Archive

India has resumed issuing visas to Afghans in six categories, the Ministry of External Affairs announced Thursday, May 29, 2025, marking a shift in policy after a four-year suspension.

A Russian Security Council delegation recently visited Kabul to discuss strengthening bilateral relations and trade with Taliban officials, Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said Thursday.

Most websites of Taliban ministries have been restored following a cyberattack that disrupted over 20 government sites.

Documents obtained by Afghanistan International reveal that the Taliban’s Ministry of Defence has dismissed 4403 officers and staff across the country, with 1000 of those removed from Badakhshan province alone.

The Taliban’s Security and Purge Commission convened a meeting on Wednesday, 28 May, in Kabul, chaired by the group’s acting Defence Minister, Yaqub Mujahid.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and envoys from five Western nations during a recent trip to Rome, diplomatic sources told Afghanistan International.

The Taliban have publicly flogged five individuals in separate incidents in Kabul and Kunduz provinces, according to a statement issued by the group’s Supreme Court on Thursday.

Local sources have reported ongoing clashes between Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards in the Bahramcha district of Helmand province.

Iran’s Ministry of Interior has officially commenced the deportation of Afghan migrants holding expired census cards, marking a significant shift in the country’s immigration policy.

The Committee to Protect Journalists and fourteen other organisations have urged Pakistan to immediately halt deportation of Afghan journalists and other vulnerable Afghan migrants.

The Taliban’s Supreme Court announced that seven individuals were publicly flogged in Ghazni and Sar-e Pol provinces on charges of theft, gambling, and illicit relationships.

The Purple Saturdays Movement, a prominent women’s rights group, has raised alarm over the rising number of forced and early marriages involving girls in Afghanistan.

Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov has warned of escalating terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan. He stated that more than twenty radical groups comprising over 15000 fighters are currently active in the country.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recognised Abdul Rahman Fida, a Taliban-appointed diplomat, as the Consul General of the "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan" in Dubai.

The suicide of a former Afghan army pilot in Mashhad has highlighted the dire circumstances facing Afghan military refugees in Iran, according to Iranian researcher Arash Nasresfahani.

The Taliban have prohibited table football in Daikundi province, local sources told Afghanistan International. The group claims the miniature player figures in the game resemble idols, which they say is forbidden in Islam.

The National Statistical Committee of Kyrgyzstan has announced that 90 percent of the country’s gasoline exports in the first quarter of 2025 were sent to Afghanistan. This marks a dramatic increase in bilateral trade between the two countries.

Abdul Rashid Dostum, former Vice President of Afghanistan, has sharply criticised the Taliban for what he described as discriminatory policies targeting the country’s Turkic population. He also expressed disappointment at the muted response from Turkic-speaking nations.

Mujib Rahman Rahimi, a former senior official in Afghanistan’s previous government, has criticised the Taliban for imposing severe restrictions on independent media, forcing many outlets to either shut down or act as mouthpieces for the regime.

The Taliban have arrested another prominent cleric in Kabul, continuing a wave of detentions targeting religious scholars who have expressed dissent against the group’s leadership.

Local sources told Afghanistan International on Monday that public protests are intensifying in Badakhshan province, with demonstrators calling for the removal of Qari Ayub Khalid, the Taliban governor.