NBC: US, Taliban in secret “indirect” talks to end war

Is America's longest war heading to a quiet end? NBC News reported earlier today that Taliban sources claim to have engaged in "indirect negotiations" with the US, primarily through former commanders forced out of the conflict. The talks are fraught with risks, particularly from some surprising sources: U.S. officials are meeting with former Taliban members amid intensifying efforts to wind down America's longest war, three of the militant group's commanders told NBC News.

Pentagon report doubts progress against Taliban

A Pentagon watchdog agency raised fresh doubts Friday about progress in the 16-year-old U.S. war in Afghanistan and suggested that restrictions on the public release of information make it difficult to gauge the effectiveness of U.S. strategy. The Pentagon's office of the inspector general, in a report done jointly with the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the Afghan government by the end of 2017 had not expanded its areas of control, even as the U.S. added about 3,500 troops and intensified airstrikes against the Taliban.

News 6 Mins Ago Us adding air power, intelligence gathering in Afghanistan

The U.S. is shifting combat and intelligence-gathering aircraft to Afghanistan as part of an intensified focus on the Taliban, now that the campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria is winding down, the commander of coalition air forces in Afghanistan said Wednesday. Air Force Maj.

Trump condemns Taliban role in Afghan attacks, no more talks Source: AP

President Donald Trump told visiting members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday the U.S. would no longer talk with the Taliban following a recent string of deadly attacks in Afghanistan. Trump railed against a series of "atrocities" in Afghanistan and said as a result the U.S. would not engage in any future talks with the Taliban as the administration seeks to end a stalemate in America's longest war.

Canyon police to hold active shooter course

President Donald Trump is aiming to use Tuesday's State of the Union address to note the economic progress under his watch and push for bipartisanship with Democrats on issues such as rebuilding roads and bridges. President Donald Trump is aiming to use Tuesday's State of the Union address to note the economic progress under his watch and push for bipartisanship with Democrats on issues such as rebuilding roads and bridges.

Guests tie sheets together in bid to escape Kabul hotel

Billionaire couple who were found hanging in their Toronto home were MURDERED by multiple killers and the wife may have put up a fight, private investigators conclude 'I want my pin back': Scarlett Johansson calls out James Franco during her Women's March speech after Golden Globe winner was accused of sexual misconduct by five different women Trump is pictured at his desk receiving updates on the government shutdown as his new campaign ad accuses Democrats of being 'complicit' in all future murders by illegal immigrants Neo-Nazis supporting an anti-abortion protest and Antifa groups are set to clash in Knoxville as thousands hit the streets for peaceful Women's March Accused killer of gay Ivy League student was a white nationalist whose posts on social media grew more disturbing over time House of Horrors investigators 'will bring in cadaver dogs to look for the remains of MORE children ... (more)

As security threats rise, Trump faces uphill battle in Afghanistan

New members of the Afghan Special forces march during their graduation ceremony at the Afghan Corp, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. More than three 3.7 million Afghans, about 11 percent of the population, now live in areas under the control or influence of the Taliban and other armed groups, a new report by the top U.S. watchdog in Afghanistan has found.

Miniskirt Photo Swayed Trump on Afghanistan

President Donald Trump changed his mind about sending more troops to Afghanistan after a campaign by his national security adviser H.R. McMaster which reportedly included showing the president a photograph of women in miniskirts in Kabul. The picture from 1972 was used by McMaster in an effort to demonstrate to Trump that Western culture could return to Afghanistan if he sent more troops, the Washington Post reported.

McMaster Showed Trump Picture Of Afghan Women In Skirts To Sell Troop Increase

President Donald Trump's new Afghanistan strategy is in many ways the product of a trio of former generals who urged him to reconsider his gut feelings and recommit U.S. forces to a long-term presence in the war-ravaged country. Defense Secretary James Mattis, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster - flag officers with battlefield command experience - guided Trump away from his instinct to draw down, warning him about the national security consequences of abandoning Afghanistan to the Taliban and assorted terrorist groups there.

Trump commits U.S. to open-ended Afghanistan war; Taliban vow a graveyarda

President Donald Trump committed U.S. troops to an open-ended war in Afghanistan, a decision the Afghan government welcomed on Tuesday but which Taliban insurgents warned would make the country a "graveyard for the American empire." Trump offered few specifics in a speech on Monday but promised a stepped-up military campaign against the Taliban who have gained ground against U.S.-backed Afghan government forces.

NATO Troops Kill Suspected Afghan ‘Inside Attacker’

Romanian soldiers assigned to NATO's Resolute Support training mission foiled an insider attack Saturday, killing a member of the Afghan National Civil Order Police who had opened fire on a group of military advisers in southern Afghanistan. One of the Romanian troops was wounded in the shootout, which occurred following a training session in Kandahar province, according to a statement from Resolute Support headquarters in Kabul.

ISIS Attacks the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul

Afghan official say they killed three militants who attacked the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul Monday, an operation that highlights the precarious security situation in the Afghan capital 16 years after the U.S.-led invasion. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in which a suicide bomber detonated a device outside the entrance to the embassy.