Taliban

"Al Qaeda attacked us on 9/11. That's why I and so many other people joined the military, to go after Al Qaeda. Not the Taliban," Gabbard explained.

Afghanistan will likely never become an American-style democracy. But the U.S. must ensure its peace agreement with the Taliban allows no return to the status quo ante.

While not uncommon, the request comes at a moment of high tension in Washington as Democrats grow increasingly frustrated by what they view as the Trump administration's obstruction of their oversight responsibilities.

"We have not begun any peace talks with the Afghan government at all," retired four-star General Jack Keane said. "That is going to be very, very complicated, and we've got a long road in front of us."

"I'm sad that I'm losing track of all the people I know who have been killed in action. I'm sad and angry," said a former U.S. Army EOD soldier. "I'm sad that he's gone and angry that I can't switch places with him."

The operation that resulted in the two deaths is under investigation, the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan said.

"I'm going to keep saying this. This is what the Taliban does."

By hosting direct talks with the Taliban, a former U.S. ambassador to Kabul said, "We have ourselves delegitimized the government we claim to support."

The drafted framework is tentative but appears to be the closest the parties have come to reaching an agreement to end a 17-year war that has killed tens of thousands.

U.S. Army Sergeant Cameron A. Meddock, whose wife was expecting their first child, was on his second deployment to Afghanistan.

"We cannot recall a more absurd misstatement of history by an American President," The Wall Street Journal wrote, criticizing the president for a rambling, dishonest characterization of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan.

"The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia," Trump said. "They were right to be there."

More than two dozen people were killed in Kabul on Monday when gunmen stormed a government building and engaged security forces in an hours-long, coordinated assault in the heart of the Afghan capital.

The number of U.S. troops will be halved in Afghanistan, even as the Taliban grows increasingly bold.

Only last month, President Donald Trump said Pakistan had done nothing to help the U.S. in the 17-year war in Afghanistan.

Speaking to Newsweek in 2003, Maulana Samiul Haq called insurgencies in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kashmir "the real freedom fights."

An apparent insider attack struck the governor's palace in Kandahar, leaving a prominent police chief dead shortly after he met a top U.S. general.

A "devastating" new intelligence estimate on Afghanistan will give Trump cover to order a complete retreat, analysts fear.

Mohammad Ehsan Taheri of Afghanistan's High Peace Council called Russia "a supreme force of the world and region" that could help mediate the peace process at home.

Bryant Neal Viñas wanted to die a suicide bomber but was rejected due to his lack of "religious knowledge."

Donald Trump repeatedly called for American troops to withdraw from Afghanistan because the war is expensive.

This surprise visit was his fourth visit to the country.

The Islamist commander fought in Afghanistan for decades, first against the Soviet Union and later against NATO.

Abu Sayed Orakzai was killed along with several fellow fighters on August 25.

"With the U.S., we want to have a mutually beneficial relationship ... up until now, that has been one way."

About 194 militants, almost 100 security forces and 30 civilians have died since fighting began on August 10.

U.S. helicopters and drones buzzed overhead as Afghan soldiers attempted to force militants out of the eastern city of Ghazni.

Afghan General Mohammad Radmanish said elite troops are being sent to the western province that borders Iran.

The Islamic State militant group has recently ramped up its attacks in Afghanistan.

The 65-year-old hopes to become prime minister as Pakistanis head to the polls.