Amu: Afghanistan’s vast mineral wealth, which includes copper, lithium, and rare earth elements, has long been viewed as a potential driver of economic growth. However, the secrecy surrounding mining revenues under Taliban rule has raised fears of resource mismanagement. Click here to read more (external link).

8am: Several former military personnel and their family members have complained about extortion, torture, and retaliation by the Taliban. Some relatives of these ex-soldiers report that in recent weeks, the Taliban have harassed former security forces and their families in various ways. In less than a month, the group has accused at least ten formerRead More...

Afghanistan International: Ali Maisam Nazary, the head of foreign relations of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), said that Ansarullah wants to overthrow the government of Tajikistan by using the flag of ISIS and following the Taliban. Ansarullah uses the ISIS flag, but is loyal to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Nazari said. Click hereRead More...

Khaama: International media has reported that the relationship between the Taliban and Pakistan has significantly weakened due to the intensifying insecurity in the region. Pakistan is now acknowledging that its initial support for the Taliban was a critical strategic misstep. Click here to read more (external link). Related Pakistani police claim 35 percent of militantsRead More...

The Conversation: The economic cost could potentially reach over a billion dollars – and this doesn’t include the wider social costs associated with lower levels of education for women. For context, Afghanistan’s entire gross domestic product was just $17 billion in 2023. Our study demonstrates how catastrophic the newest education ban could be, not justRead More...

Michael Hughes: Islamabad appears to be laying the groundwork for regional partnerships to strangle Afghanistan from all sides as tensions escalate with the Taliban over cross-border attacks resulting in decade-high deaths of Pakistani troops. However, although Pakistan has found a willing ally in Tajikistan, it will be harder to secure cooperation from other actors inRead More...

Amu: Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, sharply criticized the country’s previous leadership on Thursday, alleging that hasty and informal decisions facilitated the return of thousands of members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) into the country..Speaking during a briefing, Mr. Dar attributed the re-entry of 35,000 to 40,000 TTP fighters to poorlyRead More...

AFP: Musicians play behind closed doors despite a ban on music in Afghanistan and a maker of stringed instrument the rubab refuses to down tools. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan International: Anwar Zeb Khan, a representative of Bajaur in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly of Pakistan, has revealed that hundreds of insurgents from Afghanistan have entered the Bajaur region and seized control of five checkpoints. According to Khan, the insurgents have raised the flag of the Afghan Taliban in the area. Click here toRead More...



8am: Top officials allot and divide mines among themselves, focusing on filling their pockets, and disregarding national resources and future generations. Remaining revenue funds terrorist plans, reinforcing the totalitarian and tribal regime, expanding terrorist activities in Afghanistan and the region, and even financing al-Qaeda and other terror groups. In return, al-Qaeda and other groups provideRead More...

Khaama: Amid increasing rumors about the presence of Pakistani military forces in Wakhan, Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, a spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Badakhshan addressed the issue. Following clashes between the Taliban and Pakistani military forces, some activists and users close to the Pakistani army claimed that if the conflict between the TalibanRead More...

Afghanistan International: Emomali Rahmon, the President of Tajikistan, met with General Asim Munir, the Director-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in Dushanbe. It is not yet clear whether the ISI chief met with the leaders of the National Resistance Front during his visit. Previously, some Pakistani diplomats had warned that if the Taliban failed toRead More...

Afghanistan International: The National Resistance Front (NRF) announced on Tuesday that it had targeted the convoy of Abdul Latif Mansour, the Taliban’s Minister of Energy and Water, in the Khair Khana area of northern Kabul. According to an NRF statement, the attack resulted in the death of one of the minister’s guards and injuries toRead More...

Afghanistan International: Issa Bozorgzadeh, the spokesman for the Islamic Republic’s water industry, said that Afghanistan’s “unilateral” exploitation of the Harirud River is a violation of Iran’s customary rights. Bozorgzadeh said that the construction of the Pashdan Dam will affect the supply of drinking water to several million people. Click here to read more (external link).Read More...



By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 30, 2024 The latest Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan have rekindled tensions between Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and Islamabad, who were once former allies. While Pakistan has said it was targeting militant hideouts, Taliban officials said the December 24 attacks killed some 50 civilians. The Afghan Defense Ministry vowed thatRead More...

Amu: The suspension of house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns by the Taliban has left many children unvaccinated, raising fears of a resurgence of the crippling disease, residents say. While a three-day polio vaccination campaign concluded last week in Kabul and 10 other provinces, some Kabul residents reported that their children did not receive the vaccine. ManyRead More...



8am: Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, recently held a telephone conversation with Asaad Hassan al-Shaybani, the Foreign Minister of Syria, congratulating the victory of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and expressing a desire for representatives from both sides to meet and establish prompt diplomatic relations between Kabul and Damascus. Surprisingly, Muttaqi praised theRead More...



Afghanistan International: The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) announced that it had killed 10 Taliban fighters and wounded five other Taliban members in a targeted operation on the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior. Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Taliban’s police command in Kabul, said that four people were wounded in the incident.Read More...

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi and RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal December 28, 2024 Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government said Taliban forces targeted what it claimed were “centers and hideouts for malicious elements” it said were involved in a recent attack in Afghanistan, as an upsurge of cross-border fighting continues. The statement from the Taliban’s Defense Ministry followed reports of deadlyRead More...

Afghanistan International: Three days after Pakistan’s airstrikes on Paktika, the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on the Taliban administration to adopt a decisive policy against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Taliban must take a clear stance against the TTP, he said, stressing that Pakistan will not tolerate double standards. Click here to read moreRead More...



Ariana: In a significant milestone for Afghanistan’s infrastructure development, officials from the National Development Corporation (NDC) have announced that the second phase of the Qosh Tepa Canal in northern Afghanistan is now 81 percent complete, with the construction of its dam progressing steadily at 67 percent. This ambitious project is poised to transform the region,Read More...

Khaama: The Afghanistan Journalists Center released its annual report on December 26, 2024, highlighting the challenging situation for media outlets and journalists in the country. The report indicates that 181 cases of journalist rights violations were recorded, and 18 media outlets were shut down due to the Taliban’s repressive policies. The Afghanistan Journalists Center hasRead More...



Afghanistan International: In response to Pakistan’s airstrikes on Paktika, Taliban’s intelligence agency spokesman Jawad Sargar said that Punjab has been separated from other parts of Pakistan and now the possibility of Pakistan’s disintegration is stronger than ever. Sargar said that the Pakistani army has no incentive to fight and that the Taliban should seize theRead More...

By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal December 25, 2024 Pakistani air strikes killed 46 civilians in eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban-led government in Kabul said on December 25, while Islamabad claimed it targeted suspected militant hideouts in border areas. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told RFE/RL that there were many women and children among the victims of the December 24Read More...



By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 25, 2024 Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers were quick to congratulate fellow Islamists from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. As the HTS fighters seized the capital, Damascus, on December 8, the Taliban said it hoped that the group would “lay the foundations of a sovereignRead More...



Ayaz Gul VOA News December 24, 2024 Islamabad — Taliban leaders in Afghanistan hosted meetings Tuesday with a high-level delegation from neighboring Pakistan, marking the resumption of such interactions after a year-long pause due to terrorism allegations. Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s newly appointed special envoy for Afghan affairs, led his country’s team at the talks in KabulRead More...

Amu: At least five people, including children, were killed in airstrikes carried out by Pakistani forces in Barmal District of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika Province, local sources said. The death toll is expected to rise as reports from the remote area continue to emerge, sources added. Click here to read more (external link).