VOA News Ayaz Gul July 26, 2024 ISLAMABAD — New research suggests that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan will drop to record-low levels in 2024, due to the ban on the crop imposed by the Taliban government two years ago. The findings, released this week by Alcis, a geospatial analytics firm, are based on high-resolution satellite mapping
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi July 25, 2024 Chinese engineers and the Taliban government officially started work on a massive project in Afghanistan to mine the world’s second-largest deposit of copper. At the July 24 event at Mes Aynak, some 40 kilometers southeast of the capital, Kabul, Taliban officials along with Chinese businessmen and diplomats carried out
Khaama: Iranian officials have announced that negotiations with representatives of the Taliban administration regarding Iran’s water rights from the Helmand River are ongoing and have entered a new phase. According to IRNA on Thursday, July 25th, 2024, Issa Bozorgzadeh, a spokesperson for Iran’s Water Industry, reported that the Kamal Khan Dam needs to be modified
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal: Pakistan after a nine-month closure that resulted in financial losses and rising anger on both sides. Click here to read more (external link).
Hindustan Times: Afghanistan continues to have massive stockpiles of opium that can be used to meet the needs of narcotics trafficking networks despite a ban imposed by the Taliban on poppy cultivation, according to a new report by the United Nations Security Council. A majority of drugs trafficked to India comes from Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s
8am: Widespread poverty and persistent unemployment have severely affected the majority of the citizens of Afghanistan, drastically reducing their purchasing power. Many citizens report that poverty and unemployment have deprived students and university attendees of continuing their education, with numerous families going to bed hungry each night. Over the past three years, the Taliban have
8am: Several residents of Herat claim that after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they assigned specialized positions in this province to their uneducated fighters. They allege that this group has become corrupt but has not learned how to work. According to these Herat residents, the Taliban’s administrative procedures have caused numerous challenges and confusion for
8am: Afghan Citizens are fed up with systematic corruption and favoritism in government institutions under Taliban control. Residents from various provinces complain that without paying bribes to Taliban officials, their tasks are not completed. Media reports indicate that many senior Taliban officials are involved in significant financial corruption, earning millions of dollars through large contracts.
Afghanistan International: The Taliban leader has appointed Noor Ahmad Agha, a military commander of the group, as the governor of Afghanistan’s central bank. According to the Wall Street Journal, Noor Ahmad Agha was known as the “financier of bomb-making” and was responsible for distributing funds to Taliban military commanders during the insurgency against Afghan state
Michael Hughes: Chinese President Xi Jinping at the South Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana called on the bloc to boost humanitarian support and efforts to rebuild Afghanistan given its criticality to the region’s security. The remarks come as the Taliban try to reassure the world the regime can crack down on terrorism, including