Archive

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Qatar for facilitating the release of an American citizen held by the Taliban.

Two Afghan LGBTQ+ activists have been detained by Taliban authorities at Kabul International Airport, according to human rights activist Nemat Sadat.

Following the US State Department’s removal of Sirajuddin Haqqani from its most-wanted list, the FBI has withdrawn the $10 million reward previously offered for his capture. However, Haqqani remains listed as a global terrorist on the FBI’s website.

The US State Department confirmed to Afghanistan International on Monday that there is currently no bounty for the arrest of Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, says Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed satisfaction with his recent discussions in Kabul. Khan provided Dar with a detailed briefing after his three-day visit to Afghanistan, which began on Friday, 21 March.

Unidentified armed men shot and killed Hasan Jabar Khel, a former Ministry of Interior officer, in the Shakardara district of Kabul, according to relatives who spoke to Afghanistan International.

Yue Xiaoyong, China’s Special Representative for Afghan Affairs, met with Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs.

Two credible sources in Kandahar told Afghanistan International that Mahmood Shah Habibi, the former head of Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, has been transferred from prison to a guesthouse owned by Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Michael Kugelman, South Asia Director at the Wilson Center, says the United States is signalling a shift in its approach to the Taliban. He believes the US is now looking to work more closely with Taliban leaders based in Kabul, sidelining the group’s leadership in Kandahar.

Several Afghan civil society groups have written to the Norwegian government protesting the handover of Afghanistan’s embassy in Oslo to the Taliban.

The Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune has reported that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) topped the agenda in recent talks between Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, and Taliban officials in Kabul.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has praised the Taliban for consolidating power across Afghanistan. He said, unlike in the past, the country is no longer divided among rival factions.

Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini has urged the global community to support Afghan girls and demand the reopening of schools and universities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has announced that around 33 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute water shortages. The organisation stressed that access to clean drinking water is essential for life, health, and stability.

Rasoul Mousavi, former Director General for South Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has called the recent visit of a US delegation to Afghanistan a turning point in the Taliban’s foreign relations.

The US State Department has removed Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Interior Minister, and two other senior Haqqani Network leaders from its Rewards for Justice programme, sources close to Haqqani told Afghanistan International.

Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has arrested Shamsullah, a suicide bomber trained in Afghanistan, in Lahore’s Burki area.

Sources at Torkham confirmed to the Pashto section of Afghanistan International that the Torkham border crossing reopened for passenger movement on Saturday morning. The border had partially reopened on Wednesday, 19 March, permitting only patients and freight vehicles to pass.

Zalmay Khalilzad’s recent visit to Kabul, accompanied by President Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs and coinciding with the Taliban’s release of a US citizen, marks the gradual resurgence of the United States’ informal bargaining diplomacy with Kabul.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister, has told Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, that halting transit and trade between the two countries benefits no one.

Twenty-three Afghan women’s protest movements have jointly written to United States President Donald Trump, demanding the prosecution of Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation.