Small Wars Journal: Four years after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan’s regime faces deepening economic collapse, ethnic alienation, and persistent internal and external pressures. The United States now possesses an ideal opportunity to subvert Taliban rule and deny Afghanistan’s further usage as a terrorist safe haven. While the past quarter-century has seen overt investmentRead More...

8am: Several residents of Rawza village, located near the historic Rawza of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, say the Taliban seized land in the same area without following legal steps or acknowledging ownership documents. They describe the area as one of the most densely populated residential zones of Ghazni city, home to more than 5,000 peopleRead More...

Afghanistan International: Protesters in northern Afghanistan set fire to gold mining equipment linked to the Taliban after clashes with security forces and company personnel escalated in Takhar province, local sources said. The violence followed confrontations in the Samti area of Chah Ab district, where residents have opposed what they describe as unregulated gold mining byRead More...



8am: For more than four years, the Taliban have systematically erased Persian words and expressions from schools, universities, and even city streets. In recent days, images shared on social media have revealed a new phase of this effort. Taliban authorities have removed urban signboards in Kabul, rearranged text, replaced Persian with Pashto, and gone soRead More...

8am: The Afghanistan Freedom Front has claimed that two Taliban fighters were killed and two others wounded in an attack in Kunduz province. According to the Afghanistan Freedom Front, the vehicle carrying Taliban fighters was also set on fire in the attack. Click here to read more (external link). More AFF News Afghanistan Freedom FrontRead More...

Afghanistan International: The incident took place in Chah Ab district of Takhar province, where Taliban forces and personnel connected to a gold mining company entered the area to launch an extraction operation. Several people on both sides were injured, according to the sources. A video obtained by Afghanistan International shows residents throwing stones at TalibanRead More...

Amu: Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has accused Pakistan of seeking to destabilise Afghanistan in coordination with major powers, including the United States, as relations between the two sides remain strained despite multiple rounds of talks. He linked the allegation to renewed US statements about Afghanistan’s former Bagram air base, adding: “When the United StatesRead More...

Afghanistan International: The Afghanistan Freedom Front said it carried out a rocket attack on a Taliban court building in northern Afghanistan, killing four Taliban members and wounding two others. In a statement issued on Friday, the group said the attack targeted the Taliban’s Court of Appeal in Maimana, the capital of Faryab, at about 6:30Read More...



Daily Mail (UK): Some young men are also reportedly being beaten up and ‘humiliated’ for defying strict cultural laws by daring to pick a Western-style haircut. Offending hairdressers will be referred to the Taliban’s feared judicial authorities and could face up for 15 months in prison. Click here to read more (external link).

Amu: Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has appointed 15 Taliban officials to new positions, including their provincial governors, deputy governors and senior security officials, according to a statement. According to a notice released by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, Gul Haidar Shafaq, previously Taliban governor of Jawzjan, was appointed governor of Bamiyan, while Abdullah Sarhadi, the TalibanRead More...

Amu: Former vice president Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum has said that the Taliban are “taking their last breaths” and only understand force, as criticism intensified over the killing of a former police chief in Iran. Speaking during an online memorial gathering for Gen. Ikramuddin Saree on Sunday, Dostum said the Taliban do not understand diplomacyRead More...



Ariana: Mehmood Khan Achakzai, chairman of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), has said that Afghanistan currently enjoys greater security and justice than Pakistan, asserting that Islamabad cannot impose its demands on the Afghan people. Achakzai also criticized Pakistan’s policy toward Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), calling it misguided. He said Pakistan militarized religious seminaries in theRead More...

Afghanistan International: Eyewitnesses told Afghanistan International that Mawlawi Noman, an aide to Taliban intelligence chief, was killed in a targeted drone or rocket attack in Kabul. Sources close to the Taliban had initially said Mawlawi Noman died when a gas cylinder exploded at his home. However, an eyewitness living near the residence said a second-floorRead More...

Amu: Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special envoy for Afghanistan, has returned to Kabul for the fourth time since the Taliban took power. In a statement, the Taliban-run foreign ministry said Khalilzad met their Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to discuss “ways, opportunities and challenges” related to bilateral relations between the two sides. Click hereRead More...

Al Jazeera: Afghanistan’s cherished buzkashi tournament maintains its status as a traditional sport characterised by limited formal rules and fierce physical competition. In its classic format, two teams compete to score using what was traditionally a goat carcass, though contemporary matches utilise a leather-and-rope substitute filled with straw to replicate the weight of an animal.Read More...

Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s foreign minister has said that “malicious elements” are seeking to disrupt relations between the Taliban and Tajikistan, following the killing of Tajik border guards in an attack by militants who crossed from Afghan territory. Amir Khan Muttaqi said an investigation into the incident has begun and stressed that cooperation with TajikistanRead More...

Afghanistan International: The funeral ceremony was held on Saturday afternoon in the Chahardangeh area of Tehran, where mourners gathered in large numbers to pay their respects. Several Iranian media outlets have criticised the authorities’ silence over the assassinations of Taliban opponents, describing the group as an unreliable partner. Some newspapers have also questioned Iran’s decisionRead More...

By Abubakar Siddique, Farhad Shinwari and Norias Nori December 27, 2025 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty For nearly two months, Sayed Wali, a young Afghan truck driver, has watched the sun rise, and the sun set in the fabled Khyber Pass, which connects western Pakistan to eastern Afghanistan. But he’s not here for the view. He’sRead More...



Amu: Afghanistan’s embassy in Japan, which is run by diplomats from the former government, said it will suspend all operations from Jan. 31, 2026. Japan’s embassy in Kabul has also been operating under a chargé d’affaires since the Taliban takeover. Click here to read more (external link).

The Guardian (UK): The peace of the graveyard has descended upon Afghanistan. “Afghanistan might seem safe now, there are not a lot of explosions, but it is a graveyard kind of security. The most peaceful place is the grave: there nobody protests,” says Dr Sima Samar. Samar has spent a lifetime working for the idealsRead More...



Tolo News: Following remarks by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan, who condemned Pakistan’s strikes on Kabul and likened Islamabad’s approach to India’s attacks on Pakistan, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has now rejected the comparison. Khawaja Asif claimed that Pakistan’s operations against Afghanistan were targeted and specifically aimed at verified Tehrik-i-Taliban PakistanRead More...

Khaama: Afghan refugees in the United States have been asked to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices on Christmas Day, Afghan Evacuee Organization (Afghan Evac) said on Tuesday. The letters, dated December 25, instruct recipients to comply with a “scheduled reporting” requirement, prompting concern from advocates who note that federal courts andRead More...



Amu: Details of the meeting have not been made public, but the visit came days after Haqqani sharply criticised the Taliban’s style of governance in a speech in the eastern province of Khost on December 12. Following his trip to Kandahar, the Taliban’s traditional power centre, Haqqani struck a markedly different tone, publicly stressing obedienceRead More...

Afghanistan International: Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, has warned the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that no threat to Pakistan’s security and sovereignty will be tolerated, claiming that about 70 percent of the group’s fighters are Afghans. Munir described the TTP as a direct challenge to the Pakistani state and said restoring the writ of the governmentRead More...

Afghanistan International: The United Nations Security Council says the Taliban have dismissed thousands of their Tajik and Uzbek fighters, particularly in provinces with large Tajik and Uzbek populations. It follows a 20 percent reduction in the group’s security forces. Click here to read more (external link).

Khaama: Clashes erupted along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Kunar province on Wednesday afternoon, with Taliban forces and Pakistani border troops exchanging fire, according to local residents. The incident reportedly began after Pakistani forces fired rockets into Afghanistan territory, prompting retaliation from Taliban fighters. Officials have not yet confirmed casualties or material damage, and neither KabulRead More...

Afghanistan International: The United Nations Security Council says Taliban opposition groups carried out 116 attacks between January and July 2025, but that the violence remains sporadic and does not pose a serious threat to Taliban rule. In its report, the Security Council said the National Resistance Front (NRF) claimed responsibility for 73 attacks during theRead More...