Afghanistan

Afghan government and Taliban representatives said they have reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war. The agreement on Wednesday lays out the way forward for further discussion but is considered a breakthrough because it will allow negotiators to move on to more substantive issues, including talks on a ceasefire.

International donors pledged financial and political support for Afghanistan’s peace process at the 2020 Afghanistan Conference in Geneva on Tuesday, anticipating a sustainable ceasefire that will help the country rebuild and heal after decades of conflict. 

The Afghan government and the Taliban have resolved key sticking points that had stalled peace talks for weeks, several sources told AFP on Friday, clearing the way for negotiations to move forward.

Senior Republicans and US allies have voiced alarm at the announcement that a large number of American troops will be removed from Afghanistan and Iraq. The US is to withdraw 2,500 troops from both countries by mid-January, the US Department of Defense confirmed.

[…] Taliban have reportedly been using small unmanned aircraft to monitor US forces at their bases. The US Army is making efforts to explore ways to counter them, specifically through solid-state lasers and high-power microwave directed energy weapons.

[…] Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy to the turmoil-hit nation, issued the warning Monday as the Taliban intensified battlefield attacks against Afghan security forces, including large-scale offensives last week in the southern Helmand province.

Thousands of people have been displaced and critical health services interrupted, after fighting erupted last weekend between security forces and Taliban fighters in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, the UN humanitarian office has reported.   

President Trump suggested a timeline as early as Christmas, prompting confusion among administration officials.

Taliban and Afghan government-backed negotiators have agreed on a broad code of conduct to advance the intra-Afghan peace talks in Qatar, even as key differences between the two warring sides remain, three official sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

The European Parliament also insists on the need for the negotiations to be inclusive and Afghan-owned.