Residents of Herat told Afghanistan International that Taliban authorities launched a large-scale operation on Saturday to detain women accused of violating the group’s mandatory dress code, with more than 20 women reportedly arrested in one area alone.
Afghanistan International’s review of Taliban Interior Ministry statements suggests crime has risen sharply across major Afghan cities, with authorities reporting 1,878 arrests nationwide over the past month alone.
The Taliban’s ambassador in Moscow held separate talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk and Chamber of Commerce President Sergei Katyrin on expanding economic and trade ties.
The interior ministers of Pakistan and Tajikistan have expressed deep concern over the presence of militant safe havens and the growth of narcotics production in Afghanistan during a meeting on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathering in Bishkek.
Euractiv, a European outlet focused on EU policy, has criticised the Taliban's invitation to Brussels, reminding members that the Taliban Education Minister Habibullah Agha was sanctioned in 2023 for barring girls from schooling beyond grade six.
Local sources in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, say prolonged border closures and passport requirements for travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan have fuelled a rise in people smuggling across the frontier.
The United Nations office in Afghanistan confirmed on Friday, June 5, the death of Freshta Emady, an employee of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kabul.
More than half of Afghanistan’s population is facing the devastating effects of drought and severe water shortages, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on World Environment Day.
Local sources told Afghanistan International that an explosion occurred around midday on Friday, June 5, in Kabul’s 11th police district, near a boys’ school and the residence of a senior Taliban official.
The Taliban’s disaster management authority has warned of heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and possible flash floods in eight Afghan provinces, with precipitation of between 5 and 20 millimetres forecast for June 5.
Reliable sources told Afghanistan International on Thursday that Taliban and Pakistani representatives held an informal meeting in the Uzbek border city of Termez at the request and with the mediation of the Uzbek government.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk says talks on a railway project through Afghanistan are continuing despite ongoing instability in the region, including plans for a western route passing through Herat province.
The Taliban displayed the bloodied bodies of two men in the city of Herat after killing them in Injil district, saying they died during a confrontation with security forces while allegedly attempting an armed robbery.
Sources told Afghanistan International that Afghanistan’s embassy in Kuwait was handed over to a Taliban diplomat this week, replacing the ambassador appointed by the former Afghan government.
Pakistani security officials say the military agreement between Russia and the Taliban does not concern Islamabad and will not prevent Pakistan from carrying out potential air strikes against militant targets inside Afghanistan.
At 4:00 am in Mazar-i-Sharif, the city is still wrapped in darkness. Sixteen-year-old Behzad wakes before dawn, performs his morning prayers, folds away his prayer mat and prepares for school.
Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with Afghanistan, criticised the possibility of inviting Taliban representatives to Brussels.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq Fayyad, one of the most senior Shia religious authorities, has died after a prolonged illness, according to a statement issued by his office in Kabul on Thursday.
The secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) warned at a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Moscow that security risks in Afghanistan are growing amid increasing regional instability.
Pakistani business newspaper Business Recorder reported that the closure of border crossings with Afghanistan in recent months has dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan’s trade, costing the country nearly $850 million in exports and transit revenues.
Cybersecurity researchers say a likely Pakistan-linked hacking group targeted the Taliban’s Finance Ministry using malware, remote-access tools and phishing emails containing compressed files written in Pashto.
Former Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi described the invitation of Taliban officials to Brussels as a slap in the face of Afghan women and a sign of the growing normalisation of repression in Afghanistan.