Afghanistan: Forces Linked to Vice President Terrorize Villagers | Human Rights Watch:
Dostum was elected vice-president in September 2014. In late 2015 he announced that he was reactivating the Junbish militia in response to Taliban military gains in Faryab and Sar-e Pul provinces, and has since overseen military operations in these provinces.
In July, Human Rights Watch interviewed residents of the villages that came under attack from forces they identified as Junbish militia. “Hashmat,” about 35, a resident of Dawlatabad, said:
Taliban capture important district in Afghanistan | TheHill: The fall of the district means the Taliban control 60 percent of Helmand, the AP reports.
While troops have been deployed to retake the district, it would be difficult because all its police checkpoints have been destroyed by the Taliban.
The police No.6 district police chief Mohammad Dawood Paktiawal said the gunmen opened fire on Dr. Hematyar near his clinic.
Hematyar was representing the central Logar province in the Lower House of the Parliament, Wolesi Jirga and was working as a physician when he was assassinated. LINK
Afghan Taliban reach out to China for joint 'anti-invaders stance' - The Express Tribune:
The Taliban delegation traveled from its Qatar-based political office to China this month, weeks after the group refused to take part in the peace process under a quartet of which Beijing is also a member.
Two dead in cross-border attack from Afghanistan - Pakistan - DAWN.COM:
PESHAWAR: Two men belonging to the Kalash community were killed in a cross-border militant attack from Afghanistan on Friday.
Afghan Parliament HR Head Martyred In Kabul Blast:
Kabul (BNA) Afghan parliament (Wolesi Jirga) Head of human resource (HR) was martyred and two others were wounded following a bomb blast occurred close to Kot-e-Sangi bridge, Kabul city yesterday evening.
Explosion rocks Herat city, casualties feared - Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency:
A security official confirmed the incident said one person was killed a number of others were wounded.
Afghan forces lose ground to Taliban despite delayed US troop withdrawal | US news | The Guardian:
The expansion of the Taliban helps explain why the current US commander, army general John Nicholson, pressed Barack Obama to delay his long-scheduled troop drawdown.
Obama announced earlier this month that he will leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan through 2016, a reversal of his earlier plan to drop to 5,500 by January 2017 – which was itself a reversal of his announcement in spring 2014 to drop to 5,500 in 2015.
SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants launched massive offensives on Khan Aqa and Faizabad districts in the northern Jauzjan province Thursday, triggering heavy fighting, spokesman for provincial government Abdul Razaq Ghafori said.
Five US troops wounded in Afghanistan – military | The Manila Times Online:
The Americans were wounded “in the last several days” while taking part in a joint operation with Afghan army troops in eastern Nangarhar province, Nicholson said.
The Afghan army has intensified operations against IS since the jihadists claimed two bombings over the weekend in Kabul that left 80 dead and 231 wounded.
I suspect there's an equivalent article called 'the Pakistan Question' in the Afghanistan Observer, if such exists.
The Afghan question | Pakistan Observer:
Afghans comprise of different ethnic groups who have always been at war with each other due to the culture of warlords in Afghanistan. Historically, they do not surrender to the foreign invaders and the three Anglo-Afghan Wars can be taken as a precedent, but it is also a fact that they just cannot live peacefully among themselves either. Afghans does possess a belligerent behaviour coupled with their gypsy living style. The Afghan people started to create problems for Pakistan in societal, security, economic, environmental and political sectors. They brought sectarian violence, narcotics and “Kalashnikov Culture” with them.
Policeman wounded in Kabul explosion | Pajhwok Afghan News:
The explosion took place in the limits of 11th police district at around 2:30am in front of Zamzam Market, Ajmal, a shopkeeper at Arin Market told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said the magnetic bomb was attached to the police vehicle and one security officials was wounded in the explosion. He did comment about civilian causalities in the incident, but said windowpanes of the nearby markets were broken due to the intensity of blast.
Key Islamic State leader Saad Emarati 'killed in Afghanistan' - BBC News: 
Saad Emarati was one of the founders of the IS group's Afghanistan-Pakistan branch, and led several attacks against the Taliban and the government.
Afghan officials say he was one of about 120 suspected militants killed in an operation in Kot district.
US military mission in Afghanistan not ending soon: Gen. Dunford | Pajhwok Afghan News:
During a joint Pentagon news briefing on Monday afternoon, US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter said that the United States would continue to provide military support to Afghan security forces to make sure that they were successful.
“I don’t think anybody would suggest that our work is over in Afghanistan, nor will that work be complete anytime in the near future,” Gen Dunford said at the same news conference.
The US continued presence into 2017 and financial support by Nato nations, as approved at Warsaw (Nato summit earlier this month), would continue out to 2020, he added.
Ghani loses grip on Kabul | Pakistan Observer:
AFGHAN President Ashraf Ghani has launched yet another scathing attack on Pakistan by churning out comments that state to state relations with Pakistan is a bigger challenge for Afghanistan than the existence of terror groups such as Al-Qaeda and Taliban. He took the diatribe to further heights by alleging that Afghan-designated terrorists hold open meetings in Islamabad.
Not much interest from the Western media when it's only Arabs who are killed.
Military Operation Begins On Kunduz Dasht-e-Archi District:
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Kabul (BNA) Military operation have been started on Taliban stances stronghold in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province.
Afghanistan marks national day of mourning - Macleans.ca:
Authorities say another 231 people were wounded, some seriously, in the attack Saturday afternoon on a march by members of the ethnic Hazara community, who are predominantly Shiite Muslim. Most Afghans are Sunni, and the IS group regards Shiites as apostates.
The IS group has had a presence in Afghanistan for the past year, mainly in the eastern province of Nangarhar along the Pakistani border. The Afghan military, backed by U.S. troops, is planning an offensive against IS positions in Nangarhar in coming days. It was the first IS attack on Kabul —and the city’s worst since a vicious Taliban insurgency began 15 years ago —raising concerns about the group’s reach and capability in Afghanistan.
Hazara minority targeted by suicide bombs at Kabul protest | World news | The Guardian:
The demonstrators were marching to voice their discontent with government plans, unveiled in April, to let a major power project circumvent Bamiyan, a predominantly Hazara province in the central highlands.
Following similar large scale protests in May, President Ashraf Ghani established a commission to look into the issue but government attempts to find a compromise had failed. On 19 June, a contract was signed to build another, smaller electricity line through Bamiyan, but that did not satisfy Hazara activists.
20 dead, 160 wounded as blast rips through Kabul protest:
The scene of the blast was littered with charred bodies and dismembered limbs, with ambulances struggling to reach the scene as authorities had overnight blocked key intersections with stacked shipping containers to impede movement of the protesters.
"At least 20 people have been killed and another 160 others wounded, but these are initial figures from our hospitals and could change," health ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismail Kawoosi told AFP.
Thousands of demonstrators had gathered to demand that a multi-million-dollar power line pass through their electricity-starved province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population.
Turkey and the War on Afghanistan - The Future of Freedom Foundation:
Let’s recall what happened back then because while most U.S. officials now concede that the U.S. war on Iraq was a “mistake,” many of them continue to maintain that the U.S. war on Afghanistan was a “good” war — a justified war.
Their rationale? They say that since the Afghan government was “harboring” Osama bin Laden, who U.S. officials suspected had helped orchestrate the 9/11 attacks, it was entirely justifiable for the U.S. government to invade and occupy the country.
Kabul locked down as Hazaras rally over power line:
The 500-kilovolt TUTAP power line, which would connect the Central Asian nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with electricity-hungry Afghanistan and Pakistan, is seen as a crucial infrastructure project.
But leaders from the minority group are demanding that the line be routed through Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population.
Taliban discussing China’s military assistance to Afghan goverment | Top Story | thenews.com.pk:
China has maintained steady contacts with the Taliban even after the fall of the Taliban regime. It has also maintained friendly relations with the Afghan government. This policy enabled China to become acceptable as a mediator and peacemaker in Afghanistan and its membership of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group for facilitating peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban was welcomed. However, its move to supply military hardware to the Afghan government could upset that balance.
Afghan Soldiers Sell US Paid For Ammo To Scrap Dealers | The Daily Caller:
One Afghan commander in Helmand province estimated eight out 10 soldiers took part in the practice, and blamed insufficient pay and leave. Helmand province has been a central Taliban battlefield since the end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014. The Taliban has seized several key towns in Helmand, where hundreds of U.S. and British service-members have died since 2001.
Four Afghan army personnel killed in attacks - Xinhua | English.news.cn:
"Four Afghan National Army (ANA) brave personnel were martyred within the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.
The Afghan security forces' casualties have risen recently as they struggle against a surge in attacks by Taliban militant group and other anti-government fighters.
2 dead in Logar bombing; attacker shot dead in Kandahar | Pajhwok Afghan News:
Salim Saleh, the Logar governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News two civilians were killed on Sunday eveningwhen a roadside bomb went off in the Kharot area Charkh district.
“The two men on a motorcycle were on their way to the district bazaar when blown up by the bomb,” he said, accusing the Taliban of planting bombs on roads.
Warning - Exaggeration Alert
Terror Attacks Down, Casualties Up in First Six Months of 2016: Report:
However, Afghan forces have suffered an increase of 15% in casualties (1,706). Casualties in the Army are up by 1,086 (37% higher) and the police 453 (30% down), says the TOLOnews report.
US delivers 5 new combat helicopters to Afghan Air Force - Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency: “Five new MD-530 Cayuse Warrior helicopters arrived at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, July 16, 2016, via a C-17 Globemaster III from McChord Air Force Base, Wash. The MD-530s were delivered to the Afghan air force increasing their fleet from 18 to 23,” the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing said Saturday.
Policeman wounded in Kabul explosion | Pajhwok Afghan News: 
Ghani loses grip on Kabul | Pakistan Observer: 
Afghanistan marks national day of mourning - Macleans.ca: 
Taliban discussing China’s military assistance to Afghan goverment | Top Story | thenews.com.pk: 
Taliban Takes Control Of Large Swathe Of Kunduz's Qala-e-Zal: 
Four Afghan army personnel killed in attacks - Xinhua | English.news.cn: 
2 dead in Logar bombing; attacker shot dead in Kandahar | Pajhwok Afghan News: 
Prensa Latina News Agency - Human Rights Organizations Denounce Child Labor in Afghanistan: 
