Afghanistan

Local sources in Badakhshan told Afghanistan International that a female entrepreneur was shot dead by an unidentified gunman on Thursday in Ishkashim bazaar.

A two-day conference on Afghanistan’s human rights situation and the ongoing crisis began on Wednesday at the French National Assembly, with French officials, a UN rapporteur and former Afghan leaders attending.

Afghanistan Media Support Organization said Farhad Ghafori, head of Radio Etihad in Logar, has been released after 15 days in Taliban detention. Five other journalists remain held with no information on their fate.

Saif Khyber said a video showing a woman being beaten in Kabul is not connected to the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, insisting the ministry has no female employees.

Hannah Neumann, member of the European Parliament, says deporting Afghan asylum seekers is not only a humanitarian failure but a strategic mistake for Europe, warning it could strengthen Taliban-linked networks.

Taliban’s Mines Minister, Hedayatullah Badri, has again urged the start of extraction at the Aynak copper mine in talks with China’s ambassador and company officials, though the long-delayed project remains stalled.

Abdul Karim Haidar, deputy justice minister, said defence lawyers in Afghanistan must act in line with the interests of the Taliban’s Justice Ministry and authorities after receiving legal licences.

A meeting of Taliban governors and police chiefs in the south-west was held in Kandahar, chaired by Governor Mullah Shirin Akhund, who prioritised security and enforcement of the leader’s decrees.

Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir said Taliban support for Pakistani militants is an irrational and misguided policy, adding Pakistan’s military operations against them will continue.

UNICEF says it and partners have delivered learning materials to four million children in Afghanistan and helped rebuild 232 schools, stressing every child deserves a safe place to learn.

The European Parliament said a petition calling for the recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan and the designation of the Taliban as a terrorist organisation has been referred to its Committee on Petitions.

Mohammad Sadiq Khan, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan said he chaired an “Afghanistan–Central Asia Intergovernmental Coordination Cell” meeting with regional stakeholders, but no Taliban representative attended.

The Taliban health ministry said Hamdullah Zahid, deputy minister for food and medicine, has travelled to Russia with a delegation to facilitate pharmaceutical imports to Afghanistan.

UNICEF said on Monday it provided healthcare to over 20 million people in 2025, 60% of them women. About 7 million children were among those who received assistance.

Despite criticism over deporting asylum seekers with criminal records to Afghanistan, Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s interior minister, said the policy will continue firmly, calling such offenders a security threat.

The Taliban have tightened restrictions on Abdullah Abdullah, a former head of high council for national reconciliation.

On 3 December 2001, Awal Gul, commander of the 4th Armoured Brigade in Nangarhar, was ordered to direct his tanks towards al-Qaeda positions in Tora Bora. Instead, he found himself facing former jihadist allies.

Khawaja Asif, Pakistan defence minister, has accused India of waging a proxy war against Pakistan using Afghan soil, claiming that Afghanistan is effectively acting on India’s behalf.