Phillip Walter Wellman

Afghan soldier Nematullah prays at a grave in his family's cemetery in Kunar province on Aug. 17, 2019. The family say they buried someone in the grave last year who they thought was him.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

An Afghan soldier’s relatives held his funeral. Nine months later, he called them.

A family was summoned to a morgue in Kabul to claim the mangled remains of their son, a soldier killed in battle with the Taliban. They took the remains home to Kunar province for burial. Nine months later, he called.

A paratrooper from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, prepares to launch a Black Hornet personal drone Friday, Aug. 9, 2019, in Kandahar, Afghanistan in support of a foot patrol. The 3rd Brigade is the first Army brigade to use the personal drones.<br>Thomas Cieslak/U.S. Army

Army brigade uses mini drones for first time in Afghanistan

Army photos of the patrol Friday show troops deploying at least one drone, which resembles a miniature helicopter, during a counterterrorism mission.

A woman walks down a street in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Oct. 27, 2018. An attack in the city in July killed seven civilians and wounded more than 70 others, according to the United Nations. <br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Afghan civilian casualties spike significantly in July, UN says

The war in Afghanistan killed and wounded more civilians in July than in any other month since May 2017, the United Nations said Saturday.

Omaid Sharifi on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, reads letters collected as part of a campaign that aims to share Afghans' worries and recommendations with negotiators at peace talks.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Letter campaign aims to give voices to Afghans feeling sidelined by peace process

A letter-writing campaign in the Afghan capital aims to bring the voices of its residents to all the main players in the country’s ongoing war, from the U.S. to the Afghan government to the Taliban.

Afghan security forces man a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kandahar city on April 10, 2019. A U.S. watchdog report in July said Afghan forces were significantly understaffed.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Afghanistan security forces’ strength at lowest level since 2015, US watchdog says

The U.S. Congress has appropriated nearly $82.67 billion to support security in Afghanistan, or nearly two-thirds of all U.S. reconstruction funding for the country since fiscal year 2002.

Pfc. Brandon Jay Kreischer and Spc. Michael Isaiah Nance died Monday, July 29, 2019, in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, as a result of wounds sustained in a combat related incident, the Defense Department said. The incident is under investigation.

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Pentagon names two paratroopers killed during insider attack in Afghanistan

Pfc. Brandon Jay Kreischer, 20, of Stryker, Ohio, and Spc. Michael Isaiah Nance, 24, of Chicago, died in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan province, “as a result of wounds sustained in a combat related incident,” said a Defense Department statement issued Tuesday evening. The incident is under investigation.

Nabiullah, 28, and his family grieve the death of daughter Feroza, 8, who died in a bombing in Kabul on July 1, 2019. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.<br>J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes

UN: Nearly 4,000 Afghan civilians killed or wounded by war during first half of 2019

The number of civilians killed or wounded in Afghanistan has dropped significantly during the first half of this year but remains “shocking and unacceptable,” the United Nations said Tuesday.

Insider attack kills two 82nd Airborne soldiers in Afghanistan, officials say

The two paratroopers were shot and killed Monday by an Afghan solider at a base in southern Kandahar province, according to a spokesman for the Afghan army’s 205th Corps.

A damaged bicycle is seen at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, July 25, 2019. Afghan police say a suicide bomber blew himself up Thursday in front of a bus carrying Ministry of Mines employees.<br>Rahmat Gul/AP

Deadly explosions rock Afghanistan as top US military commander visits

Three bombs exploded in the Afghan capital Thursday morning, killing at least 11 people, in violence that coincided with a visit by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Afghan boys collects the remains of a suicide attacker's vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, July 24, 2019. <br>Rahmat Gul/AP

Croatian soldier killed, two wounded in Kabul attack

A 27-year-old soldier, identified as Josip Briski, died following an attack on his vehicle, the Croatian Defense Ministry said.

Kabul grocer Esmatullah Musafir on Tuesday, July 23, 2019, said he was offended and saddened by remarks made by President Donald Trump that he could win the war by killing 10 million people and wiping Afghanistan off the map.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Trump’s comments about Afghanistan prompt dismay, calls for clarification in Kabul

The Afghan government has called for clarification of remarks made by President Donald Trump that he could end the war in Afghanistan in a matter of days by wiping the country “off the face of the earth,” although he would not do so.

Airstrikes in Afghanistan's eastern Logar province on Monday, July 22, 2019, have killed at least nine civilians, including children, an official in the provincial capital says. Afghanistan's Civilian Protection Advocacy Group says July has been the deadliest month for Afghan civilians this year.<br>Bev Schilling/Stars and Stripes

Afghan airstrike blamed for nine civilian deaths

The airstrike was conducted by Afghan forces against a Taliban target and the government is investigating reports of civilian casualties.

Tech. Sgt. Nick Torres, right, is presented with two Bronze Star medals, including one with valor, from Gen. John W. Raymond, head of Air Force Space Command, at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., on June 14, 2019. <br>Jared Trimarchi/U.S. Air Force

Pararescueman awarded two Bronze Stars, saved three Afghan soldiers during firefight

Tech. Sgt. Nick Torres, a 308th Rescue Squadron pararescueman, aided the soldiers on March 30, 2018, during a mission in southern Kandahar province.

Pvt. Atiqullah Assadi, an Afghan-born Marine, was eager to return to his birth country to fight extremism, after graduating from boot camp July 12, 2019.<br>Screen shot/U.S. Marine Corps

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This new Marine was born in Afghanistan and hopes to return – this time to fight extremism

Marine Pvt. Atiqullah Assadi, who graduated from boot camp last week, would be among a small but valued number of native Afghan U.S. servicemembers fighting a war now in its 18th year.

Sgt. Maj. James G. "Ryan" Sartor, 40, a Special Forces company sergeant major from Teague, Texas, was killed July 13, 2019, in Faryab Province, Afghanistan. <br>Courtesy of U.S. Army Special Operations Command

Pentagon identifies Green Beret killed in Afghanistan

Sgt. Maj. James G. Sartor was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), out of Fort Carson, Colo., and was supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel at the time of his death.

Mubasher Muslimyar, a lecturer in Islamic studies at Kabul University in Afghanistan, which receives U.S. funding, was arrested on suspicion of recruiting students to join the Islamic State group, Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said Sunday, July 7, 2019.<br>Screenshot

Lecturer at US-aided Afghan university arrested, accused of recruiting for ISIS

Three of the professor's suspected recruits, who were accused by authorities of organizing several deadly ISIS attacks in Kabul, were also arrested, according to the National Directorate of Security.

Residents in Kandahar's Zharay district walk in their fields on April 9, 2019. Some in the rural area say they don't support the government or the Taliban and would be happy with anyone who would provide security and improve the local economy.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Violence escalates in strategic Afghan province as US continues peace talks

Stability has deteriorated sharply in the key southern province of Kandahar, home to a sprawling U.S. military airfield, following the assassination last fall of a U.S.-backed police chief, local officials said.

U.S. soldiers near the end of a 5-kilometer race at Forward Operating Base Dahlke on Thursday, July 4, 2019. The race was organized to mark Independence Day.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

US troops at remote Afghan base celebrate Independence Day

U.S. servicemembers deployed to this austere base in eastern Afghanistan had something extra to celebrate this Independence Day: the official opening of a USO center.

Pvt. Kesley Darnell, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, lets go of the air vehicle as it takes off during the systems fielding at Fort Bragg, N.C., May 2, 2019.<br> Patrick Ferraris/Courtesy U.S. Army

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First Army battalion with mini drones heading to Afghanistan

Troops with the 82nd Airborne’s 3rd Brigade Combat team were issued Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System this spring and provided training on how to use the drones, which resemble miniature helicopters.

Master Sgt. Micheal B. Riley, left, and Sgt. James G. Johnston were killed in combat in Afghanistan.<br>DOD

Fort Carson Green Beret, Fort Hood EOD soldier killed in Afghanistan firefight

A 32-year-old Green Beret and a 24-year-old explosive ordnance disposal soldier were killed Tuesday in a close-quarters firefight with Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said.

Lt. Col. Joshua Thiel speaks with international and Afghan media at an outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Jul. 7, 2018. The Taliban have announced they will start targeting Afghan media outlets that transmit government-sponsored anti-Taliban announcements.<br>Amy Forsythe/U.S. Navy

Taliban threaten Afghan journalists unless media outlets stop airing anti-insurgent ads

aliban insurgents warned Monday they will start targeting Afghan journalists unless the media outlets they work for stop broadcasting government-sponsored advertisements speaking out against the group.

An Afghan special operator stands watch as Afghan Special Security Forces raid Taliban compounds in Baraki Barak district, Logar province in October 2018. The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan has stopped assessing whether the country?s districts are controlled by the government or insurgents.<br>Casey Dinnison/U.S. Army

Coalition stops assessing who controls parts of Afghanistan, watchdog says

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan has stopped assessing which districts in the country’s 34 provinces are controlled by the government or by insurgents, meaning nearly every metric to measure success of America’s longest war is now either classified or no longer tracked.

Two Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II's assigned to the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 fly a combat mission over Afghanistan, Sept. 27, 2018.<br>Corey Hook/U.S. Air Force

Civilian casualties down but US-led coalition causing more of them, UN report says

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first three months of 2019 dropped nearly a quarter from the same period last year but the number of deaths caused by U.S. and pro-government forces rose, a United Nations agency said Wednesday.

Forward Support Base Chaplain Maj. Kathy Scott delivers an Easter sermon at NATO's Resolute Support headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, April 21, 2019. <br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

US troops celebrate Easter in Afghanistan

Father Giovanni Scaleses, chaplain at the Italian Embassy in Kabul, visited troops to lead a Catholic mass. He distributed communion to those in attendance, which included several nuns doing charity work in the country.

The United Nations in a report released Wednesday, April 17, 2019, expressed concern over conditions for detainees at the Afghan National Detention Facility in Parwan province. The facility, pictured here in 2017, is managed by the Afghan Defense Ministry.<br>

Detainee torture by Afghan forces remains at 'disturbingly high' level, UN says

Nearly a third of conflict-related detainees interviewed in Afghan prisons gave “credible and reliable” accounts of being tortured or subjected to other forms of inhumane or degrading treatment over the past two calendar years, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a report released Wednesday.

Women wait in line to vote at a polling center in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2018. The Taliban have refuted a report that women will be included in their delegation attending peace negotiations in Qatar later this week.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Taliban says it will not send female delegates to peace talks

Women will not be part of the Taliban’s peace negotiating team, though they are expected to take part in meetings in Qatar this week as part of an effort aimed at ending the 17-year war.