At least 17 killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul - reports

At least 17 people were killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul, news agencies said on Saturday, after Taliban sources said their fighters had seized control of Panjshir, the last province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group.
4 September 2021

UN to convene Afghanistan aid conference on Sept 13

The United Nations will convene an international aid conference in Geneva on Sept. 13 to help avert what U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called a "looming humanitarian catastrophe".
4 September 2021

Hunted by the men they jailed, Afghanistan's women judges seek escape

Safe in Europe after escaping from Kabul, an Afghan woman judge describes how she was hunted by men she had once jailed, now freed by the Taliban fighters who took over the country.
4 September 2021

Google locks Afghan government accounts as Taliban seek emails

Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners.
4 September 2021

'They'll kill us' - Afghan pilots held at Uzbek camp fear deadly homecoming

The U.S.-trained Afghan pilots and others held at a camp in Uzbekistan already feared being sent back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. So it was little comfort when an Uzbek guard unsympathetically quipped the other day: "You can't stay here forever."
3 September 2021

Baradar to lead new Afghan govt

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will lead a new Afghan government set to be announced soon, sources in the group said yesterday, as its fighters battled forces loyal to the vanquished republic in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul.
3 September 2021

23 troops killed in clashes near China border

Myanmar ethnic rebels have killed at least 23 government soldiers in days of fighting near the Chinese border, a spokesman for the group said yesterday, in the latest clashes likely to worry powerful neighbour Beijing.
3 September 2021

More News

Sri Lanka yesterday imposed price controls on key foods as the government stepped up the use of emergency powers to counter shortages.
3 September 2021

Japan PM to resign over Covid response

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga yesterday said in a surprise move he would step down, setting the stage for a new premier after a one-year tenure marred by an unpopular Covid-19 response and sinking public support.
3 September 2021

Afghan women demand rights as Taliban seek recognition

A small group of Afghan women protested near the presidential palace in Kabul on Friday, demanding equal rights from the Taliban as Afghanistan’s new rulers work on forming a government and seeking international recognition.
3 September 2021

Taliban co-founder Baradar to lead new Afghanistan govt

Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar will lead a new Afghan government set to be announced shortly, sources in the Islamist group said on Friday, as its fighters battled forces loyal to the vanquished republic in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul.
3 September 2021

EU will engage with Taliban, subject to conditions: foreign policy chief

The European Union will engage with the Taliban, subject to strict conditions, but that does not mean the bloc is recognising a new Afghan government, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday.
3 September 2021

New Afghan cabinet ‘today’

The Taliban said yesterday they were close to forming a new government, as dozens of women held a rare protest for the right to work under a new regime that faces enormous economic hurdles and deep public mistrust.
2 September 2021

Distrust persists as some Afghan women return to work

Under their previous reign, they shocked the world by brutally oppressing women and girls. Now, back in power 20 years after a US invasion ousted them, the Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule, pledging that women will be allowed to work.
2 September 2021

‘Feelings of pain and anger’

Most Afghan allies seeking to flee with the US withdrawal were unable to do so, an official acknowledged Wednesday, as the United States began to wrestle with painful choices in the chaotic final days of the war.
2 September 2021

'They lied to us': Those left in Afghanistan complain of broken US promises

Even in the final days of Washington’s chaotic airlift in Afghanistan, Javed Habibi was getting phone calls from the U.S. government promising that the green card holder from Richmond, Virginia, his wife and their four daughters would not be left behind.
2 September 2021

Taliban prepare to reveal new Afghan government amid economic turmoil

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers were preparing on Thursday to unveil their new government as the economy teetered on the edge of collapse more than two weeks after the Islamist militia captured Kabul and brought a chaotic end to 20 years of war.
2 September 2021

India locks down Kashmir after top separatist leader’s death

Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout Thursday in disputed Kashmir after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region’s defiance against New Delhi.
2 September 2021

Effort underway to rescue girls’ soccer team from Afghanistan

They move from place to place at a moment’s notice in a desperate bid to evade the Taliban — girls whose lives are in danger simply because they chose to play a sport they loved.
2 September 2021

Taliban launch charm offensive with Afghan banks amid funding fears

The new, Taliban-appointed head of Afghanistan's central bank has sought to reassure banks the group wants a fully-functioning financial system, but has so far provided little detail on how it will supply funds to sustain it, said four bankers familiar with the matter.
1 September 2021