Afghanistan
Taliban confirms holding Americans; ex-intel officer calls detainee Coyle ‘valuable asset’
Americans are being held in near-solitary confinement by a Taliban counterintelligence unit whose personnel include former detainees from Guantanamo Bay and the US-run Bagram prison.
Follow the flow: Inside Iranian narco-trafficking in Iraqi Kurdistan - explainer
Starmer, Prince Harry condemn Trump's 'little off the front lines' NATO comments
Will Donald Trump's Hamas disarmament endgame make Israel safer? - analysis
Iran eyes peace, trade, and drone deals in growing partnerships with Central Asia
Iran wants to see peace in the southern Caucasus so it can continue to work on a north-south economic corridor.
Taliban bans chess over fear of gambling, whether it is permitted in Islamic law
The suspension was announced by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which followed the dissolution of the Afghanistan Chess Federation.
Afghans in US feel betrayed as Trump ends deportation protection
After fleeing the Taliban, public prosecutor Roya now fears deportation as the Trump administration ends TPS for Afghans. Advocates warn the move endangers thousands who supported the US.
Guardian forced Afghan man into hiding after using his picture in LGBT-related article - lawsuit
The man's lawyer claimed, “He was forced to go into hiding due to the extremists and homophobic views that are prevalent in the Iranian and Afghan community."
Pakistan security forces kill 54 Afghan-based terrorists in major border operation
A significant cache of arms, ammunition, and explosives was recovered from the scene.
America's rushed Afghan pullout allowed Taliban to traffic US weapons to Houthis - report
Sources claim that half the weapons left behind by the US have been lost, sold or smuggled.
Afghan national pleads guitly to plotting 'ISIS-inspired' US election-day terror attack
Abdullah Haji Zada, 18, and Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, were arrested and charged with attempting to carry out an ISIS-inspired plot during the 2024 US Presidential Election.
Taliban release detained US citizen Faye Hall
Faye Hall was received at the Qatari embassy in Kabul and confirmed to be in good health after undergoing a series of medical checks.
‘With frail bodies and empty stomachs’: Afghan children risk lives at Torkham border
Experts warn that poverty and desperation are forcing young children into cross-border smuggling, exposing them to physical danger and abuse.
The US must let Iranians choose their own fate, not dictate their future - opinion
US think tanks weaken the real resistance inside Iran; Pahlavi at Israeli-American Council summit: Iranians seek a strategic partnership, not Western intervention.
