
|
Relief in Washington and Kabul was palpable among those who doubted the agreement would lead to serious Afghan-to-Afghan peace talks.
|
|
It also hit the Afghan News Agency, which has an office on the floor above, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.
|
|
Afghan officials said that Pakistani troops crossed on to Afghan soil, prompting a response by border forces and the local tribal force.
|
|
This leaves the remaining coalition forces, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, the Afghan people and potentially Americans vulnerable to attack.
|
|
A criminal investigation of Mr. Keram and three other Afghan soccer officials was believed to be nearing completion, Afghan officials have said.
|
|
Afghan and American forces clashed as the American convoy was leaving the compound, with United States forces shooting one Afghan guard dead.
|
|
By the time he was returned to Afghan forces, around midnight, he had been beaten and was unconscious, the Afghan officials said.
|
|
The Afghan delegation, led by former President Hamid Karzai, spoke of preserving the current Afghan government following any withdrawal of foreign forces.
|
|
At that point, negotiations would begin on March 2000 between the Taliban and the Afghan government, a senior Afghan official told me.
|
|
It would allow American officers to more closely advise Afghan brigades, train more Afghan special operations forces and call in American firepower.
|
|
"My condolences with Afghan people specially people of Kandahar," Ghani said, saying he had ordered Afghan security officials to investigate the incident.
|
|
Afghan peace talks: Afghan politicians began two days of negotiations with Taliban leaders in Moscow, although President Ashraf Ghani did not attend.
|
|
The Afghan government demands that the Taliban negotiate directly with it, accepts democracy and the Afghan constitution, and participates in the government.
|
|
He has gone to the Afghan government, the United Nations and the Afghan Human Rights Commission looking for answers and for help.
|
|
Much of the Afghan response relies on airstrikes, and the Afghan Defense Ministry said its forces had carried out six of them.
|
|
"Afghan National Army reinforcements are making their way to Ghazni city to help the Afghan National Police search and clear the city of insurgents that may still be hiding in the city," said Major Mohammad Farooq, Afghan army 203rd Corps spokesman.
|
|
KABUL, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A gunman in an Afghan army uniform on Wednesday shot and killed at least one international soldier and wounded five at a base in the Afghan capital before being killed himself, an Afghan military official said.
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But despite the strikes against the Afghan leaders, Nicholson also acknowledged that since February the Taliban had managed to capture five rural districts from the Afghan government while saying that Afghan troops managed to recapture all of them within 10 days.
|
|
At a minimum, the United States, perceived widely as the kingmaker in Afghanistan, can use its influence to shape the Afghan political scene by holding Afghan warlords and other undesirables accountable for their nefarious actions within and outside the Afghan government.
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|
AFGHAN GOVERNMENT ROLE Officials privy to the talks had said last week that an agreement with the Taliban would be followed by negotiations on an intra-Afghan political settlement between the Taliban and an Afghan delegation that would include government officials.
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The fourth problem is that the Taliban has consistently refused to negotiate directly with the elected Afghan government, despite the fact that the outcome of their talks with the United States will deeply affect the Afghan people the Afghan government represents.
|
|
KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan soldier were killed when an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on them with a machine gun in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military and two senior Afghan officials said on Sunday.
|
|
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office said in a statement the attack was a part of a joint operation by Afghan and international troops.
|
|
No American or Afghan troops were killed during the offensive, which involved 600 Green Berets and three Afghan commando companies, according to Military.com.
|
|
" Some Afghan men, however, have deemed the campaign as opposed to "Afghan values," the Times reports, with one writing, "My name is Akram.
|
|
An additional six U.S. service members and three Afghan soldiers were wounded in the incident, which both American and Afghan delegations are investigating.
|
|
Background: The Fatemiyoun is an all-Afghan militia group chiefly composed of Iran's Afghan refugee population, comprising mainly Hazara and Tajik ethnic groups.
|
|
Moreover, the Afghan government is beleaguered in part because the Afghan Taliban has itself long enjoyed sanctuary on Pakistan's side of the border.
|
|
He was allegedly killed by a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, who was reported killed by other Afghan forces.
|
|
During the Soviet-Afghan War he fought against the Afghan Mujahideen, and lost a leg defending the eastern city of Jalalabad in 1988.
|
|
Then two gunmen wearing police uniforms overran an Afghan government guesthouse near the Pakistani Consulate, and fought Afghan forces for almost three hours.
|
|
There was no immediate comment from the Afghan government, but neither the Taliban nor the Uzbek foreign ministry statement mentioned the Afghan government.
|
|
The target of the bombing was the headquarters of the Afghan National Civil Order Police, said Sediq Sediqqi, an Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman.
|
|
Dillon C. Baldridge, 22, of Youngsville, North Carolina -- were shot Saturday by an Afghan army commando who was later killed by Afghan forces.
|
|
Fears over India's ties with the Afghan government provide the internal logic for letting the Afghan Taliban use Pakistani soil to foment insurgency.
|
|
Afghan officials, however, denied any fighting on Wednesday, but said an Afghan border guard was killed and five were wounded overnight on Tuesday.
|
|
And a very high, yet undisclosed number of Afghan security force deaths, the actual figure being classified by the US and Afghan governments.
|
|
Kabul says Pakistan harbors militants seeking to overthrow the Afghan government, among them the Haqqani network and the leadership of the Afghan Taliban.
|
|
The emphasis on "Afghan society" appeared aimed at persuading the Taliban to accept an Afghan delegation that does not officially represent the government.
|
|
A new report from the US Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction says the Afghan government only controls about 55.5% of the country.
|
|
She and Afghan first lady Rula Ghani agreed to sit down with me in a rare interview in the Afghan Embassy in Washington.
|
|
During the three-day truce, Afghan journalists, students and diplomats reported unusual scenes of peace between Taliban members and Afghan forces and civilians.
|
|
A spokesman for the Afghan ministry of defense, Mohammad Radmanish, said the IS-K fighters surrendered because of an Afghan army onslaught instead.
|
|
These gestures have cultivated close ties between the Indian and Afghan leaders and have afforded New Delhi significant goodwill among the Afghan people.
|
|
After a heavy firefight, the Afghan government forces recovered the victims' bodies and retreated to a nearby Afghan police base, Mr. Ahmad said.
|
|
And that's why I will always say that, if you try to support Afghan women or even Afghan men, invest in their education.
|
|
KABUL, Afghanistan — Suicide bombers struck a government building in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Monday, killing at least 17 people, Afghan officials said.
|
|
The Taliban's elite Red Unit stormed Afghan Army outposts there from several directions, killing at least 15 Afghan soldiers, according to Lt. Col.
|
|
In the same period, Afghan forces killed about 20 Taliban fighters a day in fending off their attacks, a senior Afghan official said.
|
|
Taliban insurgents are refraining from attacking Afghan civilians for the first time in many years, according to Afghan officials and the insurgents themselves.
|
|
While the current Afghan Constitution, approved in 2004, awards women some hard-earned rights, conservative interpretations of Islamic law still guide Afghan culture.
|
|
"They want to put you in their trap," said one mid-ranking Afghan army lieutenant, who holds a leadership position training Afghan women.
|
|
In addition to holding and influencing territory in Afghan districts and attacking Afghan forces, the group carries out coordinated attacks in many cities.
|
|
And the Pakistanis are responsible for a lot, but there's much, much blame and responsibility that lies on Afghan politicians and Afghan people.
|
|
KABUL, Afghanistan — An American airstrike accidentally killed at least eight Afghan police officers in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, American and Afghan officials said.
|
|
It will confuse the Afghan forces, the Taliban will attack and gain more, and it will affect the morale of the Afghan forces.
|
|
"Afghan Politics" was out for about a month, however, when an electronic file of the book began circulating on Afghan social media accounts.
|
|
Exact data on Afghan forces has been classified by both the Afghan government and the United States, which largely bankrolls the security forces.
|
|
KABUL (Reuters) - Ariana Afghan Airlines' acting CEO Mirwais Mirzakwal on Monday denied reports by Afghan officials that one of its planes had crashed.
|
|
It&aposs unknown if the reduction in the number of UH-60s will hamper Afghan operations or limit lift capability for Afghan forces.
|
|
The talks have also opened a rift between Washington and Kabul, with some Afghan officials accusing the US of sidelining the Afghan government.
|
|
Instead, any American reaction launched from Afghan soil might put more pressure on Afghan officials than any demands by Iran, Mr. Olson said.
|
|
The core Afghan government requirements for a settlement are that the Taliban ceases violence, breaks with international terrorism and accepts the Afghan Constitution.
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Divisions among non-Taliban Afghans have been major impediments in the Afghan government's effectiveness and will weaken their hand in intra-Afghan negotiations.
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Manizha Naderi is an Afghan American and executive director of Women for Afghan Women (WAW), the largest women's non-governmental organization in Afghanistan.
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Their forces remain overwhelmingly outnumbered by the Afghan security forces, and some Afghan units — notably the Special Forces — have demonstrated improved battlefield performance.
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Most of soldiers were said by local officials to be part of the Afghan Border Police, which is part of the Afghan military.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — In an attack using a tactic long feared by Afghan officials, Taliban suicide bombers riding in two stolen Afghan Army Humvees clashed with security forces on Saturday in southern Helmand Province, killing six security personnel at a checkpoint, Afghan officials said.
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INTRA-AFGHAN SUMMIT IN QATAR The Taliban, who have repeatedly refused to negotiate with the Western-backed government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, agreed to join the intra-Afghan summit on the condition that those there would attend in a personal capacity.
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Afghan officials would love to believe in U.S. assurances that Washington will keep counter-terrorism forces in the country for years to come, partly to help assist Afghan security forces and partly to press the Taliban to make concessions in inter-Afghan talks.
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American veterans, whose extraordinary knowledge and experience could be vital to Afghan success on the ground, would serve as adjuncts to the Afghan Army and would perform in strict conformity with Afghan rules of engagement, eliminating the stigma of a foreign occupying force.
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American and Afghan officials are still raw from a Taliban sneak attack in April that killed more than 160 soldiers at an Afghan military base in northern Afghanistan's Balkh Province, the single deadliest Taliban assault of its long war against Afghan forces.
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The total number — roughly one in three school-age Afghan children — is expected to grow this year as violence between Afghan forces and the Taliban intensifies, and Pakistan forces Afghan refugees to return home, according to Save the Children, an advocacy group.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has declared Sunday to be a national day of mourning in remembrance of the Afghan forces killed on the base.
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Afghan Robotics, Not Terrorists: An all-female Afghan robotics team competed in the FIRST Global Challenge after being denied one-week US visas, twice.
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At least two Afghan civilians were killed in a bomb blast in eastern Laghman province, an Afghan official said, according to the Associated Press.
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Initially, an Afghan military spokesman said four foreign soldiers were wounded when an Afghan soldier opened fire on foreign troops in Mazar-e Sharif.
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Pakistan has long supported the Afghan Taliban to prevent this from happening and as a result has a controlling influence in the Afghan government.
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Three Afghan soldiers were injured, and Afghan troops began organizing a convoy to evacuate the wounded to the airport and bring back more supplies.
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After a confusing back-and-forth with Afghan officers, he came to believe that the Afghan commandos were under fire from the N.D.S. building.
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Designing an Afghan peace process requires both inspiration from other successful peace processes, and innovation to address unique Afghan cultural resources and contextual challenges.
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Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry, said the Afghan soldier opened fire on a team of coalition forces around 6897 a.m.
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Serving as western counselors to the Afghan government, reconciling petty disputes between Afghan politicians, and ensuring the Ghani administration's solvency is not Washington's job.
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And as the insurgents' offensive against the Afghan government continues its intense pace this summer, Afghan civilians are still being killed at record rates.
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Coalition officials have in the past cited the success of the Afghan commandos as validation of NATO's effort to build up Afghan security forces.
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And according to the Afghan government, between January and the start of May 2017, Afghan security and defense forces saw 2,20173 service members killed.
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Afghan commandos, supported by U.S. Special forces and American and Afghan air power, have been carrying out an operation against the militants in Nangarhar.
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Afghanistan: New details on a recent Taliban attack showed how insurgents infiltrated a vital Afghan army base, demonstrating the weaknesses of the Afghan army.
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"Fighting is ongoing in 15 provinces, and the Afghan president announces the cease-fire," said Atiqullah Amarkhel, a retired Afghan general and military analyst.
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Gunmen attacked a ceremony in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday where a top Afghan political leader, Abdullah Abdullah, was present but escaped unharmed.
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One of the Afghan guards was shot dead by an American gunner while the vehicles rammed through the gate, Afghan and American officials said.
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Some 4,000 reinforcements will allow American officers to more closely advise Afghan brigades, train more Afghan Special Operations forces and call in American firepower.
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Afghan, international and Taliban forces will observe the reduced violence period beginning at midnight (1930 GMT), an Afghan official and Taliban leaders said earlier.
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Recognition of the continued sacrifice of both Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces and our service members has also been missing from the policy debate.
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In doing so we have given a false impression of Afghan capabilities and ignored the fundamental weaknesses of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
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"[The] majority of the Afghan police forces are male," points out Afghan psychologist Rohullah Amin, who has worked with several police and security personnel.
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The killer, whose name I will not use or ever say, was born an Afghan, of Afghan parents, who immigrated to the United States.
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Afghan Taliban fighters killed 17 Afghan police officers in an attack on a police base before dawn Saturday, just hours before the militant group called for a three-day ceasefire with Afghan forces over the Eid al-Fitr holiday in mid-June.
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In providing the new numbers, the Pentagon told SIGAR it previously failed to take into account that most of the Afghan Border Force was transferred from the purview of the Afghan National Police to that of the Afghan National Army, according to Tuesday's updated report.
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INTRA-AFGHAN TALKS While U.S. diplomats say the peace process must be "Afghan owned and led", senior Afghan officials and Western diplomats said the timetable being imposed by the White House to get U.S. troops out risked overshadowing the wider aim of peace among Afghans.
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide bomber struck a main square in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz where Afghan forces had gathered to defend the city from falling to the Taliban, killing at least 10 soldiers and civilians, Afghan officials said on Saturday.
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While some of this is due to a strategic realignment by the Afghan high command, it also reflects fierce fighting across the countryside, resulting in record Afghan casualties — more than 2628,28500 in the last two years — for the 6900,2628 Afghan Army and police forces.
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American forces have two basic missions in Afghanistan: advising and training Afghan forces and conducting counterterrorism missions, like a recent operation in which about 50 Army Rangers and a similar number of Afghan commandos killed the leader of the Afghan branch of the Islamic State.
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Campbell said those Afghan "casualties remain a concern," adding that US and coalition advisers are working with the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces "to reduce their reliance on static and often vulnerable security checkpoints" that account for a significant number of Afghan casualties.
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Waheedullah, a spokesman for the Afghan consulate in Peshawar, said Afghan diplomats had convinced Pakistani authorities to allow her to stay in hospital until Wednesday.
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Mohammad Rasoul Zazaia, a spokesman for an Afghan military battalion, told Reuters that Afghan commanders have repeatedly asked for more helicopters and intelligence gathering tools.
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In a nod to Washington's outrage over Mohib's remarks, Ghani is considering replacing Mohib with the Afghan envoy to London, a second Afghan official said.
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Letter To the Editor: Re "Don't Abandon America's Afghan Helpers" (editorial, April 29): I didn't abandon Tariq, an interpreter and one of America's Afghan helpers.
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Meanwhile, an Afghan Romeo and Juliet arrived in New York with their 17-month-old daughter, supported by the aid group Women for Afghan Women.
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Afghan officials blamed Pakistan for initiating the fighting, saying the Pakistanis had fired after the Afghan Border Police tried to stop work on the gate.
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The explosive-laden vehicle targeted an Afghan National Army base in Nadali District, Mohammad Radmanish, deputy spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, told CNN.
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Both of those analyses point to a huge gap between how Westerners have understood the experience of Afghan womanhood, and how Afghan women see themselves.
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And over the past few days, Afghan journalists, students and diplomats have reported unusual scenes of peace between Taliban members and Afghan forces and civilians.
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The specially trained unit's 800 members are intended to advise Afghan forces in small teams, embedding more closely with their Afghan partners than conventional units.
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Afghan officials have lobbied hard for exemptions to the sanctions for Afghan companies operating though Chabahar without success and are waiting for clarity from Washington.
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Leadership problems and corruption in the ranks of the Afghan forces have made the fight in the south difficult, Afghan and Western officials have said.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents are refraining from attacking Afghan civilians for the first time in many years, according to Afghan officials and the insurgents themselves.
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An Afghan commando was killed Monday by a Taliban sniper in Badghis Province in northwestern Afghanistan, according to Hasibullah Massoud, an Afghan army commander there.
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Afghan culture, said Ms. Benafsha, of Women for Afghan Women, still lags behind the laws protecting women that Western nations pressed the government to pass.
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Even with respect to the Afghan Taliban, there is a lot of support from the Pakistani state intelligence services and military to the Afghan Taliban.
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Taliban representatives participated in a conference on Afghan peace hosted by Russia last month that was also attended by a delegation from the Afghan side.
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Background: The withdrawal comes at a time when the Afghan Taliban have been gaining momentum, seizing territory and killing Afghan security forces in record numbers.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday he would not release the prisoners before the intra-Afghan talks begin, something his spokesman doubled down on Monday.
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The Taliban have long demanded that they meet with Americans directly instead of the Afghan government, which has made Afghan leaders wary of being sidelined.
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The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission expressed concern about the prisoner release matter in a letter to U.S. officials, the Taliban and the Afghan government.
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Under the deal, the Taliban wants 5,000 fighters to be released from Afghan-run jails, but it's not clear whether the Afghan government will agree.
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Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said fighters obtained night-vision devices after attacking Afghan bases or capturing members of the Afghan security forces.
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He has many Afghan regulars as well, for stones ranging from black diamonds to star sapphires, Afghan emeralds (poor quality but cheap), jade and tourmaline.
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KABUL, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Ariana Afghan Airlines' acting CEO Mirwais Mirzakwal on Monday denied reports by Afghan officials that one of its planes had crashed.
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Afghan officials said the American side had taken the liberty of negotiating on their behalf the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners in Afghan prisons.
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The prospect of Mr. Dostum's taking even temporary charge of the Afghan government is an alarming one to Western diplomats and the Afghan political establishment.
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Also to be included in the exchange were 10 members of the Afghan security forces being held by the Taliban, Afghan and American officials said.
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Such official Afghan figures are often considered inflated by some experts, and the Afghan Ministry of Defense does not appear to publicly tally civilian casualties.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — An American airstrike in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand killed several members of the Afghan security forces, Afghan and American officials said Friday.
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"He was born an Afghan of Afghan parents who immigrated to the United States," Trump said during his Monday speech (in another apparent ad lib).
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"We are prepared to participate in that, to facilitate, to help the Afghan people resolve their differences and to arrive at a place where all of the Afghan people can have their voices heard and live in a society that is peaceful and secure and where every Afghan is treated with the dignity that each of them deserves," Pompeo said alongside Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
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The attack Wednesday in the Pule Mahmoud Khan area of Kabul targeted an Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) vehicle, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
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Sopko told BuzzFeed News that the US military also cited the Afghan defense ministry in stopping the release of information on how Afghan forces are progressing.
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According to the Afghan and Pakistani governments, at least one Afghan border police officer and one Pakistani army major were killed in two days of clashes.
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Afghan forces have regained control of the center of the strategically important northern city of Kunduz from Taliban fighters, Afghan police said Tuesday.
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Two U.S. soldiers and three Afghan army commandos were killed and another four Americans and 11 Afghan commandos wounded, with around 26 Taliban fighters also killed.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he approved of the strike, and it was designed to support Afghan and US forces conducting clearance operations in the region.
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And the Taliban have been battling Afghan forces in Helmand province, with Afghan forces last month withdrawing from certain districts there despite complaints from local leaders.
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Pakistan's army chief General Raheel Sharif spoke with the Afghan president, condemned the attack and pledged to cooperate fully with the Afghan investigation, Pakistan's military said.
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Two other main issues in the peace process are a ceasefire and talks between the rival Afghan sides, or inter-Afghan talks, as they are known.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — A misdirected American airstrike killed at least seven Afghan police officers in the hard-pressed southern province of Oruzgan, Afghan officials said on Monday.
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More than 45,000 Afghan security personnel have died since 2014, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said recently at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
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Those intra-Afghan negotiations were cited by US negotiators as a major accomplishment of the deal amid violence and tensions between the Taliban and Afghan government.
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Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan ambassador to the United States, disputed that American and Afghan forces were leaving rural areas and essentially surrendering them to the Taliban.
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Those conditions include Taliban talks with the Afghan government and upholding a promise not to let terrorist groups use Afghan soil to plot external terrorist attacks.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — An American airstrike killed at least a dozen Afghan security forces during intense fighting with the Taliban near the Afghan capital, officials said Tuesday.
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Mr Khalilzad is said to have reassured Afghan leaders that America would reserve the right to assist Afghan forces if they were attacked by the Taliban.
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In Recaptured Afghan District, Shattered Forces Show Hints of a Rebound: Afghan forces recaptured the district of Khwaja Umari, which fell last year to the Taliban.
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Afghan security forces have lost more than 40,000 members since 2014, and American officials have long cautioned that the current rate of Afghan casualties is unsustainable.
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As a former Afghan interpreter and former U.S. military members who've worked with Afghan interpreters, we've experienced the savagery of the Haqqanis toward their countrymen firsthand.
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Armed clashes between the militants and Afghan forces have left dozens of Taliban dead, said Fawad Aman, a deputy spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
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Both sides talked about the Afghan peace process and the next steps, a regional consensus on Afghan peace and on current political and security issues. pic.twitter.
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The Afghan government declined to comment until after publication of the report, but a military official acknowledged that the Afghan special units at times make mistakes.
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Under the deal, the Taliban wants 5,000 fighters to be released from Afghan-run jails, but it is not clear whether the Afghan government will agree.
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The reduced violence period, to be observed by Afghan, international and Taliban forces, will begin at midnight (1930 GMT), an Afghan official and Taliban leaders said.
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Since 2014, after the Pentagon officially and euphemistically ended "combat operations," putting the Afghan military in the lead, more than 50,0003 Afghan security forces have died.
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Dawlat Waziri, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, described the attack as a shooting carried out by a gunman in an Afghan army uniform, according to Reuters.
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At its heart, the Afghan conflict is between rural traditionalists and urban modernizers, and this has been the case since Afghan Communists seized power in 1978.
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"The Afghan government strongly condemns the heinous and cowardly attack on Afghans' greatest friend, Dr. Nakamura," said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for Afghan president Ashraf Ghani.
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The Taliban has long refused to acknowledge the Afghan government, and has said it would only speak to Afghan officials after the Americans announce their withdrawal.
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" A third interviewee said they had reported to the chain of command an incident involving a 14-year-old boy and a former Afghan Local Police commander, but that "there was an attitude of 'Afghan problem, Afghan solution' when it came to the removal of police officers.
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Why it matters: The ceasefire's outcome will almost certainly impact the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process: As the Taliban's first ceasefire since the Afghanistan War's inception in 2001, it indicates a strategic shift for how the group might engage in talks with the Afghan government.
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The Taliban views the current Afghan administration as illegitimate; the Afghan government has complained that the negotiations lacked a commitment by the Taliban to call a ceasefire, basically a promise to suspend attacks on Afghan citizens, which usually is a precursor to these types of talks.
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DUBAI (Reuters) - A drone strike targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour appears to have been successful, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday.
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In recent months, Russia has held direct talks with Taliban officials and some Afghan politicians opposed to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, promoting its role of power broker.
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Eight Afghan policemen were killed and 11 others were injured when Taliban attacked checkpoints in Helmand, according to a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, Nasrat Rahimi.
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American forces had launched two "self-defense" airstrikes near the checkpoint, mistakenly killing five Afghan soldiers and wounding 10 more, according to the Afghan government and coalition.
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A child waves a flag representing Roshan, an Afghan telecom firm and the sponsor of the Afghan Premier League, at a soccer game between two local teams.
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A spokesman for former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who attended the first round of intra-Afghan talks in Russia in February, said Karzai would go if invited.
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Since January 22018, the number of Afghan National Police officers fell by more than 23,200 while the number of Afghan National Army troops fell by nearly 5,000.
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Since January 2017, the number of Afghan National Police officers fell by more than 23,200 while the number of Afghan National Army troops fell by nearly 5,000.
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"Hope the pleasure of shedding no Afghan blood in Eid becomes so overwhelming that rest of year is also declared as Afghan Eid," he said on Twitter.
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For his part Mr Carter told dignitaries, Afghan and foreign reporters at the presidential palace that Afghan security forces had been "put to the test" in 2016.
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After more than 16 years of war, Afghan civilians live each day under constant threat, as U.S. forces and the Afghan government struggle to secure the country.
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The Afghan government continues to struggle to contain insurgents around the country, but currently control just 57.2 percent of Afghan provinces, a 15 percent drop since 2015.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he approved of the strike and that it was designed to support Afghan and US forces conducting clearance operations in the region.
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" In a meeting in Kabul between the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Afghan officials said Trump's comments were "unacceptable.
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The Taliban today control territory populated by about 10% of the Afghan population -- about 153 million people -- while the Afghan government controls two-thirds of the population.
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US Marines helped the Afghan government establish control over Helmand in 2010, but the campaign came at the cost of thousands of US, coalition, and Afghan casualties.
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"The Afghan Crisis Response Unit 222 responded quickly to confront the attackers and end the assault," the statement added, referring to the Afghan government's elite counterterrorism unit.
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"It is a very good achievement by the Afghan government and has created splits within the Taliban," said Attaullah Afghan, a member of the Helmand provincial council.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently said 28,000 Afghan forces have been killed in the past four years, with 1,85033 killed or injured this past August and September.
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In honor of Eid, the Afghan Taliban announced a three-day truce -- except against foreign forces -- to coincide with the Afghan government's 10-day ceasefire for Eid.
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Danish said Afghan security forces took "necessary steps for the safety of protesters," while Afghan police forces used water cannons in some places to control the crowds.
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Pompeo also said he welcomed the Afghan government's release of the three Taliban prisoners and the "Taliban's impending release of 373 Afghan prisoners" but gave no details.
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Mr. Esper said he expected that attacks on Afghan forces would "taper off" before the start of negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan officials on March 10.
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As security has deteriorated across Afghanistan, with Afghan forces continuing to face Taliban attacks in their defensive positions, airstrikes by both American and Afghan forces have increased.
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The United States has long supported an Afghan-led peace process, in which Washington might play a role but would not stand in for the Afghan government.
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In exchange, the Taliban want the Afghan government to release fighters from jails across the country and the swift removal of foreign forces fighting alongside Afghan troops.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Three foreign catering workers were found shot dead outside the Afghan capital on Thursday after being kidnapped during their morning commute, the Afghan police said.
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Once direct talks between the Taliban and Afghan government begin, the Afghan government will release 28503 prisoners every two weeks until another 22020,500 are released, he said.
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Once direct talks between the Taliban and Afghan government begin, the Afghan government will release 220006 prisoners every two weeks until another 2202,2628 are released, he said.
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Afghan reinforcements traveling to Ghazni from Gardez, to the east, and from Kabul, to the north, encountered repeated ambushes, destroyed bridges and delays, according to Afghan officials.
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The U.S.-Taliban accord says the Afghan government will free up to 85003,000 Taliban prisoners prior to March 10, which Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has publicly questioned.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Seven American soldiers were shot and wounded by an Afghan commando on Saturday, the second such insider attack in a week, according to Afghan officials.
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The Afghan government has refused to release prisoners before negotiations, and the Taliban has said there can be no intra-Afghan dialogue without an exchange of prisoners.
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — At least seven people were killed Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, where a Taliban suicide car bombing struck an Afghan National Army convoy, Afghan officials said.
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Last month, tribal elders said that a raid by the Afghan-intelligence-backed forces killed 11 civilians in Paktia Province, prompting the Afghan government to begin investigating.
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A White House official said he commended the Afghan president's "leadership in Afghanistan on fighting terrorism and implementing key reforms," and praised the bravery of Afghan troops.
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The agenda of the two-day talks also included American troop levels, the developing of Afghan air capabilities and peace talks with the Taliban, Afghan officials said.
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The plane's Afghan pilot had been guided by an Afghan coordinator on the ground — but only after previous bombing runs had struck well wide of the truck.
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Working with the Afghan Ministry of Defense, we should try to expand a new arm of the security forces known as the Afghan National Army Territorial Force.
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Afghan truces up to now have come and gone, and most observers do not believe that the Afghan military can stand against the Taliban without American support.
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A letter from the Afghan government said its tally of civilian casualties caused by Afghan forces was "significantly lower" than the numbers in the United Nations report.
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For related coverage, see "After Visa Denials, Afghan Girls Can Attend Robotics Contest in U.S.," and "Father of Afghan Robotics Team Captain Is Killed in Suicide Bombing."
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One American soldier and an Afghan soldier were also wounded in the attack, said Abdullah Ghulami, the commander of the Afghan Army's 10th Commando Battalion in Kunduz.
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Working alongside mid-ranking and junior Afghan officers and soldiers, the aim is for them to obtain a better perspective on the real strength of Afghan forces.
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Rafiullah Baidar, a spokesman for the Afghan independent human rights commission, said that despite strict orders from President Ashraf Ghani last year against using children in the military, his commission continues to receive reports of child soldiers in the Afghan forces, particularly in the Afghan Local Police militias.
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The shift to prioritize initial American talks with the Taliban over what has proved a futile "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" process stems from a realization by both Afghan and American officials that President Trump's new Afghanistan strategy is not making a fundamental difference in rolling back Taliban gains.
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A spokesman for the Afghan foreign ministry said the Afghan ambassador in Moscow would attend the ceremony but it was unclear whether he would meet the Taliban delegation.
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Those assaults came amid a wider propaganda battle between the Afghan government and the Taliban, coupled with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's unconditional offer in February of peace talks.
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Pakistan has given assistance and a haven to the Afghan Taliban as a hedge against India, while India has supported and provided military assistance to the Afghan government.
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Five Afghan National Army officers were killed Friday night in an errant airstrike carried out by the Afghan air force, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
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Clashes continue between Afghan security forces and the Taliban on the Kunduz-Khanabad highway, where Afghan troops are trying to clear the road for local residents, he added.
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Growing brand While the Taliban, another Sunni terrorist group, is the Afghan government's most pervasive foe, ISIS' establishment presence provides another major challenge for a burgeoning Afghan military.
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US Forces Afghanistan said members of the Afghan Border Police in Helmand province were killed and wounded during an operation involving US and Afghan defense and security forces.
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It's time to meet Zari, the show's first Afghan Muppet, who will debut on season five of Baghch-e-Simsim, the Afghan version of the famous children's program.
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"In one battalion, the official strength is 400 but the actual number is around 150," Ataullah Afghan, a Helmand provincial council member told Reuters of the Afghan forces.
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To train, advise and assist the Afghan forces so they can safeguard the Afghan people and terrorists can find no haven in Afghanistan for attacking us or others.
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"There were some mud-built houses which were being used by the mujahideen (Afghan Taliban fighters)," said a member of the Afghan Taliban, asking not to be identified.
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"The two sides discussed and agreed on issues concerning them but it did not change anything for the (Afghan) people or the government," the first Afghan official said.
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)At least six people were killed, including two Afghan soldiers, when a car bomb exploded Saturday in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, an Afghan official said.
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A suicide bomber killed 63 people and wounded 182 in an attack on a packed wedding reception in the Afghan capital, the Afghan interior ministry said on Sunday.
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Human rights organization Amnesty International said the attack underscored the dangers faced by Afghan civilians and blasted European leaders for forcibly returning Afghan asylum-seekers to the country.
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A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, Dawlat Waziri, confirmed that the Taliban had captured the Mashal base, but he denied that any Afghan soldiers had surrendered.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — An American journalist for NPR was killed on Sunday afternoon along with his Afghan translator in a Taliban ambush in southern Afghanistan, the Afghan military confirmed.
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The base is the headquarters for the Afghan National Army's 209th Corps and also hosts foreign troops from the NATO-led mission to advise and train Afghan forces.
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"We call on European countries to suspend the deportation of Afghan refugees in Europe," said Maiwand Rahyab, of the Afghan Institute for Civil Society, a delegate in Brussels.
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However, on a visit with Afghan forces on Tuesday, he reiterated that the United States would continue to send air support when Afghan forces under attack need it.
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In April, the equipment readiness for the six Afghan Corps — the largest organizational unit in the Afghan military at about 18,000 troops — ranged from 42 to 86 percent.
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By comparison, 6,785 Afghan security force members died in 2016 and 2,531 died in the first five months this year, according to the United States and Afghan governments.
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Nangarhar lies along the Afghan border with Pakistan, and Islamic State fighters here have continued to pose a threat despite sustained operations from Afghan commandos and American airstrikes.
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In recent years the Afghan government has stopped releasing detailed casualty figures but U.S. commanders have said repeatedly that the losses being suffered by Afghan forces are "unsustainable".
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In addition to their military assistance, we look forward to their robust diplomatic support to help ensure the success of the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
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In 2001 I joined the board of Women for Afghan Women, a group working with Afghan women who face domestic abuse that runs shelters for them in Afghanistan.
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Senior officials met the other delegations and discussed the need for "direct engagement of the Afghan government with the Taliban," said the Afghan national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib.
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Several Afghan military bases, for example, had to fight infestations of bed bugs in past years after Afghan troops brought them into a barracks where they quickly spread.
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The deal says up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and up to 1,000 Afghan government prisoners "will be released by March 10," something Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quickly rejected.
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The deal says up to 22020,000 Taliban prisoners and up to 1,000 Afghan government prisoners "will be released by March 10," something Afghan President Ashraf Ghani quickly rejected.
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On Tuesday, there were several attacks against Afghan officials blamed on the Taliban, including one at a security checkpoint near a copper mine that killed five Afghan policemen.
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Those ranged from assuring that Afghan girls could attend school, to building a model democracy for the region, to pledging that the new Afghan government could defend itself.
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Stanekzai also said that the Taliban plans to abolish the Afghan army and that the Afghan constitution will be amended and based on their version of Sharia law.
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Hoping to overcome the troubles at the Pakistani border, the Afghan government and India tried to open an "air corridor" to facilitate exports of Afghan fruit to India.
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Shepherding the Afghan government and Taliban towards intra-Afghan negotiations has been one of the biggest headaches for U.S. negotiators, according to western diplomats in Kabul and Doha.
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Just how much the Taliban will hold fire on Afghan security forces before a cease-fire is reached in Afghan negotiations remains a point of uncertainty and worry.
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About 2,000 American troops are tasked with carrying out counterterrorism missions along with Afghan forces against groups like the Islamic State's Afghan affiliate, the Islamic State in Khorasan.
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Yet in two episodes in March, according to Afghan officials, a total of 11 American soldiers were wounded by Afghan soldiers in green-on-blue attacks in Helmand.
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Momand was one of just two women, the other an Afghan who worked as a teacher in the UK. This caused some tension among Afghan women not present.
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Mr. Zakhilwal, the Afghan ambassador, said some leaders of these attacks on Pakistan might be in Afghanistan, but they mostly operate in areas controlled by the Afghan Taliban.
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"The Taliban are not aliens: they are undeniable part of Afghan society," said Atiqullah Amarkhel, a former general who served in the Afghan army between 1960 and 2009.
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The Haqqani family is Afghan, but the army is headquartered in Pakistan; in the 70s they fought the Afghan government and then the Soviets when they invaded Afghanistan.
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A raid by Afghan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes in southern Afghanistan against the Taliban killed at least 40 civilians, Afghan officials reported, according to The Associated Press.
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On May 1, Taliban fighters overwhelmed a mountaintop outpost overlooking the Kunar River, killing three Americans, two Latvians and three Afghan soldiers, and taking other Afghan soldiers prisoner.
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The American government expects the Afghan government to take over financing the orphanages, but Afghan officials say they do not have the funding or capacity to do so.
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"Since this donated property is now supporting the [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] and other components of the Afghan government, it constitutes additional resources that the United States has provided to the Afghan government as a part of the reconstruction effort," the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report reads.
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"Religious and ethnic tolerance are values the Afghan people hold strong, and I urge the Afghan authorities to do everything possible to defend Afghans of all faiths," she said.
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"There were some mud-built houses which were being used by the mujahideen (Afghan Taliban fighters)," said a member of the Afghan Taliban, who asked not to be identified.
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U.S. and Afghan forces were conducting a joint operation when an individual wearing an Afghan uniform opened fire on the service members using a machine gun, according to Col.
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Afghan students who have lost their parents following suicide bomb attacks study the Qur'an in a classroom at the Afghan Red Crescent Society orphanage in Jalalabad on Aug. 7.
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The Afghan team will present documentary evidence and phone tap information linking individuals and groups based in Pakistan with the Kabul attacks, a senior Afghan military source told Reuters.
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Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN)The Afghan woman known internationally as the "Afghan Girl," thanks to her appearance on a famous National Geographic cover, has had a bail request turned down.
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"Pakistan's honesty and sincerity with regard to the Afghan peace process has always been a question," said an Afghan cabinet member, echoing the sentiment of several officials interviewed there.
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At least 13 journalists were killed in Afghanistan last year, making it the deadliest year on record for Afghan media, the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC) said on Wednesday.
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The new president should also explain that it is in US and Afghan interests for the United States to remain a guarantor of Afghan stability for the foreseeable future.
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The big picture: In recent days, three mass-casualty terror attacks, all claimed by the Afghan Taliban or ISIS, have rocked Afghan cities and killed more than 130 people.
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And Qatar has allowed the Taliban, the violent and ultra-conservative Afghan group, to set up an office in Doha in an attempt to foster an Afghan reconciliation dialogue.
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Afghan officials have rejected a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to have his private military contracting company take over the training and advising of the Afghan armed forces.
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Manizha Naderi is an Afghan-American and executive director of Women for Afghan Women, headquartered in New York and serving as the largest women's non-governmental organization in Afghanistan.
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After making Afghan women a focus during her White House years, she and former President Bush established the Dallas-based Bush Institute, which includes the Afghan Women's Project. Mrs.
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Afghan civil society activists are worried hat the United States appears to have dropped previous conditions requiring the Taliban to accept the Afghan constitution, including provisions on women's rights.
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Washington and New Delhi could potentially partner in using similar acquisitions to enhance cooperation with Kabul to bolster Afghan ISR capabilities, a key component of the Afghan counterinsurgency campaign.
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While the Taliban have held meetings with Afghan politicians and civil society representatives, they have refused to deal with the Afghan government, which they deride as a U.S. "puppet".
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A member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces shot Taylor before the gunman was swiftly killed by Afghan forces, according to the NATO-led Resolute Support coalition.
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"I am working with Afghan girls to strengthen their abilities and I love to see Afghan girls improve the way other girls have improved in the world," she said.
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Zarifa Ghafari, the mayor of the Afghan town of Maidan Shar, directly implored the top US diplomat to ensure that the Afghan peace process upholds the rights of women.
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By cutting a deal with the Taliban that excluded (and even failed to mention) the Afghan government, the United States legitimated the Taliban and further weakened the Afghan government.
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Taliban negotiators have also met senior Afghan politicians and civil society representatives, including in Moscow recently, as part of so-called intra-Afghan dialogue to discuss their country's future.
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Several previous attacks on Afghan military bases have also involved Taliban fighters dressed in police or army uniforms and using vehicles captured from or abandoned by Afghan security forces.
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Offensive operations by Afghan security forces increased in the last two weeks, according to a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, and an important Taliban commander was killed.
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"Pakistan has tried to facilitate talks between the Taliban and the United States and also favors inter-Afghan dialogue including between the Taliban and the (Afghan) government," he said.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents using sophisticated night-vision goggles killed eight Afghan police officers in their beds early Monday near the capital of western Farah Province, Afghan officials said.
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"It's an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process," said Safiullah Nasiri, one of the four brothers who run Aksos, a book publisher that also operates several bookstores in Kabul.
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With the Afghan and American forces working closely together and data on Afghan airstrikes often vague, it can be difficult to determine precisely who has carried out which airstrike.
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A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense said that the strikes had been carried out by the Afghan Air Force and that 18 Taliban fighters had been killed.
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Though not involved in the talks, the Afghan government has been aware of the negotiations, and, under the agreement, the Americans will continue funding and supporting the Afghan military.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Three American soldiers were killed and one other was wounded after an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, according to Afghan officials.
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The US hinted that it had pursued direct peace talks with the Taliban in Doha, removing a long-held insistence that any talks had to be Afghan-to-Afghan.
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The revelations, while hardly surprising, uncover some uncomfortable truths about the Afghan campaign and present a documented admission of major international missteps to build a self-reliant Afghan state.
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"We expect the Afghan government to demonstrate a clear commitment to fight corruption, to serve the Afghan people and to maintain their trust," Mr. Pompeo said in the statement.
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"We will not join the intra-Afghan dialogue if the U.S. and Afghan did not honour their commitment to release our prisoners," said a senior Taliban commander in Doha.
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Afghan security forces lose three or four times that number just in a year now; the conflict killed more than 3,000 Afghan civilians in the past year, as well.
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More than 250,2000 miles away during the signing, another senior American official, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, was with Afghan officials in Kabul to ease the Afghan government's concerns.
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Current reports indicate a person in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined US and Afghan forces with a machine gun at the Sherzad district center, said Col.
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Other details of the incident in Nangarhar Province, where American Special Forces were helping Afghan commandos and the Afghan Army clear an area threatened by the Taliban, were scarce.
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Mr. Khalilzad, the American negotiator, said he was flying on Sunday from Doha, Qatar, the site of the peace talks, to Kabul, the Afghan capital, to brief Afghan leaders.
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Foreign policy experts have expressed doubt that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will be able to stop corruption and effectively use American aid to bolster the Afghan National Security Forces.
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"Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun," Colonel Sonny Leggett said in a statement.
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That brought him back to Afghanistan where American and Afghan soldiers alike craved home-cooked Afghan meals instead of the frozen food shipped in from the U.A.E. and elsewhere.
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Afghan and American forces were responsible for 24 percent — 14 percent by Afghan national security forces, 6 percent by American forces and 4 percent by government-backed armed groups.
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U.S. Special Forces have advised some elite Afghan commando units at that level for years, but the regular Afghan army has not had advisers with its battalions since 2014.
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But for the Afghan military, which is fighting alongside American troops, Mr. Mohib said the negotiations, absent the Afghan government, have sown a level of mistrust among the ranks.
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Also over the weekend, an American air strike in southern Afghanistan killed at least three Afghan policemen and wounded several during a joint operation by Afghan and U.S. special forces.
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In March, a US-Afghan convoy came under fire from friendly forces positioned near an Afghan National Army check point in the Uruzgan province, US and coalition officials told CNN.
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Late last month, at least 22 Afghan police were killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan's western province of Farah, adding to the growing casualty toll on Afghan security forces.
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The closest contact between the Afghan government and the Taliban came in July, when a delegation of Afghans sat down with the Taliban for an "intra-Afghan dialogue" in Doha.
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A week after Afghan special forces killed the Taliban's shadow deputy governor for Panjshir, I traveled to Paryan to see the frontline between the Afghan government forces and the Taliban.
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Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission have previously requested that WikiLeaks remove names of Afghan civilians in 77,000 classified military documents published online.
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A couple of months ago, two Afghan men harassed an Afghan girl with lewd comments and pushed her off her bike before others intervened, a volunteer at the shelter said.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Sunday that Afghan special forces led an operation that killed the head of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib.
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"Afghan forces fought for days but no help arrived and they had to retreat and the Taliban captured the district," Hussainkhil told Reuters, adding that five Afghan police were killed.
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The Afghan national security forces are almost totally reliant on external support for its survival (the U.S. has spent over $6900 billion since 2628 on keeping the Afghan army afloat).
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The message was passed to the Afghan government days before Mr. Dostum was to depart for a trip to New York and Washington, according to multiple Afghan and American officials.
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The Afghan defense and interior ministries both denied there were any child soldiers in Afghan national security forces, an assertion that contradicts the State Department's reports and human rights activists.
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CreditCreditAdam Ferguson for The New York Times KABUL, Afghanistan — Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan president and current antagonist to his successor's government, likes to describe Afghan politics as a marathon.
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More than 45,000 Afghan security personnel have "paid the ultimate sacrifice" since 2014, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said during the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last week.
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While casualty figures for Afghan military and police have been classified since 2017, at least 62,000 Afghan military and police lives have been lost, according to the New York Times.
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In Afghanistan, lawmakers have been concerned about the Trump administration's efforts to negotiate an end to the war with the Taliban without participation of the Afghan government or Afghan women.
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Two Afghan government officials said earlier on Monday that a Tajik or Russian plane had bombed a northeastern Afghan border district during a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards.
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Hundreds of coalition soldiers have remained at Camp Dwyer, Afghan officials say, even as the NATO military mission has closed bases across the country or transferred them to Afghan forces.
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He pledged to end "nation-building" missions such as efforts to train Afghan troops and stabilize the Afghan government so they can one day handle the Taliban on their own.
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Reports indicated the attacker was a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and was immediately killed by other Afghan forces, the NATO-led Resolute Support coalition said.
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KABUL (Reuters) - Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a construction company office in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday killing 16 employees of the Afghan company, a provincial official said.
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But if it lasts, and there is no violence between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, this will be the first successful ceasefire between the Taliban and an Afghan government.
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The auditors' report focused on the High Office of Oversight, or HOO, an Afghan agency that examines the assets of Afghan officials when they take office and after they leave.
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In a sign of how complicated Afghan peace negotiations will be, Mr. Khalilzad left for Moscow after meeting Afghan leaders in Kabul to quell Russian concerns and encourage their cooperation.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — More than 28,000 Afghan police officers and soldiers have been killed since 143, the Afghan president revealed this week, breaking with his government's longstanding suppression of casualty totals.
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About half are regular troops who train Afghan security forces, while American Special Operations forces work with Afghan commandos to conduct counterterrorism raids against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
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Thirteen Afghan soldiers were killed by Taliban fighters in Khost Province, and 23 people, including Afghan special operations forces, police officers, civilians and militia members, died in western Ghor Province.
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But Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry, said it appeared that the men had gotten into the second car voluntarily and were accompanied by their Afghan driver.
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Two men claiming the Afghan presidency complicates an already tense and unstable political situation and calls into question whether the Afghan government's peace talks with the Taliban can possibly succeed.
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The Afghan government and Taliban have clashed frequently in the last few days, including the storming of an Afghan military base on Friday that authorities blamed on the insurgent group.
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The Taliban on Monday said they would not participate in the so-called intra-Afghan peace talks until Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government releases about 5,000 military and political prisoners.
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Adding to the anxiety that many Afghans have was the meeting in Moscow on February 5 between the Taliban and leading Afghan politicians such as former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
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Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a trenchant critic of the use of American air power in Afghanistan, condemned the strikes, but otherwise reaction from Afghan political leaders was relatively muted.
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Besides advisers to Afghan combat units, the extra troops would probably include rocket-artillery units and air controllers with expanded authority to call in strikes in support of Afghan forces.
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Among the dead were an Afghan senator and a member of Parliament, five officials from the United Arab Emirates and an Afghan envoy to the United States, according to officials.
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Last week, Afghan officials confirmed the deaths, which occurred during an operation on July 19 by Afghan security forces backed by U.S. air strikes, but said the causes were unclear.
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More than 45,000 Afghan security personnel have "paid the ultimate sacrifice" since 2014, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in January at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
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The Afghan government issued a statement saying that five Afghan soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in the strikes -- numbers the coalition is also accepting, an official told CNN.
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Fahim Abed, an Afghan reporter for The Times, followed Mohammed Rahim Khaksar as he tried to deliver the notice for a package for one Atta Mohammed — a common Afghan name.
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Although Afghan and American commanders say they have tried to crack down on corruption, the use of air force aircraft as personal taxis by Afghan political bigwigs remains a problem.
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A force of about 300 Marines in Helmand is advising the Afghan forces, and trying to help the Afghan Army to recapture some of the territory lost to the Taliban.
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Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a statement Pakistan wanted a "qualitative transformation in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations" and repeated Pakistan's support for an "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process".
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Mr. Ahmadi, the Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Russia had formally acknowledged that talks to end the war must be Afghan-led if they were to deliver a lasting peace.
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Afghan women were never at the heart of American strategic interests, said Barnett Rubin, an Afghanistan expert at New York University who worked on Afghan issues in the Obama administration.
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When the soldiers got out to fix the vehicle, an Afghan soldier nearby opened fire on them; Afghan officials described him as a Taliban insider who deliberately provoked the attack.
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KABUL (Reuters) - One Afghan and three Turkish teachers linked to an organization regarded with suspicion by the Turkish government were detained by Afghan intelligence officials on Tuesday, the organization's head said.
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They say they had been encouraged by higher-ups that there was nothing to do about such horrific acts, that these were Afghan problems for the Afghan authorities to work out.
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The State Department on Thursday designated the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State, a splinter group mostly made up of former Afghan and Pakistani Taliban members, as a foreign terrorist organization.
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A growing hashtag movement on Afghan Twitter, #MyRedLine, has gone viral as thousands of Afghan women declared their dedication to pursuing education and employment even if the Taliban return to power.
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US military and financial support for the Afghan government has always come with a stipulation: America's interests come first, even if pursuing those interests is at odds with the Afghan government.
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David Gilkey, a photojournalist with National Public Radio, and his Afghan translator Zabihullah Tamanna were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan on Sunday afternoon while traveling in an Afghan army convoy.
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"But we must not forget that we are talking then about a possible crime by one Afghan refugee, not a whole group of people who are Afghan or refugees," Seibert added.
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Since then, however, U.S. officials had told the Afghan government that no final decision had been made, and that Washington remained committed to supporting Afghan defense and security institutions, he said.
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Those additional troops would allow US advisers to work with Afghan army units at the brigade level, bringing the Afghan mission more in line with how US advisers operate in Iraq.
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KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan government summoned a Pakistan diplomat to explain Prime Minister Imran Khan's latest remarks on ongoing Afghan peace talks, as tensions flared between the neighboring countries once again.
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Western-backed Afghan government forces are locked in a protracted battle with Taliban insurgents who are at their strongest since they were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 211.
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They have also met senior Afghan politicians and civil society representatives, most recently in Moscow this week, as part of a so-called intra-Afghan dialogue to discuss the country's future.
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The U.S. military has so far released scant details of the incident, but Afghan officials have told reporters the soldiers were killed in an apparent insider attack by an Afghan soldier.
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Taliban and other Islamist insurgents have repeatedly targeted Afghan journalists, killing 15 in 2018, the deadliest year yet for the Afghan media, according to the media freedom group Reporters Without Borders.
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International advisers have also pushed the Afghan Air Force to take a greater role in the air war, boosting the number of civilians killed or injured by Afghan bombs and rockets.
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By supporting an Afghan-led, and Afghan-owned, peace and national reconciliation process, the U.S. can bring an end to its longest war, and contribute to peace and stability in Afghanistan.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the announcement, saying it demonstrated the Afghan government's commitment to peace and would give the Afghan people a chance to celebrate the holiday in peace.
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Reports from the ground depicted a grim scene in the city, with a Taliban assault taking Afghan soldiers by surprise, leaving them overrun before U.S. forces and Afghan commandos could arrive.
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The road attacks against civilians, however, have taken Afghan officials by surprise, and the government is reviewing the policy, said one senior Afghan military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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If the Afghan government dissolves, these people argue, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Haqqani Network would re-infiltrate the country and again use Afghan soil to plot transnational attacks.
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In 2013, Afghan forces officially took the lead in fighting for the country's security, and the US mission shifted again to counterterrorism as well as advising and training the Afghan forces.
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Senior Afghan and American officials welcomed the arrival of new U.S.-made military helicopters on Saturday, beginning a process that will radically transform the young Afghan air force.
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Afghan officials and political leaders said direct American talks with the Taliban would probably then grow into negotiations that would include the Taliban, the Afghan government, the United States and Pakistan.
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On Wednesday, the Islamic State targeted a wrestling gym in the Afghan capital, killing more than 30 people, including two Afghan journalists, and wounding 91 others, according to the Health Ministry.
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General Raziq was widely popular in the south, and a toxic rumor spread among Afghan security forces that General Miller had somehow engineered the Afghan general's killing, explaining why he survived.
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Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said the group's fighters also killed 57 members of the Afghan security forces in the attack and captured 11 others, but Afghan officials disputed the account.
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Over the past week, Taliban fighters have escalated attacks against Afghan security forces in the Kunar province, and Afghan officials say nine Taliban fighters have died in the fighting so far.
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Mr. Khalilzad, an Afghan-American and former ambassador to Afghanistan, told an Afghan TV station over the weekend that fighting terrorism was the focus of the United States at the talks.
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The Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement that four Humvees laden with explosives had been involved in the attack and that the offensive had been pushed back by Afghan forces.
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The Taliban said nothing on Sunday about meeting with the Afghan delegation, even though government negotiators also arrived for the talks, said Mujib Rahman Rahimi, a spokesman for the Afghan government.
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General Raziq's rise from lowly border guard to one of the most important American allies and Afghan security leaders was a story only possible in the context of the Afghan war.
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Afghan Military Deaths Since 2015: More Than 28,000: The Afghan president confirmed a much higher death rate for his security forces than previously admitted, but said the Taliban were not winning.
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The Taliban say they have held back from attacking international forces since then but have continued to attack Afghan forces, with U.S. and Afghan officials calling for a reduction in violence.
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Since last year, the Afghan and American governments have been classifying casualty figures for Afghan security forces, after they reached a high of 6,700 dead for the 2016-17 reporting year.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Five Afghan police officers were killed and 18 people were wounded in a Taliban attack Sunday on a major base in the eastern province of Paktia, Afghan officials said.
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But in its second decade, this increasingly became a very localized Afghan-on-Afghan war — this became relatives on two different sides, on the government side and on the insurgent side.
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While the Afghan side largely sees the Taliban as a proxy force under the influence of neighboring Pakistan, the Taliban see the Afghan government as a puppet of the United States.
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In two episodes in March, a total of 11 American soldiers were wounded by Afghan soldiers in green-on-blue attacks in Helmand Province, in southern Afghanistan, according to Afghan officials.
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An Afghan government spokesman said on Sunday that one foreign nationals had been killed and five others wounded when a grenade was thrown at a UN vehicle in the Afghan capital.
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On one side of the Afghan border, India has been building a road through southwestern Afghanistan to allow traders to bypass Pakistan, which has long restricted the transit of Afghan goods.
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Officials privy to the talks had said the signed agreement with the Taliban will be followed by negotiations on an intra-Afghan political settlement between the Taliban and an Afghan delegation.
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The senior Afghan security official said the day after the bombing that Afghan commandos had done so and, after clearing the site, had handed it over to American military forensic teams.
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The Afghan presidential palace in a statement quoted President Ghani as telling Khalilzad he had held "effective" meetings with local leaders on how the Afghan government would handle the peace process.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Dozens of soldiers were killed on Friday when Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers in military uniforms stormed an Afghan Army base in northern Afghanistan, Afghan and Western officials said.
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The Taliban had made clear they would only negotiate a cease-fire and a political settlement with the Afghan government and other Afghan political forces after US troop withdrawals were finalized.
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Those troops would be used to embed with conventional Afghan forces closer to combat — at the battalion level — and improve the capabilities of the Afghan air force and special operations forces.
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Ever since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, Afghan and Western officials have said that the Afghan insurgency's leadership maintains havens in Pakistan, particularly in the city of Quetta.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's comments could undermine goodwill as he seeks re-election on Saturday on an agenda of more Afghan self-reliance and criticism of the United States and Pakistan.
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Border crossings are often closed as Afghan and Pakistani forces clash over the disputed border, and Afghan farmers have complained of fruit and other produce rotting without other options for shipping.
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More than 18 years after U.S.-led forces toppled the hardline Taliban regime, Afghan forces are suffering record casualties with Afghan and U.S. officials warning that the toll is not sustainable.
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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)An attacker driving an ambulance packed with explosives detonated them Saturday in the Afghan capital of Kabul, leaving 95 people dead and 191 others injured, Afghan officials said.
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The Afghan state has been rapidly losing control of districts across the country to Taliban factions and Afghan forces are getting killed and injured at a rate American commanders call unsustainable.
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According to sources in the Taliban and an Afghan political party, a delegation from the movement's political office in Qatar visited Islamabad for exploratory talks with Afghan politician Pir Hamid Gilani.
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"The work of securing Afghan buy-in mostly took the form of briefing Afghan leaders on what military plans and training programs the Westerners had selected for the ANDSF," he said.
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Ms. Safi and Dr. Rubin pointed out that Afghan women have been victims of 40 years of war — killed during Taliban attacks and American and Afghan troops' night raids or bombings.
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Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Washington, Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan president's national security adviser, sharply criticized American diplomats for leaving the Afghan government in the dark during the peace negotiations.
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In 2014 the inspector general reported that after the United States decided to replace the Afghan Army's Kalashnikovs with NATO-standard weapons (a boon for the rifles' manufacturer with a much less obvious value for an already amply armed Afghan force), the Afghan Army ended up with a surplus of more than 83,000 Kalashnikovs.
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The attack was a nightmare scenario for American and Afghan security planners: a Taliban operation months in the making that succeeded in breaching a high-level meeting, killing a powerful Afghan general and a provincial intelligence chief, wounding an Afghan governor and an American general — and barely missing General Miller and other officials standing nearby.
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Afghan critics took issue with the US proceeding with the peace talks with limited input from the Afghan government; the Trump administration pushed back against this complaint, claiming its talks with the Taliban were designed to set up a path for the militant group to begin its own peace negotiations with the Afghan government.
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Even many of the Afghan political leaders who see merit in elements of Mr. Prince's proposal — including having trainers of Afghan forces embedded for longer periods, and establishing better air and medevac support accessible to Afghan commanders — express concern about the possibilities of a private security presence less accountable than the United States military.
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Officially, the Taliban insists that the Afghan government is an illegitimate puppet regime; it was only "in a personal capacity" that its envoys met Afghan officials, alongside politicians and representatives of NGOs.
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"Building up the Afghan forces is a top priority for the U.S. and our international allies, so it is worrisome to see Afghan force strength decreasing," John Sopko, SIGAR's head, told Reuters.
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They see themselves as a legitimate Afghan political force that's castigated while other Afghan leaders — even those guilty of serious human-rights abuses or credibly associated with narcotics trafficking — are internationally accepted.
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Specifically, the U.S. wants Pakistan to deal with the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network militant groups, which use Pakistani territory to launch attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, killing U.S., Afghan, and other forces.
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Wazhma Furmuli is a board member of the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women and former Afghan refugee who worked at the American University of Afghanistan while she pursued her dream of education.
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Afghan forces in Helmand's strategic town of Sangin withdrew last month from its center, effectively ceding territory to the Taliban and delivering a blow to the Afghan government and its coalition partners.
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More than 17 years after U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban regime, Afghan forces are dying in record numbers with Afghan and U.S. officials warning that the casualty rate is not sustainable.
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The Afghan army has occasionally been infiltrated by Taliban militants who have carried out attacks on Afghan and U.S. troops, but such incidents have become less frequent due to tougher security measures.
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The competition's organizers had originally arranged for a group of Afghan-American students living in the United States to operate the Afghan team's robot, according to a news release from FIRST Global.
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At least 26 Afghan soldiers were killed and 13 more wounded last week in a Taliban attack on an army camp in the province's Khakrez district, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said.
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Afghan elders who met with the delegation, however, criticized government strategy in the province, as well as the performance of Afghan security forces, some of whom are accused of abandoning their posts.
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Afghan forces still have to demonstrate they are powerful enough to make the Taliban feel they are at risk and have no choice but to engage in negotiations with the Afghan government.
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He harshly criticizes Ghani's policies both at home and abroad and lashes out at Pakistan, its intelligence service, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and some senior Afghan government officials and jihadist figures.
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Votel indicated Afghan forces are still not to ready fight the insurgents on their own, should the United States withdraw prior to a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
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Help from allies would free US troops to advise Afghan soldiers at the brigade and battalion levels by providing support and calling in airstrikes to assist Afghan forces on the front line.
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That lot is home to a charity run by Rahmatullah Nabil, a former Afghan intelligence chief and a public anti-Taliban voice, to help the families of wounded and killed Afghan forces.
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KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan air force helicopter crashed in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least seven people on board, said Afghan Defence Ministry officials who described the crash as an accident.
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Insider attacks, one carried out by a member of the Afghan security forces, have been a particularly frustrating and demoralizing challenge for the US and NATO forces helping to train Afghan forces.
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Simmering tensions over the Afghan government's exclusion from the U.S.-Taliban talks in Doha, Qatar, erupted with Mohib's attack on Khalilzad, an Afghan-born U.S. diplomat, at a news conference in Washington.
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Although Afghan National Security Forces were able to safely evacuate hundreds of students and professors, eight students, one professor, three security guards and four Afghan soldiers lost their lives during the siege.
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Detailed figures are not publicly known, however, as the American military began in late 2016 to classify information on casualties among the Afghan security forces, at the request of the Afghan government.
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They quite specifically reject what they call the "yoke" that Pakistan has put on the Afghan Taliban, and they call the Afghan Taliban leadership traitors because of the close relationship with Pakistan.
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A building collapsed from the explosion, trapping dozens in the rubble, reported Afghan news outlet TOLO, which cited eyewitnesses as saying the attackers were dressed in the uniforms of Afghan security forces.
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The Afghan defense ministry said that more than 100 Taliban fighters have been killed — although those numbers could not be independently verified and the Afghan government is known to exaggerate enemy casualties.
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It seeks not only to squeeze the group's opium revenues, but also to increase Afghan army offensives backed by American air power and to hold elections to enhance the Afghan government's legitimacy.
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In a daring attack on Monday, the Taliban used an armored Humvee it had seized from Afghan forces, packing it with explosives and driving it onto an Afghan intelligence base to detonate.
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Even as negotiators were sounding hopeful in Doha, Taliban fighters assaulted a large Afghan Army base in Helmand Province where United States Marines are present, killing at least two dozen Afghan soldiers.
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Last month, what was meant to be the first meeting between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators was derailed after the militant group objected to the large number of Afghan officials attending.
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On Monday, the Taliban refused to take part in intra-Afghan talks, one of the conditions of a full withdrawal of U.S. troops, until the Afghan government releases roughly 5,000 Taliban prisoners.
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At the same time, Esper was in Kabul signing a joint declaration with the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani aimed at reassuring the Afghan government of the United States's commitment to the country.
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The red dots from their laser pointers shine on police officers and soldiers from the Afghan government, which has benefited from billions of dollars in Western aid to the Afghan security forces.
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Roya Mahboob, an Afghan technology entrepreneur who interpreted for the teenagers in the United States, is the chief executive of Digital Citizen Fund, a women's empowerment nonprofit that sponsored the Afghan team.
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Afghan opposition fighters, mujahedeen, advanced on Lashkar Gah in the early 22000s, but the city remained under the control of the Soviets and their Afghan allies throughout their nearly decade-long occupation.
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In a statement, Human Rights Watch, which has widely documented past abuses by Afghan militias, called on the Afghan government to reject the proposal for another force with inadequate training and oversight.
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But those intra-Afghan talks have hit a snag before they even begin over a provision in the U.S.-Taliban deal for a prisoner swap, a plan the Afghan government quickly rejected.
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The Afghan government has not been included in peace talks with the Taliban, and on Wednesday, Ghani's spokesperson Sediq Seddiqi said the Afghan government fears that the deal could have dangerous consequences.
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The United States and international allies cannot dictate terms of new Afghan political arrangements, but they can help Afghan political actors to take the hard political decisions now, before worse ones emerge.
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Iran is set on undermining the Afghan government and its security forces, and the entire United States mission, and maintaining leverage over Afghanistan by making it weak and dependent, Afghan officials say.
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The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, recently offered a peace deal to the Taliban, who control or contest more than 229 percent of Afghan territory, according to American military data released in January.
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The two sides had appeared to be on the brink of a deal that might have paved the way for talks among the insurgents, the Afghan government and other Afghan power brokers.
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Despite the infusion of $70 billion by the United States to train and equip Afghan security forces, the Taliban remain in control of or exert influence in over 40% of Afghan districts.
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"Mansur rejected efforts by the Afghan government to seriously engage in peace talks and end the violence that has taken the lives of countless innocent Afghan men, women and children," Obama added.
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However, there are occasional press conferences with key officers, a more substantive Pentagon semiannual report on the Afghan conflict, and there is a matching report by special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction.
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An Afghan official said Keramuddin Keram, the powerful head of the Afghan Football Federation and five others had been suspended but added that the investigation is still ongoing to find more details.
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Traders from Pakistan can earn a premium ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent by buying Afghan carpets and re-exporting them, said Pervez Hussain, who owns a Pakistani retailer, Afghan Carpets.
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Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani commented on the attack Thursday saying, "my condolences with Afghan people specially people of Kandahar," Ghani said, saying he had ordered Afghan security officials to investigate the incident.
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Lorance was convicted of ordering soldiers to engage three unarmed Afghan men and was sentenced to 19 years in prison, while Golsteyn was accused of killing an unarmed Afghan man in 2010.
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In the news he read about the war, senior officers said what they needed to say — about Americans coaching Afghan forces, about winning over the Afghan population, about the Taliban losing ground.
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In the current calculations for a peace deal, the Taliban could take part in future Afghan governments but must agree to not let terrorist groups plan and launch attacks from Afghan soil.
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The Afghan government was angered that regional countries have been facilitating trips for leaders of the insurgent group, including a conference in Moscow where a Taliban delegation met with Afghan opposition politicians.
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According to a statement by Martland last year that was obtained by CNN, he and Quinn were told by a young Afghan boy and his mother, through an Afghan interpreter, that the boy had been tied to a post at the home of Afghan Local Police commander Abdul Rahman and raped repeatedly for up to two weeks.
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On Saturday, three American soldiers were killed and one wounded when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in Nangarhar, where elite U.S. troops have been helping Afghan forces battle Islamic State militants.
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Overby emails showed concern for his safety In 1993, Overby published "Holy Blood: An Inside Account of the Afghan War," a chronicle of the Afghan resistance to the Soviet occupation during the 1980s.
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When Noorzae visits the Afghan-run corner shops in Copenhagen, he always searches out quorooti, an Afghan dish he craves: it's a oniony, garlicy dish of dried salted yogurt mixed with toasted bread.
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Ghani said the new strategy would increase the capacity of the training mission for Afghan national security forces, including enhancing its fledgling air force and doubling the size of the Afghan special forces.
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The first and only official Afghan talks with the Taliban were in July, after intensive efforts by the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, to win Pakistan's help in bringing the insurgents to the table.
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Most important, in Afghan eyes, is the MSFV's "V-shaped" hull and extra armor, which reflect advances in engineering widely adopted to better protect troops, especially from roadside bombs favored by Afghan insurgents.
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Representatives from a range of Afghan groups are also expected to be present but the talks will once again exclude the Afghan government, which the Taliban dismiss as a U.S.-appointed "puppet" regime.
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She was killed along with the Afghan military photographer she was training and three Afghan National Army soldiers when a mortar tube exploded during a joint live-fire training exercise in July, 2013.
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"The Afghan government had requested that a high-level delegation would like to visit Pakistan with a message from the Afghan president," Pakistan's foreign office spokesman, Mohammad Faisal, said in a Twitter message.
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Four people were killed at a Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) center in Wardak province, west of Kabul, during a night raid by Afghan forces last week, SCA and Afghan government officials said.
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Kabul (CNN)Afghan troops have pulled out of parts of Helmand province, the site of some of the fiercest fighting in the long battle against Taliban forces, according to an Afghan government spokesman.
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"The Afghan Special Forces have been singled out as the crown jewel -- more disciplined, efficient, effective than any other unit of the Afghan forces, but they've been over extended and overused," Kugelman said.
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While the only solution in Afghanistan may be political, the Afghan and U.S. governments must first ensure that the political will exists amongst the Afghan people to include the Taliban in peacebuilding efforts.
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Anas Haqqani is the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is second-in-command in the Afghan Taliban hierarchy and leads the Haqqani network, considered to the deadliest faction of the Afghan Taliban.
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The latest troop decision follows a move to allow U.S. troops more authority on the battlefield to defend Afghan troops, including providing close air support and accompanying conventional Afghan forces onto the battlefield.
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Romanian soldiers had been training Afghan police Saturday at a military base near Kandahar when two men wearing Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) uniforms opened fire, the Romanian military said Sunday.
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The Chabahar port and trade corridor would ostensibly create more opportunities for Afghan exporters and farmers, on whose behalf Afghan officials have been lobbying Washington for sanctions exemptions — so far to no avail.
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AFGHAN VISAS INCLUDED IN SPENDING BILL: After this year's defense policy bill appeared to deflate hopes for an Afghan visa program, supporters have gotten a second chance with the State Department's spending bill.
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It came just days after a brazen attack by a Taliban infiltrator among the Afghan forces in southern Kandahar Province that killed an important Afghan police commander and wounded an American brigadier general.
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"We need to shake the tree," said Marghaly Faqirzai Ghaznavi, an Afghan Ministry of Interior adviser on human rights, women and children's affairs, and the only Afghan woman who was in the room.
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Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said three vehicles were destroyed, 12 foreigners and eight members of the Afghan forces were killed but the Afghan government rejected the casualty figures claimed by the Taliban.
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Reducing Afghan aid: The State Department said it was cutting $1 billion to Afghanistan this year, and potentially another $1 billion in 2021, after rival Afghan leaders failed to support a unified government.
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Afghan and Western officials said that Afghan special forces had come under heavy fire overnight during an operation against the Taliban in the Garmsir district and had requested American airstrikes against Taliban fighters.
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Most immediately, the U.S. Government must explicitly declare its full support for Afghan women, and the preservation of rights enshrined in the Afghan constitution, including women's rights to citizenship, education, healthcare, and justice.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a surge in violence in Afghanistan this week "unacceptable" and warned both the Taliban and the Afghan government to "stop posturing" ahead of intra-Afghan peace talks.
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"But more needs to be done and we urge them to also reduce violence against Afghan forces in the countryside to give intra-Afghan negotiations and peace the opportunity to succeed," she said.
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Earlier this week, at least seven civilians died in an airstrike conducted by American and Afghan commandos on Monday in Sayed Abad district in central Maidan Wardak province, senior Afghan security officials said.
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On Monday, Ghani and Pompeo spoke about "the Afghan peace process and the next steps, a regional consensus on Afghan peace and on current political and security issues," Ghani's spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, tweeted.
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Also on Monday, the Taliban refused to take part in intra-Afghan talks, one of the conditions of a full withdrawal of U.S. troops, until the Afghan government releases roughly 5,143 Taliban prisoners.
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Their recruitment had echoes of how Pakistan — the other major host of the Afghan refugee population — recruited the Sunni Pashtun Afghan refugees and their children to form the Taliban in the mid-1990s.
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The Afghan government believes it has commitments from the US to support additional Afghan air force elements, commandos, counter-terrorism units and police that would have a strong focus towards counter-terror operations.
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If his release was a unilateral Afghan government decision, it is unlikely that the Afghan government would decide on the fate of a United States-designated terrorist figure without first consulting the Americans.
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"We appeared in front of national and international media, and in our country this is still dangerous that Afghan girls appear before the media," she told Abdullah Abdullah, the Afghan government's chief executive.
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But in the second decade of it, this increasingly became a very localized Afghan-on-Afghan war — this became relatives on two different sides, on the government side and on the insurgent side.
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The agreement will break the logjam of the Taliban's longstanding unwillingness to sit in talks with the Afghan government and other Afghan power brokers without first achieving an American commitment to withdraw forces.
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But in the second decade of it, increasingly this became a very localized Afghan-on-Afghan war — this became relatives on two different sides, on the government side and on the insurgent side.
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A spokesman for the American military in Afghanistan, which often carries out airstrikes to try to provide support to Afghan forces, said that the strikes on Monday were by the Afghan Air Force.
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"Based on the plan, the reduction in violence (RIV) will start between the Taliban and international and Afghan security forces for one week," a spokesperson for the Afghan National Security Advisor told Reuters.
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Jawid Salim, a spokesman for the Afghan commando forces, said the American soldier was accompanying Afghan special forces in an operation in Shadal Bazaar and he was mortally wounded by a roadside bomb.
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But Ahmad Javid Salim, a spokesman for the Afghan Army's commando forces who was at the scene of the attack, said at least 20 Afghan Army soldiers were killed and 30 were wounded.
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His ascension to the highest levels of Afghan politics — he has allied with Mr. Ghani, whom he once staunchly criticized — comes in one the most difficult and uncertain periods of the Afghan war.
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The Afghan government estimates that 90 percent of Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan are foreigners — they also include a few former Afghan Taliban — and that the Islamic State leadership here is mainly Pakistani.
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Her work, she said, was how a group of Afghan journalists found her in April and invited her to be part of the highly anticipated round of intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha.
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He has already faced criticism from some in the Afghan public, and accusations of being strong-armed by the United States into securing the release of two Westerners ahead of other Afghan priorities.
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Over time, local Afghan support to the international presence declined, the security situation in the country deteriorated, and a weak and often corrupt government in Kabul lost the confidence of the Afghan people.
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The Afghan government has not been included in peace talks with the Taliban, with intra-Afghan talks to follow any deal between Washington and the Taliban, but there are already disputes over negotiations.
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The Taliban — which has expressed plans to disrupt and derail the elections — has control of some Afghan territory, and there is no way for the Afghan military to provide security in those areas.
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Two U.S. soldiers were killed and six service members injured on Saturday when someone wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire on them and Afghan troops with a machine gun in Nangahar province.
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Two U.S. soldiers were killed and six service members injured on Saturday when someone wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire on them and Afghan troops with a machine gun in Nangahar province.
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Afghanistan's defense ministry, in a statement on Sunday, said the attacker opened fire on Afghan National Army members and U.S. forces, killing one Afghan soldier and wounding three others alongside the American soldiers.
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Additionally, a new report released by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction said that the Afghan government's control of its country declined late last year, in terms of both territory and population.
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In late January, Taliban fighters overran an Afghan intelligence base in Wardak Province, killing dozens in what Afghan officials said was one of the deadliest assaults against the intelligence service of the war.
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John Nicholson, has stressed the importance of pushing adviser teams down to the lower levels of the Afghan army — specifically to battalions, or kandaks, which are units of a few hundred Afghan soldiers.
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"Afghan security forces are tasked with protecting the Afghan people, not fighting each other over political disputes," John Bass, a seemingly frustrated U.S. ambassador to Kabul, tweeted in a call for de-esecalation.
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The militant group's announcement came just a week after 10 Taliban members disguised as soldiers infiltrated Afghan army training grounds in Mazar-e Sharif, killing upwards of 140 soldiers, according to Afghan officials.
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The Taliban, who are waging a war to oust the Western-backed Afghan government and expel foreign forces, have launched a series of high-profile attacks against Afghan security forces in recent weeks.
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A member of the US armed forces was killed and another two were wounded in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, where fierce fighting has raged between Taliban insurgents and Afghan government forces.
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An Afghan tent in the northern part of the camp.
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There are fourth generation Afghan families that've never had citizenship.
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Thousands of Afghan soldiers, police and Taliban were also killed.
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Consequentially, an increasing number of Afghan cricketers have gained prominence.
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He was an engineer and ran his community's Afghan Association.
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The Afghan economy tanked as soon as NATO support ebbed.
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Upon first coming here, the two Afghan athletes were shocked.
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The attackers wore Afghan National Defense and Security Forces uniforms.
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Over 28,000 Afghan security personnel have been killed since 2015.
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Goldfein said the same about providing training to Afghan pilots.
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Captain Trench Niez was 12 when the Afghan war began.
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No word on the millions of other Afghan refugees, though.
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That circuitous route creates delays for Afghan trade into China.
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But the Afghan Taliban also claimed responsibility for the attack.
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The Afghan National Security Forces have 370,000 troops and police.
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Russia started developing FOAB during the Afghan war, said Mozgovoy.
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The Afghan government has called for clarification of Trump's statement.
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Pakistan long has rejected charges that it supports Afghan militants.
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Afghan officials said 36 militants were killed in the strike.
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Afghan exports to India include dried fruits, textiles and carpets.
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"They'd be military employees of the Afghan government," Prince explained.
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Afghan officials said the blast destroyed multiple ISIS ammunition caches.
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They will train, advise and assist Afghan soldiers and police.
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The Afghan government condemned the attacks and dismissed Pakistan's allegations.
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The two are vying to become the next "Afghan Star".
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And it seems neither can the Afghan army at times.
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From January to May 22016, Afghan aircraft flew 217,2208 missions.
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There was no immediate word on casualties from Afghan authorities.
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Afghan insurgents and insiders both protested the use of bomb.
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The Orlando attacker was the son of an Afghan refugee.
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Today, 1,400 of his 1,600 congregants are Iranian and Afghan.
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From the opposite direction, two Afghan National Army pickups approached.
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Landlords have been encouraged to serve notice on Afghan tenants.
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Six Afghan soldiers were also wounded in a separate blast.
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Last year Turkish police detained nearly 36,000 illegal Afghan migrants.
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Afghan security forces are stretched thin fighting on multiple fronts.
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The former Afghan president Hamid Karzai is a distant second.
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The American and Afghan forces set out around 25 p.m.
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Afghan women have earned their seat at the negotiating table.
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There's still a ray of hope for the Afghan people.
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The Afghan government said it thought IS was indeed guilty.
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He had covering the Afghan conflict for over 15 years.
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Afghan officials denied that such a contact had been made.
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Jasso was likely accidentally shot by our Afghan partner force.
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But Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has repeatedly dismissed the idea.
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At least seven police officers were killed, Afghan officials said.
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"I feel sorry for the poor Afghan soldiers," Sopko said.
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Afghan forces have been bearing the brunt, suffering unsustainable casualties.
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Previously, U.S. forced had only accompanied Afghan special operations units.
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The Afghan government has not been involved in the talks.
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But she remained positive, describing Afghan women as "really brave".
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This will be especially important for the Afghan security forces.
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Afghan officials have said military casualty rates are historically high.
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Afghan officials did not immediately confirm or deny that claim.
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Hundreds of Afghan soldiers have died in recent fighting there.
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Later, in high school in Kabul, she learned Afghan signing.
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The battle for the Afghan city of Ghazni is over.
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The Afghan Air Force, lacking sufficient aircraft, is stretched thin.
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The majority of the forces, however, are Afghan militia members.
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Some of those abducted are related to Afghan government employees.
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Afghan officials in the province describe two wars for Ghazni.
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Afghan officials put the total at 57 to 70 dead.
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It also threatens to erode Afghan troops' willingness to fight.
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Of course, his Afghan name might be evolving as well.
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It could, for instance, ban the Afghan teams from competition.
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Predator drones alternate beside panels of traditionally dressed Afghan men.
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The Afghan constitution itself declares Islam the religion of Afghanistan.
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The first to die was the Afghan garrison commandant, Sgt.
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The ANCOP recently became a part of the Afghan military.
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The attack was repelled by American and Afghan air power.
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In exchange, the Taliban would release 1,000 Afghan government prisoners.
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All of the casualties were civilians, according to Afghan officials.
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The Afghan government condemns the attack in the strongest terms.
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In exchange, the Taliban would release 1,85033 Afghan government prisoners.
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Afghan cafeteria workers cook and serve food to foreign troops.
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Afghan commandos have fought difficult battles there against the Taliban.
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"We welcome them if they accept Afghan law," he said.
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The Afghan Air Force responded with air strikes, Aman added.
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The Afghan government, led by Ashraf Ghani, expressed grave misgivings.
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Afghan airstrikes responding to the attack killed 39 Taliban fighters.
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But more than 20% of Afghan asylum seekers are rejected.
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An attack on an Afghan cricket match is highly unusual.
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Afghan society, particularly its young people, are our best allies.
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Two Afghan officials also confirmed the start date to CNN.
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The Afghan parents were both magistrates, and wore leather jackets.
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The violence continues to take its toll on Afghan civilians.
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The Afghan Air Force was responsible for about 10 percent.
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An Afghan using a megaphone ordered everyone to come outside.
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Afghan soldiers and other American personnel were on the mission.
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Again, the Afghan government played no role in those discussions.
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It has also affected the combat motivation of Afghan forces.
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"You can't force an Afghan to do anything," he said.
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A top Afghan general walking next to him was killed.
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Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
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Members of the Afghan delegation are yet to be announced.
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Thus, the negotiations may start with Afghan leadership in contention.
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Shanahan's views on the Afghan war are not widely known.
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But don't forget that each Afghan has to be respected.
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Afghan army officials did not respond to requests for comment.
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Many Afghan troops were seen as inept or lazy or.
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Afghan special forces had arrived at the scene, Rahimi added.
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"The Afghan government is very divided, it's weak," Cordesman said.
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The Afghan soldier was killed in the incident, Khogyani said.
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Tensions between the Afghan government and the insurgents are escalating.
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Pakistan continues to harbor Afghan Taliban, the United States says.
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Afghan media described an increase in gunfire as they entered.
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Ayan Khan, a helicopter pilot in the Afghan Air Force.
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Robert Bales had murdered 16 Afghan civilians in cold blood.
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The Afghan military welcomed the news of the Marines' return.
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But the downsizing of the Afghan mission was probably inevitable.
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Do we owe it to the Afghan people to stay?
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Last month, Afghan pilots flew their first night attack missions.
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Soto's time in Iraq was nothing like his Afghan tour.
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For our Afghan contemporaries, the war has been their life.
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Omer Yousafzai, 41, opened Afghan Village over six years ago.
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Others wanted to transform Afghan culture and elevate women's rights.
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Afghan government forces are bearing the brunt of heavy fighting.
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Why has Washington ceased to care about the Afghan war?
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He enlisted Ms. Mahboob to put together an Afghan team.
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American and Afghan troops were inside the house, she said.
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The Afghan people have clearly voiced their desire for peace.
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"I spent the entire night here!" a young Afghan said.
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