The Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) stated Sunday that four journalists were arrested in southern Kandahar province this week for “collaborating” with the Taliban militants. The journalists – three reporters from Nation Voice [Millat Ghag] Radio, Bismillah Watandost, Qudratullah Sultani, and Mohibullah Obaidi; and Sanullah Siam who claimed to be working with China’s Xinhua news agency – were arrested […]

Taliban officials claim to have taken control of more than half of Afghanistan from the government. Their targets: cities, airports and border crossings – with civilians often caught in the middle. Officials in Kandahar said that two children were among the dead when a mortar shell hit a taxi today. Many hope to leave the country, but are being forced […]

Amid the unrelenting violence in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday said that in the past two decades, the Taliban has become “more cruel and more oppressive.” During a virtual cabinet meeting, Ghani said, “Yes, they (Taliban) have changed but negatively. They have no wish for peace, for prosperity, or progress; we want peace but they want surrender (subdued people […]

Clashes continued in key parts of Lashkargah city in District 1 near the police headquarters and the provincial governor’s office on Sunday, causing concerns to ratchet up over the situation in the province. Security sources said many parts of the city have fallen to the Taliban in recent weeks. Helmand MPs said that the city will be out of the […]

The government deployed more security forces to the western city of Herat on Sunday a day after the Taliban advanced closer to the central parts of the city. Local officials said that the clashes intensified in villages in the western parts of Herat city. Abdul Rahman Rahman, senior deputy of the Interior Ministry, also visited Herat city on Sunday and […]

Officials at an army corps base in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan illegally sold at least 300,000 liters of Afghan forces’ aviation gasoline at local markets, and then created a cover story that the fuel was lost in a rocket attack at their base, said sources. Abdul Ghafoor Hotaki, the commander of Zabul garrison, and Sefatullah, the commander of the […]

Nejprve si řekněme jednu věc takto přímo do očí: Strašení přílivem migrantů v české politice funguje, i když drtivá většina lidí tady žádného uprchlíka neviděla ani z dálky. Na naši nervovou soustavu funguje strach z neznámého, cizího a nejistého poměrně spolehlivě, takže zneužití tématu migrace patří do arzenálu hlavně těch politiků, kteří se ve svém důsledku neštítí ničeho. To, že […]

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told the German paper Bild on July 25 that those fleeing Afghanistan should go to “neighboring” countries such as Turkey, rather than European Union countries, to seek asylum. It’s a shameful statement because of trying to humiliate refugees and Turkey that he puts into a position of a refugee gatekeeper. He wants to gain election points […]

Some 200 Afghans were set to begin new lives in the United States on Friday as an airlift got under way for translators and others who risk Taliban retaliation because they worked for the United States during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, US officials said. The operation to evacuate US-affiliated Afghans and family members comes as the US troop pullout […]

The Taliban attacked a UN compound in Afghanistan Friday, killing an Afghan security guard while raising further concerns about withering security in the country now that US forces have almost completely withdrawn. “The perpetrators of this attack must be identified and brought to account,” said Deborah Lyons, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, in a statement. The attackers […]