Afghanistan

KABUL, Mar 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – At least 36 people were killed, in insurgent activities and clashes, in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours, according to a local independent war monitoring group, early today.

“Within the past 24 hours, our team documented 36 deaths, including one Afghan National Defence and Security Forces member, and 35 Taliban militants,” Reduction in Violence (RiV) said, on social media.

The group said, there were also 31 Taliban militants, and four security forces wounded in the cited period.

MEHTARLAM, Mar 19 (NNN-XINHUA) – Six militants have been confirmed dead, and two others were injured, as military planes pounded a Taliban hideout in Alishing district, of Afghanistan’s eastern Laghman province yesterday, said an army statement, released here today.

The Taliban militants were gathered in Manjan area of the restive Alishing district, to attack security checkpoints, but the fighting planes in pre-emptive sorties, struck the militants, killing six on the spot and injuring two others, the statement said.

KABUL, Mar 18 (NNN-XINHUA) – At least 59 people were killed, in insurgent activities and conflicts in Afghanistan, in the past 24 hours, according to a local independent war monitoring group early today.

“Within the past 24 hours, our team documented 59 deaths, including seven Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) members, one civilian and 51 Taliban militants,” Reduction in Violence (RiV), said.

The group said, there were also 20 Taliban militants, seven security forces members and two civilians wounded in the cited period.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 34 militants have been killed as cleanup operations continued in Taliban former stronghold Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Backed by fighting planes, the operations have covered Arghandab, Panjway, Zhari and Spinboldak districts, the statement said, adding so far 34 armed insurgents have been killed and nine more sustained injuries.

KABUL, March 14 (Xinhua) -- At least three civilians were killed and 12 others wounded in two separate explosions in the Afghan capital Kabul, local police said.

One blast occurred when an improvised bomb hit a minibus in Police District (PD) 3 and the other explosion, a similar one, took place in the neighboring PD 6, in western part of the city, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz told Xinhua.

The death toll was likely to rise as some of the wounded were in critical condition.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.

KABUL, March 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Afghan government said it would participate in two separate US- and Russian-backed peace conferences in the coming weeks.

The Russian-backed conference is scheduled for March 18, while the US-sponsored one will take place in Turkey next month, officials said.

Peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the insurgent Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha have largely stalled.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A powerful car bomb killed at least eight people and injured 47 in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, officials said Saturday.

The death toll in the explosion late Friday that also destroyed 14 houses is expected to rise because several of the injured were critical, said Rafiq Sherzai, a spokesman for the provincial hospital.

One among the dead and 11 of the injured were Afghan Security Forces personnel while the remainder were civilians, including women and children, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian.

MAIMANA, Afghanistan, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A total of 15 militants have been confirmed dead as fighting planes struck a Taliban gathering in Almar district of the northern Faryab province on Thursday, army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai said.

"Acting on tip off, the fighting planes targeted a gathering of Taliban militants in Almar district at 10:00 a.m. local time Thursday, killing 15 insurgents on the spot and injuring three others," Rezai told Xinhua.

There were no casualties on security personnel and civilians, the official asserted.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Frustrated by a stalled peace process and escalating violence, the U.S. has presented an eight-page draft peace agreement to Afghanistan’s warring sides for review.

The U.S. told the parties to come to Turkey in the coming weeks ready to move on it, according to Afghans on both sides of the table.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday, in a bid to push forward peace talks with the Taliban, that his government was ready to discuss holding fresh elections, insisting that any new government should emerge through the democratic process.

“Transfer of power through elections is a non-negotiable principle for us,” Ghani told lawmakers at the opening of parliament session in Kabul.