A roadside bombing targeting a Taliban vehicle in eastern Afghanistan killed at least two civilians Saturday, including a child, Taliban and health officials said.

Here are a few personal recollections — some lighthearted, some tragic — from a Stars and Stripes reporter who spent more than three years covering Afghanistan.

The U.S. is welcoming tens of thousands of Afghans airlifted out of Kabul but has disclosed little publicly about a small group who remain overseas: dozens who triggered potential security issues during security vetting and have been sent to an American base in the Balkan nation of Kosovo.

The killing of Abdul Hamid al-Matar will disrupt al-Qaida’s “ability to further plot and carry out global attacks,” a spokesman for U.S. Central Command said

Russian and Tajik troops conducted joint drills Friday near Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan, as part of efforts to prepare for possible security threats issuing from Afghanistan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope on Friday that new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett would continue in the footsteps of his predecessor in maintaining close and "trusting" relations with his country.

The Taliban has long enforced an extreme interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, in territory the militant group controls, forcing women to wear head-to-toe coverings in public, restricting girls' access to education and requiring women to be accompanied by a male relative when outside the home.

Asadullah Haroon Gul, 40, was captured in 2007 by Afghan forces, turned over to the United States, and remains one of the last 39 detainees held at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He is also one of only two Afghans who remain out of 219 sent following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. President Joe Biden formally ended the U.S. war in Afghanistan in August.

A report said bombers, jet fighters, and attack and surveillance drones will participate in the drill, using heavy weapons including laser-guided missiles.

A military outpost in southern Syria was hit by a coordinated attack on Wednesday, but a U.S. official said no American troops stationed there were injured or killed.