The Taliban have ramped up attacks in strategic provinces in their battle to expel foreign forces
Taliban militants killed at least 22 security forces, including a district police chief, in separate attacks on security checkpoints in two Afghan provinces, officials said on Sunday, ahead of parliamentary elections set for this week.
The Taliban have ramped up attacks in strategic provinces in their battle to expel foreign forces, topple the Western-backed government and restore their version of hardline Islamic law.
The police chief of Mizan, a district in southern Zabul province, was killed in armed clashes with Taliban insurgents on Saturday night, the provincial governor, Rahmatullah Yarmal, said.
In the western province of Farah, Taliban fighters killed 21 troops at two checkpoints in the district of Posht-e Rud.
The Taliban captured 11 soldiers and seized their weapons, added Gul Ahmad Faqiri, a member of the Farah provincial council.
The hardline Islamist militant group claimed the attacks.
"Our fighters have killed the police chief and 25 Afghan soldiers in two provinces on Saturday night," its spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahidhe, said in a statement.
Last week the Taliban ordered Afghans to boycott the elections, set for Oct. 20, saying the United States was using them for the sole purpose of legitimising its authority and presence in the country.
The vote, seen by the Afghan government's international partners as a dry run for presidential elections next year, has been hampered by chaotic preparations, allegations of fraud and ever-present fears of militant violence.
Taliban leaders will continue to meet for discussions with the newly appointed U.S. special envoy for peace efforts in Afghanistan, the Taliban said on Saturday, a move that could accelerate diplomatic engagement between the warring sides.Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born U.S. diplomat, met with Taliban leaders in Qatar on Friday in an effort to find a way to end the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan."Both sides spoke (about) an end to the occupation and a peaceful solution to the Afghan issue ... Both sides agreed to continue meeting in the future," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Saturday and briefed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about his 10-day tour of four countries, which ended with the meeting with leaders of the hardline militant group.US envoy for Afghan peace returns to Kabul after meeting TalibanA senior member of the Taliban said Khalilzad had asked the Taliban leadership, based in the Qatari capital Doha, to declare a ceasefire in Afghanistan during upcoming parliamentary polls."Both sides discuss prospects of peace and the U.S presence in Afghanistan," said another Taliban official, requesting anonymity.In exchange, the Taliban wants the Afghan government to release its fighters from jails across the country and the swift removal of foreign forces fighting alongside Afghan soldiers.U.S. officials in Kabul were not immediately available to comment on Khalilzad's visit.At least 12 dead, dozens injured in blast at Afghan election rallyKhalilzad was appointed as U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation last month, as President Donald Trump's administration launched fresh efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban.A senior official working with the Afghan president said Khalilzad had briefed Ghani about his meetings with senior ministers and top diplomats in four countries who could play a key role in peace talks with the Taliban.Khalilzad's trip started in Afghanistan and he travelled to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar before returning to Kabul.Western and Asian diplomats in Kabul said Khalilzad, 67, has knowledge of the country's main languages, culture and politics that could help him engage with all stakeholders in the peace process.US bolstering military presence in Afghanistan"The Trump administration and Ghani's government are now banking on Khalilzad to find a diplomatic way to end the war with the Taliban," said a top Western diplomat in Kabul.Political analysts in Kabul said both sides will have to make concessions for the talks to succeed.But continued fighting has raised questions about the viability of the U.S. strategy to end the war, which for the past year has focused on forcing the militants to the negotiating table, largely via more air strikes.Last week the Taliban demanded a complete withdrawal of foreign forces as the only solution to end the war that began with the 2001 ouster of the Taliban former government by U.S.-led forces after it refused to hand over Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks on the United States.They have ramped up attacks in strategic provinces and have also directed Afghans to boycott parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 20.At least 8,050 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first nine months of 2018, almost half of them targeted by suicide bomb attacks and other improvised devices that may amount to war crimes, the United Nations said last week. 
Afghan Taliban says will continue talks with US peace envoy
The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan peace efforts arrived in Kabul on Saturday after meeting Taliban leaders in Qatar in an effort to find a way to end the 17-year-old war in the country, three Afghan officials said.Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born U.S. adviser, met with Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday and briefed him about his 10-day tour of four countries conducted in a bid to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.A senior member of the Taliban confirmed that Khalilzad met the Taliban leadership on Friday in Doha."Both sides discuss prospects of peace and the U.S presence in Afghanistan," said the official, requesting anonymity.Explosion at election rally in northern Afghanistan, several injuredU.S. officials in Kabul were not immediately available for a comment on Khalilzad's visit.Last month, Khalilzad was appointed as U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation as President Donald Trump's administration launched fresh efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban.Khalilzad's trip started out from Afghanistan. He travelled to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar before returning to Kabul.A senior official working with President Ghani said Khalilzad briefed Ghani about his meetings with senior ministers and top diplomats in four countries who could play a key role in peace talks with the Taliban.US bolstering military presence in AfghanistanWestern and Asian diplomats in Kabul said Khalilzad, 67, has knowledge of the country's main languages, culture and politics that could help him engage with all stakeholders in the peace process."The Trump administration and Ghani's government are now banking on Khalilzad to find a diplomatic way to end the war with the Taliban," said a top Western diplomat in Kabul. But ongoing fighting has raised questions about the viability of the U.S. strategy to end the war, which for the past year has focused on forcing the militants, largely with more air strikes, to the negotiating table.Pakistan: No single country can bring Taliban for talksLast week the Taliban demanded a complete withdrawal of foreign forces as the only solution to end the war as they ramped up attacks in strategic provinces. They also directed Afghans to boycott parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 20.At least 8,050 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first nine months of 2018, almost half of them targeted by suicide bomb attacks and other improvised devices that may amount to war crimes, the United Nations said last week.
US envoy for Afghan peace returns to Kabul after meeting Taliban
At least 13 people were killed and more than 30 injured in an explosion at an election rally for a woman standing as a candidate in Afghanistan's parliamentary polls on Oct. 20, officials said on Saturday.Khalil Asir, a police spokesman in the northeast province of Takhar, said explosives were placed in a motorcycle near the rally, which was to have been addressed by the candidate, Nazifa Yousufi Bek.No militant group immediately claimed of responsibility for the attack.US bolstering military presence in AfghanistanScores of people had gathered to listen to the candidate, but police said she was not at the rally at the time of the blast.Bek is one of 417 women contesting seats across the country, more than ever before, despite deadly suicide attacks on election rallies and offices apparently aimed at forcing voters to boycott the vote scheduled for Oct. 20.Candidates, regardless of gender, are braving violence and opposition from social conservatives in a campaign seen as a test of the war-torn nation's democratic institutions.Pakistan: No single country can bring Taliban for talksFive candidates, all men, have been killed in separate attacks so far. Another two have been abducted, and four others have been wounded by hardline militants, election officials said.Takhar, a province bordering Tajikistan has long been a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban has directed Afghans to boycott the upcoming polls.
At least 13 dead, dozens injured in blast at Afghan election rally