Sharif Hassan

Afghan security officials in four provinces report suspected infection rates of 60 to 90 percent among their troops. Testing remains rare.

There is little agreement over how much compromise is acceptable to end two decades of violence.

The deal resolves a power dispute that threatened the U.S.-Taliban peace deal, but amid escalating violence, it’s unclear whether the Afghan government can make up for lost time.

When gunmen attacked a maternity ward in west Kabul, they shot a woman in labor, killing her and the child.

Sixteen people, including two newborns, were killed in the attack on a busy Kabul maternity ward.

The Afghan government says the group is launching an average of 55 attacks a day.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, according to two Afghan officials. Health leaders say they expect a spike in the country’s cases.

The prisoners freed Wednesday were chosen “based on their health condition, age and length of remaining sentence,” and did not include 15 senior fighters whose release the Taliban had demanded.

The Taliban and the Afghan government were negotiating the release of more than 100 prisoners, a step intended to pave the way for formal peace talks.

Ghani’s rival, Abdullah Abdullah, held a simultaneous inauguration.