The International Organization for Migration says more than 6.5 million Afghans returned from Iran and Pakistan over the past three years, warning that Afghanistan lacks the capacity to absorb them.
The US State Department says the Taliban made no meaningful effort to combat human trafficking in 2026, leaving Afghanistan in the lowest tier of its annual report.
Pakistan on Friday rejected Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s allegations that Islamabad has links to ISKP, saying security in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan and Nuristan provinces is the Taliban’s responsibility.
UAE Ambassador to the UN Mohamed Abushahab told new UNAMA chief Rabab Fatima that Afghanistan cannot achieve stability, security or prosperity without fully guaranteeing equal rights for women and girls.
France says it has opened technical talks with the Taliban to facilitate the deportation of Afghan nationals who are in the country illegally and are considered a threat to French security.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Alexander Zuev says Islamic State- Khorasan remains one of Islamic State’s most powerful branches and that its activities in Afghanistan threaten security across the region.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has called for continuous, structured talks with the Taliban on water management, warning of growing water scarcity and climate pressures across Central Asia.
An Iranian MP says a preliminary agreement has been reached to allocate more than 110 hectares of land at Chabahar port to Afghanistan for commercial activities and investment by Afghan companies and traders.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban barred women from entering the Imam Abu Hanifa International Exhibition in Kabul, including Afghan women and invited female visitors from India and Iran.
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and the EU’s new chargé d’affaires in Afghanistan, Nicola Bellomo, discussed bilateral ties, cooperation, counter-narcotics efforts and Afghanistan’s security situation.
Spain’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Javier Puig, said in Madrid that half of Afghanistan’s population lives under gender apartheid, warning that growing engagement with the Taliban must not lead to its normalisation.
UNAMA says the Taliban detained at least 52 women and one girl in Kabul and Herat between July and September 2026, voicing deep concern over arrests and threats of detention targeting women and girls.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for practical action against militant groups operating from Afghanistan during a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday.
Elisenda Calvet, a judge at the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan, said in Madrid that after five years of Taliban rule, conditions had not improved and the outlook remained bleak.
Iran’s energy minister and the Taliban’s industry and commerce minister discussed increasing Iranian electricity exports to Afghanistan to about 2,000 megawatts, as well as equipment supplies and joint investment.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front says it targeted a vehicle carrying a Taliban commander in Badakhshan on Tuesday evening, killing the commander and four of his guards.
Uzbekistan’s State Security Service says it seized nearly 50 kg of drugs smuggled from Afghanistan, hidden in 98 packages concealed inside a lorry.
Taliban police say they arrested four men in Kabul who allegedly planned to attack UNAMA’s office and staff, claiming they belonged to the National Resistance Front. The NRF rejected the allegation as intelligence propaganda.
Iran’s Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper accused the Taliban of waging a silent war against Iran, warning that Tehran’s current approach towards the group could harm Iran’s long-term interests.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met Iranian diplomat Mohammad Reza Bahrami on the sidelines of the Moscow Format, discussing regional developments and ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s blast in Faizabad, saying a targeted attack on a vehicle carrying Taliban members killed four people, including a Taliban commander.
Taliban governors, police chiefs and intelligence heads from southwestern Afghanistan met in Kandahar on Tuesday to discuss security, with senior officials from five provinces and military bodies attending.