Archive

The execution of Afghan citizens in Iran has risen sharply in recent years. Human rights groups say Iran has executed at least 23 Afghan nationals since the start of 2026.

Local sources in Badakhshan reported clashes on Monday, 7 September, between Afghanistan Freedom Front forces (AFF) and the Taliban in Zebak district.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, a UN under-secretary-general, has urged the Taliban to unconditionally lift restrictions on Afghan female UN staff, one year after they were barred from UN offices.

Forces affiliated with the Taliban’s justice minister forcibly cleared the Khatam-al-Nabiyyin seminary in Kabul on Monday, 7 September.

Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan condemned Taliban actions against Shia and Hazara religious seminaries and media outlets, describing the closure of Khatam al-Nabieen centre and Tamadon TV as “discriminatory” and “hostile”.

Sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban forces detained several members of the Hazara and Shia Elders’ Public Relations Office in Kabul after surrounding the organisation’s office in western Kabul on Sunday.

The Taliban’s Higher Education Ministry on Sunday announced the creation of a Faculty of Aerospace Engineering and Advanced Systems at Kabul Polytechnic University, including a major in drone and radar engineering.

On August 20, 2026, National Resistance Front (NRF) commander Hasib Panjshiri was ambushed alongside members of his group in northern Salang, in Afghanistan's Parwan province, while traveling toward Andarab district in neighboring Baghlan.

A crowd of Shia Muslims gathered at Khatam al-Nabieen seminary in Kabul’s Darulaman area on Saturday evening to protest a Taliban Justice Ministry order to evacuate the centre.

Hurriyat Radio, a media outlet affiliated with Taliban intelligence, reported on Saturday, 5 September, that an Australian tourist had died in Badakhshan. The outlet said he died of a heart attack.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Russian Ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov have discussed expanding bilateral relations and strengthening cooperation between the Taliban and Moscow.

Informed sources in Badakhshan say the Taliban has built a “drone operations centre” near the provincial airport following rising tensions, opposition attacks and armed clashes in Faizabad and several districts.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, has rejected reports that the group uses or directs international humanitarian aid, saying “not a single rupee” of such assistance has reached the Taliban administration.

Ireland’s representative to the UN Office in Geneva, Laurence Simms, says justice and accountability for human rights abuses in Afghanistan cannot be achieved without hearing victims and working with civil society and international bodies.

The National Resistance Front and Afghanistan Freedom Front have called for a common platform among political, civil and armed groups opposing the Taliban, as Cambridge talks seek to bridge key differences.

Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force says intelligence it shared with the US and Sri Lanka helped dismantle an international drug-trafficking network linked to Afghanistan and seize 671kg of methamphetamine worth an estimated $21 million.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e Islami, has urged members and supporters of his party to cut ties with those who support the Taliban. He said anyone who has joined the Taliban administration or other groups should sever links with Hezb-e Islami.

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has appointed Commander Mukhtar Shoresh, a close associate of Hasib Panjshiri, as his successor following Panjshiri’s recent killing by the Taliban.

Hengaw Human Rights Organisation says two Afghan prisoners and one Iranian prisoner were executed in Mashhad city for premeditated murder. The two Afghans were reportedly executed secretly on Wednesday without their families being informed.

Local sources in Herat told Afghanistan International that Taliban forces detained several women on Thursday in the Jebrail area and near the entrance to Herat Industrial Park and took them to unknown locations.

Dozens of experts and political activists at a conference in Peshawar called for the immediate reopening of Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossings, saying trade should be separated from political and security tensions.