The Taliban have allowed Pakistani students stranded in Afghanistan to return home through the Torkham border crossing. A representative of the students said the Taliban permitted 68 students to cross into Pakistan on Friday night.
The UN refugee agency has again voiced concern over Pakistan’s forced deportation of Afghan nationals and asylum seekers, urging that any returns should be voluntary, safe and dignified. Border reports show returns have surged since Islamabad’s deadline expired.
Hurriyat, a Taliban-affiliated media outlet, reported on Saturday that dissident Taliban commander Juma Khan Fateh had returned to Darwaz after pledging loyalty to the Taliban administration.
National Resistance Front leader Ahmad Massoud rejected claims of divisions among the Taliban’s opponents, saying they remained united around shared principles and values. He also argued that anti-Taliban figures would outperform the Taliban in free elections.
The US Justice Department said on Friday that former Afghan deputy parliament speaker Abdul Zahir Qadeer had been extradited from Kenya to the United States on drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Hurriyat Radio, a Taliban-affiliated outlet, confirmed on Friday that dissident Taliban commander Juma Khan Fateh had been transferred to Faizabad. It quoted Fateh as saying he remained committed to the cause he had fought for over many years.
The Council on Foreign Relations has warned in its latest report that terrorism and extremism under Taliban rule continue to pose a serious threat to the security of neighbouring countries and regional stability.
The Taliban on Friday, July 10, again detained several women on Herat for allegedly failing to comply with the group’s dress code. Sources said two Taliban morality police patrol vehicles took several women to an undisclosed location.
British author Karen Bartlett has won the 2026 Orwell Prize for Politics for Escape From Kabul, which tells the true story of the rescue of nearly 200 Afghan women judges and their families after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Sources told Afghanistan International that a Taliban delegation transferred dissident commander Juma Khan Fateh to Faizabad on Friday as part of efforts to resolve tensions in Badakhshan.
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday launched a new phase of deportations targeting undocumented Afghan migrants. About 20,000 Afghans are expected to be expelled from Peshawar alone under the latest operation.
The nomination of Bangladeshi diplomat Rabab Fatima as the UN secretary-general’s new special representative for Afghanistan has received cautious support from Afghan diplomats, who described it as a positive step and a clear message to the Taliban.
The National Resistance Front (NRF) claimed its forces killed two Taliban members and wounded three others in an overnight attack on a Taliban brigade in the Siab area of Ragh district, Badakhshan. It said the casualties were non-local Taliban forces.
Local sources told Afghanistan International on Thursday that Taliban army chief Fasihuddin Fitrat travelled to Nusay district in Badakhshan for talks with dissident commander Juma Khan Fateh. The two reportedly met, though no details were disclosed.
After recent deadly militant attacks in Balochistan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir visited the province on Thursday. Sharif claimed militants were using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
A US State Department spokesperson told Afghanistan International that the Taliban continues its “hostage-taking policy” and called for the release of all Americans wrongfully detained in Afghanistan.
Informed sources told Afghanistan International on Thursday that Taliban and Pakistani border forces once again clashed along the Durand Line, this time in Pakistan’s Zakha Khel Bazaar border area.
The bodies of 21 abducted police officers, who had been shot dead, were found on Thursday in the Mangi Dam area of Ziarat district, Pakistan's Balochistan province. The bodies were transferred to a government hospital in Quetta.
Germany plans to deport Afghans with no criminal record to Afghanistan for the first time in several years. The German newspaper Taz reported that at least five Afghan nationals who have committed no crimes are awaiting deportation.
The Kazakh government and Ghazanfar Bank have agreed to simplify banking transactions to boost trade between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. The deal aims to expand banking cooperation, establish direct payment channels and facilitate financial transfers.
A diplomatic source told Afghanistan International that Bangladeshi diplomat Rabab Fatima has been appointed the UN secretary-general’s new special representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). She succeeds Roza Otunbayeva.