Jalaluddin Haqqani was closely tied to Al Qaeda leaders and had played a key role in supporting the terror group in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This will be probably for the first time since the 9/11 attacks that the representative of a duly elected Afghan government and the Taliban would be meeting face-to-face for peace talks.
The US has hailed a power-sharing deal between rival Afghan presidential candidates as a "moment of extraordinary statesmanship" that ended a prolonged dispute threatening to plunge the war-torn nation into further political turmoil and complicate the NATO troops withdrawal.
Simultaneously more than 60 countries led by the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement urging those in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan to bear responsibility and accountability for the protection of human life and property, and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order.
For 16-year-old Negin Afshar, riding a motorbike around a dirt track in Kabul isn't just about the excitement. It is also a way to show that Afghan women can be tough too in a country where concerns are growing that hard-earned rights might be lost.
"Last night in Afghanistan, US special operations joined Afghan commandos from the first special operations battalion in a full mission exercise demonstrating a night air assault. This was an Afghan plan, an Afghan-led mission," Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told media persons.
Now, through the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Messi has kept his promise and gifted his five-year-old fan, Murtaza Ahmadi, two autographed jerseys and a signed football, CNN reported.
During the day-long visit, the Pakistani delegation will hold talks with Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and call on leadership of the interim government in Kabul and other Afghan leaders, according to Foreign Office.
A young Afghan fan of Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi has fled his home and gone to Pakistan because his family feared he could be kidnapped after he became an unlikely Internet sensation, the boy's uncle said on Tuesday. Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmedi grabbed world headlines after being photographed in a shirt improvised from a plastic bag in the colours of the Argentine national team bearing Messi's name and number 10 playing number. After pictures of Murtaza went viral on social media, his family feared that after becoming famous worldwide, he could be abducted by kidnappers for ransom. His home is in the central region of Ghazni where security has been fragile and where kidnappings are common.
he United States did what we went to do in Afghanistan, to get to terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and deliver justice to Osama bin Laden, and to degrade the terrorist threat to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base, from which attacks could be continued against the United States.
On January 20, Taliban men armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests attacked the landmark Intercontinental Hotel and killed around 25 people, going from room to room searching for foreigners during the more than 12-hour ordeal.
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
For Kohli, in probably his last three matches as T20 captain of India, one would expect some prudent team selections and it starts with the question of repeatedly ignoring a player of Ashwin's calibre.
Johnson said "formidable" challenges remain around the evacuation of British nationals and supporters from Kabul airport but the situation was getting "slightly better".
Trump had a hastily-arranged bilateral meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
The Afghan-India Friendship Dam, earlier known as Salma Dam, on river Chist-e-Sharif in western Herat neighbouring Iran, will irrigate 75,000 hectares of land and generate 42 MW of power.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is tipped to emerge as the single largest party in the elections.
Oscar winning US actress Jolie arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday on a four-day visit to focus world attention on the plight of Afghan refugees.
The national men's team beat India 2-0 to win the South Asian Football Federation championship in Kathmandu late on Tuesday, Afghanistan's first international football title, sending tens of thousands of joyous Afghans into the streets. Fans in cars and on motorbikes joined others on foot, cheering, blowing horns and waving Afghan flags throughout the night.
'Holding on to superstardom is far more difficult than the struggle to get there.'
'We hope that the situation in Afghanistan does not pose a challenge to its neighbours and its territory is not used by terrorist groups'
'Siddiqui was alive when the Taliban captured him. The Taliban verified Siddiqui's identity and then executed him, as well as those with him'
New Delhi and Beijing are the only two regional capitals that have commented on US President Donald Trump's speech on August 21 outlining the way forward in Afghanistan. The Indian foreign ministry statement was effusive in praise, while the Chinese statement has been one of cautious and guarded hope. Delhi has identified itself with Trump's Afghan strategy, whereas the Chinese stance is calibrated -- observant and objective, keeping a distance, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Afghan President Dr Mohammad Ashraf Ghani will be paying a three-day state visit to India beginning on Monday, during which he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attend delegation-level talks.
Additional Afghan forces have been deployed around the Indian consulate which was attacked on Wednesday in Jalalabad city of Afghanistan by heavily-armed terrorists including suicide bombers.
'Overall as a team, they cannot be seen as walkover. They're very competitive as a one-day and T20 side. They keep proving it over and over again'
The participants exchanged views on ways and means to bring peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants the United States to reduce the visibility and intensity of its "intrusive" military operations, saying people of the war-torn nation have lost patience with the presence of American troops in their homes that could exacerbate Taliban insurgency.
Categorically denying disciplinary issues as reason behind Ishan Kishan's non-selection into India's T20 squad to face Afghanistan, head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday said the left-hander will be back into national fold once he makes himself available for selection.
India enjoys close relations with Afghanistan and both accuse common neighbour Pakistan of not doing enough to stop Islamist militants operating on their territory.
India's aid comes to mind as Afghanistan script famous win
Afghan women's cricket team formed in 2010 was quietly dissolved this year amid Taliban threats, insecurity and conservative beliefs.
An Afghan delegation arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to share information with Pakistani officials on the assassination of Afghan peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, diplomatic sources said.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday discussed issues relating to Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific during his bilateral meetings with global counterparts on the sidelines of the annual high-level UN General Assembly session.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, discussed the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan amidst chaotic airlifts of Afghan civilians and diplomats by the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries before the August 31 deadline.
Even though the Taliban has managed to capture Afghanistan and form a government, an internal rift between the faction has started emerging, according to media reports.
the UN-appointed panel concluded that the "shortcomings" on election day, including the low-quality ink, did not affect the ballot's outcome and were too minor to overturn Karzai's victory.
The narcotics substance worth Rs 775 crore in the international market was seized from a house belonging to key drug case accused Raji Haider Zaidi's sister in Muzaffarnagar on Sunday.
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