Afghanistan

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FILE - In this July 9, 2018 file photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, left, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, arrive for a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Afghan president over the weekend to express disappointment over the indefinite postponement of talks with the Taliban and to condemn the insurgent's latest &quot;spring offensive.&quot; The Afghan-to-Afghan talks in Qatar were scheduled to start Friday, April 19, 2019, when they were scuttled after a falling out over who should attend. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool, File)

After delays, Afghan president inaugurates new parliament

By RAHIM FAIEZ - Associated Press

Afghan Security personnel arrive outside the Telecommunication Ministry during a gunfight with insurgents in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 20, 2019. A suicide blast rocked Afghanistan's capital Saturday during a gun battle with security forces, officials said, killing several people a day after hopes for all-encompassing peace talks collapsed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan official says Taliban ambush police convoy, kill 9

By RAHIM FAIEZ - Associated Press

In this Tuesday, April 23, 2019, photo, Masih Rahman speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. In September last year Masih Rahman's entire family of 11 people, his wife, four daughters, three sons and four nephews, were killed when a bomb flattened their home in Mullah Hafiz village in Jaghatu district of Afghanistan's central Maidan Wardak province. Afghan and international forces had killed more civilians than insurgents in the first three months of the year, the U.N. announced Wednesday, the first time the deaths caused by the government and its allies exceeded their enemies. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

UN: Pro-government forces kill more Afghans than insurgents

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press

Illustration on strategies for the future of Afghanistan by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

The Battle of Afghanistan and the contest of wills

By Clifford D. May

Islamic State claims Kabul attack that killed 7

Associated Press

Afghan security personnel rescue men and children from the information and culture ministry after an attack near to the Telecommunication Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 20, 2019. Afghan officials say an explosion has rocked the telecommunications ministry in the capital city of Kabul. Nasart Rahimi, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said Saturday the blast occurred during a shootout with security forces. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan official: Blast rocks country’s capital, kills 7

By RAHIM FAIEZ - Associated Press

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2019, file photo, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Karzai said Friday, April 19, 2019 that peace in his homeland, ravaged by more than 17 years of war, will not be possible until Afghans from all sectors of society sit together and negotiate _ including the Taliban.(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

Ex-president: Peace possible when all Afghans sit together

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press

Injured men receive treatment at a hospital, after a clash between Taliban and security forces in Kunduz province north of Afghanistan, Saturday, April 13, 2019. An Afghan official says the Taliban fighters have launch attacks on Afghan security forces in northern Kunduz city, killing six people and so far more than 50 others were wounded. (AP Photo/Bashir Khan Safi)

Qatari official: Afghan talks postponed indefinitely

By KATHY GANNON and AMIR SHAH - Associated Press

Trio of senators visit Afghanistan, Iraq

Associated Press

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, file image, Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda waits for the start of the trial against former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Judges at the International Criminal Court have rejected a request by the court's prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan and alleged crimes by U.S. forces linked to the conflict. In a decision Friday, judges said an investigation &quot;would not serve the interests of justice&quot; because an investigation and prosecution are unlikely to be successful because of a lack of cooperation. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Judges reject Afghanistan probe; cite lack of cooperation

By MIKE CORDER - Associated Press

A U.S. Marine Corps carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, Thursday, April 11, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Slutman, of Newark, Del., was among three American service members killed by a roadside bomb on Monday, April 8, near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Remains of 3 Marines killed in Afghanistan returned to US

Associated Press

An Afghan security force check the site a day after an an attack near the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, April 9, 2019. Three American service members and a U.S. contractor were killed when their convoy hit the roadside bomb on Monday near the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, the U.S. forces said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Latest: Pentagon IDs 3 Marines killed in Afghanistan

Associated Press

Afghan security forces gather at the site of Monday's suicide attack near the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, April 9, 2019. Three American service members and a U.S. contractor were killed when their convoy hit a roadside bomb on Monday near the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, the U.S. forces said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

US forces: 3 Marines killed, Afghan contractor wounded

By RAHIM FAIEZ - Associated Press

Afghan residents are reflected in the water on the shore of Shuhada Lake, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

3 U.S. service members, 1 contractor killed in Afghanistan IED attack

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

A hearse carrying the body of Army Spc. Joseph Collette, who died in combat in Afghanistan, heads to Lancaster at the start of the procession at Rickenbaker Air National Base in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. (Kyle Robertson/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

Military returns body of soldier killed to Ohio

Associated Press

Afghan first vice president, a former Uzbek warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, center, and members of his entourage disembark on arrival at Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, July 22, 2018. An Afghan spokesman said there has been a large explosion near the Kabul airport shortly after Dostum landed on his return from abroad. Dostum and his entourage were unharmed in the explosion which took place after his convoy had already left the airport. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Abdul Rashid Dostum, Afghan vice president, escapes Taliban ambush

Associated Press

In This Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, photo, Afghans return to Afghanistan at the Islam Qala border with Iran, in the western Herat Province. Security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Returning home as Syria’s war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghans recruited to fight in Syrian war struggle back home

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press

In This Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019 photo, Mohammad Bakhsh, an ethnic Hazara bicycle repairman speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Herat, Afghanistan. Iran paid, trained and armed thousands of Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria to defend its ally, President Bashar Assad. Most were impoverished members of the minority Hazara community unable to find jobs. Returning home as Syria’s war winds down, they face suspicion and fear. &quot;We don't like that they go but at least in Syria they earn money,&quot; he said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Back home, Afghan veterans of Syria war seen as Iran’s pawns

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press

Afghan official: vice president unhurt in Taliban ambush

Associated Press

FILE - In this May 27, 2016 file photo, Taliban fighters react to a speech by their senior leader in the Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. In a Thursday, March 28, 2019 report the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, a U.S. watchdog, said that Afghanistan will remain dependent on international donors and foreign help even after a peace deal with the Taliban is reached. The report identified main high-risk areas including the reintegration of as many as 60,000 heavily armed Taliban fighters and their families back into Afghan society. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan, File) **FILE**

Afghan peace hopes clouded by U.S.-backed government’s weaknesses

By Carlo Muñoz - The Washington Times