Afghanistan News

The United Nations has been forced to cut food, cash payments and assistance to millions of people in several countries — including Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen — because of “a crippling funding crisis” that has seen its donations plummet by about half as acute hunger is hitting record levels, a top official has confirmed.

US officials are set to meet with representatives of the Taliban and "technocratic professionals" from Afghan ministries during a visit to Qatar's Doha this week, the State Department has said. Both sides will discuss security, narcotics  and women's rights.

At least 31 people have been killed and dozens more are missing due to heavy flooding from seasonal rains in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, more than a dozen people died as heavy rains and landslides hit neighbouring Pakistan.

The Taliban has issued a one-month closure notice to all beauty salons in Afghanistan, in the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of women and girls in the country.

Iran’s former ambassador to Afghanistan has said chances of the international community recognizing the Taliban are diminishing.

More than 1,000 civilians were killed and nearly 2,700 others wounded in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the country in 2021, a UN report says.

The United Nations envoy to Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said that it will be “nearly impossible” for the international community to recognize the Taliban government as long as restrictions on women and girls remain in place in the war-ravaged country.

A United Nations expert has stated that the treatment of Afghan women and girls by the Taliban could amount to “gender apartheid” as their rights continue to be undermined by the governing authorities. The Taliban have accused the UN of “spreading propaganda against the Islamic Emirate”.

The Taliban have condemned as “baseless and biased” a United Nations Security Council report that branded the ruling Afghan administration “highly “exclusionary” and “repressive”.

A bomb explosion ripped through a memorial ceremony for the deputy governor of Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan Province, a Taliban official has confirmed. A health official has said at least 15 people were killed and 50 others were injured in the blast.

The deputy governor of Badakhshan Province in northern Afghanistan was killed in a car bomb attack on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the province has confirmed. The region’s police chief was killed in a similar attack claimed by an affiliate of Daesh group months ago.

An Australian court has found that war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith who was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery, probably killed unarmed civilians in Afghanistan. According to media reports, Roberts-Smith, now 44, had murdered at least six unarmed Afghan civilians when he was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) in Afghanistan.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani held secret talks with leader of the Taliban Haibatullah Akhunzada this month on resolving the ruling Taliban's tension with the international community, a source briefed on the meeting has revealed.

Severe food shortage is likely to grow in 18 "hunger hotspots" in 22 countries further in 2023, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme published on Monday.

Foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan and Pakistan  have, in a meeting in Islamabad, pledged to further strengthen trilateral cooperation in security and counterterrorism.

Beijing is ready to strengthen coordination with Pakistan on the Afghan issue in order to promote the peace and reconstruction process in the war-torn country, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has said.

An international conference on Afghanistan organised by the United Nations has ended in Qatar's Doha with no formal acknowledgment of the Taliban. At the end of the meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was not the right time for him to directly engage with the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan.

A United Nations Security Council committee has agreed to allow the Taliban’s interim foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet with Pakistani and Chinese top diplomats, according to reports.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously condemned a ban by the Taliban on Afghan women working for the UN in Afghanistan, calling on the Taliban leaders to “swiftly reverse” a crackdown on the rights of women and girls.

Taliban fighters have killed the senior Daesh group leader behind the fatal suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport in August 2021, according to the father of a United States Marine killed in the attack who was briefed on Tuesday by military officials.

A UN-convened meeting on Afghanistan next month in Qatar will not focus on the possible international recognition of the Taliban administration, a UN spokesperson has stressed after comments by the deputy UN chief sparked concern and confusion over the issue.

The UN secretary general Antonio Guterres is convening an international meeting on Afghanistan in May in Qatar's Doha, where envoys will seek a "durable way forward" for the war-torn nation, his spokesman has said.

The watchdog for US assistance to Afghanistan has warned lawmakers that American aid to the country could be flowed to the Taliban as he accused the administration of President Joe Biden of stonewalling his efforts to investigate.

Nearly 34 million Afghans are living in poverty and the country’s economy is on the brink of collapse, a new UN report has warned.

The United Nations is ready to take the “heartbreaking” decision to pull out of Afghanistan in May if it can’t persuade the Taliban to let local women work for the organization, the head of the UN Development Program has announced.