Nearly 15 years after the first presidential election, there are very few national political parties in Afghanistan, a structural weakness that prevents democracy from taking root in the country

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

David McBride, who released documents detailing war crimes by Australian security forces in Afghanistan, has not received the full brief of the case against him owning to national security concerns

Along with being remanded to federal custody for an unspecified period, a federal judge has also imposed upon Chelsea Manning a fine of USD 500 per day after 30 days in custody, and USD 1,000 per day after 60 days to coerce a testimony out of her.

Manning was released after the 62-day term of the grand jury expired. She has been summoned again to testify against Assange.

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

The recent Loya Jirga and rounds of talks between the US and the Taliban do not seem to be able to provide a clear road map for the peace process in Afghanistan

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

The attack on the city of Kunduz was condemned by the UN assistance mission, which said it deliberately targeted civilian officials.

A report by the UNAMA and UN Human Rights Office states that 3,804 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2018, the highest ever, and a majority of the killings were by the anti-government forces, including the Taliban and the Islamic State

The two-day conference of mainstream Afghan politicians and Taliban representatives in Moscow on February 5-6 has become a landmark event in the peace process

Defense secretary Mattis is part of the establishment which believes in maintaining a strong US presence in Syria despite there being no legal backing for the deployment