Archive

Online broadcasts of most Afghan television stations have gone dark following a nationwide shutdown of internet and telecommunications services, Afghanistan International has learned.

Afghanistan was cut off from the global communications network on Sunday night after all fibre-optic internet services and telecommunications systems across the country were abruptly shut down.

The Taliban have ordered the shutdown of fibre-optic internet across Afghanistan on the instructions of the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, according to telecom industry sources.

The acting head and staff of Afghanistan’s consulate in Bonn have resigned in protest at Germany’s decision to accredit Taliban diplomats and hand the mission to the group.

Fawzia Koofi, a former Afghan lawmaker, said lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan and the wider region can only be achieved through the formation of an inclusive government.

A senior Taliban Foreign Ministry official voiced optimism about expanding relations with the United States after an American delegation visited Kabul.

Afghan political groups and activists opened a two-day conference in Islamabad on Monday, aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and outlining a vision for Afghanistan’s political future.

The Taliban said Sunday its delegation, led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, will attend next month’s Moscow Format on Afghanistan as an official member for the first time.

The Taliban said Saturday they flogged 16 people, including six women, in public in two Afghan provinces after convicting them of “moral crimes.”

Afghan political groups are scheduled to convene a two-day meeting in Islamabad starting Monday, after multiple postponements, sources told Afghanistan International.

Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, arrived in Iran on Sunday for talks with senior Iranian officials, state-run news agency IRNA reported.

Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian nations rose to more than $2.41 billion in 2025, showing a sharp increase from the previous year.

Wide-ranging United Nations sanctions against Iran were reinstated Sunday after more than a decade, following the expiration of a 30-day deadline under the “snapback mechanism” of Security Council Resolution 2231.

Gunmen killed Samad Tanai, a former officer of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, in Khost province, local sources said Saturday.

Senior officials from Germany’s Interior Ministry plan to travel to Kabul in October for talks with the Taliban over deporting Afghan refugees, German daily Bild reported Saturday.

The Taliban on Saturday rejected accusations by four regional powers that militant groups, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, maintain a presence in Afghanistan.

A senior Chinese diplomat has reaffirmed Beijing’s respect for Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity during a meeting with the Taliban’s ambassador to China.

A woman was fatally shot Saturday during a public hearing at the Taliban’s Court of Appeal in Herat, according to local sources.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front said it carried out a rocket attack on a Taliban base in Takhar province, claiming two Taliban fighters were killed.

Uzbekistan and Taliban have launched a joint transport company aimed at streamlining logistics and reducing delivery times for regional trade, Uzbek state media reported Friday.

Taliban’s Ministry of Education has removed 51 lessons from school curriculum that dealt with freedom, women’s rights, human rights, national symbols, and other social themes, saying they contradict Islamic teachings and the group’s policies.