U.S. War in Afghanistan

Even if an intra-Afghan deal is reached, many Afghans fear that the country's many factions will fight for power if U.S. and NATO troops leave.

Progress toward peace will not allow most Afghan IDPs to return to their places of origin; instead, their numbers could well increase.

As Afghan government and Taliban negotiators sort out the rules and procedures, let alone an agenda, for peace, violence persists in Afghanistan.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, which it said were carried out after the police in the area refused to surrender.

U.S. interests in Afghanistan are enduring and will need to be safeguarded into the future.

CENTCOM Commander McKenzie told reporters U.S. withdrawal plans aim for 4,500 troops in Afghanistan on a “October, late October, November time frame.”

Talks were expected to start on August 20, but are now postponed indefinitely say Afghan officials.

The next step may very well be intra-Afghan talks, but the Taliban have spent the first half of the year bludgeoning the Afghan security forces.

The shuffle is meant to tighten Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhunzada’s control over the movement's military and political arms.

"I found it very worrisome. I didn't find that there was a causative link there," Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command said.

A series of media reports, citing U.S. intelligence sources, allege that President Trump was briefed on an alleged Russian operation offering bounties for dead Americans in Afghanistan.