Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in a phone call that disputes between Afghanistan and Pakistan should be resolved through

Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing the Taliban of using terrorist tactics against Americans.

The State Department on Monday designated Afghanistan as a sponsor of wrongful detention as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations separately called out the country for engaging in what he said was “hostage diplomacy.

Repeated appeals from the international community for restraint have had no effect as the fighting, now in its ninth day, continued unabated.

Afghanistan's defence ministry said it carried out drone strikes in response to a Pakistani military base in the northern city of Kohat, causing heavy damage.