Nation

AT Monitoring Desk KABUL: Sher Abbas Stanekzai, Taliban chief negotiator, says ceasefire with the US-led foreign forces is intact but there is no ceasefire with the Afghan government forces as it is not part of the US-Taliban agreement. “A separate agreement will be discussed and signed with the Kabul administration …

AT News KABUL: Afghan Air Forces (AAF) has targeted a gathering of the Taliban group in which the red unit commander along 15 Taliban fighters was killed in northern Balkh province, said officials on Tuesday.  The airstrike carried out in Kushinda district at around 1:10am local time, said 209 Shaheen …

AT News KABUL: The US Department of State has condemned the Iranian border police’s brutal act against the Afghan migrants, saying that Iran’s “cruel treatment” and abuse of Afghan migrants is horrifying. Following a report published by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission over the vicious behavior of Iran border …

AT News KABUL: Afghanistan’s warring leaders—President Ashraf Ghani and his estranged ally Abdullah Abdullah—appeared inching closer to a rapprochement as presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi talked about positive progress made in the talks between the two camps. Without give further details, Sediqqi in a press conference said, “There is progress, the …

AT News KABUL: The government has released another 102 Taliban prisoners as part of peace efforts to bring the deadly Afghan war to an end through negotiation. Javid Faisal, Spokesman of the National Security Council said in pursuant to President Ashraf Ghani, the government had released 102 Taliban prisoners yesterday. …

By Li Zhenghuan The current Covid-19 situation in Afghanistan is quite severe, with the number of confirmed cases keeping rising up. In the nearly two months lockdown, the pandemic has hit the Afghan fragile economy hard,  leading to unemployment, food shortages and prices increase and other problems. The lives of …

By Marco V. Sánchez Cantillo Deputy-Director, Agricultural Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Many uncertainties haunt the world’s campaign to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing is now sure: Global economic activity will suffer greatly, with large-scale consequences for the incomes and …

By Wasil Ahmad Akhtar Corruption in Afghanistan has affected both the public and private sector and it is broadly recognized as a key challenge for governance and rule of law. The Afghan government has made several commitments to address corruption but it has increased instead. Corruption has undermined the legitimacy …

By Wang Yu, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan A few days ago, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a cordial and friendly phone call with Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar. This is the first phone call between the two old friends since Foreign Minister Atmar took …

AT News KABUL: Nuristan, placed in eastern Afghanistan with a special geographical location, has so far been out of pandemic covid-19 threats; there is no lockdown and the residents are hanging around as usual unlike other provinces, which are under strict lockdowns. As the state is out of covid-19 trouble …