Newsclick’s Prabir Purkayastha analyses the decision by the Donald Trump administration to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court. The ICC is conducting a probe into war crimes by the US in Afghanistan.

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

The discussions among various Afghan groups that began on July 7 was noteworthy for the participation of two government officials, although they attended the meeting in their private capacity

The attack took place in the western Bakwa district and the most of the civilians were daily wage laborers. Pro-government forces killed more civilians than the Taliban in the first three months of the year

A UN report documented that pro-government and international forces were responsible for 305 of the 581 deaths recorded so far this year. This is a 39% increase from the same period last year