Tag Archives: Afghanistan

The Taliban plans to discuss American recognition of its interim government, the unfreezing of assets, and Afghanistan’s reconstruction in upcoming talks with the US in the Qatari capital Doha, the group’s spokesman has revealed. In an interview with Sputnik news agency on Wednesday, Suhail Shaheen said the militant group is …

The Taliban have signed a deal with Australian company Cpharm that wants to set up a cannabis processing center in Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesperson said on Twitter. A contract has been signed and the project will be up and running within days, Taliban Press Director Qari Saeed Khosty said. Afghanistan’s …

Afghanistan’s Taliban administration will begin paying the overdue salaries of government workers from Saturday, officials said. Thousands of Afghan government workers are owed at least three months of salary, one of the many crises faced by the Taliban since the extremist group took over the country in August. “The finance …

A bomb blast in the Afghan capital of Kabul wounded two people on Monday, the Taliban’s interior ministry said, just two days after a similar explosion that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group. Both devices were of a magnetic type attached to vehicles that have become common in …

A magnetic bomb attached to a passenger minivan exploded in a heavily Shi’ite area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, causing an unknown number of casualties, Taliban officials and local residents said. A recent spate of such attacks has heaped more pressure on the Taliban rulers, who took power …

The United States and Qatar have agreed that Qatar will represent the diplomatic interests of the United States in Afghanistan, a senior US official told Reuters, an important signal of potential direct engagement between Washington and Kabul in the future after two decades of war. Qatar will sign an arrangement …

An explosion hit a mosque in the Spin Ghar district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, wounding at least 12 people including the imam of the mosque, local residents said. Atal Shinwari, a resident of the area, said the blast occurred at around 1:30 p.m. when explosives apparently located in …

Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed foreign affairs chief has embarked on a visit to neighboring Pakistan as the Taliban rulers seek regional and global recognition. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that this week’s visit was a follow-up to a visit last month by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to …

Last month, the family of Mawlavi Ezzatullah, a member of Afghanistan’s Hizb-e Islami party, received a WhatsApp message from his phone: “We have slaughtered your Mawlavi Ezzat, come and collect his body.” Ezzatullah’s killing, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, was one of a steady stream of assassinations and bombings …

The Taliban-run Afghan public health ministry announced on Sunday the start of a four-day nationwide polio vaccination campaign aimed at inoculating children under age 5. For the past three years before taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban had barred UN-organized vaccination teams from doing door-to-door campaigns in parts of the …

A Pentagon investigation claims that the US drone strike that killed 10 civilians, including seven children, in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul in late August did not violate any laws, including the laws of war, and was not caused by misconduct or negligence. Lieutenant General Sami Said, the Inspector General …

A roadside bomb struck a Taliban patrol in a stronghold of ISIS militants in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding three, witnesses said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack bore the hallmarks of previous ISIS strikes against the Taliban. The two groups are …

A suicide bomber and gunmen were behind an attack on a Kabul hospital that killed at least 19 people, and 50+ wounded on Tuesday, a Taliban official said. “The attack was initiated by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle who blew himself up at the entrance of the hospital,” said …

One of the main crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan has reopened after being closed for almost a month, officials said on Tuesday, offering hope for an end to a standoff that has caused heavy losses to traders and left thousands stranded. The Chaman crossing is a major transit point for …

Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, made a rare public appearance in the southern city of Kandahar, Taliban sources said on Sunday, belying widespread rumors of his death. Akhundzada, known as the leader of the faithful or Amir ul Momineen, had not been seen in public even after the Taliban’s …

The Taliban government has sent an envoy to run the Afghan embassy in the Pakistani capital, senior Taliban sources said, as the new administration starts to take over Afghanistan’s network of foreign delegations. Mohammad Shokaib was appointed first secretary or charge d’affaires at the embassy, which has not had an …

China will finance the construction of an outpost for a special forces unit of Tajikistan’s police near the Tajik-Afghan border, the Central Asian nation’s parliament said on Thursday. The post will be located in Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the Pamir mountains, which borders China’s Xinjiang province as well …

Cooped up at home in Herat, Afghanistan, Zainab Muhammadi reminisces about hanging out with her friends in the cafeteria after coding class. Now she logs on every day to secret online lessons. Her school shut down after the Taliban took control of the country in August. But that did not …

A senior Pentagon official says the US intelligence community has assessed that terrorist groups in Afghanistan could attack the United States in six months if left unchecked, and that they have the intention to carry out such an assault. Colin Kahl, the US Defense Department’s Undersecretary for Policy, made the …

Afghanistan’s Taliban government launched a program to tackle hunger on Sunday, offering thousands of people wheat in exchange for labor. The scheme will be rolled out around Afghanistan’s major towns and cities and employ 40,000 men in the capital alone, the Taliban’s chief spokesman said at a press conference in …