Archive

Bakhtar News Agency, a Taliban-controlled media outlet, reported that the group's leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has ordered the establishment of special courts to review pensions.

Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq announced a meeting with Philippa Candler, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad.

In response to the recent statements of the US Secretary of State, Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban's deputy spokesman, said that the Taliban is not isolated and that the group currently has diplomatic, political, and economic relations with many countries.

Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban released Rahmdel Hanafi, one of Ashraf Ghani's former bodyguards’ wife from prison five days after he committed suicide.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has confirmed that the Islamic Republic has deported many Afghan refugees with valid residency documents in the past year.

The emergency hospital in Kabul reported that since August 2021, the total number of road accidents in Afghanistan has increased fivefold.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) claimed that four Taliban members, including a commander, had been killed in an attack by the group's forces in front of the entrance to the Bagram Airfield on Thursday evening.

The Taliban's Ministry of Justice announced the signing of three new laws by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the group.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced that 52 people were killed and 65 others were injured in two fatal traffic accidents on the Kabul-Kandahar highway.

After the assassination of Taliban leader Khalil Haqqani, Abdul Ahad Talib, commander of his special forces; Mullah Shirin, the governor of Kandahar, and Yousuf Wafa, the governor of Balkh, have been asked to pay attention to their security.

Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights, said that challenging the Taliban's repressive government and holding the group accountable is the collective responsibility of the world.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 164 aid disruptions were recorded in Afghanistan in November this year, an increase of 56 percent compared to the previous month.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, criticised the restrictions on the media at a meeting in Kabul. He called on the Taliban administration to strengthen the media and leave it free.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) announced that more than 1.2 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran have returned to Afghanistan in 2024.

A US State Department spokesperson said that Washington has the ability to engage with "designated terrorist groups" to advance US interests.

Sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that Rahm Dil Hanafi, one of Ashraf Ghani's former bodyguards, committed suicide in Kabul on Sunday, December 15, due to the arrest of his wife by the Taliban.

In separate messages, the two branches of al-Qaeda condemned the assassination of Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani, the Taliban's minister of refugees and a prominent member of the Haqqani network.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has announced that 22.9 million people in Afghanistan are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025.

The Russian parliament has paved the way for the normalisation of relations with the Taliban by passing a law that allows the temporary suspension of the ban on "terrorist groups" in the country.

Robert Chatterton Dickson, the chargé d'affaires of the British embassy in Afghanistan has said that there are many potential areas for cooperation with the Taliban, but it is conditional on the Taliban's positive actions in the field of human rights.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai returned to Kabul after meeting with officials from Germany, Britain, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates.