Afghanistan’s Omarzai named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year
Afghanistan International: Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai has been named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year following a brilliant performance through 2024. With his right-arm pace bowling and multifaceted batting game, the 24-year-old helped propel the Afghanistan team to a new level. He also enjoyed a strong year in T20Is and franchise cricket, but it was in ODIs where he proved most influential. Click here to read more (external link).
Tensions Rise As U.S., Taliban Exchange Threats
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 27, 2025
Tensions between Washington and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan are rising a week into President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened on January 25 to place a bounty on Taliban leaders if the United States determines the group has imprisoned American citizens.
“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported. If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on [Al-Qaeda leader Osama] Bin Laden,” Rubio wrote on X.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s acting interior minister, is currently the only senior member of the group on the FBI’s most wanted list. However, dozens of Taliban officials are sanctioned by the United Nations.
Rubio’s comment came days after the Taliban released two Americans in exchange for a member of the Taliban serving a life sentence in the United States on drug and terrorism charges.
The Taliban’s first formal response to Rubio came on January 27, with Suhail Shahin, the group’s ambassador to Qatar, claiming that it was the Taliban’s policy to resolve issues peacefully through dialogue.
However, he warned in a statement to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, “in the face of pressure and aggression, the jihad [struggle] of the Afghan nation in recent decades is a lesson that everyone should learn from.”
The Taliban fought U.S. and NATO troops for nearly 20 years until its return to power in 2021 following a chaotic and bloody withdrawal of foreign forces.
A U.S. Department of Defense report in 2022 said around $7 billion dollars worth of military equipment was left behind in Afghanistan during the withdrawal, which were subsequently seized by the Taliban.
Ahead of his inauguration on January 21, Trump warned that if the Taliban did not return U.S. military equipment, he would cut future financial assistance to Afghanistan.
The Taliban has not publicly responded to Trump, but a source told Radio Azadi that the group “will not give even a single bullet back to the United States.”
Since the withdrawal of foreign forces, the United States has channeled around $3 billion through the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations to help humanitarian programs in Afghanistan.
Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Related
U.S. May Put Bounty On Taliban Leaders Over Hostages, Rubio Says
Rubio
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 26, 2025
The United States may place a bounty on the top leaders of the Taliban, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on January 25 after finding out that the group may be holding more American hostages in Afghanistan.
“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported,” Rubio said on X.
“If this is true, we will have to immediately place a very big bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on bin Laden,” he added, referring to the Al-Qaeda leader and mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bin Laden was killed in 2011 by the U.S. military in a nighttime raid in Pakistan.
U.S. officials and media confirmed earlier this week the release of two Americans held in Afghanistan in exchange for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.
The two Americans who were set free were not identified by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, but according to U.S. media reports and family members, they were Ryan Corbett and William McKenty.
No mention was made of two other U.S. citizens — George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi– who have been held by the Taliban since 2022. It was unclear whether these were the hostages that Rubio referred to.
The member of the Taliban who was released was Khan Mohammed, who had been sentenced to two life terms in 2008. The Afghan Foreign Ministry said his release came “as a result of long and fruitful negotiations” between Afghanistan and the United States.
A member of the new administration of President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington that the deal was brokered by President Joe Biden’s team before he left office on January 20.
Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban — which seized power in Kabul in mid-2021 — as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement on January 21 that the Trump administration “will continue to demand the release of all Americans held by the Taliban, especially in light of the billions of dollars in U.S. aid they’ve received in recent years.”
Rubio’s bounty comment came two days after the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said that he has requested warrants for the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
Karim Khan announced that he is seeking arrest warrants for the alleged persecution of Afghan women and girls, an accusation the Taliban-run Foreign Ministry called “baseless.”
In a statement, Khan said based on evidence collected thus far in an investigation reopened in October 2022 there were grounds to believe Akhundzada and Haqqani “bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds.”
Mir Abdul Wahid Sadat, head of the Afghan Lawyers Association, told RFE/RL, that the ICC decisions and actions “have strong consequences” and said Khan’s announcement was “a big threat to the Taliban.”
With reporting by Reuters
Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Tolo News in Dari – January 26, 2025
Eight people killed for alleged ties to Taliban’s armed opposition: Sources
Amu: Afghanistan — Eight individuals arrested in various provinces, including Kabul, by the Taliban were “tortured and killed” on charges of collaborating with armed opposition groups, sources told Amu on Sunday. According to the sources, the detainees were tortured before being shot. The identities of three victims have been confirmed, and one source provided an image showing signs of torture and gunshot wounds on the body of one victim. Images provided to Amu by the sources cannot be published due to their graphic content. Click here to read more (external link).
New Polio Case recorded in Baghlan province, Afghanistan
Khaama: Officials at the Baghlan Public Health Department have reported a new case of polio in the city of Pul-e-Khumri. Meanwhile, the Polio Eradication Campaign Office announced yesterday that a polio vaccination campaign will begin in various parts of the country within two days. Click here to read more (external link).
Suicide attack reported in Taloqan, Takhar province, Afghanistan
Khaama: Local sources in Takhar province report a “suicide attack” outside the office of the Taliban governor in Taloqan, the provincial capital. According to these sources, the attack occurred around 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 25. Following the explosion, the Taliban reportedly blocked all entry points to the scene of the incident, according to local reports. Such attacks are often linked to groups like ISIS, which have escalated their activities in Afghanistan, but confirmation remains pending as investigations continue. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 25, 2025
Taliban coerce Bamiyan residents to protest ICC prosecutor’s arrest warrants request: Sources
Amu: Local sources alleged that Abdullah Sarhadi, the Taliban governor of Bamiyan, coerced and threatened members of the Shia community in the province to denounce the ICC’s actions. According to reports, Sarhadi contacted several Shia elders in Bamiyan, instructing them to publicly condemn the ICC prosecutor’s request. Click here to read more (external link).