8am: Local sources from Kabul and northern provinces report a surge in Taliban detentions of both former government military personnel and civilians. Dozens of individuals have been detained in recent weeks across these provinces and taken to undisclosed locations. The Taliban allegedly detain these individuals on various pretexts and release them upon payment or the
FP: A drug kingpin whose heroin empire helped fund the Taliban’s long war in Afghanistan—and who was released early from a U.S. prison in a trade for an American hostage—has now gone into business with China. Bashir Noorzai, a close friend of the extremists’ supreme leader, has set up murky joint-venture deals with Chinese firms
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 9, 2024 The Key Issue Shahabuddin Delawar, the Taliban’s mining and petroleum minister, has been accused of nepotism after his son was appointed as the extremist group’s ambassador to Uzbekistan. Maghfoorullah Shahab, Delawar’s younger son, took over Afghanistan’s embassy in Tashkent on February 4. Delawar’s elder son, Rohullah Shahab, is
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