Afghanistan–Pakistan relations

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will continue to support Afghanistan as part of NATO's mandate in the country, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar stated on Aug. 23.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused Russia of supplying weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan. In a briefing for journalists, videos can be seen on the State Department website, he said: "Russia is really delivering weapons to the Taliban and this, of course, is a violation of international norms and a violation of UN Security Council rules.

United States President Donald Trump has committed the U.S. to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, reversing course from his campaign pledges and signaling he will send troops to America's longest war in "a fight to win," a move that was praised by NATO and Afghan authorities. 

US President Donald Trump, disappointed with the current situation in Afghanistan, has proposed to dismiss the US Army Commander in the region, Gen. John Nicholson, Reuters reported, citing US officials.

NATO will increase troop numbers in Afghanistan to help train local forces facing a resurgent Taliban but will not return to a combat role, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 29.

The alliance ended its longest-ever military operation in 2014 when it handed over post-9/11 frontline duties to the Afghan military and took on an advice and training mission.

As many as three Afghan civilians were killed early on June 12 when American troops opened fire after their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, an official in eastern Nangarhar province said.

A man and his two sons were killed at their home in Ghani Khel, a district in the south of Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

The death toll in a huge explosion that rocked Kabul's business district has risen to 80 killed and 340 injured, Afghanistan's Public Heath Ministry has said.

The damage is believed to have been caused by a powerful car bomb deployed during rush hour on Wednesday morning, officials said. 

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. 

Afghanistan's embattled vice president, Abdul Rashid Dostum, left Kabul for Turkey on May 18 night, according to Afghan officials, amid unresolved accusations that he ordered his men to abduct, beat, and rape a political rival last year.

A bomb blast targeting a convoy of foreign forces near the US embassy in Kabul Wednesday killed at least three people and wounded 15, officials said, the latest militant attack to rock the Afghan capital, AFP reported.

Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirmed the blast targeted "a convoy of foreign forces passing the area".

Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed Thursday in a firefight against the Islamic State in Afghanistan, a Defence Department official said.