A U.S. diplomat has told RFE/RL that negotiations are still under way in Qatar's capital, Doha, between representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban, but are proceeding slowly.
An Afghan army helicopter pilot recently attracted attention with an emotional letter to the widow of an American mentor. Major Brent Taylor of the Utah National Guard was killed in an apparent insider attack in Kabul on November 3.
As the self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State (IS) crumbles in Iraq and Syria, Afghanistan is bracing for an influx of radical fighters from the Middle East.
After cooperating with the United States and its NATO allies in stabilizing Afghanistan for more than a decade, there are signs now that Moscow is opening a new front against Washington in Afghanistan following its actions in Syria and Ukraine.
When Islamic State militants announced their arrival in Afghanistan, skeptics questioned whether they could gain a foothold in a crowded militant scene. But recent moves show that Kabul is beginning to take the threat very seriously.
Rohullah Nekpa, Afghanistan's sole Olympic medal winner, says he is boycotting the upcoming taekwondo world championships in Mexico to protest discrimination within the sport in Afghanistan.
When the upper house of Afghanistan's parliament received proposed revisions to the country's electoral law, one key element was missing: the stipulation that one-quarter of all seats in provincial and local councils be reserved for women.
Critics say Mahmoud Karzai -- who in addition to a car dealership and coal mining is involved in numerous real-estate deals and has interests in the country's only cement factory -- got where he is through his ties to his brother, the president. He concedes that it is "very difficult to legally make a profit in Afghanistan," but blames allegations of wrongdoing on his part on political sniping.
