ANI: An earthquake of magnitude 4.2 hit Afghanistan on Monday morning, said National Center of Seismology. This is the fourth consecutive earthquake to hit the country in the last four days. Click here to read more (external link).

HRW: Family members of Afghans unlawfully killed by foreign military forces during the 20-year war in Afghanistan have been waiting a long time for justice. Last week revealed two quite different approaches by countries that should provide it. Australia, which has gone the furthest in investigating alleged war crimes by its forces in Afghanistan, hasRead More...

Afghanistan International: Speaking at the Tehran Dialogue Forum on Sunday, 18 May, Muttaqi stated, “Our effort is to prevent water from being wasted and to ensure it reaches the Iranian side properly.” His remarks came amid ongoing discussions between Afghanistan and Iran regarding water rights and the management of shared resources. Click here to readRead More...



Amu: According to sources, the move, which has not been publicly announced by the Taliban administration, sidelines the Taliban-run Ministry of Finance and centralizes decision-making in the leader’s stronghold in southern Afghanistan. Sources familiar with internal operations said Akhundzada has established a financial office in Kandahar through which he oversees national budgetary and revenue matters.Read More...

8am: Women and girls in Afghanistan report a dramatic and unprecedented rise in domestic violence since the Taliban imposed sweeping restrictions and dismantled legal protections and support institutions. Many now say they have no access to the judicial or legal systems and believe this legal vacuum has emboldened perpetrators of violence within families. They argueRead More...



Afghanistan International: General Qadam Shah Shahim, Chief of Staff of the National Resistance Front (NRF), has confirmed that the group’s military forces are present in various regions across Afghanistan. Speaking to Afghanistan International, Shahim referred to recently circulated images of Khalid Amiri and Hasib Panjshiri, two prominent NRF commanders, in a mountainous area dressed inRead More...

Tolo News: Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan stated that the Islamic Emirate has appointed its ambassador to Moscow. Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, said that the Islamic Emirate has nominated a diplomat to serve as ambassador of the interim government in Moscow. Kabulov said: “This nominee is currently undergoing the necessary approval proceduresRead More...

Amu: Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living war veteran, on Friday lost his appeal in a high-profile defamation case stemming from allegations that he unlawfully killed four unarmed Afghans during his military service. A full bench of the Federal Court upheld a 2023 ruling that found the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal was notRead More...

Amu: Once a pillar of the local economy in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, the carpentry trade is now faltering under the weight of economic decline, dwindling demand, and a collapse in construction activity, according to local craftsmen. Carpenters in Mazar-e-Sharif say their businesses have slowed to a crawl as customers vanish and new buildingRead More...

Amu: Taliban have dismissed more than 200 professors and university employees in the southeastern provinces of Khost and Paktia as part of a sweeping campaign to downsize public institutions, according to four academic and administrative sources familiar with the matter.  A source close to Sheikh Zayed University said many of those let go were seenRead More...

Afghanistan International: A court in Nairobi has approved the extradition of Zahir Qadir, former deputy speaker of Afghanistan’s House of Representatives, to the United States, according to his family. Qadir’s lawyer has requested a 14-day stay on the ruling, seeking time to file an appeal. The appeal is expected to be submitted within the nextRead More...

Amu: Taliban have dissolved the Afghan Film Organization, once the country’s only state-run film body, and closed its offices, according to four sources, including two familiar with the agency’s operations. No formal statement has been issued by the Taliban. However, staff have been informed that the institution’s structure has been nullified and its operations halted.Read More...

8am: Now, nearly four years into the Taliban’s rule, occasional physical and virtual meetings on Afghan affairs are held. Alongside these, alliances and forums have emerged, composed primarily of Mujahideen leaders, former government officials, and individuals who directly intervened in Afghanistan’s politics over the past twenty years. Much like in the past, these alliances lackRead More...

BBC: Former members of UK Special Forces have broken years of silence to give BBC Panorama eyewitness accounts of alleged war crimes committed by colleagues in Iraq and Afghanistan. Giving their accounts publicly for the first time, the veterans described seeing members of the SAS murder unarmed people in their sleep and execute handcuffed detainees,Read More...

Khaama: On Saturday, May 10, retired government employees once again protested in front of the Pension Treasury building, demanding their overdue pension payments. This marks the latest in a series of weekly protests, but the retirees say their grievances have been ignored by the authorities..Despite repeated requests, the retirees claim that relevant Taliban institutions haveRead More...

Amu: Some analysts believe the mass dismissals are part of a broader Taliban effort to reshape the country’s academic institutions by removing independent or critical voices and replacing them with ideologically aligned figures. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s Sports Authority has formally suspended the Afghanistan Chess Federation, declaring the game of chess “haram” (forbidden under Islamic law), Afghanistan International has learned. The game has now been officially banned, following in the footsteps of other sports such as mixed martial arts, which were previously outlawed under similar justifications. Click hereRead More...



Afghanistan International: Shawn VanDiver, head of Afghan Evac, an organisation advocating for the relocation of Afghan nationals to the United States, has announced that the US federal government has granted a 60-day extension to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans. Click here to read more (external link). Other Afghan Refugees / Migrants News Turkey arrestsRead More...

Afghanistan International: According to a statement released by the group, the attack targeted a Taliban checkpoint that had allegedly been used to harass local residents. The operation took place around 8:00 p.m. on Friday near the former headquarters of Police District 4 in Kunduz city. The AFF reported that the assault was carried out withoutRead More...

Khaama: A recent report from a U.S.-based agency warns that Afghanistan is on the brink of a widespread food security crisis due to unprecedented declines in rainfall, rising temperatures, and severe agricultural conditions. More than half of the country’s population now requires humanitarian aid. The findings from the “Famine Early Warning Network,” supported by U.S.Read More...

Japan Times: Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan has become strategic quicksand. So deep is the quagmire that, under growing public pressure, segments of Pakistan’s government have suggested turning to the United States for assistance and even offering drone bases to the US to target militants in Afghanistan. The idea that sophisticated US drones and other weaponsRead More...

Amu: Taliban leader has dismissed Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, following rare public criticism of Hibatullah Akhundzada, according to multiple sources in Kabul and Kandahar. The removal was reportedly ordered directly by Akhundzada with sources citing “incompetence” and waning popularity as the reasons behind the decision. Stanikzai came under internalRead More...

8am: Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, recently voiced his opposition to “intra-Afghan” negotiations, stating that the group has no desire to repeat what he called a “bitter experience.” Yet, in the same breath, he affirmed that “Afghanistan is the shared home of all Afghans.” If that is true, why can Afghans not engageRead More...

Afghanistan International: The Taliban have confirmed that hundreds of books have been banned and removed from libraries and bookstores across Afghanistan over the past three years. In addition to suppressing independent publications, the Taliban have also banned several university textbooks, further restricting academic freedom and access to diverse sources of knowledge within higher education institutions.Read More...

NPR: Roughly 200,000 Afghan immigrants and refugees came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. That includes about 10,000 in Greater Houston. While some of them have since received green cards or even U.S. citizenship, many have more tenuous legal status, such as humanitarian parole or temporary protectedRead More...

Afghanistan International: The Taliban have detained three journalists in Takhar province, with local sources alleging they were subjected to torture while in custody. The detainees include Sayed Munir Hadaf, director of Tasweer Weekly and head of the National Journalists’ Union of Takhar; Asadullah Timur, a local reporter; and Nasratullah Ebrahimi, a journalist with Ariana News.Read More...