Afghanistan

Taliban celebrate ‘victory day’ five years after seizing power in Afghanistan

Five years after seizing power, the Taliban are projecting control in Afghanistan while rights groups warn of deepening humanitarian crises and sweeping restrictions on women.

 Taliban soldiers celebrate on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street near the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023.
Afghan women prepare dough to make traditional cookies inside a bakery in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 5, 2024.

Half of Afghan women rarely leave home as Taliban restrictions deepen, UN agency says

Police personnel cordon off a street following a suicide bombing during a protest in Pakistan's Swat district on August 2, 2026.

At least 14 killed, 18 wounded in suicide bombing outside Pakistan police station

A security officer in plain clothes walks with his gun outside the office of the Rangers, a paramilitary force, following an explosion and gunfire reported on Saturday night in Karachi, Pakistan, June 28, 2026.

Islamist terrorists kill 10 police officers in northwest Pakistan, say police


Female Afghan Christian convert flees Taliban, only to risk deportation in Qatar

Since retaking power, the Taliban has largely excluded women from public life. Girls are barred from secondary schools and universities, while women have faced sweeping restrictions.

Taliban personnel detain a woman in Herat, Afghanistan, for allegedly violating the dress code.

Twenty killed, 100 missing after flash floods hit Afghanistan, authorities say

Afghanistan is among the nations most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which has made some parts of the country more drought-prone and exposed others to more rainfall.

People use a mini truck to cross a flooded road in the Argo district of Afghanistan's Badakhshan province on June 4, 2026; Illustrative.

Women’s OIC conference in Pakistan sees Syrian delegation after 14 years

Syria’s minister of social affairs and labor, Hind Kabawat, led the delegation, as few Afghan women were represented in their fight for rights under Taliban rule.

Women prepare for Eid al-Adha prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, May 27, 2026.

Trump administration launches campaign to dismantle ICC efforts to infringe on US sovereignty

President Donald Trump and other US officials, such as former President George W. Bush, have long said the ICC should not have the authority to investigate and prosecute Americans.

US President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One as he departs Bismarck Municipal Airport on July 01, 2026 in Bismarck, North Dakota. Trump traveled to North Dakota to attend the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library dedication.

Jews face harassment in nearly 100 countries as global religious hostilities spike, Pew shows

Overall, fifty-five countries had elevated (high or very high) levels of social hostilities involving religion in 2023, up from 45 the previous year.

A demonstrator installs banners reading "WARNING - The artist you are about to see previously stated: 'I like Hitler' We thought you should know this," Arnhem, Netherlands, June 6, 2026.

Pakistani bus falls into roadside ditch, rescue agency reports 40 killed, 8 injured

The bus was headed to national capital Islamabad from provincial capital Quetta. There were 48 passengers on board, the agency said.

A Pakistani bus upturned in a ditch, July 3, 2026.

US says it supports Pakistan's right to defend itself amid renewed conflict with Afghanistan

The US considers the Afghan Taliban to be a terrorist group, and Islamabad accuses Afghanistan ​of harboring terrorists that ​it ⁠blames for plotting attacks in Pakistan.

An Afghan Taliban fighter sit next to an anti-aircraft gun near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, following exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, October 15, 2025.

Afghanistan gets hit by a third earthquake in days as the Hindu Kush shakes again

According to the USGS, the quake occurred at a depth of 216.7 km (134.65 miles).

Afghan residents clear rubble from their home at the site of a Pakistani airstrike in Barolo village in the Marawara district of Afghanistan's Kunar province on June 29, 2026.

Pakistan conducts ground operation, strikes along Afghanistan border, kills 29 fighters

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on social media platform X the action was launched in response to multiple terrorist attacks across the country, the report said.

AN AFGHAN man walks next to the site where a drug rehabilitation center was destroyed in what the Taliban said was a Pakistani airstrike, in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 18, 2026.

Earthquake in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region sends tremors into Pakistan

There were no immediate official reports of casualties or damage from the earthquake, but checks were ongoing, the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement.

People stand in the street following an earthquake in Peshawar, Pakistan June 27, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone.