Essay: Surviving war, Afghan families are now caught in the crosshairs of US refugee restrictions

KAMI RICE, co-founder of Allied Shepherd – a member of the #AfghanEvac coalition, says thousands of Afghan wartime allies have completed years of security vetting and final medical checks, but their travel is now indefinitely on hold…
Trump aid freeze strands Afghan visa holders in Albania

Shengjin, Albania Reuters Ali Amini was just days from starting a new life in the United States when President Donald Trump halted aid for resettling Afghan refugees last week, a move that Amini worries could put his life in danger if forced to return home. After processing in Albania, he had a flight booked for […]
ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan

The Hague, The Netherlands Reuters The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Thursday he had applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of the persecution of women and girls. A statement issued by the office of Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said investigators found reasonable […]
Afghan Taliban member freed from US custody in exchange for two Americans, Kabul says

Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters The United States has freed an Afghan convicted by an American court on charges of drug smuggling and terrorism in exchange for two US citizens held in Afghanistan, authorities in Kabul said on Tuesday. Afghan officials said the man, Khan Mohammad, had landed in Kabul after being released. Mohammad was sentenced to […]
Biden spoke with families of Americans detained in Afghanistan, White House says

Washington DC, US Reuters US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with the families of three Americans detained in Afghanistan by its Taliban rulers since 2022, and emphasised his commitment to bringing home Americans wrongfully held overseas, the White House said. Biden’s administration has been negotiating with the Taliban since at least July about a […]
Malala Yousafzai urges Muslim leaders to back gender apartheid legal push

Islamabad, Pakistan Reuters Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders on Sunday to back efforts to make gender apartheid a crime under international law, and called on them to speak out against Afghanistan’s Taliban over its treatment of women and girls. At a summit on girls’ education in Muslim communities attended by international […]
Afghan Taliban forces target “several points” in Pakistan in retaliation for airstrikes – Afghan defence ministry
Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters Afghan Taliban forces targeted “several points” in neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan’s defence ministry said on Saturday, days after Pakistani aircraft carried out aerial bombardment inside Afghanistan. The statement from the Defence Ministry did not specify Pakistan but said the strikes were conducted “beyond the ‘hypothetical line’” – an expression used by Afghan authorities […]
UN says Taliban detained journalists over 250 times in Afghanistan since takeover

Reuters The United Nations’ mission to Afghanistan said on Tuesday the ruling Taliban had arbitrarily detained journalists 256 times since their takeover three years ago, and urged authorities there to protect the media. In a reply accompanying the report, the Taliban-led foreign ministry denied having arrested that number of journalists and added that those arrested […]
Taliban administration officials to attend UN climate conference in Azerbaijan

Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters Afghan Taliban officials will attend a major United Nations climate conference that starts this week, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, the first time they have attended since the former insurgents took power in 2021. The COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku will be among the highest-profile multilateral events attended […]
UN seeks probe into reported mass killing of Afghans migrating to Iran

Herat, Afghanistan Reuters The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan called on Thursday for an investigation into reports that a large group of Afghan migrants had been shot and killed on the Afghanistan-Iran border. Afghan media outlets including Tolo News, citing witnesses, said more than 200 Afghan migrants who entered Iran illegally were attacked on Iranian […]