In Afghanistan

Five civilians were killed after their vehicle was hit by a rocket in Afghanistan's central province of Wardak, Afgan officials said.

The passengers were on their way from central Daikundi province to the capital Kabul when the incident took place around the city of Maidan Shahr, local councillors Ahmad Jafari and Hajar Mirzayee said.

There is news we want to hear, and news we try to ignore. These days, Europeans are packing for their summer vacations. The news we don't want to hear is that by the time we return from well-deserved holidays, the next wave of COVID-19 will have gathered force.

More women and children were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since the United Nations began systematically keeping count in 2009, a U.N. report said on July 26.

Afghan authorities on July 23 imposed a night-time curfew across 31 of the country's 34 provinces to curb surging violence unleashed by a sweeping Taliban offensive in recent months, the interior ministry said.

He handed over the duty during a solemn ceremony in Kabul, which brought the United States one step closer to the final end of the longest war in the history of America.
The handover took place as Taliban forces continued to march and occupy territories throughout Afghanistan.

Sixteen members of an Afghan family have been stranded at Istanbul Airport for three weeks after escaping their country amid ongoing negotiations on the specific mechanisms of achieving lasting peace between the Afghan government and Taliban after U.S. troops permanently pull out by September.

The Taliban claimed on July 9 to be in control of 85 percent of Afghanistan after seizing key border crossings with Iran and Turkmenistan, part of a sweeping offensive launched as US troops pull out of the war-torn nation.

More than 200 people have been killed so far

Afghanistan's Taliban on May 10 announced a three-day cease-fire for the Eid-al-Fitr holiday this week marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The cease-fire would begin on either May 12 or May 13. The Muslim calendar follows lunar cycles and the Eid holiday depends on the sighting of the new moon.

Austin called for further work on the development of technology and better global military connections in order to "make decisions faster and act faster".
"Our struggle in the next great war will be very different from the previous ones," Austin said at the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii.