According to the agreement, president Ashraf Ghani will continue as the Afghan president while rival Abdullah Abdullah will lead the peace talks with the Taliban. Abdullah will also choose an equal number of ministers in the government

The Ashraf Ghani-led government in Afghanistan signed a decree to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners out of total 5,000, but the Taliban has rejected this conditional release of its prisoners

A week-long truce has been agreed on by the Taliban, the US and Afghan forces, in a move that is being welcomed as a step towards achieving peace in the country. Based on its success, the parties may sign a peace deal on February 29

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan declared president Ashraf Ghani the winner with 50.64% of the votes but his main rival Abdullah Abdullah rejected the results and said he would form his own government

As per electoral law, Afghanistan’s election commission has to address the large number of complaints that have emerged following the declaration of preliminary results that declared Ashraf Ghani as the winner

The final results of the elections are still awaited as opposition candidates have alleged widespread fraud and rigging, and have challenged the preliminary results

As many as 16 candidates are fighting to win the support of more than 9.6 million voters in Afghanistan’s fourth presidential election since 2001. The elections on September 28 are taking place amid rising violence by the Taliban and more attacks by US and government forces