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Afghans should not misconstrue America's sudden, contentious and near-total withdrawal from parts of Syria as a precursor to a similar move in Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday. The US last week announced the withdrawal of 1,000 American troops from northeast Syria, days after Turkey launched an offensive against the previously US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terrorist group. Speaking at NATO's Resolute Support mission headquarters in Kabul, Esper said America maintains a "longstanding commitment" to Afghanistan, which it invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban, and noted US policy direction for the country is completely different. "All these things should reassure our Afghan allies and others that they should not misinterpret our actions in the recent week or so with regard to Syria and contrast that with Afghanistan," he said. Underscoring America's will to stay in Afghanistan, Esper said, was that it still faces a "virulent terrorist threat that originated in the form of Al-Qaeda and now finds itself in the Taliban and ISIS-K and other groups". ISIS-K is the abbreviation for the Afghan Islamic State affiliate. The US and the Taliban were last month on the brink of signing a deal that would have seen some American forces begin to withdraw from Afghanistan in return for various insurgent security commitments. But negotiations collapsed at the last minute when Trump declared talks "dead" following Taliban attacks including one that killed a US soldier. General Scott Miller, who leads US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said over the past year the US has reduced its military footprint by about 2,000 troops. "As we work in Afghanistan with our partners, we are always looking to optimise the force," Miller said, speaking at the same press conference as Esper. "Unbeknownst to the public, as part of our optimisation over the last year we have reduced our authorised strength by 2,000 here." That force reduction is unrelated to any prospective deal with the Taliban. US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett said the US now has around 13,000 troops in the country. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy leading negotiations, has spoken informally with Taliban officials in Pakistan, raising the possibility that Washington is seeking to resume talks, and Esper has said he supports a political agreement.

At least 62 people were killed by a blast inside an Afghan mosque during Friday prayers, according to officials, a day after the United Nations said violence in the country had reached "unacceptable" levels. The explosion, which witnesses said collapsed the mosque's roof, took place in eastern Nangarhar province and also wounded at least 33 people, provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP. A Taliban spokesman called the attack a "major crime", apparently denying responsibility and blaming it on the Islamic State group or government forces. The attack occurred in Haska Mina district, about 50 kilometres from the provincial capital Jalalabad. Witnesses said the roof of the mosque had fallen through after the "loud" explosion, the nature of which was not immediately clear. Some 350 worshippers were inside at the time, local resident Omar Ghorzang told AFP. "Dozens of people were killed and wounded and were taken in several ambulances," Haji Amanat Khan, a 65-year-old local resident, told AFP. The blast came after the UN released a new report on Thursday saying an "unprecedented" number of civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan from July to September. The report, which also charts violence throughout 2019 so far, underscores how "Afghans have been exposed to extreme levels of violence for many years" despite promises by all sides to "prevent and mitigate harm to civilians". It also noted the absurdity of the ever-increasing price paid by civilians given the widespread belief that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won by either side. "Civilian casualties are totally unacceptable," said the UN's special representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, adding they demonstrate the importance of talks leading to a ceasefire and a permanent political settlement. The figures -- 1,174 deaths and 3,139 injured from July 1 until September 30 -- represent a 42 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The UN laid most of the blame for the spike at the feet of "anti-government elements" such as the Taliban, who have been carrying out a bloody insurgency in Afghanistan for more than 18 years. July alone saw more casualties than in any other month on record since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began documenting the violence in 2009. The first six months of 2019 had seen casualties drop slightly compared to previous years. But the violence has surged so far in the third quarter that it yanked the overall total for the year back on par with the bloodiest since NATO withdrew its combat forces at the end of 2014.

At least three people were killed and about 20 children wounded when a Taliban truck bomb detonated near a rural police station and partially destroyed a nearby religious school, Afghan officials said. The early morning attack happened in Alishing district in eastern Laghman province, said interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi. ‘Three people including two security forces were killed and 27 were wounded,’ he added. According to Asadullah Daulatzai, spokesman for the provincial governor, the bomb exploded outside a police station and severely damaged a nearby madrassa, or religious school. ‘The students were wounded by flying glass,’ he said, adding about 20 students were hurt. Ezatullah, an injured 10-year-old, said the blast was ‘huge and loud’. ‘I was in class with my friends reciting the Koran when we saw a red truck rushing toward us. For a moment everything went dark, and when I woke up I found myself in the hospital,’ he told AFP. Six police officers were wounded in the attack. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the blast in a statement sent to media, saying the bomb killed dozens of Afghan security forces. As the violence worsens, its impact on the children has been disproportionate across war-torn Afghanistan. According to the UN Children's Fund the number of attacks against Afghan schools tripled last year compared to 2017. By the end of 2018, more than 1,000 Afghan schools had been shut due to conflict. The attack in Laghman comes a day after a helicopter crash in northern Balkh province killed at least seven Afghan military personnel, officials said. Afghanistan is currently awaiting the results of the first round of presidential voting, which took place last month. Polling was marred by several small-scale attacks claimed by the Taliban.

At least 30 civilians were killed when the US bombed several drug-making facilities in western Afghanistan in May, a UN agency said in a report Wednesday, though the US military immediately disputed the findings. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) conducted an investigation over four months looking into what happened May 5 when the US military bombed dozens of sites it had identified as Taliban methamphetamine labs. In a statement, UNAMA said it had ‘verified 39 civilian casualties (30 deaths, five injured and four undetermined), including 14 children and one woman, due to the 5 May air strikes’. The agency went on to say that it had also received ‘credible information’ about an additional 30 deaths -- mostly women and children -- and was working to further verify these claims. US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) blasted the UNAMA findings, questioned the agency's methodology and insisted its ‘precision’ strikes had accurately targeted meth labs. ‘In addition to imagery collection during the precision strikes, USFOR-A conducted exhaustive assessments of the facilities and surrounding areas after the strikes,’ the command said in a statement. ‘Combined assessments determined the strikes did not cause deaths or injuries to non-combatants.’ The US military in 2017 and early 2018 carried out multiple strikes against Taliban opium processing plants, but the efforts had little impact on the insurgents' revenue stream and were unpopular among Afghan farmers, many of whom rely on the poppy crop. The military then switched its focus to the more lucrative meth industry.

Candidates in Afghanistan's presidential election pushed their messages for the last time Wednesday as campaigning for weekend polls wrapped up amid deadly violence. The bloodshed that has marred the election since day one showed no sign of abating, with fresh blasts targeting the campaign offices of President Ashraf Ghani, including one late Tuesday that killed a local journalist. Fears also abound for a repeat of the last presidential poll, in 2014, which was beset by allegations of systematic fraud. After two days of no campaigning on Thursday and Friday, Afghans head to the polls Saturday to decide whether Ghani -- who was elected in 2014 -- should be awarded a second term. Eighteen names appear on the ballot but the only other candidate thought to have a chance is Ghani's main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's ‘chief executive’ who was awarded the role after 2014's bitter election. Both contenders and their running mates held rallies across Afghanistan on Wednesday. Saturday's poll was initially slated to take place in April, but was twice delayed because election workers were not prepared, and the US was leading a push to forge a withdrawal agreemnent with the Taliban. That deal has been scuppered for now after US President Donald Trump pulled out. Many Afghans have said they will boycott Saturday's elections, saying their votes won't be fairly counted. Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) tried to reassure voters. ‘We are fully prepared to the hold the presidential election. All the technical and other preparations have been taken,’ said IEC chairwoman Hawa Alam Nuristani. ‘I assure the people that our work in the election commissions will be sincere and impartial.’ - Journalist killed - The first day of campaigning two months ago saw the Taliban target Ghani's running-mate Amrullah Saleh in an attack that killed 20 people. Bloody attacks have rocked Afghanistan on a near daily basis, including a Taliban bombing at a Ghani rally last week that killed at least 26 people in the central province of Parwan near Kabul. On Wednesday, officials said an Afghan journalist wounded by a roadside bomb as he headed home from work Tuesday had died. Abdul Hamid Hotaki, a news presenter for a local radio station in Kandahar, was caught by a blast near a Ghani campaign office, provincial spokesman Baheer Ahmadi told AFP. Three other people -- including a child -- died, Afghanistan's interior ministry said, blaming the Taliban for the bombing. Also Wednesday, another blast hit a Ghani campaign office in Lashkar Gah in the southern province of Helmand, wounding at least three people, the local police chief spokesman said. Neither blast was immediately claimed by the Taliban, though the insurgents have previously warned Afghans not to vote and said their fighters would target election campaigns as well as polling stations. Afghanistan is considered one of the world's deadliest places for journalists. At least 15 Afghan journalists and media workers were killed in 2018, making it the deadliest year for the country on record, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). AFP's chief photographer in Afghanistan, Shah Marai, was among 25 people killed along with eight other journalists in a bomb attack in April 2018. Meanwhile in Taloqan city, capital of northeastern Takhar province, security officials said Wednesday they had detained a teenaged would-be suicide bomber who had planned to carry out an attack at a polling station on election day.

Afghanistan is investigating reports that 40 civilians, including children, were killed in an airstrike during a wedding celebration in southern Helmand province, officials said Monday. The allegations stem from an overnight skirmish in Musa Qala district, less than a week after a drone killed at least nine civilians in Nangarhar province east of Kabul. Residents and local officials in Helmand said an evening wedding celebration was underway when security forces launched a ground and aerial operation against suspected militants. Majeed Akhundzada, a member of the Helmand provincial council, told AFP that both Afghan and foreign forces had been involved in the fighting. ‘Some 40 people were killed and 18 others were wounded and were brought to the hospital, all the victims were civilians,’ he said. Sher Mohammad Akhundza, a provincial senator, also put the toll at 40 dead. Defence ministry spokesman Fawad Aman later told AFP that special forces had been targeting a compound hosting Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, saying fighting lasted an hour before an insurgent detonated a suicide vest. Aman said at least 22 ‘terrorists’ were killed and 14 others injured in the incident, adding that officials were investigating claims that civilians had also been killed. But he denied that airstrikes had been used during the operation. A statement from Helmand's governor gave a different account, saying the militants were killed in ‘airstrikes’ and ground operations. While the Afghan military does have a fledgling air force, most strikes are led or supported by the United States, the only member of the international coalition in Afghanistan that provides aerial support in the conflict. There was no immediate comment from NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. The UN documented a sharp rise in civilian deaths from airstrikes last year, as Afghan and US forces intensified the aerial bombardment of Taliban and Islamic State group militants.

A senior US defence official in Afghanistan's capital city Kabul on Friday said Islamic State fighters were hiding among pine nut harvesters when a US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 32 people. The attack occurred in early hours of Thursday in Wazir Tangi area of Nangarhar province, causing high civilian casualties.   Provincial Afghan officials on Friday said 32 men and children were killed and more than 40 were injured in the strike. US officials said the drone strike was conducted solely to target IS fighters in a densely forested area that is not inhabited by locals but offers a high yield of pine nuts to villagers residing on the edge of the forest. "There were IS (fighters) there, but it appears during harvest season the locals cut deals with the IS fighters to act as harvesters," said a senior US official who is privy to the counter-terrorism operations conducted by American forces in Afghanistan. "We were not privy to this 'agreement' that puts them (IS fighters) amongst other harvesters. We are working through it now with the officials," he told Reuters. Senior Afghan officials in Kabul said a probe was being conducted to assess the intelligence failure before planning the drone strike. Javed, a survivor of the attack recovering in the Nangarhar Regional Hospital, said it was his second night in the forest when a drone struck his temporary shelter. "Many people were injured," he said. President Ashraf Ghani, while speaking at an election rally in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, promised measures to prevent civilian casualties in the war against militants. Afghan forces, often backed by the US military, have intensified ground and air operations against Islamist groups to protect civilians, government buildings, polling stations and a large expatriate population. Operations such as the latest US drone strike angered locals, who staged small protests against the foreign and Afghan forces. "We cannot even protest on a large scale because IS or Taliban can target us easily, but the US must admit they made a mistake," said Rahmatullah Sardar, a dry fruit trader in Jalalabad city. IS fighters are seen as an even greater threat than the Taliban because of their military capabilities and strategy of targeting civilians. The US military estimates there are about 2,000 IS fighters in Afghanistan. Separately, the death toll in a Taliban truck bombing that destroyed a hospital in southern Afghanistan has risen to 39, nearly double the previous figure, with 140 wounded, a spokesman for the provincial governor said. "Only two of those killed were security force members, and the rest of them are civilians, including women, children, patients and visitors," spokesman Gul Islam Syaal said of Thursday's attack. The Taliban said the target of the attack in Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, was a nearby building housing the government's intelligence department. The Taliban have been carrying out nearly daily attacks since the collapse of peace talks with the United States this month, in the run-up to elections on Sept. 28 to dissuade people from voting.

* Drone strike was aimed at Islamic State fighters * Accidentally hit resting farm workers * Attack kills at least 30, injures another 40 * Violence surges after US-Taliban talks collapse A US drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (IS) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day's labour in the fields, officials said on Thursday. The attack on Wednesday night also injured 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and labourers who had just finished collecting pine nuts at mountainous Wazir Tangi in eastern Nangarhar province, three Afghan officials told Reuters. ‘The workers had lit a bonfire and were sitting together when a drone targeted them,’ tribal elder Malik Rahat Gul told Reuters by telephone from Wazir Tangi. Afghanistan's Defence Ministry and a senior U.S official in Kabul confirmed the drone strike, but did not share details of civilian casualties. ‘US forces conducted a drone strike against Da'esh (IS) terrorists in Nangarhar,’ said Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan. ‘We are aware of allegations of the death of non-combatants and are working with local officials to determine the facts.’ About 14,000 US troops are in Afghanistan, training and advising Afghan security forces and conducting counter-insurgency operations against IS and the Taliban movement. Haidar Khan, who owns the pine nut fields, said about 150 workers were there for harvesting, with some still missing as well as the confirmed dead and injured. A survivor of the drone strike said about 200 labourers were sleeping in five tents pitched near the farm when the attack happened. ‘Some of us managed to escape, some were injured but many were killed,’ said Juma Gul, a resident of northeastern Kunar province who had travelled along with labourers to harvest and shell pine nuts this week. Angered by the attack, some residents of Nangarhar province demanded an apology and monetary compensation from the US government. ‘Such mistakes cannot be justified. American forces must realise (they) will never win the war by killing innocent civilians,’ said Javed Mansur, a resident of Jalalabad city. Jihadist IS fighters first appeared in Afghanistan in 2014 and have since made inroads in the east and north where they are battling the government, US forces and the Taliban. The exact number of IS fighters is difficult to calculate because they frequently switch allegiances, but the US military estimates there are about 2,000. There was no word from IS on the attack. There has been no let-up in assaults by Taliban and IS as Afghanistan prepares for a presidential election this month. In a separate incident, at least 20 people died in a suicide truck bomb attack on Thursday carried out by the Taliban in the southern province of Zabul. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in fighting across Afghanistan after the collapse of US-Taliban peace talks this month. The Taliban has warned US President Donald Trump will regret his decision to abruptly call off talks that could have led to a political settlement to end the 18-year-old war. The United Nations says nearly 4,000 civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of the year. That included a big increase in casualties inflicted by government and US-led foreign forces.

Taliban suicide bombers killed 48 people in two separate attacks in Afghanistan on Tuesday, the deadliest taking place near an election rally by President Ashraf Ghani, though he was unhurt. The attacks happened 11 days before Afghanistan's presidential election, which Taliban commanders have vowed to violently disrupt, and follow collapsed peace talks between the United States and the insurgent group. Ghani, who is seeking a second five-year term in voting on Sept. 28, was due to address a rally in Charikar, the capital of central Parwan province, when a suicide bomber attacked the gathering. The blast killed 26 people and wounded 42, said Nasrat Rahimi, spokesman for the interior ministry. ‘When the people were entering the police camp, an old man riding a motorcycle arrived on the highway and detonated his explosives, causing casualties,’ said Parwan province's police chief Mohammad Mahfooz Walizada. In the wake of the attack, bodies littered the dusty ground as smoke rose from the site of the explosion, a giant blue billboard bearing the face of Ghani's running mate Amrullah Saleh looming over the scene. With sirens wailing, rescuers rushed to lift the wounded into the backs of pick-up trucks for evacuation. ‘Women and children are among them and most of the victims seem to be the civilians,’ said Abdul Qasim Sangin, head of Parwan's provincial hospital. The president was nearby but unharmed, and later took to Twitter to condemn the bombing at the rally. ‘Taliban tried to break this unity by targeting innocent civilians,’ he wrote. ‘They shamelessly accepted responsibility at a time when they're cloaking acts of terror as efforts for peace.’ ‘PEOPLE WERE GIVEN WARNING’ In a separate incident, a man on foot blew himself up in the centre of the capital Kabul, sending ambulances and Afghan forces rushing to the blast site. ‘I was waiting at the entrance of the recruitment centre,’ said Mustafa Ghiasi, lying on a hospital bed after being wounded in the explosion. ‘I was behind two men in line when suddenly the blast struck.’ Twenty-two people were killed, and 38 were wounded, said Rahimi, the interior ministry spokesman. Most of the dead were civilians, including women and children, though six were security force members. The Taliban said it carried out the two attacks, and a statement issued by a spokesman for the insurgents said they were aimed at security forces. ‘People were given warning,’ the statement said. ‘Do not take part in the puppet administration's election rallies, because all such gatherings are our military target,’ said the statement. ‘If, despite the warning, someone get hurt, they themselves are to blame.’ Addressing the Kabul attack, Afghanistan's president lashed out at the Taliban as the ‘coward enemy’ for targeting civilians. ‘I offer my heartfelt condolences to victims of today's tragedies in Kabul and Parwan and pray for speedy recovery of those who were wounded,’ Ghani wrote on his official Twitter account. ‘We stand united in this hour of grief.’ Pakistan, which denies accusations that it shelters the Taliban, also condemned the attack. ‘We offer our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families,’ it said in a statement. Security at rallies across the country has been tight following threats by the Taliban to attack meetings and polling stations. The group has vowed to intensify clashes with Afghan and foreign forces to dissuade people from voting in the upcoming elections. Last week, peace talks between the United States and the Taliban collapsed. The two sides had been seeking to reach an accord on the withdrawal of thousands of American troops from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgents. The negotiations, which did not include the Afghan government, were intended as a prelude to wider peace negotiations to end more than more 40 years of war in Afghanistan.

The Afghan Special Forces killed at least 20 Taliban militants during an operation in western Farah province of Afghanistan. The military officials said Sunday that the Special Forces conducted the raid in Anar Darah district of the province, adding that the forces also destroyed a cache of weapons. Meanwhile, the Afghan Special Forces discovered and destroyed one of the biggest bomb factories of Taliban during an operation in Ghazni province. The 203rd Thunder Corps said in a statement that the Special Forces discovered the bomb making factory in Moqor district. The statement further added that the Special Forces confiscated and destroyed 165 improvised explosive devices. Furthermore, the Special Forces confiscated 26 motorcycles, several weapons, missiles and ammunition. 

The Taliban on Sunday revoked their ban on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Afghanistan and gave a guarantee of security for its staff doing humanitarian work in areas under their control. Taliban leaders imposed a ban on the ICRC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in April saying the organisations were carrying out "suspicious" activities during vaccinations campaigns and not sticking to their declared missions. "The Islamic Emirate restores the former security guarantees to ICRC in Afghanistan and instructs all mujahideen to pave the way for ICRC activities and be mindful of security to this committee's workers and equipment," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement. The Taliban refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The spokesman did not refer to the WHO in his statement. Officials at ICRC and WHO in Kabul were not immediately available for comment. The WHO has been carrying out a vaccination campaign in Afghanistan, one of the last countries in the world where polio is endemic. The ICRC has been providing medical support for more than 30 years. Aid groups operating in Afghanistan stress that they do not take sides. The ICRC in particular is known for its strict neutrality in conflicts. It operates in Taliban-controlled areas with a guarantee of safety and helps to repatriate bodies from both sides after fighting between the militants and the Afghan army. The Taliban control or contest more than half of Afghanistan's 410 Afghan districts.

Fighting has picked up in several areas of northern Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday, days after the collapse of talks between the United States and the Taliban aimed at agreeing the withdrawal of thousands of US troops. Officials said there was fighting in at least 10 provinces, with the heaviest clashes in the northern regions of Takhar, Baghlan, Kunduz and Badakhshan, where the Taliban have been pressing security forces for weeks. On Wednesday, security forces retook the district of Koran-Wa-Monjan in Badakhshan, the defence ministry said in a statement. The district, which fell to the Taliban in July, had offered the insurgents valuable mining revenues from its rich reserves of the famous blue lapis lazuli stone. It was the third district security forces have secured during a push in the province over recent days after Yamgan and Warduj, which the Taliban had held for the past four years. In the neighbouring province of Takhar, however, local officials said this week government forces had pulled out of Yangi Qala and Darqad districts, while fighting was going on in Khawja Ghar and Ishkamesh district. ‘It is a tactical retreat to avoid civilian casualties in the area. We have fresh forces in the area and soon the districts will be recaptured,’ said Jawad Hejri, a spokesman for the Takhar provincial governor. The latest fighting underscored expectations of an escalation in violence following US President Donald Trump's abrupt cancellation of talks with the Taliban aimed at withdrawing US troops and opening the way to an end to 18 years of war in Afghanistan. The Taliban said this week the decision, which Trump said was caused by the insurgents' refusal to agree a ceasefire and continued attacks that killed a US serviceman last week, would lead to further American deaths. In response, a senior US general said that the US military was likely to accelerate the pace of its operations in Afghanistan to counter an increase in Taliban attacks. Security officials said the scale of the fighting in northern Afghanistan reflected both the expected intensification of combat following the collapse of peace efforts as well as a last push before winter weather restricts fighting in the mountains. Earlier this week, at least seven civilians died in an airstrike conducted by American and Afghan commandos on Monday in Sayed Abad district in central Maidan Wardak province, senior Afghan security officials said. The Taliban in a statement condemned the attack and said nine civilians who were on the way to a wedding party were killed in the drone strike. There was no confirmation from American and NATO officials on the air strike. In Baghlan province, whose capital Pul-e Khumri has been under pressure for days, security forces partially cleared the main highway connecting the north to the capital Kabul.

The Taliban have taken control of a second district in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province, local officials said on Tuesday. The centre of Takhar's Daraq district was overrun by Taliban militants on Tuesday morning, provincial council member Mohammad Azam Afzali told dpa. Council member Sayed Salahuddin Burhani confirmed the move, adding that no reinforcements had been sent to the district to prevent the fall or retake control. The district's fall comes after another district in the province, Yangi Qala, was overrun late Monday following two days of fighting between Afghan forces and Taliban militants in the area, according to the head of the provincial council, Wafiullah Rahmani. Provincial council member Arbab Rohullah Rawoofi also confirmed the fall of the district, but the two officials did not disclose the number of casualties on both sides. Rawoofi said most of the district was already controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban now has control of the district centre, a small area with a 1-kilometre radius, which was previously controlled by the Afghan government. Fighting between Taliban and Afghan forces have increased since talks between US and Taliban were called off by US President Donald Trump late Saturday. On Saturday, Dasht-e Archi in Kunduz fell to the Taliban after days of fighting in the district, according to provincial council member Ghulam Rabbani Rabbani. Meanwhile, operations by government forces in two districts in Badakhshan - Yamgan and Warduj - made progress. According to the provincial governor's media office, Warduj district was captured by Afghan forces on Saturday after days of fighting. The Afghan Defence Ministry said in a statement on Monday that forces had moved towards Yamgan and captured it after their offensive in Warduj district. However, provincial councillors only confirmed that government forces were able to make some gains in the two districts.  Since July 2018, the US and the Taliban have been negotiating a political resolution to a conflict that began shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US. ‘As far as I'm concerned, they're dead,’ Trump said from the White House lawn when asked about the peace talks on Monday. The president's remarks indicate an end to the talks, which both sides said had made progress in ending the longest-ever war in US history.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Saturday that while it was seeking a political agreement with the Taliban, Washington would not accept just any deal after a wave of violence cast a shadow over its talks with the insurgent group. Afghan leaders including President Ashraf Ghani have been increasingly critical of the apparent draft deal reached between US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives in Doha this week as the violence has escalated. ‘The United States' view is that the best way forward is a political agreement and that (is what) we're working diligently on right now, that doesn't mean we'll take any deal,’ Esper said during a press conference in Paris with his French counterpart. ‘We will make sure we have a good deal, a good enough deal that guarantees at least the security of our countries going forward and a brighter path ahead for the Afghan people.’ Under the draft accord with the Taliban, thousands of US troops would be withdrawn over the coming months in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militant attacks on the United States and its allies. However, according to the agreement, a full peace agreement to end more than 18 years of war would depend on subsequent ‘intra Afghan’ talks. The Taliban have rejected calls for a ceasefire and instead stepped up operations across the country. On Friday US envoy Khalilzad was back in the Qatari capital Doha, along with General Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan, to continue talks with the Taliban, who said the meeting had gone well. Afghanistan's Tolo TV reported that the Afghan president had been due to visit Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump on Monday only for his trip to be cancelled at the last minute. The United States ended its combat role in 2014, although 20,000 US and NATO forces remain. They still train and support Afghan troops fighting the Taliban who fear being left vulnerable if the United States leaves.

The head of Afghanistan's intelligence service resigned Thursday following a deadly raid by security forces in eastern Afghanistan that an official said left four brothers dead. Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai had served as head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency since June 2016 but has come under intense pressure in recent months as violence across Afghanistan has surged. He quit the same day as the Taliban killed at least 10 people, including an American and a Romanian soldier, in a massive bomb blast close to the main NDS compound in Kabul -- but that attack was not cited as a reason for his departure. The incident that prompted Stanekzai's resignation occurred late Wednesday during a raid in Jalalabad city in eastern Nangarhar province. According to the Nangarhar governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani, four brothers were killed in the raid. No other details were immediately available, but dozens of demonstrators took to the streets in Jalalabad on Thursday to protest the killings. Afghan security forces have faced frequent criticism for their tactic of conducting night time raids targeting houses where suspects are supposedly hiding out. But time and again, civilian residents have been killed for no reason in the operations. The NDS had initially claimed four members of the Islamic State group were killed in the incident, but authorities later backtracked. ‘As a responsible state we have zero tolerance for civilian casualties,’ Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Twitter. ‘I have regretfully accepted the resignation of NDS chief, Mr. Stanikzai who had had success in other areas of his work.’ Ghani went on to say he had ordered the attorney general to investigate the raid ‘and to bring the perpetrators to justice.’ Ghani has faced growing scrutiny in recent weeks for retaining Stanekzai even as suicide bombings and deadly attacks increased in Kabul and across Afghanistan.

At least 16 people were killed and 119 others, mostly civilians, were wounded in a truck bomb attack in the east of Kabul on Monday evening, the Afghan Ministry of Interior confirmed. The attack targeted Green Village compound, a residential area for foreign nationals and offices, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Nusrat Rahimi said. He said that a fuel station in the area caught fire in the explosion, according to Afghan (TOLO) news. Rahimi said that five attackers involved in the attack were killed after Special Forces entered the area. At least 400 foreign nationals were rescued by police, he said. The blast was huge enough to be heard in different parts of the city. The Green Village compound was targeted by a truck bomb explosion back in January in which four people were killed and 90 others were wounded. 

*US envoy Khalilzad shares part of the accord between the US and Taliban The United States is set to pull troops from five Afghan bases under a proposed deal with the Taliban, the US envoy leading talks with the group said in some of the first confirmed details of a much-anticipated accord. Zalmay Khalilzad, who has spent about a year negotiating with the Taliban, said on Monday the draw-down would take place within about four months of a final deal being approved - provided the Taliban stick to their commitments. "We have agreed that if the conditions proceed according to the agreement, we will leave, within 135 days, five bases in which we are present now," Khalilzad told Tolo News. Khalilzad arrived in Kabul following the latest round of talks with the Taliban in Doha, after which he said the two sides were at the "threshold" of a deal. He met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday and showed him the draft of a proposed agreement. The prospective deal centres on US troop reductions in return for several security guarantees from the Taliban, as well as broader peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government and an eventual ceasefire. About 14,000 US troops and some 17,000 troops from 39 NATO allies and partner countries are in Afghanistan in a non-combative role. But last week, President Donald Trump said the US would maintain a permanent presence - with 8,600 troops initially - even after a deal is reached with the Taliban. So far, the Afghan government has been shut out of the negotiations as the Taliban dismisses it as a "puppet" of the US, but intra-Afghan talks that include the government are meant to follow a US-Taliban deal. "The efforts of the US and other partners will yield results when the Taliban enters direct negotiations with the Afghan government," Ghani's spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters. "We hope these efforts will lead to an end to the conflict." In a statement, Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said he was briefed and assured of "a thorough and sustainable peace in Afghanistan". Ghani has appointed a 15-member delegation to meet the Taliban at "intra-Afghan" talks slated to take place in Norway in the coming weeks. On Sunday, Khalilzad said the US and the Taliban were closing in on a deal that would reduce violence and pave the way for "sustainable" peace. But even as negotiations have entered their apparent final stage, violence has continued across Afghanistan. On Sunday, the Taliban attacked Pul-e Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province. A day earlier, hundreds of its fighters overran parts of Kunduz, a strategic city and the capital of the eponymous province that the group has twice come close to taking in recent years. Monday, Afghan local media reported attacks were ongoing in the provinces of Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Balkh, Farah and Herat. The Kabul-Baghlan and Baghlan-Kunduz highways were also blocked.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo headed to Brussels on Monday to discuss a proposed Afghan peace deal with the NATO chief and seek fresh engagement with new EU leaders after months of tensions. Pompeo will talk about Afghanistan with alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday, a day after the US envoy leading efforts to strike a deal with the Taliban to end 18 years of war showed the draft peace agreement to the Kabul government. Under the deal, the US will withdraw troops from five bases in Afghanistan within about four months of it being approved, provided the Taliban stick to their commitments, though President Donald Trump last week said America would maintain a permanent presence -- with 8,600 troops initially -- in any event. A NATO official said Stoltenberg and Pompeo would discuss ‘current security issues and preparations for upcoming meetings’, including the alliance's summit in London in December. ‘We expect they will also discuss the peace process and the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan,’ the official said. NATO ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014 but maintains some 16,000 troops on a mission to train, advise and assist local forces. The US invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, ousting the Taliban from power, but while the country has seen substantial improvements in many fields, the security situation remains volatile. Both Washington and the alliance insist that their priority is to ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for extremists, with particular concerns about the influence of the Islamic State group, which killed at least 80 people at a wedding in Kabul last month. Aside from the NATO meeting, Pompeo will meet the incoming European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday evening, as well as new EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell and EU Council President Charles Michel. ‘Headed to Brussels to meet with #NATO and #EU leaders to discuss Transatlantic cooperation on economic and security issues. We can do more together through meaningful, effective multilateralism,’ Pompeo tweeted as he left the US. The tweet suggests a push to reset US-EU ties which have frayed since Trump took office, with Washington and Europe differing strongly on a host of issues from the Iran nuclear deal and climate change to trade and international institutions. An EU spokeswoman said it would be an ‘introductory meeting’.

The security forces conducted multiple airstrikes in northern Faryab province which killed 47 Taliban militants. The 209th Shaheen Corps said in a statement that the security forces conducted the airstrikes in Gurziwan district of Faryab. The statement further added that the airstrikes targeted two compounds of Taliban, which killed at least 47 militants. Furthermore, the 209th Shaheen Corps said the airstrikes also wounded 5 Taliban militants and destroyed the two compounds of the group. The 209th Shaheen Corps added that the airstrikes also destroyed various weapons, munitions and other military kits. 

At least two Afghan security forces and 15 Taliban militants were killed as the Afghan security forces repulsed a Taliban attack on Kunduz city, capital of northern Kunduz province, on Saturday. "The clashes started roughly at 1:00 a.m. local time Saturday after militants armed with assault rifles, machine guns, and rocket launchers attacked the city from three locations, but the security forces effectively repelled the attackers," spokesman Esmatullah Muradi said. About 20 people, including a police district chief, were wounded in the clashes, according to provincial health officials. Fighter jets of the NATO-led coalition were hovering over the city in early hours of the day and several rockets firmed by militants struck the city, according to locals. Taliban militants briefly overran the city twice since 2014 when Afghan security forces took security charges from NATO and the US.