No matter where the conflict goes from here, Afghans will bear enormous costs as stability looks to be a distant prospect. The Afghan government has had its most difficult week fighting the Taliban since the insurgency began. As of this writing, 12 provincial capitals have fallen since last Friday, marking …

The Taliban conquered the second and third largest cities in Afghanistan, Kandahar and Herat, on Friday as part of a major offensive on the heels of the U.S. withdrawal. The assault on Kandahar carried symbolic weight because it is the birthplace of the Taliban, from where founder Mullah Omar began …

Algerian journalist Rabah Kareche, who reported on a protest movement by the Tuareg minority, was sentenced Thursday to serve eight months behind bars, his newspaper Liberte said. It said a court in the southern town of Tamanrasset handed Kareche, who was arrested in April, a one-year term with four months …