Afghanistan

KABUL, Apr 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) – At least 59 people were killed, in insurgent activities and clashes in Afghanistan, in the past 24 hours, according to a local independent war monitoring group, early this morning.

“Within the past 24 hours, our team documented 59 deaths, including eight civilians, nine Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) members, and 42 Taliban militants,” Reduction in Violence (RiV) said, on their social media platform twitter.

KABUL, Apr 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) – An army soldier was killed and four others wounded, when a roadside bomb struck an army pick-up truck, on the northern outskirts of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, today, the capital police confirmed.

The explosion occurred when an army vehicle carrying army personnel was driving along a road in Qarabagh district, roughly at 7:00 a.m. local time, the Kabul police told reporters via text message.

The wounded were transported to a hospital, while the vehicle was badly damaged by the force of the explosion.

TALUQAN, Afghanistan, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Five militants including a Taliban key commander have been killed in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province on Sunday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said.

The clash flared up after a group of Taliban militants attacked security checkpoints in Bandkasha village of Eshkamish district Sunday morning.

As a result of the clash, six people including a police constable and five insurgents including Taliban key commander Mullah Abdullah Nasiri, alias Abu Abida, have been killed, the spokesman said.

TALUQAN, Afghanistan, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Police in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province arrested two drug smugglers and discovered nearly 200 gram heroin from their stomachs on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said.

The first smuggler was arrested in Kalafgan district early Wednesday and after checking police took him to hospital and doctors discovered 101 gram heroin placed in capsules from his stomach. The man is under medical treatment in hospital, the official said.

KABUL, March 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden has mulled over extending the May 1 deadline set last year by his predecessor Donald Trump with the Taliban for withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

"It's going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline" to pull out all troops, Biden told his first press conference on Thursday since he took office, while noting that he "can't picture" the troops still being there next year.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Sticky bombs slapped onto cars trapped in Kabul’s chaotic traffic are the newest weapons terrorizing Afghans in the increasingly lawless nation, as Washington searches for a responsible exit after decades of war.

The primitive devices, sometimes made in mechanics’ workshops for little money, are used by militants, criminals or those trying to settle personal scores. Over the past year, one or more cars have been exploding in Kabul almost every day and residents are terrified.

KABUL, March 25 (NNN-Xinhua) – Twelve militants were killed and five others injured over the past 24 hours in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, said a statement of the Defense Ministry released on Thursday.

The operations were backed by fighting planes and targeted Taliban hideouts in Arghandab and Miwand districts, the statement said.

The security forces also discovered and defused 55 anti-vehicle mines and explosive devices during the operations, the statement said, adding that there were no casualties on security personnel and civilians.

KABUL, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday inaugurated a key hydropower dam in the western province Nimroz, which is expected to boost economy and agriculture in the land-locked Asian country, the state-run National Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) reported.

Ghani was joined by hundreds of Afghan officials, dignitaries and locals at the inauguration ceremony held near the Kamal Khan Dam located in Chahar Burjak district, about 95 km south of Zaraj, capital of Nimroz.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, said Sunday that the Biden administration wants to see “a responsible end” to America’s longest war, but the level of violence must decrease for “fruitful” diplomacy to have a chance.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — State media reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived Sunday in Kabul on his first trip to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, amid swirling questions about how long American troops will remain in the country.

State-owned Radio and Television Afghanistan and popular TOLO Television reported Austin’s arrival in Kabul from India. He was expected to meet with senior Afghan government officials, including President Ashraf Ghani.