Amu: A blast occurred on Saturday evening in front of the Taliban-run Department of Agriculture in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, sources told Amu. According to the sources, the explosion targeted a Taliban intelligence forces vehicle using a magnetic bomb. Click here to read more (external link).

Michael Hughes: According to realist theorist Hans Morgenthau, all politics is a struggle for power – a theory based on the darkest views of human nature; and one that is, unfortunately, applicable to the state of politics in most capitals worldwide. The power struggles do not only occur between reigning and opposition factions. Those whoRead More...

Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s Administrative Office has issued a directive instructing officials not to visit the grave of Mullah Omar, the group’s founder, without prior notice and coordination with Taliban authorities in Zabul, according to documents published by “TalibLeaks.” In 2024, the Taliban’s Administrative Office had previously sent a letter to the Ministry for theRead More...

Afghanistan International: Documents reviewed by Afghanistan International indicate that members of the Taliban have cooperated in the legal proceedings leading to a request for the arrest of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, its chief justice. It remains unclear what ranks and positions these Taliban members hold or how theyRead More...

Ariana: John Sopko, former US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said on Wednesday that a sizeable amount of US taxpayers’ money went into the pockets of the Islamic Emirate. “We know it is going to continue because unfortunately we have nobody on the ground and the money is going through the UN, world foodRead More...

Amu: A group of unidentified hackers has carried out a rare cyberattack on Taliban databases, leaking documents from 21 ministries and government agencies. The leaked records, published online, suggest that the Taliban has imprisoned approximately 1,400 women and more than 16,000 men. According to the documents, Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has also banned overseas academicRead More...

Afghanistan International: The Taliban has instructed residents in the border areas of Bahram Chah district, Helmand province, to evacuate due to the risk of intensified clashes between Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards, local sources have reported. Sporadic fighting between the two sides has reportedly been ongoing for the past two days along the Afghanistan-PakistanRead More...

By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal and Rashid Khattak February 5, 2025 ISLAMABAD — Afghan journalist Mahmood Kochai and his family had plane tickets to the United States, where they hoped to make a fresh start after spending more than three years in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. But their travel plans were canceled after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administrationRead More...

Khaama: Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, told Voice of America on Tuesday, February 4, that several members of the High Council of Resistance, including himself, met with a delegation sent by the Global Peace Operations Initiative. According to him, the American delegation visited them around two days ago to discussRead More...

Ayaz Gul VOA News February 4, 2025 ISLAMABAD  — The Taliban have warned that the military weapons left behind by the United States in Afghanistan now belong to them as “spoils of war” and will be utilized to defend against any attempts to reclaim them. The statement marks the first official response from the internationally unrecognizedRead More...

Ayaz Gul VOA News February 3, 2025 Islamabad — Pakistan has decided to deport thousands of Afghan nationals if Western countries, including the United States, do not relocate them as promised for resettlement abroad by the end of March, officials confirmed Monday. The individuals in question took refuge in Pakistan after the Taliban regained control ofRead More...

Afghanistan International: Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, has responded to reports of meetings between Pakistani intelligence officials and Afghan political leaders in Türkiye, warning them against becoming pawns of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Khalilzad stated that Pakistan’s security apparatus is likely attempting to use these leaders as leverage in negotiations withRead More...



Afghanistan International: Khalid Pashtoon, spokesperson for the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan, has denied reports of a meeting between the council’s leadership and a high-ranking delegation from Pakistan’s intelligence agency. Referring to the differing perspectives within Pakistan’s government and military, Pashtoon noted that while the Pakistani government opposes the Afghan Taliban, “PakistaniRead More...

Amu: A blast occurred on Saturday evening near the gate of the Taliban’s police department in Takhar province, local sources told Amu. The explosion caused casualties, according to the sources, though the exact number remains unclear. Click here to read more (external link).

Tolo News: US Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) has introduced a bill to prevent the Islamic Emirate from accessing American funds through the United Nations. According to this bill, US aid sent via the UN will be subject to the US State Department’s guarantee that Washington’s cash assistance will not be included in UN humanitarianRead More...

Afghanistan International: Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, the Deputy Minister of Security and Police of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that despite the Taliban’s ban on the cultivation of narcotics, the smuggling of these drugs to Iran continues. Pourjamshidian said that smugglers in Afghanistan continue to maintain their drug stockpiles. Click here to read more (externalRead More...

Amu: Public employees in Taliban-controlled institutions say they have not received their overdue salaries for nearly two months, compounding financial hardships amid economic uncertainty. With the suspension of U.S. aid, Afghanistan’s currency has fluctuated sharply, with the exchange rate exceeding 80 Afghanis per U.S. dollar in recent days. Meanwhile, public employees are raising concerns overRead More...

Afghanistan International: Three reliable sources told Afghanistan International that they met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). He was supposed to be arrested and hence, left Kabul. Other sources had previously said that Stanekzai was supposed to be tried in a military court.Read More...

Ayaz Gul VOA News January 29, 2025 ISLAMABAD — A senior World Health Organization official cautioned Wednesday that the eradication of polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only countries where the paralytic virus persists, is threatened by the suspension of funding from the United States. In an online news conference, Hanan Balkhy, regional director for theRead More...

Amu: In an effort to stabilize the Afghan currency, Taliban on Wednesday issued a six-point decree banning the transfer of more than $5,000 through airports and more than $500 through land borders. The decree warns that violators will be arrested and imprisoned. The move follows a sharp decline in the value of the afghani againstRead More...

Tolo News: Alan Pughsley, a former senior commander of the British police, has criticized the slow pace of the investigation into war crimes committed by the UK’s special forces in Afghanistan. Alan Pughsley, who was responsible for investigating “Operation Northmoor” conducted by British special forces in Afghanistan in 2014, stated that a three-year delay inRead More...

Forbes: Simply put, Afghanistan women’s cricket remains extremely bleak. But on Thursday, many miles away in Melbourne, hard-bitten expatriates will take the field will pride. Click here to read more (external link).

Amu: The Afghanistan Human Rights Center has reported an unprecedented surge in the construction of jihadi madrassas under Taliban rule. The 30-page report highlights how these institutions have become a tool for power consolidation among Taliban leaders and warns of their potentially harmful impact on the mindset and future of the country’s younger generation. AccordingRead More...