Offstream
news

The Taliban claims to have captured the strategic city of Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, on the border with Pakistan. One of the group's spokesmen, Zabihullah Mujahid, says that the city was "under mujahideen control". Pakistan confirms the capture, saying that the Taliban removed the Afghan flag and raised theirs. The Afghan Ministry of Defense says that they were checking information. If this is confirmed by the Afghan government, it would be the latest territorial gain by the armed group.
2021-07-14

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that the U.S. and the Taliban have negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction of violence in Afghanistan.
2020-02-13

A BBC study finds that, October 2017 lc=y, the Taliban presently maintains control of or has some territorial presence in 70% of Afghanistan, with full control of 14 districts (totaling 4% of the country) and demonstrating an open physical militant presence in 263 others (encompassing the remaining 66% of the group's occupied territory).
2018-01-31

Pakistani forces rescue Canadian Joshua Boyle, American Caitlan Coleman, and their family, in the Kurram Valley. The family had been kidnapped by the Taliban nearly five years ago in Afghanistan's Wardak Province.
2017-10-12

The Taliban kills 12 members of Afghanistan's security forces who were captured in recent ambushes in the Ghazni Province on June 3 and 5.
2016-06-8

The Afghan Taliban announces that Haibatullah Akhundzada will be its new leader replacing Akhtar Mansour who died recently in a drone strike. Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob are named as deputy leaders.
2016-05-25

The Taliban's Qatar office confirms its leaders are in Pakistan to talk about Afghan refugees and the release of prisoners. The representative did not say if the delegation will discuss the peace process.
2016-04-27

Several Taliban insurgents storm into Kandahar International Airport and engage Afghan security forces in a firefight.
2015-12-8

Carrying coffins holding the beheaded bodies of seven ethnic Hazara, thousands of demonstrators from Afghanistan's different ethnic groups - Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara - march on the Presidential Palace in Kabul, urging the government to take action against the rising violence against Afghan civilians. The murders, which the United Nations denounced as a potential war crime, have fueled a growing sense of insecurity since the Taliban briefly seized control of Kunduz in late September.
2015-11-11

The Taliban announces the start of their spring offensive, signaling plans to step up attacks as the weather warms across Afghanistan, making both travel and fighting easier.
2013-04-27