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"Senior White House advisers have proposed secretly expanding the C.I.A.’s presence in Afghanistan if international forces begin to withdraw from the country, according to American officials. But C.I.A. and military officials have expressed reservations, prompting a debate in the administration that could complicate negotiations with the Taliban to end the war."

"With a landmark deal with the Taliban nearly completed, the U.S. diplomat overseeing peace talks with the insurgents arrived in Kabul on Sunday to brief top Afghan officials on the accord and to discuss next steps on a comprehensive settlement of the nearly 18-year Afghan war."

"The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen staged multiple airstrikes on a detention center operated by the Houthi rebels in the southwestern province of Dhamar, killing at least 100 people and wounding dozens more Sunday, officials and the rebels’ health ministry said."

The pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah fired several anti-tank missiles at an Israeli army base and a military ambulance, but there were no casualties, according to the Israeli army. The army said several of the missiles struck their targets and Israel fired dozens of mortars at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The Taliban has launched an attack on a second Afghan city in two days, even as a ninth round of negotiations with the United States on ending the war wind down. Officials in Baghlan province said the insurgents were on the outskirts of the capital.

"The US says it has carried out an attack on leaders of a group it calls al-Qaeda in Syria, in the country's rebel-held Idlib province."

"Turkey's president threatened Saturday to launch a unilateral offensive into northeastern Syria if plans to establish a so-called safe zone along Turkey's border fail to meet his expectations, including a demand that Turkish soldiers control the corridor."

"Taliban fighters stormed the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Saturday, U.S. and Afghan military officials said, even as negotiators for the hard-line Islamist militia seek to finalize a U.S. troop withdrawal deal with American negotiators in Qatar."

The Taliban have staged a “large-scale” predawn attack on an important city in northern Afghanistan, even as leaders of the insurgent group are engaged in marathon peace talks with the United States on ending the deadly war.

"The protracted shadow war between Israel and Iran has spilled beyond the borders of Syria following a series of attacks in Iraq and Lebanon blamed on Israel, and threats of Hezbollah retaliation that reporters in Israel and Lebanon say has prompted the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to station dummy soldiers in jeeps along its northern border."

"U.S. and coalition troops fighting the anti-ISIS campaign in Iraq have a new process for getting flights approved daily, following an Aug. 15 order from that country’s prime minister that all use of Iraqi airspace would have to be pre-approved or else be considered hostile."

U.S. President Donald Trump says negotiations are going well with the Taliban but that the sides have not yet reached a deal over a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump made the brief remarks to reporters at the White House on August 30 as he was leaving for the Camp David, Maryland, presidential retreat.

"As U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper launches a comprehensive review that promises to cut costs and target legacy programs that drain money from next-generation capabilities, he ought to gird himself for fights with lawmakers, defense industry lobbyists and perhaps the White House."

"Syria and its ally Russia have stepped up an offensive against the last big stronghold of Syrian rebels, mounting more air raids and deploying ground reinforcements including Iranian-backed militias, army defectors and residents said on Friday."

"Israeli intelligence has been following the shipments from Iran, watching Iranian operatives from the time they crossed to border and, at the right moment, attacked them. Cargo unloaded from Iranian cargo planes in Syria that landed in Damascus was destroyed only minutes after leaving the airport."

"The US Army has an advising problem. As we approach the eighteen-year anniversary of the attacks that triggered our post-9/11 wars, the partners we train often still struggle with the basics of military operations while we commit ever increasing resources to assist them."

The United States is offering rewards of up to $5 million for information about three Islamic State (IS) leaders, a move analysts say could place more pressure on the terror group.

"The evidence that the U.S. wants a shift in its current political policy in Afghanistan is clear, yet actions should to be taken to fulfill the coalition’s commitments in Afghanistan."

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. plans to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan from 14,000 to 8,600 and then will determine further drawdowns. Trump's comment came as a U.S. envoy continued talks with the Taliban to try to find a resolution to the nearly 18-year war. The president said the U.S. was "getting close" to making a deal, but that the outcome was uncertain.

"The United States staged a secret cyberattack in June against a database used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to plot attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, The New York Times reported."

"A former senior commander of the dissolved FARC rebel army in Colombia announced Thursday he is taking up arms again along with other guerrillas who have distanced themselves from a historic peace accord signed with the government."

"That imperial vision has the same plan to subordinate Afghanistan to its imperial aspirations as did Alexander, Genghis Khan, the British Empire and the old Soviet Union. That part of the Taliban which is currently negotiating with the United States for an eventual U.S.-NATO withdrawal fails to officially recognize that the real foreign force that is threatening to take over the country remains virtually ignored in the talks. That elephant in the room should become a key part of any final agreement."

"U.S. Africa Command is concerned that Libya’s eight-year civil war could bolster terrorist groups harbored in the country and foster a breeding ground for violent extremist organizations."

"The top U.S. military officer says it's too soon to talk about an American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan or the future of U.S. counterterrorism forces there, as peace talks with the Taliban continue."

"American military cyber forces in June knocked out a crucial database used by Iran’s elite paramilitary force to target oil tankers and shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf hours after that force shot down an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone, according to U.S. officials."