Taliban militants (file photo)
8am: For years, the Taliban repeatedly denied torturing or humiliating prisoners in their detention facilities. An audio document obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily challenges those claims. In the recording, a local Taliban official openly confirms that Taliban intelligence tortures detainees and carries out arbitrary arrests. The document reveals that many people are detained and abused without any formal charges, often because of internal plots and rivalries within the group. At the same time, local officials voice anger over the arrest of several foreign fighters and say they feel deeply disillusioned with the current regime. They also criticize Taliban clerics who serve as judges and muftis, saying that while they fought on the battlefield, salaries and privileges now go to clerics who arrived from Pakistan. The report shows that many local Taliban feel alienated by ethnic discrimination and by financial and intelligence abuses inside the system. Click here to read more (external link).
Amnesty: “Despite the Taliban’s well-documented repression of human rights, many states, including Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan Germany and Austria, are clamouring to deport Afghans to a country where violations particularly against women, girls and dissenting voices are widespread and systematic. This is without even mentioning the dire and deepening humanitarian crises, with more than 22 million people – nearly half of the country’s population – in need of assistance,” said Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia. 
Afghanistan International: Yaqoob Sheikh who has been described as having links to Lashkar-e-Taiba has warned the Taliban that if they fail to guarantee Afghan territory will not be used against Pakistan, his party will stand alongside the country’s army. In a video message circulated on social media, Sheikh said his group was ready to make “any sacrifice” to defend Pakistan. “We are prepared to sacrifice everything for the defence of our beloved homeland,” he said. 
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 around three million more Afghans are experiencing acute hunger or worse compared with last year, when 14.8 million people were affected. 
Ariana: Abu Muslim Farah have reaffirmed their status as one of Afghanistan’s leading football clubs after being crowned champions of the fifth season of the Afghanistan Champions League, completing a flawless campaign to lift the title. The Farah-based side won all nine of their matches in the season, finishing with a perfect 27 points to claim the championship in emphatic style. Their title was sealed on Sunday in the 42nd and final match of the competition, where Abu Muslim Farah produced a dominant 4–0 victory over Ettifaq Khanzadah. 
Axios: The fallout from last month’s D.C. shooting — where a suspected gunman from Afghanistan killed one National Guard member and injured another— has Afghan refugees in Richmond fearing an uncertain future, community leaders tell Axios. The big picture: More than 2,600 Afghan refugees have resettled in the Richmond area since 2021, when the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan and Kabul fell to the Taliban, per an Axios review of state data. 
Khaama: The meeting convened representatives from Pakistan, Russia, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Pakistan participated at the prime ministerial level, while Russia and Uzbekistan sent presidential-level envoys, reflecting high-level engagement. The Iranian minister warned that externally imposed solutions have consistently failed to deliver stability or sustainable development, advocating regionally led approaches as the most effective means of conflict resolution and cooperation. Araqchi stressed the importance of integrating Afghanistan into regional economic, transit, and energy networks. Strengthening infrastructure, trade facilitation, and border cooperation could position Afghanistan as a central hub connecting Central, South, and West Asia.