Seventeen-year-old Israr was fast asleep when his phone rang. It was 2am and the teenager was exhausted. He’d been working all day as a guard. On the other end of the line was his brother, who told Israr that men had barged into their family house, dragged their father outside, and shot him dead. “He asked me to rush back […]

The Afghan government is imposing punishments that have no comparison elsewhere in the Islamic world. Late last month, the Taliban killed four men and hung their dead bodies in public squares in the northwestern Afghan city of Herat. One lifeless corpse dangled off a crane above throngs of commuters who were stunned at the exhibition and grasping the significance of […]

The U.S. and its Western allies have repeatedly said the militant group, which swept to power in August, will be judged by actions rather than words. Leaders of the world’s top economies failed to agree on how to deal with the Taliban at an extraordinary summit, pledging only to channel aid through the United Nations as a humanitarian crisis looms. […]

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Tuesday hinted that he would visit the Afghan capital Kabul with a group of counterparts from friendly countries. “We follow the situation in Afghanistan closely. We are planning to go to Kabul with some other foreign ministers in the upcoming period,” said Çavuşoğlu at a joint news conference with his visiting Indonesian counterpart Retno […]

There is no clear path for unfreezing Afghan government funds, Qatar’s foreign minister told a conference on Wednesday, highlighting the economic challenges Afghanistan faces under its new Islamic Emirate (IEA) rulers. Qatar is hosting talks between the IEA and Western officials and is seen as having influence over the new Afghan government. Much of the Afghan central bank’s $10 billion […]

An Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) official confirmed in a statement that a meeting was held in Doha between high ranking IEA officials and ambassadors and representatives of the United States, the European Union and other Western countries on Tuesday. According to IEA foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi also discussed the […]

The Group of 20 (G20) should leverage its characteristics and strengths to contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of Afghanistan and the region, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special representative Wang Yi, also Chinese state councilor and foreign minister, said on Tuesday. Wang made a four-point proposal on tackling issues including the humanitarian crisis and terrorism in Afghanistan while attending […]

Germany is not yet prepared to recognise the Islamic Emirate as Afghanistan’s government since it has not met the inclusiveness standards demanded of it, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, but she reaffirmed Berlin’s promise of 600 million euros’ aid. Speaking after a video conference of leaders from the G20 group of large economies and other international officials, Merkel also said […]

Militants shot dead five soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday, the army said, stoking tensions in the restive territory following a string of civilian murders. Separately two suspected rebels were shot dead in different incidents, authorities said. Colonel Devendar Anand told AFP that one officer and four soldiers “were killed during a search operation probably by infiltrators” in a mountain […]

A local Pakistani journalist was killed in an overnight attack when a roadside bomb went off near his car in the country’s southwest, police said Monday. Shahid Zehri, 35, was traveling in his car when the bomb exploded in the town of Hub in the Baluchistan province on Sunday, according to Shafiq Mengal, a local police officer. Mengal said the […]