Phillip Walter Wellman

Resolute Support commander Gen. Scott Miller poses for a selfie with a resident in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2020. Miller, on March 5, 2021, became the longest-serving commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.<br>Jeffery J. Harris/U.S. Army Reserve

Miller becomes longest-serving commander of Afghan War as US mulls its next move

Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller on Friday marked 915 days as head of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, making him the longest-serving commander of America’s longest war.

Afghan civilian casualty figures spiked following start of peace talks, despite overall drop in 2020
US goes one year without a combat death in Afghanistan as Taliban warn against reneging on peace deal
Army regiment completes first joint exercise in Gulf region since pandemic began

Taliban prisoners line up at Bagram prison before being released on May 26, 2020. Hundreds of Taliban prisoners released under the U.S.-Taliban peace deal have been rearrested after rejoining the insurgency, Afghanistan's national security advisor said.

<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Taliban prisoners released under peace deal arrested after rejoining fight, official says

The Afghan military expects the insurgents to intensify attacks as the year progresses, National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib said.

Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020.<br>Rahmat Gul/AP

Afghans welcome Biden review of US-Taliban deal to end war

Biden’s team intends to examine whether the Taliban are meeting promises to “cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in Afghanistan and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and stakeholders."

Jessica Donati, author of ''Eagle Down: The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever War.''

<br>Juan Gamboa

‘Eagle Down’ examines the secretive role of US Special Forces in Afghanistan

What exactly was the U.S. military doing in Afghanistan? That question lies at the heart of a new book that focuses on the opaque role U.S. Special Operations Forces have played in the country over the past five years.

Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss, left, and Capt. Ryan S. Phaneuf, shown here with his wife Megan Murat Phaneuf, died on Jan. 27, 2020, in the crash of a Bombardier E-11A aircraft in Ghazni province, Afghanistan.

<br>U.S. AIR FORCE, JENILYNN PHOTOGRAPHY

Engine failure, pilot error caused crash that killed two airmen in Afghanistan

A broken fan blade started the series of events that led to the death of two pilots last year in Afghanistan, according to a report on the accident.

U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are now at a 19-year low, President Donald Trump said in a statement released Jan. 14, 2021.

<br> Ben Bloker/U.S. Air Force

US troop numbers in Afghanistan drop to lowest level since 2001

The United States has reduced troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, the lowest number since the war’s earliest months, despite recent passage of a federal law that sought to prevent an immediate drawdown during peace talks with the Taliban.

A U.S. Marine with Task Force Southwest moves through a village during a patrol near Bost Kalay, Afghanistan, in June 2018. The Trump administration says it has intelligence that China offered to pay militants in Afghanistan to attack American troops, but unnamed government officials are dismissing the evidence against Beijing as "very thin," U.S. media reports published in December 2020 say.
<br>Sean J. Berry/U.S. Marine Corps

Trump administration says it has intelligence that China offered bounties for US troops in Afghanistan, report says

The Trump administration is working to verify intelligence that shows China offered to pay militants in Afghanistan to kill American troops, Axios reported.

Ten American service members died in Afghanistan in 2020.<br>

Afghanistan: Remembering the fallen of 2020

As the year ends, we pay tribute to the 10 American service members who died in Afghanistan in 2020.

Afghan security personnel inspect the site of a bombing attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020.
<br>Rahmat Gul/AP

Kabul hit again as car bomb kills at least nine

The Sunday morning attack occurred in a western neighborhood of the city and appeared to target parliamentarian Khan Mohammad Wardak.

The air tower at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on June 11, 2016.<br>Chad Garland/Stars and Stripes

Rockets fired onto Bagram Airfield; no casualties or damage reported

In recent weeks, similar rocket attacks in the capital Kabul — about 30 miles south of Bagram — have been claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate.

An Afghan National Army commando tests his night vision device during mission preparation in Kabul district, Afghanistan, in 2013. The Defense Department has failed to keep track of military equipment including surveillance systems, controls for laser-guided bombs and night vision devices that were provided to the Afghan government, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan said in a report released Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020.
<br>James K. McCann/U.S. Army

Sensitive US military equipment given to local forces goes unaccounted for in Afghanistan, watchdog says

Inadequate tracking of military equipment provided to the Afghan government means that 'sensitive technology remains susceptible to theft or loss,' a U.S. government watchdog agency says.

Blood stains are seen on the ground after a rocket in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. An early morning barrage slammed into the Afghan capital, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
<br>Rahmat Gul/AP

Second rocket attack on Kabul in weeks leaves one dead

At least one person was killed and two others injured Saturday morning when a series of rockets targeted different parts of the capital.

Staff Sgt. Alaxey Germanovich, 26th Special Tactics Squadron combat controller, leads U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army service members as they perform memorial pushups following an Air Force Cross ceremony Dec. 10, 2020, at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.<br>Michael Washburn/U.S. Air Force

Airman who protected fallen Green Beret during ISIS fight receives Air Force Cross

The actions Alaxey Germanovich were honored for came about a week into the mission, on April 8, 2017, when ambushed coalition forces fought a grueling 8-hour gun battle under machine gun and sniper fire from all sides, the award citation says.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Alaxey Germanovich, a combat controller with the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, 24th Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, will be awarded one of the nation's highest medals for gallantry.<br>U.S. Air Force

Airman to receive second-highest military medal for heroism in Afghanistan

In 2017, Staff Sgt. Alaxey Germanovich repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire while coordinating close airstrikes after a combined operation of Army special forces and Afghan commandos in eastern Nangarhar province was ambushed.

Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division ensure the area is secure during a fly-to-advise mission in southeastern Afghanistan in December 2019. A measure has been included in the final version of the defense bill to prevent the further withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan without input from the Pentagon and other government agencies.<br>Alejandro Licea/U.S. Army

Defense spending bill would rein in US troop drawdown from Afghanistan

U.S. lawmakers have moved to block the Trump administration’s rapid drawdown of American forces from Afghanistan, with a measure in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that would require input from other government agencies before more troops can be withdrawn.

Army Pfc. Agnieszka Maslanka speaks with troops at a base in Afghanistan on Nov. 25, 2020. Thanksgiving dinner will be takeout only at bases across the country as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
<br>Resolute Support

Service members celebrating a ‘takeout’ Thanksgiving in Afghanistan

Thanksgiving is different this year for troops deployed to Afghanistan.

A man exits a shop damaged by rocket fire in Kabul's Shar-e-Now neighborhood on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.

<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Kabul pounded by rockets in latest Afghan attack

Nearly two dozen rockets fall on Afghan capital, killing at least eight and wounding scores.

Larry J. Green, a U.S. military contractor, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison and was ordered to pay nearly $180,000 in restitution by a Virginia court on Nov. 19, 2020, for his involvement in a theft ring at a military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Among the items stolen were a Toyota Hilux pickup truck, a Toyota van and various vehicle parts.<br>J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes

US contractor is jailed for role in theft ring at base in Afghanistan

In addition to a 41-month imprisonment, Larry J. Green was ordered to pay nearly $180,000 in restitution by a Virginia court on Thursday, the Justice Department said in a statement Thursday.

Afghan air force student pilots assigned to the 81st Fighter Squadron watch a graduation ceremony Nov. 13, 2020, at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. The class of Afghan A-29 Super Tucano student pilots will be the last to graduate in the U.S., the Air Force said.

<br>Taryn Butler/U.S. Air Force

A-29 pilot training program will no longer bring Afghans to US

Afghan air force personnel will no longer receive training in the United States on flying and maintaining their A-29 Super Tucano turboprop attack aircraft, the Air Force said.

Airmen with the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, Task Force Reaper, descend a hillside past an old earth building near Bagram Airfield in 2012. Media reports indicate President Donald Trump will reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 2,500 by mid-January.

<br>Ken Scar/U.S. Army

Premature US exit could embolden terrorists, Afghans warn

Reports this week of potential U.S. troop cuts met with warnings from Afghanistan security officials that a rapid drawdown would embolden terrorists and hamper Afghan military efforts to fight its enemies.

Said Noor, right, is commended while serving as a soldier in the Army. Noor is seeking U.S. asylum for his family in Afghanistan, saying their security is at risk.<br>Courtesy photo

Army veteran seeks help as asylum petitions for family in Afghanistan languish

An Afghan-born U.S. Army veteran has turned to the military and online communities for help after years of waiting for officials to act on asylum applications he filed for his family in Afghanistan.

215th Corps soldiers of the Afghan National Army graduate from their training program in Helmand Province in in October 2020.

<br>Afghan Defense Ministry

Insurgent attacks jeopardize peace efforts and US troop withdrawal in Afghanistan, watchdog agency says

American officials consistently have said U.S. troop reductions in Afghanistan are conditional on whether the Taliban fulfill commitments they made under a withdrawal deal.

An Afghan flag flies at half-staff over Kabul on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, as the country mourned 22 people, most of them students, who were killed when Islamic State gunmen stormed Kabul University a day earlier.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

‘No place is safe now’: Afghans in mourning after 22 killed in attack on Kabul University

On a landmark hill overlooking the Afghan capital, a national flag fluttered at half-staff in the breeze, one of many around Kabul that had been lowered Tuesday to mourn 22 people who were killed in an attack by Islamic State militants on Kabul University.

Opium poppies grow near a road in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on April 9, 2019. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan said in a report this week the U.S. has lost roughly $19 billion to waste, fraud and abuse in Afghanistan since 2009, including in counternarcotics programs.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Fraud, waste and abuse cost US $19 billion in one decade in Afghanistan

Most of the nearly $19 billion of U.S. money lost in a decade of war in Afghanistan is attributed to failed counternarcotics and stabilization programs, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report published Tuesday.

In a July 14, 2018 photo, an Afghan National Army soldier stands at attention during 2nd Kandak, 2nd Brigade's Operational Readiness Cycle graduation ceremony at Camp Shorabak in Helmand province. Hundreds have died after the Taliban launched an offensive in the area in mid-October, leading the U.S. to conduct airstrikes against the militants, officials and news reports said on October 14, 2020.<br>Luke Hoogendam/U.S. Marine Corps

Taliban attacks in Helmand boost Afghans’ fears about a hasty US pullout

A deadly Taliban offensive in Afghanistan’s Helmand province has drawn a crescendo of accusations that the militant group is openly flouting a deal under which all American troops could leave the country by next spring, and jeopardizing month-old peace talks with the government.

A checkpoint guarding a highway outside Lashkar Gah, in Helmand province, April 16, 2019. Hundreds have died after the Taliban launched an offensive in the area in mid-October, leading the U.S. to conduct airstrikes against the militants, officials and news reports said on October 14, 2020.
<br>J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes

Afghan troops killed as helicopters crash amid Taliban offensive in Helmand

Nine Afghan troops were killed when two helicopters collided in Helmand province, where fierce fighting between government forces and the Taliban has forced thousands from their homes and led to targeted airstrikes by the U.S. against the militant group.