More than half of Afghanistan’s population is facing the devastating effects of drought and severe water shortages, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on World Environment Day.
Local sources told Afghanistan International that an explosion occurred around midday on Friday, June 5, in Kabul’s 11th police district, near a boys’ school and the residence of a senior Taliban official.
The Taliban’s disaster management authority has warned of heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and possible flash floods in eight Afghan provinces, with precipitation of between 5 and 20 millimetres forecast for June 5.
Reliable sources told Afghanistan International on Thursday that Taliban and Pakistani representatives held an informal meeting in the Uzbek border city of Termez at the request and with the mediation of the Uzbek government.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk says talks on a railway project through Afghanistan are continuing despite ongoing instability in the region, including plans for a western route passing through Herat province.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan says his office has verified cases of sexual violence allegedly committed by Taliban officials, primarily in detention centres. Victims interviewed included women and girls, as well as men and boys.
The Taliban displayed the bloodied bodies of two men in the city of Herat after killing them in Injil district, saying they died during a confrontation with security forces while allegedly attempting an armed robbery.
Sources told Afghanistan International that Afghanistan’s embassy in Kuwait was handed over to a Taliban diplomat this week, replacing the ambassador appointed by the former Afghan government.
Pakistani security officials say the military agreement between Russia and the Taliban does not concern Islamabad and will not prevent Pakistan from carrying out potential air strikes against militant targets inside Afghanistan.
At 4:00 am in Mazar-i-Sharif, the city is still wrapped in darkness. Sixteen-year-old Behzad wakes before dawn, performs his morning prayers, folds away his prayer mat and prepares for school.
Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with Afghanistan, criticised the possibility of inviting Taliban representatives to Brussels.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq Fayyad, one of the most senior Shia religious authorities, has died after a prolonged illness, according to a statement issued by his office in Kabul on Thursday.
The secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) warned at a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Moscow that security risks in Afghanistan are growing amid increasing regional instability.
Pakistani business newspaper Business Recorder reported that the closure of border crossings with Afghanistan in recent months has dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan’s trade, costing the country nearly $850 million in exports and transit revenues.
Cybersecurity researchers say a likely Pakistan-linked hacking group targeted the Taliban’s Finance Ministry using malware, remote-access tools and phishing emails containing compressed files written in Pashto.
Former Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi described the invitation of Taliban officials to Brussels as a slap in the face of Afghan women and a sign of the growing normalisation of repression in Afghanistan.
Spain’s foreign minister voiced support for Afghan women and girls at a conference on feminist foreign policy, saying their voices would always be heard in Spain despite Taliban efforts to silence them.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that no Afghan refugees are currently allowed to enter the United States and that those stranded at Qatar’s Camp As Sayliyah would instead be resettled in other safe countries.
At least four former Taliban detainees or their relatives told Afghanistan International that prisoners in Taliban detention centres are subjected to torture, mistreatment and forced confessions, and that such practices are continuing.
Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, met his Chinese counterpart Yue Xiaoyong to discuss regional security threats and the activities of militant groups operating from Afghan territory.
The World Food Programme says Afghanistan’s labour market remained weak in the fourth week of May, with daily wage opportunities declining and average access to work falling to fewer than two days per week.