Afghanistan

From looms to laptops, Afghan women lose lifeline in Taliban internet ban

The ban was said to prevent immoral activities. Instead, it has cut off business and education opportunities.

Afghan women prepare dough to make traditional cookies inside a bakery in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 5, 2024.
View of tents at the Omari refugee camp for the Afghan nationals, who were expelled from Pakistan, in Mohmand Dara, Torkham border, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, April 15, 2025.

Explosions in Pakistan kill 24, mainly civilians, near Afghan border, sources say

 A Taliban soldier enters a helicopter at Bagram Air Base in Parwan, Afghanistan, September 23, 2021. Picture taken September 23, 2021.

Taliban rejects Trump demand to return Bagram Air Base

US President Donald Trump signing an executive order in the Oval Office, Washington, September 19, 2025; illustrative.

Trump says 'bad things' will happen if Afghanistan's Taliban does not return Bagram air base


Trump seeks to reclaim Taliban-conquered air base in Afghanistan

Trump has cited Bagram’s proximity to China as one of the main motivations behind this proposed move, stating that the location is “about an hour away from where China is developing nuclear weapons."

 A Taliban soldier enters a helicopter at Bagram Air Base in Parwan, Afghanistan, September 23, 2021. Picture taken September 23, 2021.

UK couple freed by Taliban after Qatari mediation, official says

Barbie and Peter Reynolds, whose family had voiced serious concerns over their health and their ability to survive Taliban custody, were detained by the group's interior ministry on February 1.

 Taliban soldiers celebrate on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street near the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023.

Taliban chief orders internet blackouts, calling the web the ‘root of all evil’

The emerging policy threatens to disrupt government services that had moved online in recent years and to stall humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.

 Taliban soldiers celebrate on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street near the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023.

US and Afghanistan agree to hostages-for-prisoners exchange

Taliban representatives met with US Officials to discuss normalization efforts, diplomatic relations, and freeing detained US citizens.

Taliban's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi holds a meeting with Adam Boehler, U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 13, 2025

Twenty four years after 9/11, al-Qaeda resurgence poses ‘daily threat’ to US

“After Afghanistan fell in 2021, al-Qaeda quietly began rebuilding its networks while working closely with the Taliban," said Azim Shinwari, a former Afghan senior counterterrorism expert.

 Taliban soldiers celebrate on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street near the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023.

WHO asks Taliban to lift female aid worker restrictions following earthquakes

WHO urged the Taliban to lift restrictions on Afghan women aid workers after a deadly quake, warning the shortage of female staff is leaving women without vital medical and mental health care.

Rescue workers clear debris of a damaged house after a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 2, 2025.

Trump signs executive order paving way for states to be designated sponsors of wrongful detention

Trump's new order order is intended to deter offending nations from engaging in ‘hostage diplomacy'.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with the media in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 5, 2025.

Two powerful aftershocks hit Afghanistan after earthquakes killed 2,200

Two powerful aftershocks struck eastern Afghanistan within 12 hours, as fears of more devastation grow following a series of deadly earthquakes that have killed over 2,200 people.

A boy stands in front of houses damaged by a deadly earthquake that struck Afghanistan's Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, at Masud village in Nurgal district, Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 4, 2025.

Afghanistan earthquake death toll tops 2,200, survivors face aid crunch

The tremor, at a depth of 10 km (six miles), followed the earlier quakes that flattened villages in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, left tens of thousands homeless, and injured more than 3,600 people.

Rescue workers clear debris of a damaged house after a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 2, 2025.

Bomb blast kills 11 at rally in southwestern Pakistan, officials say

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released on Wednesday.

Men mourn the death of a relative, who was killed in a bomb blast at a public rally in Quetta, at hospital premises in Quetta, Pakistan September 2, 2025.

Afghanistan airdrops commandos to rescue quake survivors, UN warns food may run out

Afghanistan quakes kill 1,400 as rescuers race to save survivors, and the UN warns food aid could run out in weeks.

Rescue workers clear debris of a damaged house after a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 2, 2025.