Attack comes as new round of talks betwee­n US and Taliba­n entere­d second day in Qatar

KANDHAR: Taliban bombers targeting a district centre in southern Afghanistan have killed at least 19 people, including eight election workers, officials said on Sunday.

The attack comes as a new round of talks between the United States and the Taliban to end the 18-year long war in Afghanistan entered a second day in Qatar.

The militants rammed four armoured vehicles packed with explosives into a government compound in Maruf district late Saturday, a police spokesperson in southern Kandahar province said.

“Unfortunately 11 policemen were martyred and 27 more injured,” Qasim Afghan told AFP.

Eight election workers who were stationed at the centre to register voters ahead of the presidential polls in September were also killed in the attack, said Zabiullah Sadaat, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Afghanistan’s twice-delayed presidential election is now slated for September 28.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with a spokesperson tweeting that their fighters had captured the district centre, killing 57 security forces.

Afghanistan’s interior ministry however rejected the claim, saying in a statement that the militants had been beaten back and 25 insurgents killed.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the “barbaric and unforgivable” attacks, which are the latest in a relentless wave of assaults by the Taliban, who now hold sway over about half of the country and regularly target government forces.

The insurgents killed at least 25 members of a pro-government militia in an attack in northern Baghlan province on Saturday.

The violence comes amid stepped-up efforts by the United States to find a negotiated end to America’s longest war, with Washington and the Taliban opening a fresh round of negotiations in Doha on Saturday. </s> Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Taliban fighters launched several coordinated attacks against Afghanistan checkpoints, killing more than three dozen people, officials said Friday.

The violence spread across four Afghan provinces, from the west near Farah to the northern Samangan province.

The hours-long night-time gun battles killed 29 police officers and Afghan national army soldiers in Farah province alone. At least 37 deaths were reported.

Friday's attacks continued what's been a particularly bloody month in Afghanistan.

A suicide bomber killed 68 people who were protesting in the Momandara district on Tuesday. An attack in Safiullah earlier this month killed 14 and an August assault on Ghazni killed and injured 150.

The show of force by the Taliban preceded peace talks set to start between the Taliban and the United States. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made a surprise visit to Afghanistan last week as a prelude to negotiations.

The war in Afghanistan has gone on for more than 17 years and is the longest-running war in U.S. history.

Pompeo has named veteran diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad as a special envoy to Afghanistan, and said he's focused on "developing the opportunities to get the Afghans and the Taliban to come to a reconciliation." </s> At least four bystanders were killed and four U.S. troops injured on Friday when a suicide car bomb targeted a passing U.S. convoy in the Afghan capital, said U.S. and Afghan officials.

It was the second suicide attack in Kabul in the past two days, following a blast Thursday at a military academy that killed six.

Police spokesman Ferdous Faramarz said three other bystanders were also wounded in Friday’s attack. Col. David Butler, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said the U.S. injuries were very minor.

After the attack, photos circulating on social media showed tall plumes of smoke rising over eastern Kabul, which is also home to a number of U.S., NATO and Afghan security complexes.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, which came after days of peace talks with its leaders in Moscow. Many Afghans hoped those talks would result in cease-fire announcement for the end of the holy month of Ramadan early next week.

Last year, a cease-fire that coincided with the end of Ramadan was met with jubilation in Afghanistan.

But at the conclusion of meetings on Thursday, Taliban spokesman Muhammad Sohail Shahee told journalists that a cease-fire was discussed “and we will continue this discussion,” but no agreement was made.

Elected Afghan government representatives did not attend the talks in Moscow, although a number of notable Afghan figures, including former president Hamid Karzai and members of a government-appointed peace council, were present.

Thursday’s attack on the Marshal Fahim National Defense University caught cadets as they were heading home for the weekend and was claimed by the extremist Islamic State group.

Suicide bomber kills six at Afghan defense university while Moscow talks fail to deliver cease-fire

U.S.-Taliban peace talks reopen, but U.S. watchdog warns deal could bring more insecurity to Afghanistan

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> The Taliban has killed 26 people in an attack on an army base in Afghanistan on the day it began peace talks with opposition leaders in Moscow.

The insurgent group, which had killed a further 21 people on Monday, has described talks held with the US in Qatar last month as a success, according to the Interfax news agency.

But US general Joseph Votel said discussions were still in the "very, very early" stages.

The Taliban stormed the army base on the outskirts of Kunduz city at around 2am local time on Tuesday, head of the provincial council Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi said.

Among those killed were at least 23 soldiers and three members of the local police force.

Another 21 people were killed, including 11 policemen, in two attacks on Monday.

One happened when militants stormed a checkpoint in Baghlani Markazi district in the country's northeast, triggering a firefight that lasted for almost two hours, provincial council head Safder Mohsini said.

The Taliban also targeted a pro-government militia in a village in northern Samangan province, killing 10 people there including a woman, a local spokesman said.

The latest talks, at the President Hotel in Moscow, are set to last two days.

Taliban representatives will negotiate with former president Hamid Karzai, opposition leaders and tribal elders, but not the Afghan government.

The Taliban has refused to engage with President Ashraf Ghani's administration, describing it as a US puppet.

But General Votel, who is head of the US military's central command, told a Senate hearing: "We clearly recognise that they (the Afghan government) have to be a part of this solution and must be in the negotiation aspects of this - we can't do that on their behalf."

Last week, the US and the Taliban reached "agreements in principle" on a peace deal - igniting hopes of ending more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban militants overran a cluster of government outposts in northwestern Afghanistan on Friday, leaving more than a dozen Afghan soldiers dead, including several troops from an elite police unit, officials said.

The brutal fighting came a day after the United States and the Taliban ended their sixth round of peace negotiations and the militant group said that it would continue to mount attacks, including ones like the car bomb directed at two Western aid organizations in Kabul on Wednesday that killed nine and wounded at least 20.

Col. Qais Mangal, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry, said the Taliban had attacked two outposts in the Murghab district of Badghis Province that are shared by the army, the police and the National Directorate of Security. He said the Afghan military had sent reinforcements as the fighting continued.

“Unfortunately, the Afghan forces suffered casualties, but there isn’t any information about the exact number,” Colonel Mangal said. </s> Kandahar, Afghanistan, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jun, 2019 ) :Taliban bombers targeting a district centre in southern Afghanistan have killed at least 19 people, including eight election workers, officials said on Sunday.

The attack comes as a new round of talks between the United States and the Taliban to end the 18-year long war in Afghanistan entered a second day in Qatar.

The militants rammed four armoured vehicles packed with explosives into a government compound in Maruf district late Saturday, a police spokesman in southern Kandahar province said.

"Unfortunately 11 policemen were martyred and 27 more injured," Qasim Afghan told AFP.

Eight election workers, who were stationed at the centre to register voters ahead of the presidential polls in September, were also killed in the attack, said Zabiullah Sadaat, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Afghanistan's twice-delayed presidential election is now slated for September 28.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with a spokesman tweeting that their fighters had captured the district centre, killing 57 security forces.

Afghanistan's interior ministry, however, rejected the claim, saying in a statement that the militants had been beaten back and 25 insurgents killed.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the "barbaric and unforgivable" attacks, which are the latest in a relentless wave of assaults by the Taliban, who now hold sway over about half of the country and regularly target government forces.

The insurgents killed at least 25 members of a pro-government militia in an attack in northern Baghlan province on Saturday.

The violence comes amid stepped-up efforts by the United States to find a negotiated end to America's longest war, with Washington and the Taliban opening a fresh round of negotiations in Doha on Saturday. </s> Two US service members were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, NATO said, the latest international casualties as the US and the Taliban prepare for a new round of talks.

NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan gave no further details, but the deaths came less than 24 hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unannounced visit to Kabul and said he hopes for a peace deal with the Taliban "before September 1".

"In accordance with US Department of Defense policy, the names of the service members are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete," NATO said in a statement.

The Taliban claimed in a statement they killed two American soldiers in an ambush in Sayed Abad district of southern Wardak province on Wednesday, but there was no immediate confirmation from NATO whether it was the same attack.

The blast brings to nine the number of US service members killed in Afghanistan so far this year, compared to 12 killed in all of 2018.

In his visit with President Ashraf Ghani, Pompeo said peace was Washington's "highest priority". Last September the US began a fresh push to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end America's longest war.

The next round of talks between the Taliban and the US are set to begin on June 29 in Doha.

The talks have centered on four issues: counter-terrorism, the foreign troop presence, an intra-Afghan dialogue, and a permanent ceasefire.

US officials have previously said they are hoping for a deal before the upcoming Afghan presidential elections, which have already been delayed twice and are now set for September.

The US now has some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan -- down from a peak of around 100,000 -- most of them deployed to train and advise Afghan counterparts.

Nearly 2,300 American soldiers have died and more than 20,400 have been wounded in the country since a US-led coalition ousted the Taliban in 2001. </s> KABUL — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday announced a ceasefire with Taliban insurgents beginning Monday to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, despite the heavy fighting seen over recent days in the central city of Ghazni.

“The conditional ceasefire will start tomorrow and it will continue as long as the Taliban preserves and respects it,” he said in an Afghan Independence Day ceremony in Kabul.

“We call on the leadership of the Taliban to welcome the wishes of Afghans for a long-lasting and real peace,” he said.

A senior official in Ghani’s office said the “conditional” ceasefire would run for three months. Eid is the annual Islamic feast of sacrifice, which officially begins on Tuesday.

In a statement obtained by NBC News on Saturday, the Taliban said peace in Afghanistan would be unattainable as long as Americans occupied the country.

“Bringing peace and security is from among the highest priorities of the Islamic Emirate, but peace will remain elusive during an occupation and neither is salvation possible without the establishment of an Islamic authority,” the statement read.

The statement went on to reiterate the group’s position that direct talks with the United States is the only way to bring the 17-year war with the nation to an end.

By Sunday, the Taliban was expected to approve of the ceasefire, but leaders of the group said it might not be announced publicly.

“We will convey it to our military commanders through our personal communication tools and would stop them to cease all their operations for four days. The ceasefire will be effective from Monday and conclude on Thursday,” said the Taliban shura member on condition of anonymity.

Taliban said that during the ceasefire, they will not attack the Afghan troops and other security forces but would defend themselves in case they came under attack.

This month the Taliban fought an intense battle with Afghan forces to control the strategically important city of Ghazni.

At least 150 soldiers and 95 civilians were killed in a five-day siege, which eased last week when Afghan soldiers backed by U.S. forces pushed back the heavily armed rebels.

The Taliban said in a statement that they had control over half of Afghanistan.

Blasts, suicide attacks and clashes between hardline Islamic militants and Afghan forces killed over 1,600 civilians in the first six months of the year, the highest number in the past decade, the United Nations said in a statement on Sunday.

Ghani’s ceasefire announcement was limited to the Taliban and excluded other militant groups such as Islamic State. </s> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: Taliban bombers targeting a district centre in southern Afghanistan have killed at least 19 people, including eight election workers, officials said on Sunday.

The attack comes as a new round of talks between the United States and the Taliban to end the 18-year long war in Afghanistan entered a second day in Qatar. The militants rammed four armoured vehicles packed with explosives into a government compound in Maruf district late Saturday, a police spokesman in southern Kandahar province said.

Eight election workers who were stationed at the centre to register voters ahead of the presidential polls in September were also killed in the attack, said Zabiullah Sadaat, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Afghanistan’s twice-delayed presidential election is now slated for September 28. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with a spokesman tweeting that their fighters had captured the district centre, killing 57 security forces.

Afghanistan’s interior ministry however rejected the claim, saying in a statement that the militants had been beaten back and 25 insurgents killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the "barbaric and unforgivable" attacks, which are the latest in a relentless wave of assaults by the Taliban, who now hold sway over about half of the country and regularly target government forces.

The insurgents killed at least 25 members of a pro-government militia in an attack in northern Baghlan province on Saturday. The violence comes amid stepped-up efforts by the US to find a negotiated end to America’s longest war, with Washington and the Taliban opening a fresh round of negotiations in Doha on Saturday.
One day after peace talks between the Taliban and the United States ended with no resolution, Taliban militants attack government outposts in northwestern Afghanistan, killing at least twelve Afghan soldiers.