Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban shot and killed the director of Afghanistan’s Government Information Media Center on Friday, the latest killing of a government official and one that comes just days after an assassination attempt on the acting defense minister.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that the groups’ fighters had killed Dawa Khan Menapal, who ran the government’s press operations for the local and foreign media.

KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Taliban militants have switched strategy from targeting rural areas of Afghanistan to attacking provincial cities, in response to increased U.S. air strikes after the United States said it was ending its longest war, three militant commanders said.

The Taliban have stepped up their campaign to defeat the U.S.-backed government as foreign forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of conflict.

KABUL, Aug 4 (Reuters) - An explosion near the office of Afghanistan's main security agency wounded three people on Wednesday, hours after a bomb and gun attack on a minister's compound brought surging Taliban violence to the capital.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the late Tuesday attack on the home of acting Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi. There was no immediate claim for the Wednesday blast.

KABUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) - A powerful blast hit the centre of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Tuesday, Reuters reporters said.

The explosion occurred near the diplomatic quarters and a busy market square where there are many government buildings, including the presidential palace, as well as a number of embassies and offices of international media and aid agencies.

Clashes between Afghan forces and the Taliban have intensified across the country with the insurgent group gaining control over check points, trading posts and infrastructure projects.

KABUL, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The construction work of a 310-meter water canal has been completed in Afghanistan's northern Sari Pul province, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development said on Tuesday.

The construction of the canal, with two water rights, took 1,289 working days to complete through the Citizens' Charter National Priority Program in Khairabad, a vicinity of provincial capital Sari Pul, the ministry said in a statement.

KABUL, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. and British embassies in Kabul said on Monday the insurgent Taliban may have committed war crimes in southern Afghanistan by carrying out revenge murders of civilians, a charge denied by the insurgents.

Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban negotiating team member based in Doha, told Reuters that tweets containing the accusations were "baseless reports."

KABUL, Aug 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – Flights in Afghanistan’s Kandahar airport were suspended early today, after rockets struck the nation’s second main international airport, last night, a local official confirmed.

“Initial information found that, Taliban militants fired three rockets on Kandahar International Airport, and two of them struck the runway late last night. Local authorities were inspecting and trying to repair and reopen the runway, as soon as, possible,” the official told Xinhua anonymously.

The attack did not cause casualties, the source said.

KABUL, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called on Taliban to undertake a full investigation and provide answers concerning a recent attack on the UN's compound in western Afghanistan, the mission said on Sunday.

On Friday, armed militants attacked a main UN compound during heavy battles in Herat city, capital of western Herat province, killing one security guard and injuring several others.

The mission wrote on Twitter that perpetrators for "the attack that killed an Afghan guard needs to be held accountable."

SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A total of 37 militants were killed as fighting planes targeted a convoy of Taliban militants in Dasht-e-Lili area of northern Afghanistan's Jawzjan province on Saturday, a local official said.

"Acting on tip-off, the fighting planes struck a convoy of Taliban rebels in Dasht-e-Lili area and Murghab village today, killing 37 insurgents and injuring 14 others," Rezai confirmed in talks with Xinhua.

KABUL, July 30 (Reuters) - Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters have been locked in heavy clashes for the last two days after the insurgents entered the capital of the southern province of Helmand, officials said on Friday, as civilians rushed to evacuate the city.

With U.S.-led foreign forces nearing a complete withdrawal of troops, the Taliban have made swift territorial gains over the last two months but have not yet captured any provincial capitals.