Totalitarianism

As Pope Francis readies to visit Romania, the Vatican is trying to find out whether some clergy collaborated with the infamous Securitate under the old regime.

An Afghan official says the Taliban launched two blistering attacks in northern Sar-e-Pul province, killing 15 members of the country's security forces.

The Taliban have denied involvement in a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital that killed at least 50 people, reports AP. 

Six people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Kabul Monday, close to where scores of Afghans had been protesting against Taliban attacks on the minority Hazara ethnic group, reports AFP. 

A car bomb killed at least 26 people at a gathering of Taliban and Afghan armed forces in the eastern city of Nangarhar on Saturday, an official said, as soldiers and militants celebrated an unprecedented Eid ceasefire.

At least 12 people were killed and 31 wounded on Monday in a suicide attack targeting employees who were leaving the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in Kabul, officials told EFE.

The spokesperson of the Afghan ministry of public health, Wahidullah Majroh, confirmed to EFE the number of victims, who have been taken to hospitals in the city.

The Taliban announced its first ceasefire in Afghanistan since the 2001 US invasion on June 9, with a three-day halt in hostilities against the country's security forces that was greeted with relief by war-weary Afghans.

The Taliban announced its first ceasefire in Afghanistan since the 2001 US invasion on June 8, with a three-day halt in hostilities against the country's security forces that was greeted with relief by war-weary Afghans.    

Afghan aircraft bombed Taliban positions on May 15 in the western city of Farah after the insurgents launched a major attempt to capture the provincial capital, with fearful residents seeking shelter from explosions and gunfire.

Preparing to head to Kabul, Pakistan's prime minister reiterated on April 5 his country's full support for Afghanistan's efforts to revive the long-stalled peace process with the Taliban.