Phillip Walter Wellman

A recently freed Taliban prisoner waits to be transported from Bagram prison in May 2020. The Taliban have maintained close ties with al-Qaida despite striking a deal with the U.S. that would require them to disavow the group in exchange for a U.S. troop withdrawal, the Defense Department said.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Taliban still working with al-Qaida as US looks to exit Afghanistan, DOD says

The Taliban remain closely tied with al-Qaida, despite assuring the U.S. they would disavow the terrorist group in exchange for a withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, the Defense Department said this week.

Coalition partners in Afghanistan got years of free lunches because of military mix-up, IG says
US lawmakers press for Congress to have ‘thorough oversight’ of Afghanistan troop drawdown
Rising violence could further stall peace talks, Afghan top official says

A young Afghan boy tends to a goat near a poppy field in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in April 2019. The Afghan War remains the world's deadliest conflict for children, according to a United Nations report.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Afghanistan conflict still the world’s deadliest for children, UN says

The war in Afghanistan was the world’s deadliest conflict for children last year, the fifth consecutive year the country has held that status, a United Nations report said.

A person walks past a mural near the fortified Green Zone in Kabul on Monday, June 15, 2020, dedicated to George Floyd and three Afghan migrants who died in Iran.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

George Floyd mural painted near Kabul’s Green Zone

On a concrete blast wall topped with barbed wire near Kabul’s Green Zone, Afghan artists have painted a large mural depicting George Floyd next to an image dedicated to Afghan migrants who recently died in Iran.

Recently freed Taliban prisoners wait to be transported from Bagram prison on May 26, 2020. Afghanistan will complete a release of 5,000 prisoners shortly in a bid to advance the peace process, President Ashraf Ghani said Thursday.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Afghanistan vows to release more Taliban prisoners, setting stage for talks

Afghanistan will soon complete a prisoner release that the Taliban have demanded before starting peace talks to end nearly two decades of war, the country’s president said.

US conducts first airstrikes against Taliban since Eid cease-fire

The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan as the insurgent group attacked Afghan security forces, a spokesman for the U.S.-led NATO mission in the country said.

Zalmay Khalilzad, American special envoy for Afghan reconciliation, left, and the Taliban's top political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar sign a peace deal in Doha, Qatar on Feb. 29, 2020. A United Nations report says the Taliban have not met the deal's requirement that they sever ties with al-Qaida, as outlined in the U.S-Taliban peace deal.<br>J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes

Taliban maintains ties with al-Qaida despite US peace deal, UN says

The Taliban haven’t severed ties with al-Qaida and may have strengthened them, despite pledging to stop cooperating with terrorist groups, the United Nations said in a report released this week.

A Taliban prisoner at Bagram prison on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, receives the equivalent of about $65 after having is thumb print taken and signing a pledge not to return to the battlefield. About 900 prisoners were released across the country Tuesday. <br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Kabul releases 900 Taliban prisoners as warring sides say they’re open to extended cease-fire

About 900 Taliban prisoners were set free from government prisons near Bagram Airfield and elsewhere in Afghanistan on Tuesday, a move that could further an embattled peace process, Afghan officials said.

Afghan soldiers patrol a road in northern Kunduz province on Tuesday, May 19, 2020.<br>Afghanistan defense ministry

Taliban, Afghan government announce three-day cease-fire to mark Eid holiday

The Taliban and the Afghan government have announced a three-day ceasefire across Afghanistan starting Sunday to mark the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

An Afghan soldier stands by a Humvee in northern Kunduz province on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, after the country?s defense ministry said local forces were successful at repelling Taliban advances throughout the night.<br>Afghanistan defense ministry

Civilian deaths and injuries rose in Afghanistan following peace deal, UN says

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose sharply last month, the United Nations said Tuesday, even as U.S. troops begin to withdraw under a deal with the Taliban meant to bring peace to war-weary Afghans.

Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, left, watches President Ashraf Ghani deliver a speech in Kabul on Feb. 29, 2020. <br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Afghan political rivals agree on power-sharing deal after months of bickering

According to a close aide to Abdullah Abdullah, the two sides have agreed to form a coalition government and Abdullah will lead the peace process with the Taliban militants.

Taliban attack leaves five civilians dead as Afghan military prepares to attack the insurgents

A Taliban truck bomb killed at least five civilians when it exploded near a military court in eastern Afghanistan.

A special forces soldier assigned to Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security speaks in a video statement released by the NDS on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, after a series of raids the night before. The soldier said five members of an Islamic State terror cell blamed for attacks on Bagram Airfield were killed in the raids.<br>

ISIS fighters who attacked Bagram killed in raids, Afghan forces say

Five members of an Islamic State terror cell that attacked the largest American base in Afghanistan earlier this year were killed in a series of operations by Afghan commandos in and around Kabul, Afghan officials said Wednesday.

A U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone taxis on the runway at Kandahar Airfield in November 2017. The U.S. military said this week that it will no longer release data on the number of airstrikes it conducts in Afghanistan, including those carried out using drones.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Information restrictions on Afghan War deepen as military withholds American airstrike data

The U.S. military has stopped releasing information about airstrikes it conducts in Afghanistan, reversing a longtime policy amid a spike in violence in recent weeks, officials said.

John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction attends a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2016. Sopko said Thursday, April 30, 2020, that the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan has stopped releasing information on enemy attacks amid a spike in violence that followed February's U.S.-Taliban peace deal.<br>Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes

US-led coalition in Afghanistan withholds more information from public as violence intensifies, watchdog says

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan is for the first time withholding information about enemy attacks in Afghanistan from the public, as violence rises in the country and the U.S. begins drawing down its troops, a U.S. government watchdog said.

Soldiers with the 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade conduct medical training Feb. 27, 2020. The 4th SFAB, based at Fort Carson, Colo., is due to deploy to Afghanistan in the fall.<br>U.S. Army

Army stands up adviser brigade ahead of Afghanistan deployment

The latest Army unit created to train and advise foreign forces has been activated ahead of a fall deployment to Afghanistan.

A boy plays on an abandoned Soviet tank on a side of a highway east from Kabul, Afghanistan, on Feb. 22, 2020, the first day of a declared period of reduced violence in the country.<br>J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes

Decline in civilian casualties reversed by Taliban violence after peace deal signing, UN says

Growing violence since the signing of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement contributed to a first-quarter death toll of over 500 civilians in Afghanistan, the United Nations said Monday.

Taliban prisoners line up before being released by Afghan authorities in April 2020. The Taliban rejected calls from senior U.S. and Afghan officials for a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started Thursday, April 23, 2020, until thousands more of its fighters have been released from government jails.<br>Twitter/Office of the National Security Council of Afghanistan

Taliban vow to keep fighting during Ramadan despite coronavirus concerns

The Taliban have rejected calls for a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, despite warnings from U.S. and Afghan officials that the coronavirus outbreak in the country would worsen if violence continues.

A U.S. aircraft takes off at Bagram Airfield in 2016. Six Afghan workers at Bagram were killed about 500 yards from the base by a gunman Thursday, an Afghan official said.<br>

Six Afghan workers killed outside Bagram Airfield

Six Afghans who worked at Bagram Airfield were shot dead Thursday just outside the base, an Afghan official said.

Gen. Scott Miller, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, attends a ceremony in Kabul on Feb. 29, 2020. Miller held talks with the Taliban in Qatar on Friday amid setbacks to the country's peace process. <br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

US commander meets Taliban officials as Afghan peace process stutters

The meeting between Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller and Taliban leaders came as both sides accuse each other of ramping up violence since signing a peace deal on Feb. 29.

Afghan authorities say a Toyota Corona was used to launch an attack on Bagram Airfield on Thursday, April 9, 2020. No one was injured in the attack, officials said. <br>OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF PARWAN PROVINCE

Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan comes under attack

The Islamic State group fired several rockets at Bagram Airfield on Thursday, the latest in a string of recent attacks targeting the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan National Detention Facility - Parwan. The Taliban said Tuesday, April 7, 2020, that they are pulling out of talks with the government about a prisoner exchange, putting the country's fragile peace process in danger.<br>Bob Harrison/U.S. Forces Afghanistan

Taliban says it’s walking away from talks with government over prisoner release

Afghanistan’s fragile peace process suffered a major blow Tuesday as the Taliban said it was breaking off talks with the government about a prisoner exchange, which is a key part of a deal the insurgents signed with the United States.

Javier Jaguar Gutierrez plays with his daughter Helen during an outing in Crestview, Fla., in 2017.<br>Javier Gutierrez

Gold Star families hold out hope for peace in Afghanistan

Three Gold Star families talk about the prospect of the U.S.’s longest war coming to an end.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, and Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib arrive at the presidential palace in Kabul on Monday, March 23, 2020, when Pompeo paid a lightning visit to Afghanistan to try to resolve a political row that the U.S. says is stalling the peace process.<br>

Afghan government and Taliban say prisoner release to start within days

Thousands of prisoners in Afghanistan could start being released by early next week, fulfilling a key condition of the nearly month-old U.S.-Taliban deal to bring peace to the country, government and Taliban officials said.

Family members cry after an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. A gunman stormed a religious gathering of Afghanistan's minority Sikhs in their place of worship in the heart of the Afghan capital's old city on Wednesday.<br>Rahmat Gul/AP

US condemns ‘fanatics and criminals’ as dozens killed in Sikh temple attack in Kabul

At least 25 people were killed when a lone gunman attacked a Sikh temple in Kabul’s old town Wednesday, starting an hourslong firefight with Afghan security forces, local officials said.

Four coronavirus cases confirmed at coalition bases in Afghanistan

Four service members in Afghanistan have tested positive for the coronavirus while being held in a screening facility after arriving in the country, military officials said Tuesday.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Monday, March 22, 2020, after a number of setbacks delayed the Afghan peace process.

<br> Office of the President of Afghanistan

Pompeo makes surprise visit to Afghanistan as peace process slumps

During his visit, U.S. secretary of state is expected to try to help end the impasse, which has put on hold the start of intra-Afghan peace talks that would include the Taliban.