Nearly all are from Afghanistan’s Hazara minority. As Shiite Muslims, they fled to Iran in hopes that it would be more hospitable than Afghanistan, where they faced religious persecution and the economic hardships of a country racked by war and terrorism. But they wound up embroiled in another war. The Iranian government has relied heavily on the Afghan immigrants, sending them to battle in greater numbers than it does Iranians in the Revolutionary Guard. – Los Angeles Times
The leader of the Islamic State branch that operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in an American airstrike on July 26 in eastern Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Friday. It was the United States military’s second killing of an anti-American Islamist militant leader in the region in the past three months. – New York Times
As Taliban fighters push toward the southern city of Lashkar Gah, members of Afghanistan’s elite forces are trying to hold their ground here, about 10 miles from the city, the capital of Helmand Province and a critical link in the defense of the entire region. – New York Times
Top members of the main Taliban splinter group that broke away last year have reversed course and pledged allegiance to the main group, despite the efforts of the Afghan government to exploit divisions in the insurgency. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Three years later, the young woman, now 24, lives in the United States and does not know when she will go back to Afghanistan. She told her story on the condition that her name not be used because of concern that her family in Afghanistan could be in danger…She is one of a growing number of educated young people who, frustrated by their country’s growing insecurity and lack of job opportunities, have been leaving Afghanistan in record numbers. – Washington Post
Helmand, a Taliban stronghold and the heartland of the lucrative illicit drug trade, is seen as a strategic target for the militants who would win a major psychological victory by capturing the provincial capital. Soldiers at the sharp end of the latest offensive described a battle that pitted increasingly well-armed and disciplined Taliban militants against Afghan special forces backed by U.S. air strikes - Reuters
Taliban insurgents, seeking to force the NATO-led coalition out of Afghanistan and bring in Islamic law, captured a key district in the northern province of Baghlan away after days of fighting, officials said on Monday. - Reuters
The Islamic State group, which has been building a presence in Afghanistan for more than a year, has established a recruitment and training camp in a restive southern province bordering Pakistan, Afghan officials said. – Associated Press
The killing of the Islamic State group's leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan has dealt a major blow to the jihadists, but despite a U.S.-backed scorched earth offensive the regional franchise is far from over, observers said Saturday. - AFP