Afghanistan

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.

Hamdullah Mohib, a national security adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, levelled a fierce attack on US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad on Thursday, suggesting the veteran US diplomat held ambitions to run for political office in Afghanistan.

The United States will withdraw or deny visas to any International Criminal Court personnel investigating possible war crimes by U.S. forces or allies in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.

U.S. and Taliban negotiators wrapped up their longest round of peace talks on Tuesday with progress made but no agreement on when foreign troops might withdraw, officials from both sides said. The 16 days of talks, in which the United States also sought assurances that the Taliban would not allow militant groups to use Afghanistan to stage attacks, are expected to resume in late March.