Hints and tips:
...Afghanistan’s deposed president Ashraf Ghani has defended his decision to leave the country as the Taliban seized power, saying his life was in imminent danger and he is in talks to return....
...The onslaught left the government of Ashraf Ghani politically and militarily isolated, and facing an imminent Taliban attack....
...They say the best scenario for President Ashraf Ghani is to achieve a stalemate before the summer fighting season ends in October. In the capital, residents are bracing for a siege....
...Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s president, has made sweeping changes in his cabinet to counter the threat, replacing his interior, defence and military heads in June....
...The return of the exiled King Mohammad Zahir Shah to the throne was also rejected....
...Until two months ago Mohammad Shafiq, 33, fought against the Taliban as a corporal in the now-dissolved national army....
...Afghanistan replaced General Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai, who was appointed army chief in June, with General Hibatullah Alizai on Wednesday....
...The Taliban is working to consolidate control of the country after routing the government of Ashraf Ghani, the former president who has taken refuge in the United Arab Emirates....
...Talks between President Ashraf Ghani’s government and the Islamists have stalled....
...Others such as Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor are reportedly in exile. Any Afghan resistance would also struggle to attract international support....
...An adviser to ousted Afghan president Ashraf Ghani said al-Qaeda “are strong, they are present in this region and they have close and even stronger relations than the Taliban in the past”....
...Bagram was to be taken over by the local armed forces, tasked under the leadership of President Ashraf Ghani with picking up the fight against a resurgent Taliban....
...It was fear of history repeating itself that prompted Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s former president, to flee the country as the Taliban entered Kabul....
...Mohammad Omari, it turns out, is not a fighter, but a softly spoken assistant to the shadow governor of Ghazni....
...The experienced Mohammad Hafeez has been criticised of late for his slow play — so he started with a 4 to long off....
...Just this week, AP reported that in Herat province at least 100 insurgents were killed in clashes between rival factions — the mainstream loyal to Mullah Mansour and a breakaway group led by Mullah Mohammad...
...In Afghanistan, for example, where a western-backed government under President Ashraf Ghani is struggling to ensure security, Isis is vying for influence with the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Sunni groups...
...General Sher Mohammad Karimi, the chief of staff between 2010 and 2014, says that those are jobs for the police....
...Ashraf Wathra, central bank governor, insists previous devaluations have not helped exports. “There is no correlation at all,” he says....
...Deputy governor of the Helmand district Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar said the army was “now taking the fight to the Taliban”....
...“The enemy is fighting in almost every province,” General Sher Mohammad Karimi, the Afghan army chief of staff, told the press recently....
...Ashraf Ghani, the new president, appears more energetic and effective than Mr Karzai....
...Mr Abdullah’s running mate, Mohammad Mohaqiq, also reiterated on TV that the Abdullah camp would not accept the results, and hinted of further protests....
...Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been in Vienna for the last week to take part in the talks....
...Ashraf Ghani — the acerbic former World Bank official whose recent inauguration as president has aroused tentative hopes that Afghanistan has finally found a competent leader — remarked prophetically in...
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