Baradar
Afghanistan International: Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is reportedly angry with Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar for meeting a US delegation without his approval and without the presence of his trusted aides, sources told Afghanistan International. The sources said Akhundzada insists that his loyal representatives must attend all meetings between Taliban officials and foreign envoys. His dissatisfaction grew after Baradar’s 16 September meeting in Kabul with Adam Boehler, the US president’s special envoy for hostage affairs, according to sources in Kabul and Kandahar. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: On Wednesday, September 17, UNAMA released a report stating that among 27,000 drug users observed in public places, 2,670 were women and more than 2,000 were children. According to the report, 75 percent of injecting drug users share equipment, while access to quality treatment—especially in rural areas—remains extremely limited. 
Afghanistan International: Thousands of Afghan schoolchildren and university students have been unable to attend online classes after the Taliban cut internet services in several provinces, sources said Tuesday. A female student told Afghanistan International that the shutdown had effectively closed the last remaining door to education for girls. “With the internet cut, the Taliban has also shut online schools for us,” she said. Experts say the Taliban’s internet shutdown may provide short-term control over the flow of information but will cause long-term harm to education, the economy and technological development. 
Afghanistan International: Mohammad Naseem Haqqani, head of the Taliban-appointed Sheikh Zayed University in Khost, has declared that waging jihad against Pakistan is an individual obligation. The cleric labelled the Pakistani government as “puppets” and its laws as influenced by “Jews and Christians.” Haqqani’s comments follow sharp criticism from Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, head of Pakistan’s Ulema Council and the prime minister’s special representative for interfaith affairs. Ashrafi urged the Taliban to refrain from interfering in Pakistan’s internal matters, telling them, “We are not your students; you are our students.” 
Ariana: The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) has unveiled its 15-member squad for the upcoming AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers, set to be held in Indonesia later this month. Afghanistan has been drawn in Group H, alongside Myanmar and the Maldives, in one of the tighter groups of the qualifiers.