Diplomatic Cross

KABUL: The top US general in Afghanistan told NATO troops on Tuesday to prepare themselves to deal with “positive processes or negative consequences” as peace talks between the US and the Taliban to end a 17-year war gain momentum. General Scott Miller, who commands US forces and the NATO-led non-combat Resolution Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan reiterated the need for a political settlement to end the conflict. “Peace talks (are) out there, regional players pressing for peace, the Taliban talking about peace, the Afghan government is talking about peace,” Miller told dozens of NATO soldiers who had gathered at RS headquarters in Kabul for an exercise session. Dressed in gym gear, Miller participated in a 60-minute open-air morning workout of sprints, squats, burpees and push-ups. He did not comment on reports that the United States was considering pulling out almost half of the 14,000-strong force currently deployed in Afghanistan. A White House spokesman s...

President Ashraf Ghani  Image: DOD/US Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani declared a provisional three-month ceasefire with the Taliban in a televised broadcast. Kabul-Anticipation had been mounting ahead of Ghani’s speech following mixed signals from the presidential palace over whether the government would offer a fresh truce – following a brief ceasefire in June. Pakistan Fully support, recent peace initiatives in Afghanistan “The conditional ceasefire will start tomorrow and it will continue as long as the Taliban preserves and respects it,” Ghani said on Sunday, August 19, Reuters reported. Ghani said the ceasefire, which begins on the Eid al-Adha holiday, would continue until the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday which Afghanistan celebrates on November 21, AFP reported. Ghani said his administration removed “all obstacles” to peace with the announcement following consultations with religious scholars, political parties and...

The Taliban in Afghanistan regularly use captured US weapons to attack government outposts, the US media reported on Wednesday. Islamabad-Recently, American warplanes destroyed about 40 US-supplied Humvees that the Taliban had captured from Afghanistan’s military over the past several years, the USA TODAY newspaper reported. It claimed that the report about this “recurring problem” was based on official statistics collected by the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. According to these statistics, Taliban fighters frequently capture US-supplied equipment and then disappear into the countryside. “The Humvees struck by American aircraft may only represent a fraction of the equipment now in Taliban hands,” the paper claimed. While accounting for the US-supplied equipment, American investigators found that the militants not only capture the weapons they use but also buy these from the Afghan military. Because of widespread corruption in Afghanistan’s defence establishme...

Syrian allies Russia and Iran condemn the move while the EU, Turkey, and Qatar praise the action by the UK, US and France . The Damascus sky lights up with surface-to-air missile fire-courtesy Sky News Syria In a statement, Damascus branded the move illegal. Its foreign ministry said: "The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the brutal American-British-French aggression against Syria, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law." Russia The Kremlin strongly denounced the missile strikes and said it was calling an emergency session of the UN Security Council. In a statement, it said: "Russia severely condemns the attack on Syria where Russian military are helping the lawful government in the fight with terrorism." A British Tornado GR4 jet taking off from Cyprus ahead of the strikes-Courtesy Sky News Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, branded Donald Trump, Theresa May and Emmanuel Macr...