The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released a special report detailing human rights violations committed during attacks on Mirza Olang village, in northern Sari Pul province, possibly constituting war crimes. During the three-day assault, Taliban and Islamic State fighters reportedly killed at least 36 people in the predominantly Shi'ite village.
Trump was expected to announce a troop surge for Afghanistan n his address from Fort Myer in Arlington, Va. Gen. John Nicholson, the top US military commander in Afghanistan, had been requesting another 4,000 troops, on top of the current 8,500. Instead, Trump was heavy on get-tough rhetoric and light on actual specifics. But as he spoke, a US drone struck presumed ISIS targets in Nangarhar province—the latest in a growing trend toward automated warfare in Afghanistan.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released a reportĀ condemning an increase in civilian deaths in Afghanistan during the first half of 2017.Ā “Anti-government forces” are held responsible for 67% of civilian casualties, compared to 18% attributed to “pro-government forces,” and the remainder to cross-fire and other actors. The report notes that an increase in aerial operations by pro-government forces led to a jump in women and child casualties as well.
The "Kabul Process" peace talks opened in Afghanistan's capital—but with no representatives from the Taliban or other insurgent groups, and practically no presence of Afghan women.
The Haqqani Network is believed to be behind the massive car-bomb explosion in Kabul's diplomatic district, which has raised new calls for thousands more US troops to be deployed.
Three years after withdrawing, US Marines are returning to Afghanistan's Helmand province to help beat back a new Taliban offensive funded by a bumper opium harvest.
The US dropped its most powerful non-nuclear weapon, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, on an area of eastern Afghanistan said to be controlled by ISIS militants.
Pakistani authorities have illegally driven nearly 600,000 Afghan refugees back into Afghanistan since July 2016, with the complicity of the UN, Human Rights Watch charges.
The US commander in Afghanistan told lawmakers he needs several thousand more troops to break "a stalemate" with the Taliban and other insurgents.
According to the annual report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, civilian casualties in Afghanistan for 2016 reached a new record high since the US invasion of 2001.
The Afghan government controls less than 60% of the country's territory, with security forces retreating from many areas last year, a US oversight agency reports.
With Afghanistan's opium crop breaking all records, a three-way war is developing over the cultivation zones, as government forces, the Taliban and ISIS battle for control.
