Archive

Pakistan does not want to see a strong or self-reliant Afghan government, regardless of who leads it, according to a senior Taliban official.

The Taliban’s reclusive leader has claimed that the people of Afghanistan have become distant from Islam and unfamiliar with Sharia law due to decades of “un-Islamic” governance under previous regimes.

UN Women has issued a stark warning that Afghan women and girls returning to the country face heightened risks of poverty, harassment, early marriage, and abuse. The agency is urging urgent international action to protect their rights and ensure long-term support.

The Taliban have weaponised Afghanistan’s justice system to suppress women and girls, amounting to possible crimes against humanity, according to Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan.

Officials in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province have reported a record surge in the number of Afghan pilgrims passing through the country en route to Iraq for the annual Arbaeen religious observances.

The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that 14 individuals including one woman were publicly flogged in Kabul and Zabul provinces on charges including alcohol and drug trafficking, theft, and so-called “illicit relationships.”

India’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, is in Moscow this week for high-level talks with senior Russian officials. The discussions are expected to focus on Afghanistan and Russia’s recent recognition of the Taliban government.

Despite repeated UN warnings about the growing humanitarian crisis triggered by the forced deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan, the Taliban claim the situation isunder control.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that severe and prolonged drought in Afghanistan has disrupted farming and livestock activities in half of the country, with conditions worsening across much of the north.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has called for the rapid implementation of the Trans-Afghan railway project, describing it as a vital regional initiative to enhance economic integration and transport connectivity.

The spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has altered the ministry’s name in a recent post on social media platform X, apparently to circumvent content moderation policies.

A group of exiled Afghan women has condemned the ongoing deportation of Afghan refugees from Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan, describing the practice as collusion with what they called Afghanistan’s “repressive and misogynistic regime.”

On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, the United Kingdom’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Richard Lindsay, has called for accountability for human rights violations in the country.

The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that 10 individuals were publicly flogged in Kabul and Maidan Wardak provinces after being convicted of drug-related offences and theft.

The Taliban’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, has called on business representatives from 12 countries to invest in Afghanistan, according to a statement issued by the ministry on Tuesday.

The Taliban has ordered dozens of families living in Kabul’s Police Township to vacate their homes, claiming their property documents are invalid, according to sources speaking to Afghanistan International.

The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has announced the arrest of six students from Kabul University, accusing them of promoting “indirect atheistic ideas.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has stated that the United Nations member states failing to take effective action against widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan, four years after the Taliban returned to power.

The United States has blocked a planned visit by Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to Pakistan in response to the group's continued denial of holding Afghan-born American citizen Mahmood Habibi, according to a US source speaking to Afghanistan International.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has requested access to a leaked list of Afghan nationals who previously worked with British forces, according to a report by The Telegraph published on Monday.

A senior Pakistani official has raised alarm over a resurgence of militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, urging the Taliban to cooperate with Islamabad in addressing escalating insecurity along the shared border.