Taliban

Latest Stories

Taliban abduct 45 people from gov’t employee’s funeral

By TAMEEM AKHGAR - Associated Press

'The Taliban at War 2001-2018' (book jacket)

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Taliban at War 2001-2018’

By Joshua Sinai

In this May 28, 2019, photo, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group's top political leader, second left, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for talks in Moscow, Russia. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad held on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019, the first official talks with Afghanistan's Taliban since last September when President Donald Trump declared a near-certain peace deal with the insurgents dead. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) **FILE**

US opens first round of resurrected peace talks with Taliban

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press

In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad speaks on the prospects for peace at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Washington. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad held on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 the first official talks with Afghanistan's Taliban since last September when President Donald Trump declared a near-certain peace deal with the insurgents dead. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Taliban says U.S. resumes peace talks following aborted Camp David summit

By Andrew Blake - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad pauses while speaking about the prospects for peace, at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Washington. Afghanistan’s former deputy minister says Khalilzad is in the Afghan capital “to discuss the latest in peace efforts.” Former deputy foreign minister Hekmat Karzai tweeted pictures of his meeting with Khalilzad Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, saying ‘we spoke about the way forward.” (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

US’s Afghan peace envoy makes surprise stop in Kabul

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press

Australian Timothy Weeks smiles during a press conference in Sydney, Sunday, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019. The Australian teacher held captive with an American colleague by the Taliban for more than three years believes U.S. Navy SEALs tried and failed six times to free them. Weeks was released last month in a prisoner swap along with American Kevin King, ending an ordeal that began with their 2016 abduction outside the American University in Kabul, where they worked. (Jeremy Piper/AAPImage via AP)

Freed Taliban prisoner recounts SEAL rescue attempts

Associated Press

Australian Timothy Weeks smiles during a press conference in Sydney, Sunday, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019. The Australian teacher held captive with an American colleague by the Taliban for more than three years believes U.S. Navy SEALs tried and failed six times to free them. Weeks was released last month in a prisoner swap along with American Kevin King, ending an ordeal that began with their 2016 abduction outside the American University in Kabul, where they worked. (Jeremy Piper/AAPImage via AP)

Timothy Weeks, freed Taliban prisoner, recounts Navy SEAL rescue attempts

Associated Press

President Donald Trump smiles while sitting with the troops during a surprise Thanksgiving Day visit to the troops, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019, at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump thanks troops in Afghanistan, says Taliban want a deal

By JILL COLVIN - Associated Press

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during a surprise Thanksgiving Day visit, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019, at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Latest: Trump back in US after his visit to Afghanistan

Associated Press

Iran hosts Taliban to discuss Afghan peace process

Associated Press

Pollution hangs over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Two U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

This two-photo combination image taken from video released June 21, 2017, by the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, shows kidnapped teachers Australian Timothy Weekes, top, and American Kevin King, who were both abducted by the insurgents in Afghanistan in August 2016. Three ranking Taliban prisoners released by the Kabul government have been flown to Qatar for an expected swap for the American and the Australian hostage held by the insurgents since their abduction in 2016, Taliban officials said Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019. (EL-EMARA Taliban via AP, File)

Taliban free two professors from the U.S. and Australia in exchange for three Taliban prisoners

By Kathy Gannon - Associated Press

FILE - In this May 3, 2019, photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks on the last day of the Afghan Loya Jirga meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban officials have told The Associated Press that three Taliban prisoners released by Kabul have been flown to Qatar for a swap for an American and an Australian hostage held by the insurgents. The three Taliban prisoners were to have been freed more than one week ago by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

The Latest: Pompeo calls prisoner exchange a ‘hopeful sign”

Associated Press

Afghan woman ambassador forms group to help Afghan women

By EDITH M. LEDERER - Associated Press

Afghan officials: 2 federal prosecutors shot dead near Kabul

Associated Press

FILE - In this June 17, 2019 file photo, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani speaks with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the start of their meeting inside 10 Downing Street in London. Three Taliban prisoners who were to be freed in exchange for an American and an Australian national, both kidnapped in 2016, are still in custody in Bagram prison, north of the capital Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Friday, Nov. 15. The three Taliban prisoners did not show up at an exchange site that had been agreed upon with the U.S., though Ghani said they would be freed. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool, File)

Taliban say prisoner swap promised by Kabul fails to happen

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press

In this Sept. 28, 2019, file photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks to journalists after voting at Amani high school, near the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. President Ghani said Tuesday, Nov. 12, his government has released three Taliban figures in an effort to have the insurgents free an American and an Australian professor they abducted in 2017. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani: 3 Taliban released for held U.S., Australian

By Rahim Faiez - Associated Press

FILE - In this May 28, 2019 file photo, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group's top political leader, third from left, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for talks in Moscow, Russia. The Taliban said Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, that a fresh round of intra-Afghan peace talks is to be held in China next week. The announcement raises hopes for renewed negotiations, even as violence surges in Afghanistan’s 18-year war. Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, said Tuesday that the talks are planned for Oct. 28 and 29. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Afghan president, Chinese FM discuss dialogue with Taliban

Associated Press

An Afghan security personnel arrive at the site of suicide attack in Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Oct. 25, 2019. An Afghan official says a suicide attack has targeted a convoy carrying officials from the country's intelligence service, killing five people, including a child, in eastern Nangarhar province. The Taliban claimed the attack. (AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon)

Pentagon watchdog sees big spike in Afghan civilian casualties as war grinds on

By Lauren Toms - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Washington. Representatives of Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan have agreed that negotiation is the only road to peace in Afghanistan, including an early resumption of direct U.S. talks with the Taliban. In a statement released at the end of meetings in Moscow on Friday, Oct. 25, China, Russia and Pakistan called on Washington to return to the negotiation table with the Taliban and sign an agreement that will set the stage for Afghans on both sides of the protracted conflict to start face-to-face discussions on what a post-war Afghanistan would look like. Khalilzad had a preliminary peace deal with the Taliban until President Donald Trump in September declared the talks dead after a series of attacks killed several people, including a U.S. soldier. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Sources: US envoy in Kabul negotiating hostage release

By KATHY GANNON - Associated Press