KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: At least 14 Afghan soldiers and police were killed during intense fighting with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, as unabated violence gripped the country despite ongoing peace talks.
Taliban fighters launched an overnight assault late Sunday on several Afghan security force positions in the southern province of Uruzgan, inflicting a heavy toll that left Afghan troops vulnerable to being overrun.
The government-controlled district of Gizab also risked falling into insurgent hands, officials said.
“Intense fighting is ongoing. Our forces have retreated from several outposts,” Zelgai Ebadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.
Officials said 14 Afghan security forces had been killed and more than a dozen more wounded.
“The fighting is now close to police headquarters. We need more reinforcements,” said Amir Mohammad Barekzai, head of the Uruzgan provincial council.
The battle comes as Taliban and Afghan government negotiators are meeting in Doha, where they are trying to find a way to end 19 years of war.
A hopeful start to the talks more than a week ago was immediately marred by fresh violence across Afghanistan, and negotiators have made little tangible progress.
On Saturday in the northeastern province of Kunduz, the Afghan air force conducted multiple strikes on Taliban positions that killed more than 30 insurgent fighters, military officials said.
However, local officials on Monday said the strikes killed at least 17 civilians.
Esmatullah Muradi, spokesman for the Kunduz provincial governor, said the civilians died as they gathered at the site of an initial strike against the Taliban.
“Based on our initial investigation, 17 civilians were also killed and 15 more injured in the second air strike,” Muradi told AFP, saying an “unknown number” of militants had been killed.
The defense ministry has not confirmed any civilian casualties and said it was investigating the case.
The interior ministry meanwhile said the Taliban had killed 98 civilians and wounded 230 more over the past two weeks in Afghanistan.
In Kabul, at least one person was killed and three more injured Monday in three separate explosions caused by so-called sticky bombs — homemade devices attached to vehicles with magnets that are regularly used to target security forces.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
Speaking in Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani however appeared hopeful about peace talks.
“Peace is not possible without compromise,” he told a gathering to mark International Peace Day.
“Peace talks are like playing chess. Be patient,” he said.
14 Afghan security forces killed as violence grips country
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14 Afghan security forces killed as violence grips country
- Taliban fighters launched an overnight assault late Sunday on several Afghan security force positions in the southern province of Uruzgan
- The battle comes as Taliban and Afghan government negotiators are meeting in Doha, where they are trying to find a way to end 19 years of war
India, Arab League target $500bn in trade by 2030
- It was the first such gathering of India–Arab FMs since the forum’s inauguration in 2016
- India and Arab states agree to link their startup ecosystems, cooperate in the space sector
NEW DELHI: India and the Arab League have committed to doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as their top diplomats met in New Delhi for the India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
The foreign ministers’ forum is the highest mechanism guiding India’s partnership with the Arab world. It was established in March 2002, with an agreement to institutionalize dialogue between India and the League of Arab States, a regional bloc of 22 Arab countries from the Middle East and North Africa.
The New Delhi meeting on Saturday was the first gathering in a decade, following the inaugural forum in Bahrain in 2016.
India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that the forum was taking place amid a transformation in the global order.
“Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year,” he said. “This obviously impacts all of us, and India as a proximate region. To a considerable degree, its implications are relevant for India’s relationship with Arab nations as well.”
Jaishankar and his UAE counterpart co-chaired the talks, which aimed at producing a cooperation agenda for 2026-28.
“It currently covers energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, human resource development, culture and education, amongst others,” Jaishankar said.
“India looks forward to more contemporary dimensions of cooperation being included, such as digital, space, start-ups, innovation, etc.”
According to the “executive program” released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the roadmap agreed by India and the League outlined their planned collaboration, which included the target “to double trade between India and LAS to US$500 billion by 2030, from the current trade of US$240 billion.”
Under the roadmap, they also agreed to link their startup ecosystems by facilitating market access, joint projects, and investment opportunities — especially health tech, fintech, agritech, and green technologies — and strengthen cooperation in space with the establishment of an India–Arab Space Cooperation Working Group, of which the first meeting is scheduled for next year.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing momentum in Indo-Arab relations focused on economic, business, trade and investment ties between the regions that have some of the world’s youngest demographics, resulting in a “commonality of circumstances, visions and goals,” according to Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“The focus of the summit meeting was on capitalizing on the economic opportunities … including in the field of energy security, sustainability, renewables, food and water security, environmental security, trade, investments, entrepreneurship, start-ups, technological innovations, educational cooperation, cultural cooperation, youth engagement, etc.,” Quamar told Arab News.
“A number of critical decisions have been taken for furthering future cooperation in this regard. In terms of opportunities, there is immense potential.”
