Richard Lindsay, UK Special Envoy to Afghanistan, raised serious concerns with Taliban officials over restrictions on women and girls, warning Afghanistan cannot achieve stability while half its population is excluded from education, work and public life.
United Nations said the Afghanistan Coordination Group met this week in Istanbul, with partners reaffirming continued support for the Afghan people.
The Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada has told Taliban officials that obeying his orders is “like obeying God and the Prophet”, warning that disobedience will be treated as a religious offence.
Reporters Without Borders has released its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, ranking Taliban-controlled Afghanistan 175th out of 180 countries, unchanged from last year but down 53 places over five years.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says recent devastating floods in Afghanistan have sharply increased aid needs, affecting at least 73,300 people, with hundreds killed and injured.
Informed sources told Afghanistan International on Wednesday that informal talks are under way in Istanbul between figures close to the Taliban and the Pakistani government to explore ways to resolve tensions.
A Taliban security commission meeting chaired by Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob reviewed the country’s defence and security situation, according to Taliban-affiliated media.
The Taliban’s ministry of communications and information technology says it has shut down two Starlink receivers in Bamiyan, saying they were operating without licences. The ministry said these devices were seized in coordination with security agencies.
Security sources in Pakistan told Dawn on Wednesday that its forces destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts and vehicles in Chaman, in response to what they described as cross-border aggression.
The Taliban’s justice ministry says a land recovery commission has identified more than 415 acres of land in Kabul’s District 16 as state property, with a court ordering the plots be handed over for restitution.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General said at least seven people were killed and 79 others, mostly children, injured in Pakistani strikes in Kunar, warning continued fighting is putting vulnerable communities at greater risk.
European Commission spokesperson, Markus Lammert said the European Commission does not confirm plans to host Taliban officials in Brussels or invite them, adding that only technical contacts continue over returns.
Sources say a recent Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Pakistan was issued after approval by Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul, with the summoning of its ambassador largely symbolic.
The UK Ministry of Defence has told Afghan refugees with acceptance letters to find their own way out of Afghanistan, with about 9,000 still awaiting relocation, Luke Pollard said.
The Taliban said it would take “two steps” towards easing tensions if Pakistan takes one, according to Abdul Wasi, Head of Taliban’s PM Office after talks with Richard Lindsay, UK enovy.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, The Taliban interior minister met Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan in Kabul on Tuesday, as both sides stressed closer cooperation between Russia and the group.
Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front, said at an event that the “illegitimate rule of the Taliban” must be challenged through civic, field and intellectual efforts, calling the struggle for Afghanistan’s freedom a “religious duty”.
The Taliban’s foreign ministry says it summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul over attacks by Pakistani forces on civilian targets along the border, including a university in Kunar, calling them a violation of Afghan airspace.
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan confirmed that dozens of civilians were killed and injured in Monday evening’s attacks on Asadabad in Kunar, without identifying the perpetrator, though local sources blame Pakistan.
Local residents in Kunar told Afghanistan International that Pakistani forces attacked Khas Kunar district with heavy weapons, forcing some civilians to flee their homes in fear of mortar strikes.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban fired mortars from Afghan territory at areas in Chaman and Bajaur in Pakistan overnight, killing at least one person and injuring another.
UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has appointed Bruno Georges Lemarquis as the new Deputy Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, where he will also serve as the UN Humanitarian Coordinator.