A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz has killed at least 50 people, officials say, in the deadliest assault since US forces left. Bodies were seen scattered inside the Said Abad mosque, used by the minority Shia Muslim community. More than 100 people were injured in the blast in […]
Two top US generals have said they recommended keeping a force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, ahead of the full US withdrawal in August. Testimony by Gen Mark Milley and Gen Frank McKenzie to Congress seemed to contradict President Joe Biden, who said he did not recall any such advice. The Taliban took power in […]
The Taliban’s notorious former head of religious police has said extreme punishments such as executions and amputations will resume in Afghanistan. Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, now in charge of prisons, told AP News amputations were “necessary for security”. He said these punishments may not be meted out in public, as they were under previous Taliban rule […]
War in Afghanistan (2001-present) The Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York City. The group’s foreign minister made the request in a letter on Monday. A UN committee will rule on the request. The Taliban also nominated their Doha-based spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, as […]
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has said preventing women from accessing education in neighbouring Afghanistan would be un-Islamic. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Khan laid out the conditions that would need to be met for Pakistan to formally recognise the new Taliban government. He called for the leadership to be inclusive and to […]
The Taliban appear to have shut down the women’s affairs ministry and replaced it with a department that once enforced strict religious doctrines. On Friday, the sign at the ministry was removed, and a sign for the ministry of virtue and vice put in its place. Videos on social media showed women employees outside the […]
War in Afghanistan (2001-present) A major row broke out between leaders of the Taliban over the make-up of the group’s new government in Afghanistan, senior Taliban officials told the BBC. The argument between the group’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and a cabinet member happened at the presidential palace, they said. There have been […]
Afghan universities will be segregated by gender, and a new dress code will be introduced, the Taliban has said. Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani indicated women would be allowed to study, but not alongside men. He also announced a review of the subjects students would be taught. Women and girls were banned from schools […]
September 11 attacks The UN has condemned the Taliban for their “increasingly violent response” to dissent, weeks after the group’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan. Taliban fighters killed four people during recent protests, the UN said. Demonstrations have taken place across Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul on 15 August, demanding respect for women’s rights […]
War in Afghanistan (2001-present) Dozens of international passengers – including UK citizens – have flown out of Kabul in the first such flight since US forces left the country. The Qatar Airways charter flight landed in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday, with a second flight due on Friday. US Secretary of State Antony […]
