Religious freedom as a human right has featured prominently in global news across the last several years, as people become increasingly aware of the persecution of religious minorities around the world. However, in battling for the protection of minority religions – and the human right to exercise or practice any […]
The Taliban continued its deadly attacks on pro-government areas in Afghanistan while commencing ceasefire talks with government officials in Moscow last weekend. Al-Jazeera reported that the fundamentalist armed group launched attacks on pro-government militias, security checkpoints and army bases, killing at least 47 people and wounding dozens of others. These […]
Following 17 years of war, representatives from the U.S. and the Taliban have made ‘significant’ progress in steps towards establishing a negotiated settlement. In mid-January, U.S. negotiators met with members of the Taliban for 6-day long face-to-face talks in Qatar. The negotiations involved the discussion of the U.S. plans to […]
This week representatives from the Taliban and the U.S. have met for 6 days in Qatar to discuss an 18 month strategy for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Although agreements have not been finalised, U.S. representative Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted that the talks have been “more productive than they have been […]
On 20 December, Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump had ordered the withdrawal of 7,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan. The news came just a day after Trump announced on Twitter his intention to fully withdraw from Syria, claiming that he had “defeated ISIS in Syria,” his “only […]
The election committee of the Afghan government announced that the presidential election is set to take place on April 20, 2019, meanwhile the Taliban is participating in talks with the U.S. and other peace-seeking countries. Candidates have yet to be announced, but current President Ashraf Ghani has announced his plans […]
On November 27, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani co-hosted the Geneva Conference with the United Nations (UN) to discuss plans for peace and overall growth in Afghanistan. There the European Union (EU) agreed to help Afghanistan finance their state building and public sector reforms, healthcare, law enforcement, and elections. According to […]
The American special envoy to Afghanistan is in talks with the Taliban and the Afghan government, with hopes of reaching a peace deal before the Afghan presidential election next April. The United States has been at war in Afghanistan since 2001 after the September 11 attacks and is leading direct […]
In the past couple of weeks, Afghan officials with the help of U.S. troops have been securing voting centers for Afghan citizens to place ballots on election day, October 20th. More than 4 million have cast their ballots including women, CNN News reports. According to CNN News since the 2014 […]
Last week, Taliban leaders met with the U.S. special envoy for peace Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar to discuss ending the 17 year conflict in Afghanistan. Mr. Khalilzad had recently been appointed to the position by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a move widely seen as an attempt to boost […]
