5.4-Magnitude Earthquake Felt Across Northern Afghanistan
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake shook parts of northern Afghanistan on Wednesday afternoon, residents said.
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake shook parts of northern Afghanistan on Wednesday afternoon, residents said.
People in the provinces of Kunduz, Kabul, Takhar, Baghlan and Badakhshan told Afghanistan International the tremor struck at about 3:40 p.m. local time.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred 28 kilometres from the town of Ishkashim in neighbouring Tajikistan. The quake struck at a depth of 104 kilometres and was felt in parts of both Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Nurullah Nouri, the Taliban’s minister of tribal and borders affairs, told frontier forces they must defend every inch of Afghanistan, even at the cost of their lives.
He warned that negligence in protecting the country’s borders would not be tolerated.
Speaking on Wednesday, 25 February, during a meeting with border troops, Nouri said they must stand firm with what he described as a principled policy rooted in Afghanistan’s history and safeguard the country’s frontiers. He added that the Taliban administration would review and address the needs of border personnel.
He told the troops that protecting the borders had been entrusted to them and described it as the responsibility of 40 million people, urging them to demonstrate seriousness and vigilance. He said he took pride in young men defending what he called Islamic territory and described them as guardians of the nation.
the Taliban border forces assured the minister they would protect every part of Afghanistan’s territory and would not allow any violations.
His remarks follow recent Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Taliban border forces clashed with Pakistani troops in Nangarhar Province a day earlier. After the confrontation, Pakistan accused the Afghan Taliban of initiating unprovoked fire along the frontier and said it had responded to what it described as aggression.
Atta Mohammad Noor has accused the Taliban of being behind the shooting of a former Afghan lawmaker in Iran and urged the group to end what he described as violence and bloodshed.
In a post on X, Noor said shedding innocent blood brings neither power nor legitimacy.
Karamuddin Rezazada, a former member of parliament representing Ghor province, was shot and wounded on Tuesday afternoon in Mohammad Shahr, Karaj, according to two sources who spoke to Afghanistan International. The sources said two men on a motorcycle opened fire on him.
Rezazada was reportedly wounded in his left arm and is being treated at a hospital in Karaj. Sources described his condition as stable.
Noor blamed the Taliban for the attack and warned that continuing on such a path would deepen longstanding divisions in Afghanistan. He said he regretted that, in his view, the group had not grown weary of violence.
He added that, to avoid renewed conflict and prevent a repeat of past tragedies, he and others had so far exercised restraint.
Noor claimed that several current Taliban officials, including ministers and a deputy prime minister, had at various times been detained by his forces and later released in what he described as a gesture of goodwill and in accordance with Islamic principles.
He also alleged that he once intervened to prevent a US special forces commander from killing Mullah Fazel Mazloom, who now serves as the Taliban’s minister of transport and civil aviation.
Noor urged the Taliban to respect the sanctity of innocent lives, saying the killing of defenceless people, whether inside or outside Afghanistan, reflects instability rather than strength.
Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan said he discussed counterterrorism efforts and regional issues in a telephone call with a senior Iranian official.
Mohammad Sadiq Khan said on X that he had spoken with Mohammad Reza Bahrami, Iran’s director general for South Asia and special representative for Afghanistan. He said the conversation covered Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts, as well as trade and broader regional matters.
Sadiq did not provide further details.
The call follows Pakistan’s recent claim that it targeted militants in strikes inside Afghanistan. The Taliban rejected the allegation, saying civilians were killed in the attack.
Faisal Karim Kundi, governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, warned on Tuesday that Pakistan would carry out further strikes inside Afghanistan if militant attacks from Afghan territory continue.
He said that if the Afghan Taliban fail to prevent Pakistani militants based in Afghanistan from operating, Islamabad would have no choice but to defend itself.
Speaking on a television programme, Kundi said Pakistan had repeatedly urged the Taliban authorities not to allow Afghan soil to be used against Pakistan. He said groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al-Qaida continue to operate from across the border and carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
Kundi said Pakistan’s military strikes on militant hideouts in Afghanistan had been successful. The Taliban rejected the claim, saying civilians were killed in the attacks. The United Nations has confirmed that 17 civilians were killed.
The Taliban have rejected a Russian Foreign Ministry report estimating that between 20,000 and 23,000 members of international militant organisations are operating in Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid described the figures and their sources as inaccurate. He said no such groups were present in the country and insisted Afghanistan is under unified authority, making it impossible for outside groups to operate.
In a statement issued on 23 February, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said the total number of fighters from international militant organisations in Afghanistan was estimated at between 20,000 and 23,000, with more than half of them foreign nationals.
The report said the largest militant group in Afghanistan was Islamic State Khorasan Province, with about 3,000 members. It also estimated that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had between 5,000 and 7,000 members in Afghanistan, al-Qaida between 400 and 1,500, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement between 300 and 1,200, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, now known as the Turkestan Islamic Party, between 150 and 500, and Jamaat Ansarullah between 150 and 250.
The Russian ministry said the only group actively operating against the Taliban authorities was Islamic State Khorasan Province, which it said maintains training camps, bases and sleeper cells in Afghanistan.
According to the report, the group is mainly based in eastern, northern and north-eastern Afghanistan and seeks in the long term to expand into Central Asia to establish what it described as an Islamic caliphate. It added that, based on the scale and intensity of its attacks, the group does not pose a direct threat to the Taliban authorities but aims to undermine confidence in their ability to maintain stability and public order.
Russia is the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban authorities.