Jeff Seldin VOA News March 24, 2024 The United States is assigning responsibility for Friday’s attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130 people on the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-Khorasan. A State Department official confirmed to VOA that the U.S. gathered intelligence suggesting IS-KhorasanRead More...

Ayaz Gul VOA News March 24, 2024 ISLAMABAD — The leader of Afghanistan’s fundamentalist Taliban government has said it is determined to enforce the Islamic criminal justice system, including the public stoning of women for adultery. “Our mission is to enforce sharia and Allah’s Hudud [law],” said Hibatullah Akhundzada in an audio clip Taliban officials saidRead More...

Khaama: The telecommunications company Etisalat has announced the signing of a contract with the Afghanistan national cricket team and stated that under this agreement, Etisalat will be the official financial supporter of the national cricket team in 2024. This contract between Abdullah Jabar, the commercial head of Etisalat Afghanistan, and Mirwais Ashraf, the head ofRead More...

Ayaz Gul VOA News March 21, 2024 ISLAMABAD — A rare suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar, known as the Taliban’s political headquarters, killed at least three people and injured more than a dozen early Thursday. Taliban authorities said the victims had gathered outside the officially run New Kabul Bank to receive their salariesRead More...

ProPublica: The United Nations has delivered more than $2.9 billion in cash to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control, resulting in the flow of U.S. funds to the extremist group, according to a recent government report. The U.N. deposits the cash into a private Afghan bank and disburses funds to the agency’s aid organizations andRead More...

8am: Reports emerging from Balkh and Bamiyan provinces reveal that despite the populace’s eagerness to celebrate Nowruz in these regions, stringent measures enforced by the Taliban have cast a pall over the festive spirit marking the New Year in these locales. This marks the third consecutive year in which the Taliban have proscribed Nowruz celebrations,Read More...

Al Jazeera: Trading guns for hair clippers and dumbbells, they’ve had to desert their dreams, as their government deserted them. Click here to read more (external link).



8am: Taliban, facing armed resistance in Panjshir and Andarab after Seizing control of Afghanistan, has been accused of widespread harassment and persecution of residents in these regions over the past nearly three years. According to sources, the group has detained and tortured hundreds of young men and adults from Panjshir province and Andarab regions. SourcesRead More...

RFE/RL: The Taliban’s decision to turn to Iran to access international markets is a strategic move with regional implications. Access to the Chabahar Port reduces Afghanistan’s reliance on Pakistan and gives it access to India, Islamabad’s archenemy and Kabul’s traditional ally. Islamabad has historically been Kabul’s biggest trading partner, but Iran has taken its placeRead More...

HRW: “The situation is getting worse every day,” Ahmad, a former journalist in Herat, Afghanistan, told me. “I don’t think anyone can afford to buy enough food anymore.” According to the United Nations, in 2024, 23.7 million people – more than half of the country’s population – will need humanitarian assistance. The statistics are startling:Read More...

8am: Twenty-three years ago, the Taliban destroyed two large Buddha statues in Bamyan province. The taller statue, named Salsaal, standing at 53 meters, and the smaller one, Shahmama, at 35 meters, were carved into the mountains between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD with a distinctive style. Mullah Omar, the former Taliban supreme leader, orderedRead More...

Akmal Dawi VOA News March 14, 2024 An Afghan education official says Taliban authorities may permanently close girls’ secondary schools, promoting religious schools known as madrasas as an alternative. The Taliban shut down girls’ secondary schools in 2022, citing “religious and cultural” concerns. Taliban officials defend the ban, insisting they are working to create aRead More...

The Guardian (UK): The Afghanistan inquiry is getting into gear at the Royal Courts of Justice. Led by the judge Charles Haddon-Cave, this public inquiry was convened to investigate about 80 killings allegedly committed by the SAS in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013. Proceedings took a dramatic turn last month when the minister for veterans’Read More...

Khaama: The World Bank says Afghanistan’s exports dropped 5% to $140.5 million from last January. According to this World Bank report, recently published under the title “Afghanistan Economic Update,” the country’s exports were $148.1 million in January of the previous year. However, the World Bank report states that Afghanistan’s imports have increased by 37% comparedRead More...

By Akmal Dawi VOA News March 13, 2024 The United States’ program to resettle former Afghan interpreters and contractors could come to an abrupt end in a few months as the number of available Special Immigrant Visas dwindles. Activists are urging Congress to authorize additional visas, known as SIVs, with less than 8,000 remaining amid aRead More...

By Faiza Ibrahimi and Sana Kakar Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 12, 2024 Ramadan is usually a time of compassion, charity, and celebration. But the Islamic holy month has been overshadowed in Afghanistan, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, by rising hunger, poverty, and joblessness. As some in the Muslim world break their fast with nightlyRead More...

The Daily Beast: As well as cruelty and misogyny, Taliban rule has also brought a resurgence in the threat from ISIS. The Sunni Muslim terror group has been allowed to re-group and re-tool in Afghanistan where thousands of fighters are training and plotting attacks, despite Taliban claims that they are trying to clamp down onRead More...

Firstpost: The dire economic situation in Afghanistan, exacerbated by the recent Taliban takeover and ongoing poverty affecting half the population, has driven many like Sharif, a former livestock keeper, to turn to mining for survival. Click here to read more (external link).

Khaama: Afghanistan’s export sector witnessed a contraction of 5 percent year-on-year in January 2024, totaling $140.5 million, down from $148.1 million the previous January. Notably, food exports to India surged by 22 percent, contrasting with an 18 percent decline in exports to Pakistan.  The afghani (AFN) experienced a noteworthy 27 percent appreciation against the USRead More...

Khaama: The recent statement by Afghanistan’s interim government estimating the population at 34.9 million starkly contrasts with international assessments, which suggest the population exceeds 40 million. This significant discrepancy underscores the challenges in accurately gauging the demographic landscape amid the country’s tumultuous circumstances. Mohammad Haleem Rafie, the spokesperson for the Afghan Statistical Office, disclosed thatRead More...

Ariana: Afghanistan is losing more than $1 billion annually due to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) extreme decrees against women and girls, Rina Amiri, US special envoy for Afghan women, said on Saturday. “The edicts prohibiting Afghan women & girls’ education & employment are hurting all Afghans. To lift Afghanistan out of aid dependencyRead More...

Khaama: Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, vehemently opposes any notion of engagement with the Taliban regime dubbing it as a direct affront to the Afghan people. His stark disapproval came as a reaction to US Charge d’Affaires Karen Decker’s advocacy for dialogue with the Taliban, underscoring the deep-seated tensions surrounding diplomaticRead More...

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi March 10, 2024 Male students who enrolled in Taliban-run religious schools say that sexual and physical abuse has led some to end their pursuit of an education in Afghanistan. The students, all of whom were aged 10 to 17 and spoke to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity out of fearsRead More...



BBC: As the world was watching the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, two sisters in Kabul were among millions of women in Afghanistan who could directly feel the new regime tightening its grip on them. They decided they couldn’t just stand back and watch women’s freedoms being restricted, and started secretly using theRead More...

WP: The Taliban-run government is fostering a thriving community of YouTube influencers and video bloggers in Afghanistan, seeking to shape a positive narrative about the country by rewarding those who have welcome viewpoints with access to stories that can draw millions of views online. Meanwhile, videos that are critical of the Taliban have largely disappearedRead More...