Afghanistan

A meeting between the Taliban and Afghan politicians and civil society aimed at ending more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan has been postponed, officials and diplomats said on Thursday, citing Taliban objections to the size of the Afghan delegation.

Several Afghan opposition politicians say they will boycott a planned meeting of nearly 2,500 Afghan politicians and tribal, ethnic, and religious leaders aimed at reaching national consensus on future peace talks with the Taliban.

The International Criminal Court abandoned a possible Afghanistan war-crimes investigation on Friday, saying the United States and others in the conflict would not cooperate.

Dozens of Afghan forces and Taliban fighters were killed in overnight fighting across Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, as violence intensified ahead of another round of peace efforts to end the 18-year-old war.

Afghanistan will send a government delegation for talks with the Taliban in Qatar, in a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the nearly 18-year war, even as the militants said participants will attend the meeting only in a "personal capacity." Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers on April 8 said the bloc is ready to act as a guarantor for the Afghan peace process.

Authorities in Afghanistan say a military-led counteroffensive has evicted the Taliban from a strategically important district in northeastern Badakhshan province, inflicting heavy casualties on retreating insurgents.

The Taliban ambushed a convoy escorting the vice president of Afghanistan, killing at least one of his bodyguards, Afghan officials said Sunday.

The Taliban denied agreeing to any ceasefire in Afghanistan after rumors swirled of a potential deal that would see a reduction in fighting after more than 18 years of war. “In the past few days, some media have been releasing untrue reports about a ceasefire … The fact is that, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no ceasefire plans,” the Taliban said in a Monday, December 30 statement.

During a visit to Kabul, the European Union's top diplomat has said that the bloc supports "an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process." … She made the remarks two weeks after the latest round of negotiations between the United States and the Taliban ended in Qatar, as Washington seeks an end to the nearly 18-year war in Afghanistan.

Officials in Afghanistan have delayed the country's presidential election for a second time, setting Sept. 28 as the new date. They also announced Wednesday that provincial council elections in all 34 Afghan provinces would be held on the same date.