The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) has issued a report detailing its assessment of the recently-concluded general election, expressing deep concerns over a decline in fairness scores compared to previous election cycles.
The US has started withdrawing troops from Afghanistan as part of a deal with the Taliban aimed at bringing peace to the country, reported BBC.
The US agreed to reduce its troops from about 12,000 to 8,600 within 135 days of signing the agreement.
Drawing back troops was a condition of the historic peace deal signed by the US and the Taliban on 29 February.
The Afghan government did not take part in the deal, but is expected to hold talks with the Taliban.
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani initially said he would not comply with an agreement to release Taliban prisoners as a pre-condition for direct talks with the militant group.
But reports say the president, who was inaugurated for a second term on Monday, will issue a decree for at least 1,000 Taliban prisoners to be released this week.
The intra-Afghan talks were due to begin on Tuesday but Ghani s government has not released any details of the negotiating team and it is unclear when they may start.
Abdullah said Monday that he would send a separate group to talk to the Taliban.
“One of the first priorities of our government would be to create political consensus, and appoint a negotiating team,” he said.
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