The Trump administration is stepping up the defense of its response to intelligence assessments that suggested Russia had offered bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan, with the president's national security adviser saying on Wednesday he had prepared a list of retaliatory options if the intelligence had been corroborated.

President Donald Trump has denied he was made aware of U.S. intelligence officials’ conclusion that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan. The Trump administration was set to brief select members of Congress on the matter Monday.

The International Criminal Court has condemned the Trump administration’s decision to authorize sanctions against court staff, saying it amounted to “an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court’s judicial proceedings.”

The Pentagon is preparing for President Donald Trump to withdraw thousands of American troops from Afghanistan before the presidential election as military leaders recommend keeping at least a small counterterrorism force to remain in the country, current and former U.S. officials said.

The Taliban and Afghanistan’s president have announced a three-day cease-fire ahead of a major Islamic holiday that begins Sunday to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan

The first visit to Kabul by Washington’s peace envoy since Afghanistan’s squabbling political leadership reached a power-sharing agreement comes amid increased violence blamed mostly on an Islamic State affiliate that has been targeted in stepped-up U.S. bombing.

Oxfam International, one of the world’s leading aid agencies, will severely curtail its work because of the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic, including the closure of operations in 18 countries at the potential cost of 1,450 jobs.

The United Nations on Tuesday called for an immediate reduction of violence in Afghanistan, warning that civilian casualties at the hands of both the Taliban and Afghan security forces are on the increase. The U.N. mission also expressed concern about stepped-up attacks and brutality of the Islamic State group.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah have signed a power-sharing agreement

The United States is on track to meet its commitment to the Taliban to withdraw several thousand troops from Afghanistan by summer, even as violence flares, the peace process is stalled, and Kabul struggles in political deadlock.

Militants stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul on Tuesday, setting off an hours-long shootout with the police and killing 16 people, including two newborn babies, their mothers and an unspecified number of nurses, Afghan officials said.

New light is being shed on efforts to locate a military contractor from Illinois who was captured in Afghanistan

The U.S. mission in Afghanistan has for the first time refused to publicly release its data on insurgent attacks amid the implementation of a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban, an American watchdog said Friday.

The members of Afghanistan’s prize-winning girls’ robotics team are trying to build a simple ventilator from used car parts.

Afghanistan released 100 Taliban prisoners Wednesday, claiming they were among 5,000 detainees to be freed under a deal between insurgents and the U.S. The Taliban said, however, they have yet to verify those released were on the list they handed over to Washington during negotiations.

Mahdi Noori, a young Afghan refugee in Iran, was left jobless when the factory where he’d worked cutting stone was shut down because of the coronavirus outbreak. He had no money, was afraid of contracting the virus and had no options. So he headed home.

Health officials attempting to eradicate polio say they are being forced to suspend their mass immunization efforts amid the surging coronavirus pandemic.

The Taliban said Wednesday the group was ready to declare a cease-fire in areas of Afghanistan under its control if they are hit by a coronavirus outbreak.

As American negotiators raced to clinch last month's landmark deal with the Taliban, several shadowy figures played a surprising but significant role: former Guantánamo Bay detainees whose release in a 2014 prisoner exchange sparked a partisan firestorm.