Afghanistan International: Nearly 84,000 people have been directly or indirectly affected by the recent earthquake in Afghanistan, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Thursday. The organisation reported that 98 percent of homes in quake-hit areas were either completely destroyed or severely damaged. Taliban officials said the quake in Kunar province
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi September 4, 2025 The death toll from a massive earthquake in Afghanistan last week has nearly doubled to 2,205 as rescue workers manage to access the remote mountainous area devastated by the disaster. Hamdullah Fitrat, a spokesman for the Taliban-led government who gave the updated casualty figures on September 4, said deliveries of first
8am: Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, the group’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has signed more than 205 mining contracts with domestic and foreign companies. These agreements cover the extraction of copper, gold, coal, chromite, oil, and gas across various provinces. A review of documents and reports reveals that many of
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi and Frud Bezhan September 3, 2025 MAZAR DARA, Afghanistan — Wazir Khan was asleep when a devastating earthquake struck his remote village in eastern Afghanistan. The midnight tremor flattened his home in the village of Mazar Dara in the eastern province of Kunar, trapping his family under rubble. Khan survived. But
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi and Una Cilic September 3, 2025 A massive earthquake this week that killed more than 1,400 people in Afghanistan has left women, already struggling under the strict rules of the Taliban-led government, vulnerable because of a lack of support. The 6.0 magnitude quake has devastated the eastern part of the country
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi September 2, 2025 GHAZI ABAD VILLAGE, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan — More than 1,400 people are reported dead and thousands of others injured as aid workers continue to battle to get to a remote mountainous region of Afghanistan following a devastating earthquake that flattened villages. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, said on September
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi and Ray Furlong September 1, 2025 Aid workers are racing to a remote area of Afghanistan with emergency, food, and medical supplies following an earthquake that flattened villages and killed hundreds of people. Taliban authorities have reported at least 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake
Khaama: A powerful magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing over 500 people, injuring thousands, and flattening villages in Kunar and Nangarhar, as rescue operations face difficult conditions. On the night of August 31, 2025, a powerful magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, shaking the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar at around 11:47 p.m. local time. The
8am: Local sources in Badakhshan province reveal the existence of an extensive and organized network for the plunder of gold mines and other natural resources by influential figures affiliated with the Taliban. According to sources, this process is carried out systematically using force, corruption, and collusion with some Taliban leaders. Sources also report the involvement
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Iran’s deepening water crisis is primarily driven by prolonged drought, chronic mismanagement, and the impacts of climate change. The crisis is so bad that officials say Tehran is becoming uninhabitable and Israel is hoping it will get people to revolt against the Islamic republic. Making an already bad situation worse is