Taliban

The Taliban and Afghan government agreed to halt fighting for three days during the upcoming Eid al-Adha, a move that could renew momentum toward negotiations.

A bounty program on U.S. soldiers would constitute a "massive escalation" in Moscow's testy relations with Washington, says one Russia expert. A Russian lawmaker asks: "What would we get out of this?"

The president says no one told him about the threat to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Reports say the information was available in a detailed intelligence file called the President's Daily Briefing.

The Taliban announced the cease-fire in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, and the Afghan government quickly reciprocated by initiating a process to release up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners.

After a brutal attack in Kabul, activists in Afghanistan write: "Our people are targeted and killed on a daily basis. Afghan women are calling for an end to it."

The Taliban accuse the government of spreading COVID-19 in prisons and warn of revenge if their prisoners are harmed. With prisoners on both sides at risk, peace efforts have become more complicated.

The prisoner swaps, stipulated in last month's peace deal between the U.S. and Taliban, were in doubt for weeks amid Afghan government discord. They're expected to kickstart inter-Afghan peace talks.

As Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had himself sworn in for a second term, rival Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah took the presidential oath of office in a competing ceremony.

The attack interrupted a memorial for a Shiite leader that the country's chief executive had been attending. The Taliban, which just signed a peace deal with the U.S., said they were not involved.

Afghanistan's president is resisting a promised prisoner swap, the Taliban has resumed attacks, but U.S. officials are pushing both sides to sit down for a political settlement to end the war.

The strike followed President Trump's call with the Taliban, during which he says they agreed "we don't want violence." Still, the group has led a wave of attacks since signing the landmark deal.

A peace deal signed with the Taliban calls for 4,000 of the approximately 13,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan to leave within 135 days and for all U.S. troops to be out within 14 months.