Afghan National Army Force came under fire at a post in Logar Province last Tuesday. The Afghans called in US air support. However, the US support attacked and destroyed the outpost killing 4 Afghan soldiers and wounding another six.
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Mark Milley predicted that US troops would stay in Afghanistan for several more years. This is the first such estimate since President Trump refused to accept a peace plan in principle negotiated with the Taliban.
The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has issued a new report that estimates that the US has spent $132 billion on Afghan economic development since 2002.
Washington -
Pentagon officials are quoted by NBC news as claiming they are engaged in prudent planning for a quick withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan should US President Trump decide to do so.
The US special envoy to Afghanistan and former peace negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad was in Pakistan yesterday and reports indicate he spent an hour meeting with a top Taliban delegation.
Islamabad -
Senior Afghan Taliban officials have visited the Pakistan capital of Islamabad to discuss the stalled Afghan peace talks with Pakistani officials. They hope that Pakistan will aid in restarting the talks with the US.
A US drone strike whose intended target was an ISIS hideout in Afghanistan instead killed at least 30 farm laborers resting after their day of labor in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province.
Two Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 48 people in Kabul the capital and in the city of Charikar. The Charikar attack targeted an election rally for Ashraf Ghani the president who is running for another term. Ghani was not hurt.
A US Green Beret service member has been killed in action in Afghanistan. The death was announced in a release by NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
Taliban leaders in Afghanistan announce that they are revoking their ban on Red Cross operations in parts of the country they control. They are now offering security guarantees for any Red Cross staff doing humanitarian work in Taliban-held areas.
In rejecting a recent peace agreement with the Taliban Trump concentrated on the fact that the Taliban escalated attacks during the talks to gain leverage and were not willing to grant a cease fire.
In a speech at the Pentagon on the anniversary of 9/11 US President Donald Trump focused on the Afghan war against the Taliban. He said that the US has hit them harder than they have ever been hit before.
Even though the Trump administration has not yet signed the peace deal with the Taliban on Afghanistan, there are signs that he will do so the most recent being a new interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
US negotiator, special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad reports that the US and Taliban have agreed to a peace deal in principle and is pending approval by US President Trump. The Afghan government has been given a copy of the deal.
While officials on both sides insist that a US Taliban peace deal is imminent fighting is actually intensifying. The Taliban has started battles in two cities and the Afghan forces launched airstrikes in the northern province of Faryab.
After some 18 years of US involvement in Afghanistan there have been reports lately that a deal with the Taliban is near and an announcement could be made any day now.
Trump claims that the US will withdraw some troops from Afghanistan. He says that once a determination has been made 8,600 troops will be left less than half the number present now. Trump said Afghanistan would remain very well controlled
Sources at the Taliban US peace talks in Doha Qatar claim that the recent talks have worked out a peace deal for Afghanistan. The plan is to announce the deal formally in a few days. This will give the US time to brief the Afghan government on the deal.
Donald Trump has often said that the US should withdraw from Afghanistan. Although he appears to want to end the war he remains non-committal on the peace plan negotiated with the Taliban saying only that he would see what happens.
Doha -
Peace talks between the US and the Taliban are paused for the Eid al-Adha holiday that ends on August 13, next Tuesday. When discussions begin after that the expectation is that a deal will be finalized.
Doha -
Taliban leader Mullah Akhundzada in a recent message talked of the "incredible strides" that are being made in peace negotiations with the US to end the Afghan war. He said the goal was to end 18 years of US occupation.
Doha -
The much-anticipated talks in Doha, Qatar between the US and the Taliban have ended. A Taliban official has claimed that they and the US have resolved differences on US troop withdrawal and Taliban promises to cut ties with terrorist groups.
Doha -
As the new round of peace talks between the Taliban and the US get underway in Doha there are reports that a peace deal could be reached soon. The deal could include the US withdrawing 5,000 troops as an initial cut.
Washington D.c. -
Mike Pompeo US Secretary of State confirmed Monday that the Trump administration plans to reduce the number of US ground troops in Afghanistan before the 2020 election. However the timing and size of the reduction are not yet settled.
Doha -
Mohammed Shaheen a Taliban spokesperson said that the Taliban and the US are getting close to an Afghanistan peace deal and an agreement could be concluded if the US makes a reasonable and convincing proposal.
Abdul Malakazi, governor of the Badghis province in Afghanistan claims that 25 members of the country's elite commando units have been killed in clashes with the Taliban.
A majority of both US veterans and the US general public agree that the US wars in Iraq as well as Afghanistan were not worth fighting, Similar views are held about the US military campaign in Syria.
The Afghan Taliban attacked a government security compound in central Afghanistan in the city of Ghazni. The attack killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 180. Casualties included many children.
During the last few days of June and the beginning days of July at least 246 pro-government forces and 58 civilians were killed in Afghanistan. This is the highest toll so far this year.
The United States and the Taliban are to start new negotiations in Qatar in another attempt to find a peaceful agreement to end the war in Afghanistan that has now been going on for 18 years.
