taliban

With demand increasing, Columbus has been added to a list of cities that could soon become home to more refugees from Afghanistan.

The president dismisses the allegation as politically motivated. The Senate Intelligence Committee is scheduled to receive a briefing on the matter Wednesday.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani now says he will free 1,500 Taliban prisoners starting this week and 3,500 more during yet-to-start peace talks with the Taliban.

The strike followed President Trump's call with the Taliban, during which he says they agreed "we don't want violence." Still, the group has led a wave of attacks since signing the landmark deal.

A peace deal signed with the Taliban calls for 4,000 of the approximately 13,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan to leave within 135 days and for all U.S. troops to be out within 14 months.

The quasi cease-fire was hammered out during protracted negotiations in Qatar that began in 2018 and could ultimately lead to a significant reduction in U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The step is meant to serve as an initial confidence-building measure and would last for seven days. A more formal agreement could be signed in the coming weeks.

"The Taliban wants to make a deal," President Trump said during his trip to Bagram Airfield, where he met with U.S. troops. "If they do, they do, and if they don't, they don't. That's fine."

The leader of a pro-democracy group in Kabul says most of his friends "are supporting the decision of Trump." The president called off a potential deal with the Taliban in a series of weekend tweets.

"To defend themselves and Afghan forces, U.S. forces returned fire in self-defense at Taliban who were using civilian houses as firing positions," according to a U.S. military report.