8am: Some passengers traveling along the Kabul-Ghazni Highway complain about the high fares charged by drivers on this route and the extra fees imposed by the Taliban. They claim that the Taliban’s Land Transport Regulation Authority in the province has set specific fares for various minibusses along the Kabul-Ghazni route. However, Taliban personnel stationed at
8am: Following the United States announcement of transferring $3.6 billion of Afghanistan’s central bank reserves to a trust fund in Switzerland, the establishment of this fund has sparked varied reactions. Certain political factions and economic experts argue that the fund lacks a legal framework, potentially enabling Taliban access to these assets. They point out that
Ariana: Afghanistan has fallen 12 places to 162nd position in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2023 compared to the previous year, Transparency International said in a report released Tuesday. Afghanistan has scored 20 out of 100 in the new index, ranking 162 out of 180 countries and territories. Last year, Afghanistan stood at the
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi Abubakar Siddique January 25, 2024 Since seizing power, the Taliban has appointed its foot soldiers, commanders, and leaders as ministers and the heads of state-run institutions in Afghanistan, including universities and hospitals. The decision has triggered widespread criticism among Afghans, who have accused the Taliban of hiring unqualified and uneducated fighters and
By Khujasta Kabiri Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 16, 2024 The Taliban’s notorious religious police have detained scores of Afghan women and girls in recent weeks for allegedly violating the extremist group’s Islamic dress code. Among them was Zahra’s younger sister, who was detained in the capital, Kabul, in early January for allegedly failing to cover
Katherine Gypson VOA News January 11, 2024 WASHINGTON — U.S. officials overseeing assistance to Afghanistan told U.S. lawmakers Thursday that aid is rigorously monitored to prevent financial benefits from reaching the Taliban. “We remain extremely vigilant against attempts to divert and interfere with assistance delivery. USAID takes its duty as a steward of U.S. taxpayer dollars
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 9, 2024 The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) says there are no specific controls in place to ensure funds headed to the war-torn country are not diverted to or misused by the Taliban militants who seized control amid the departure of international troops in August 2021. In
8am: While announcing the detention of three individuals on charges of bird hunting by the Taliban in Nimruz province, local sources highlighted that Qatari sheikhs had been engaged in hunting rare birds in the province over the past two months. Sources from the Chahar-Borjak district of Nimruz informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily that Qatari sheikhs
8am: Sources in Badghis province claim that Taliban commanders and fighters allocate humanitarian aid in specific areas of the province, or distribute this aid to the families of their fighters who were killed in previous conflicts. According to them, the distribution of aid in this province is not fair, benefiting only the residents of Taliban-controlled
8am: Some residents of Samangan province claim that the local Taliban are engaging in corrupt practices by accepting bribes in exchange for employment in specialized institutions. Sources indicate that the Taliban, who control the Directorate of Public Health in Samangan province, have targeted 315 positions in various medical and service sectors, with local officials of