Afghanistan

A collection of 76 posts

UN: 1.6K Abuses of Detainees in Taliban Custody

A UN report released Wednesday claims that over 1.6K incidents of rights violations against those detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan were recorded in the 19 months leading up to the end of July 2023....

Crime & Justice

Main Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Crossing Closed

The Torkham crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been closed following the exchange of fire by security forces by both countries on Wednesday, according to officials....

Politics

Report: Afghanistan Meth Trade Surges After Taliban Opiate Ban

According to a UN report published Sunday, the trafficking of methamphetamine has drastically increased in and around Afghanistan since April 2022 despite the Taliban clamping down on opiates....

Crime & Justice

UN: Over 200 Former Afghan Officials, Soldiers Killed Since Taliban Takeover

The UN is reporting that the Taliban has conducted more than 200 extrajudicial killings of former Afghan military members, law enforcement, and government officials since seizing control of the country two years ago.

Military

Taliban Marks 2 Years Since Return to Power in Afghanistan

The Taliban declared a national holiday this week to mark the two-year anniversary of the Fall of Kabul, when the Taliban swept into the city, ending the US military's 20-year-long occupation of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Taliban, US Hold First Official Talks Since Afghanistan Takeover

Taliban leaders and US officials wrapped up a two-day meeting in Qatar on Monday for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan two years ago.

Politics

Pakistan: Political Rally Bombing Kills at Least 45

Following a suicide bombing at a political rally in the Bajaur district of Pakistan on Sunday, state-run rescue agency Bilal Faizi has confirmed that at least 45 people have died, with over 130 injured and 61 currently undergoing treatment.

Politics

UK: Special Forces Probed for Afghan War Crimes

Suspending its policy of neither confirming nor denying Special Force operations, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed that the military's Special Forces are at the heart of a war crimes inquiry.

Military

Afghanistan: Taliban Bans Women's Beauty Salons

On Tuesday, the Taliban-run Vice and Virtue Ministry confirmed an order requiring all hair and beauty salons in Afghanistan be shut down within a month.

Social issues

UN Report: Over 1K Afghan Civilians Killed Since Taliban Takeover

The United Nations Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported Tuesday that it has recorded roughly 1.1K civilian deaths and over 2.6K wounded in Afghanistan between the Taliban takeover in August 2021 and May of 2023.

World

Taliban Chief: Afghan Women 'Saved From Oppression' by Regime

Ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhunzada issued a public statement saying that Taliban rule has made Afghan women "free and dignified," while taking steps to guarantee Afghan women a "comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia."

Afghanistan

Nearly 80 Afghan Schoolgirls Poisoned in Two Schools

Separate attacks on two primary schools in northern Afghanistan’s Sar-e-Pul province poisoned nearly 80 girls over the weekend, according to a local education official, who said the suspect held a personal grudge but did not elaborate.

Social issues

Clashes Between Taliban and Iranian Border Guards Kill at Least 3

Heavy gunfire was reported on the Afghan-Iranian border on Saturday between the Taliban and Iranian border guards, killing at least two Iranians and one Taliban fighter. Both sides blamed the other for initiating the clash.

Military

UN: Female Afghan Employees Detained Since Taliban Ban

In a report published on Tuesday, the UN claimed that some of its female staff members had been detained, harassed, and had restrictions placed on their movements since being banned by the Taliban from working for the world body last month.

Afghanistan

China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan Ministers Hold Talks

The foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan pledged to further strengthen trilateral cooperation on security and counterterrorism during the China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral foreign minister's dialogue in Islamabad on Sunday.

Politics

Report: UN Approves Taliban FM Meeting With Pakistan, China

Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s interim foreign minister, has reportedly received permission from a UN Security Council committee to travel from Afghanistan to Pakistan May 6-9 for meetings with his counterparts from Pakistan and China.

World

Afghanistan: Taliban Kills Islamic State Group Leader

US officials confirmed on Tuesday that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has killed the Islamic State group (IS) leader who reportedly planned the deadly bombing at Kabul airport during the US withdrawal in 2021. The bombing killed 170 civilians and 13 US soldiers as people tried to flee the country.

Military

US Watchdog ‘Cannot Assure’ Afghanistan Aid Not Going to Taliban

John Sopko, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), told the House Oversight Committee presiding over the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan on Wednesday that US aid to the country may, at least partially, be funding the Taliban.

Military

UN May Exit Afghanistan Over Local Female Staff Ban

The UN Development Program Administrator, Achim Steiner, on Tuesday stated the organization is prepared to leave Afghanistan in May unless the Taliban lets local women work for the UN. Steiner noted that the course of action would be "heartbreaking."

Social issues

Al Jazeera: Hindu Mob Set Fire to Historic Library at Muslim School

On Monday, Al Jazeera reported that Madrassa Azizia, a prominent Muslim school in Bihar Sharif town of Nalanda district in eastern India’s Bihar state, was set on fire by a mob on the occasion of the Hindu festival Ram Navami....

Terrorism

Boat Carrying 400 Migrants Adrift in the Mediterranean

A vessel with around 400 migrants and refugees onboard is adrift in the Mediterranean between Italy and Malta as it awaits rescue from the Italian coast guard, according to sea rescue support service Alarm Phone....

Afghanistan

Biden Admin Defends Afghanistan Withdrawal, Blames Trump

The US National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday released a 12-page summary of its review of the failed August 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, placing extensive blame on Donald Trump's admin. despite the move being ordered by and taking place under Pres. Joe Biden....

Afghanistan

Top Iranian, Saudi Envoys Meet in China

Following China's mediation of a deal to restore relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia last month, the foreign ministers of both nations met in Beijing on Thursday for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats since 2016, when relations between the two countries became highly contentiou...

Yemen

Afghanistan: Taliban Carries Out Raid on Islamic State Group Hideout

Taliban forces killed six members of the Islamic State group (IS) in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province during an overnight raid on Monday....

Syria

House Committee Subpoenas State Dept. for Afghanistan Cable

US Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, subpoenaed the US Dept. of State on Tuesday to turn over a cable written by US diplomats serving in Afghanistan before the US withdrawal.

World