By Abubakar Siddique, Farhad Shinwari and Norias Nori December 27, 2025 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty For nearly two months, Sayed Wali, a young Afghan truck driver, has watched the sun rise, and the sun set in the fabled Khyber Pass, which connects western Pakistan to eastern Afghanistan. But he’s not here for the view. He’s
Amu: Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan has fallen by as much as 45% after key border crossings between the two neighbours remained closed for nearly three months, the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Investment said on Thursday. Border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been shut for 79 days, effectively halting all formal commercial traffic between
Amu: Taliban have suspended the payment of salaries to all public employees until further notice, three sources said, including one official from the Taliban-run Ministry of Finance. The sources said the order applies to all ministries and government departments. Taliban officials have not publicly explained the reason for the decision and did not immediately respond
Afghanistan International: Opposition parties in Pakistan have voiced concern over deteriorating relations between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban and called for disputes to be resolved through dialogue. Following a two-day meeting in Islamabad, the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan coalition said in a statement that it supports reopening border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan and resuming bilateral
Amu: More than 17 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity this winter as hunger and malnutrition deepen across the country, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said on Tuesday, warning that funding cuts are limiting life-saving assistance. New data from the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report shows that
8am: Some residents of Kabul say that following the Taliban decision to cut fiber-optic internet in Afghanistan, the quality of internet services across the country has deteriorated. They add that this decline has disrupted their daily activities. According to them, they have repeatedly raised these challenges with internet service providers, but the companies have cited
Afghanistan International: Gul Hassan, the Taliban’s ambassador in Moscow, said Iran’s Chabahar port is becoming a key route for Afghanistan’s foreign trade, with daily commercial flows through the port increasing. Speaking at the Third International North–South Transport Corridor Forum in Russia, he said the Taliban is “working actively” with Iran and India on the Chabahar
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 4, 2025 China viewed the end of the US-led war in Afghanistan as an opportunity to expand its regional influence, gain access to the country’s mineral wealth, and secure its border against extremist groups. But even as Beijing has expanded its economic and political footprint in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
Defense one: More than $148 billion was spent by the U.S. government in its failed attempt to build a free Afghanistan, according to the final report by the official watchdog office, whose careful documentation of waste and fraud, and its warnings of Taliban resurgence, went largely unheeded. For 17 years, the Special Inspector General for
8am: After clashes erupted along the border between the Taliban and Pakistan and political tensions intensified, Pakistan shut down its borders with Afghanistan. These crossings have remained closed to commercial trade ever since. The Taliban had earlier claimed that the closures did not affect the domestic market, but many Kabul residents now say otherwise. They