WEATHER ALERT
IS militants kill 14 in a Shiite area of Afghanistan in one of the deadliest attacks this year
Read full article: IS militants kill 14 in a Shiite area of Afghanistan in one of the deadliest attacks this yearThe Taliban say gunmen have killed 14 people in a Shiite-majority area in central Afghanistan.
Taliban reject UN concerns over laws banning women's voices and bare faces in public
Read full article: Taliban reject UN concerns over laws banning women's voices and bare faces in publicThe Taliban is rejecting concerns and criticism raised by the United Nations over new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public.
The Taliban tell the West to look past harsh edicts on Afghan women and girls and build ties
Read full article: The Taliban tell the West to look past harsh edicts on Afghan women and girls and build tiesThe Taliban is saying the West should look past their harsh edicts on Afghan women and girls to improve relations.
Flash floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan after heavy rains, UN says
Read full article: Flash floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan after heavy rains, UN saysThe U.N. food agency says more than 300 Afghans have died in flash floods that also destroyed more than 1,000 houses in the northern province of Baghlan.
The Taliban believe their rule is open-ended and don't plan to lift the ban on female education
Read full article: The Taliban believe their rule is open-ended and don't plan to lift the ban on female educationThe chief Taliban spokesman says the Taliban view their rule of Afghanistan as open-ended, drawing legitimacy from Islamic law and facing no significant threat.
Report: Taliban killed captives in restive Afghan province
Read full article: Report: Taliban killed captives in restive Afghan provinceA U.K.-based nonprofit says the Taliban captured, bound, and shot 27 men to death in Afghanistan's Panjshir province last month as part of their operations against resistance forces in the area.
Police: Death toll in Afghan capital mosque bombing now 21
Read full article: Police: Death toll in Afghan capital mosque bombing now 21A Taliban police spokesman in Afghanistan’s capital says the toll from a mosque bombing the previous evening has risen to 21 people killed with 33 others wounded in the attack.
Bombing at Kabul mosque kills 10, including prominent cleric
Read full article: Bombing at Kabul mosque kills 10, including prominent clericAn Afghan resident and police say that a bombing at a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers killed at least 10 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 27.
Afghan clerics' assembly urges recognition of Taliban govt
Read full article: Afghan clerics' assembly urges recognition of Taliban govtA three-day assembly of Islamic clerics and tribal elders in Kabul has concluded with pledges of support for the Taliban and calls on the international community to recognize Afghanistan's Taliban-led government.
Death toll in Afghan mosque bombing rises to 33, Taliban say
Read full article: Death toll in Afghan mosque bombing rises to 33, Taliban sayA Taliban official says a bombing at a mosque and religious school in northern Afghanistan has killed at least 33 people, including students of a religious school.
Taliban clamp down on drugs, announce ban on poppy harvest
Read full article: Taliban clamp down on drugs, announce ban on poppy harvestAfghanistan’s ruling Taliban have announced a ban on the poppy harvest, even as farmers in some parts of the country began extracting the opium from the plant that is needed for making heroin.
US, Pakistani officials in strained talks over Afghanistan
Read full article: US, Pakistani officials in strained talks over AfghanistanThe United States and Pakistan have held difficult talks over the path forward in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan at a time when relations between the two countries are shaky.
Taliban meet with UK, Iran delegations amid economic woes
Read full article: Taliban meet with UK, Iran delegations amid economic woesAfghanistan’s Taliban leaders have met with U.K. officials for the first time since taking power, a move the group hopes will pave the way for the country to refill cash-starved coffers as it teeters on the brink of economic collapse.
Taliban appointments add to all-male Afghan government team
Read full article: Taliban appointments add to all-male Afghan government teamThe Taliban have doubled down on their hard-line trajectory in a third round of Afghanistan government appointments that encompassed a host of men named to deputy positions.
Friction among Taliban pragmatists, hard-liners intensifies
Read full article: Friction among Taliban pragmatists, hard-liners intensifiesThe friction between pragmatists and ideologues in the Taliban leadership has intensified since the group formed a hard-line Cabinet last week that is more in line with their harsh rule in the 1990s than their recent promises of inclusiveness.
Taliban form all-male Afghan government of old guard members
Read full article: Taliban form all-male Afghan government of old guard membersThe Taliban's interim government for Afghanistan is all men and stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition.
The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland
Read full article: The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overlandThe United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.
The Latest: Iran president calls for election in Afghanistan
Read full article: The Latest: Iran president calls for election in AfghanistanIran’s president is calling for elections in Afghanistan to determine the future of the country, where he hopes peace will return after Western troops have left and the Taliban have seized control.
US says drone kills IS bombers targeting Kabul airport
Read full article: US says drone kills IS bombers targeting Kabul airportU.S. officials say a drone strike has blown up a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate before they could attack Kabul’s international airport.
G-7 leaders can’t sway Biden to delay Afghanistan withdrawal
Read full article: G-7 leaders can’t sway Biden to delay Afghanistan withdrawalSharply divided leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies have clashed over U.S. President Joe Biden’s insistence on withdrawing from Afghanistan by August 31 in the face of the Taliban takeover.
Official Taliban websites go offline, though reasons unknown
Read full article: Official Taliban websites go offline, though reasons unknownTaliban websites that delivered the victorious insurgents’ official messages to Afghans and the world at large in five languages have gone abruptly offline, indicating an effort to try to squelch them.
EXPLAINER: How social platforms are dealing with the Taliban
Read full article: EXPLAINER: How social platforms are dealing with the TalibanAs the Taliban negotiates with senior politicians and government leaders following its lighting-fast takeover of Afghanistan, U.S. social media companies are reckoning with how to deal with a violent extremist group that is poised to rule a country of 40 million people.
Bomb kills at least 30 near girls' school in Afghan capital
Read full article: Bomb kills at least 30 near girls' school in Afghan capitalAfghan authorities say a bomb exploded near a girls’ school in a majority Shiite district of west Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 30 people, many of them young pupils between 11 and 15 years old.
Afghan negotiating team warns Taliban it must resume talks
Read full article: Afghan negotiating team warns Taliban it must resume talksFILE - In this Sept. 12, 2020 photo, a Taliban delegation arrive to attend the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. On Jan. 31, 2021, Rasul Talib, a member of the Afghan governments peace negotiating team warned the Taliban that if they dont resume peace talks in Qatar soon, the government could recall the team before a deal is reached. Talib said in a press conference the team is waiting for the return of the Taliban leadership to Doha, Qatar, where a second round of peace talks began this month but has made little progress. (AP Photo/ Hussein Sayed, File)KABUL – A member of the Afghan government's peace negotiating team Sunday warned the Taliban that if they don't resume peace talks in Qatar soon, the government could recall the team before a deal is reached. Meanwhile, the Afghan peace negotiating team praised President Biden’s administration for its decision to review the U.S.-Taliban peace deal, saying the deal favors the Taliban.
Official: Gunmen kill two women judges in Afghan capital
Read full article: Official: Gunmen kill two women judges in Afghan capitalGunmen fired on a car in northern Kabul on Sunday, killing two women judges who worked for Afghanistan's high court and wounding the driver, a court official said. It was the latest attack in the Afghan capital during peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government officials in Qatar. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)KABUL – Gunmen fired on a car in northern Kabul on Sunday, killing two women judges who worked for Afghanistan's high court and wounding the driver, a court official said. It was the latest attack in the Afghan capital during peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government officials in Qatar. The Taliban and the Afghan government earlier this month resumed peace talks in Qatar.
Afghan officials: Local journalist killed in Ghazni province
Read full article: Afghan officials: Local journalist killed in Ghazni provinceAfghan Journalist Rahmatullah Nikzad poses for photograph in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 29, 2019. Nikzad , a prominent local journalist was shot dead by unknown assailants in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)KABUL – A prominent local journalist was shot dead by unknown assailants in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province on Monday — the fourth to be killed in the war-ravaged nation in just two months. Nekzad, who headed the Ghazni Journalists' Union, was well known in the area. The Afghan Journalists' Safety Committee said seven media personnel have been killed this year.
Officials: Roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan kills 14
Read full article: Officials: Roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan kills 14Tariq Arian, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said 45 people were also wounded in a late afternoon blast in Bamiyan city in Bamiyan province. Mohammad Reza Yusuofi, spokesman for the provincial police chief in Bamiyan, said there were two bombs that exploded in quick succession. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, said the group was not involved. The Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan has declared war on the country’s minority Shiite Muslims — and Bamiyan is a mostly Shiite province. The U.S. blamed the IS affiliate for an attack on a maternity hospital earlier this year that killed 24 new mothers and infant babies.
US envoy forges ahead with troubled Taliban peace deal
Read full article: US envoy forges ahead with troubled Taliban peace dealFILE - In this March 9, 2020 file photo, Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, attends Ashraf Ghani's inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban in February to end 19 years of war in Afghanistan. Khalilzad has sought to stress the economic benefits of the peace deal throughout his tour. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied contacts with Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, saying the insurgents were committed to the peace deal. The peace deal called for the Afghan government to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, in exchange for the Taliban releasing 1,000 government personnel.