Amu: Several taxi drivers in Herat say they cannot afford the required 25,000 to 40,000 Afghanis (approximately $370 to $590) to repaint their vehicles under a regulation implemented by the Taliban’s traffic department. The drivers say the law, enforced by the Taliban-run Herat’s traffic management office, mandates that all taxis undergo the color change, placingRead More...
8am: The Taliban continue to sign illegal contracts for the extraction and exploitation of Afghanistan’s mines. They now control the country’s natural resources—wealth that once funded their war efforts through illegal mining—and have gained increased opportunities for exploitation as their criminal economic networks expand. Recently, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs announced the launchRead More...
Amu: Afghanistan has moved ahead of Bangladesh in the latest ICC One Day International rankings following their recent three-match series, where Afghanistan claimed a 2-1 victory. Bangladesh now drops to ninth, while Afghanistan climbs to eighth. Both teams have three more ODIs scheduled this year: Bangladesh will play the West Indies in the Caribbean inRead More...
Khaama: The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a report stating that 23 cases of polio in children have been recorded in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year. On Tuesday, November 12, WHO reported in its weekly update that three new polio cases were registered in October, two in the Maiwand and Ghorak districtsRead More...
8am: This order is seen as another step toward consolidating power in Akhundzada’s hands in Kandahar. Many observers view it as an indication of growing distrust between Akhundzada and senior Taliban officials in Kabul. Previously, some Taliban leaders, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, have openly defied Akhundzada’s bans on photography and filming, disregarding their “Amir’s” directives. ClickRead More...
The Conversation: As an educational policy scholar who pushed for educational progress in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover, I believe these changes echo the tactics of the Soviet-backed regime in the 1980s to impose an ideology through textbooks. They also reflect the stifling climate of the 1990s, which promoted violence and suppressed critical thinking inRead More...
Afghanistan International: Abdullah Khanjani, the political head of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, has begun a series of meetings with key leaders of groups opposing the Taliban. Khanjani met a number of politicians, including Abdul Rashid Dostum, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Rasul Sayyaf, and Atta Mohammad Noor, in Türkiye. Click here to read more (externalRead More...
Ayaz Gul VOA News November 10, 2024 Islamabad — The Taliban in Afghanistan sent its representatives to Azerbaijan on Sunday to attend a major United Nations climate change conference, marking the first such participation since they seized power three years ago. State-run Afghan media reported that Muti-ul-Haq Khalis, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, isRead More...
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi November 10, 2024 Turkish authorities deported 325 Afghan migrants over the past two days, the Taliban’s Refugees and Repatriations Ministry said on November 10. According to the ministry, the International Organization for Migration will provide the equivalent of 150 euros to each of the deported migrants. In recent months, Turkey hasRead More...
AFP: Women in Afghanistan are not forbidden from speaking to one another, the Taliban government’s morality ministry told AFP on November 9, denying recent media reports of a ban. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Haqqani’s purpose in building this monument is to keep the culture of suicide bombing alive in Afghanistan. The Taliban, particularly the Haqqani faction, cannot tolerate the idea of letting this banner of suicide attacks fall. Even if they were recognized officially, they would still keep the flag of suicide bombing raised, as they viewRead More...
Khaama: On Monday, November 4, UNFPA released a report expressing deep concern over the rising maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan. The report states that every two hours, a life is lost due to preventable complications related to reproductive health. Click here to read more (external link).
Amu: Following Donald J. Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, Taliban expressed hopes that his administration would adopt “realistic” policies toward Afghanistan. In a statement from the Taliban-run Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi voiced optimism about improving relations, calling for a new chapter of “mutual engagement” between the two countries. ClickRead More...
8am: At first, Trump will likely adopt a stance of neutrality toward the Taliban, essentially disregarding the current situation in Afghanistan. If forced to engage, his most straightforward and effective option would be to approach the Taliban for negotiation. It seems unlikely that he would engage with the anti-Taliban forces; after all, when the DemocratsRead More...
Khaama: In a report titled “The Global Education Status,” UNESCO revealed that 129 million boys and 122 million girls around the world are unable to attend school. The findings indicate that over the past decade, children’s access to education has improved by only one percent globally. UNESCO’s report shows that 33 percent of children inRead More...
Ayaz Gul VOA News November 4, 2024 Islamabad — Pakistan reported Monday that its border security forces killed at least five insurgents who were attempting to cross over from Afghanistan. The predawn encounter occurred after Pakistani troops detected the “movement of a group of khwarij” in the volatile South Waziristan border district and “effectively engaged” themRead More...
Afghanistan International: Local sources from Herat told Afghanistan International that the Taliban arrested two influential Shia clerics in the town of Jibril and transferred them to an unknown location. According to sources, Mohammad Akbari and Hossein Azimi had previously protested against the Taliban’s restrictions on Ashura ceremonies. In July of this year, during the AshuraRead More...
8am: With the Taliban intensifying restrictions on women in Afghanistan, women are more constrained than ever by the group’s ignorance and backwardness, finding life in these conditions intolerable. In a recent move, Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has prohibited adult women from hearing the voices ofRead More...
Ariana: AfghanAtalan will tour Zimbabwe next month for an all-format series that will feature two Test matches, three ODIs and three T20Is. According to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) the tour will take place from December 9 to January 6. Click here to read more (external link).
Fox News: While the wall-to-wall press coverage of what’s been called President Biden’s “Saigon moment” has largely quieted down, the Afghan diaspora living in the U.S. has not forgotten relatives in the homeland. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Residents of Kunduz city have accused the Taliban municipality of extortion and imposing arbitrary fees. They allege that Taliban officials, along with local representatives, forcibly enter homes to measure them and collect money. Many residents, including female heads of households, express their inability to afford these payments and frustration that the Taliban, instead ofRead More...
Sky Sports: Women in Afghanistan have been banned from sports since Taliban regained control in 2021; Women cricketers have urged the ICC for help to form a refugee team with Amnesty International now adding support. Click here to read more (external link).
By Farangis Najibullah and RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi November 2, 2024 Barna’s working day begins early in the morning, hours before she enters her office at a private media outlet in Kabul’s trendy Karte-e Char area. Barna, a 26-year-old Afghan reporter whose name has been changed for security reasons, says she carefully chooses stories to pitch toRead More...
Afghanistan International: Richard Bennett, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, in his new report said that some “credible sources” testified about sexual harassment and rape of women inside Taliban prisons. Bennett added that he was deeply concerned by the numerous reports of sexual violence against women inside the Taliban’s prison. The UnitedRead More...
Asia Times: Armed resistance groups killing Taliban members, lighting bombs and stirring instability as country tilts back toward civil war. The Taliban’s desire for international legitimacy has been mocked by IS-K, which has accused the regime of bowing to the West, a message that has resonated with many disaffected Afghans. Concurrently, the regime’s inability toRead More...
Ariana: Public Health Ministry officials have confirmed that a polio vaccine campaign across 16 provinces was launched on Monday. Sharaft Zaman Amarkhil, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, says that the campaign got underway on Monday in a number of provinces including Kabul, Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, Farah, Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, Nuristan andRead More...