8am: Asif Durani, Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan, says the situation in Afghanistan has slipped beyond the Taliban’s control and that regional countries must take action. Durani’s remarks come as Pakistani political analysts have recently discussed the possibility of regime change in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
8am: A number of residents in Kabul complain that more people are using low-quality fuel materials, especially plastic, to heat their homes. They say the unpleasant smell and smoke from burning plastic are disturbing and have even made them sick. These residents stress that some people knowingly use plastic because of poverty, while others do so out of a lack of awareness about its dangers. According to them, the Taliban have paid no attention to this issue and have not adopted any effective measures to control it. Click here to read more (external link).
Missouri Independent: The father of four, an immigrant from Afghanistan who helped the U.S. military fight the Taliban, is in a Springfield, Missouri, jail — held with other immigrants picked up in nationwide sweeps. Dadfar is 37 and an asylum-seeker with work authorization and a job as an over-the-road trucker. He’s been held in the Greene County Jail since early October and fears being sent back to Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: Residents told Afghanistan International that Taliban officers have recently intensified visits to neighbourhood mosques, urging families to submit women who “do not listen to male family members, go to the market without permission, or fail to observe full hijab.” Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Monday’s Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) match in Kabul, between Sarsabz Yashlar and Sorkh Poshan Khafi, was postponed following the death of former player Farhad Adil. Meanwhile, the sixth match of the tournament went ahead as planned, with Istiqlal Kabul and Khurasan Faryab playing to a 1-1 draw. Click here to read more (external link).
Ashraf Ghani
8am: If Pakistan is indeed seeking regime change, Ghani is the most convenient and readily available option. Islamabad’s preference has always been to leverage Pashtun figures against the Taliban, rather than leaders from other ethnic groups. Therefore, dismissing Ghani and others who have lived or studied in the West as “spent forces” is an emotional reaction that does not align with Afghanistan’s past or present realities. Ghani’s popularity among Pashtuns has not significantly diminished, and those who insult him on social media are largely non-Pashtuns. The majority of Pashtun users still speak of him favorably. This, however, underscores the persistent strength of ethnic politics in the country. Click here to read more (external link).
More
Amu: Two Afghan athletes returned to Kabul early Sunday after winning medals at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where they were greeted with celebrations by fans. Muay Thai fighter Mohammad Yousuf Jahangir and taekwondo athlete Mohsen Rezaei earned gold and silver medals, respectively, for Afghanistan during the multi-sport event, which featured athletes from 57 Muslim-majority countries. They were welcomed at Kabul airport athletes and hundreds of Kabul residents. Click here to read more (external link).
More Afghan Sport News
By Abubakar Siddique
November 22, 2025
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Tajikistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy in recent months to ease tensions and prevent armed clashes along their long, shared border.
Tajik and Taliban officials have sought to deepen cooperation on energy and trade during talks. But despite inroads, there is still deep mistrust and irreconcilable differences on both sides, experts say.
“I see the continuation of the current dynamic of ‘cold cooperation,'” said Edward Lemon, a Central Asia expert at Texas A&M University.
Lemon said he expects Dushanbe and Kabul to act pragmatically in areas of mutual benefit, including joint economic projects, but does not see the two countries resolving all of their disputes.
Diplomatic Outreach
On November 15, a delegation of senior diplomats and security officials from Tajikistan arrived in Kabul for talks with Taliban officials.
The Taliban-run Bakhtar news agency said the sides discussed diplomatic and economic cooperation as well as regional security during the multiday visit.
The talks came weeks after Mohammad Yousaf Wafa, the Taliban’s governor of northern Balkh Province, which borders Tajikistan, visited Dushanbe.
During his visit in late October, Wafa met with General Saimumin Yatimov, head of Tajikistan’s secret service. The men discussed ways to prevent armed groups from crossing their countries’ 1,357-kilometer border, according to Tajik media.
The recent diplomacy coincided with clashes between Tajik and Taliban border forces. In the most recent incident, on October 25, the sides exchanged gunfire near a gold mining site along the Panj River that separates Afghanistan and Tajikistan. One Taliban fighter was killed in an earlier clash in August.
Dispute Over Armed Groups
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, Dushanbe and Kabul have accused each other of harboring armed groups.
Tajikistan was the only neighboring country to publicly oppose the Taliban’s return to power, calling the militant group a threat to regional stability.
There have also been reports that Dushanbe is hosting or in contact with some of the leaders of the National Resistance Front (NRF), an anti-Taliban resistance group largely made up of ethnic Tajiks from Afghanistan. Tajikistan has denied the claim.
The Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe is run by an ambassador appointed by the ex-Afghan government who is believed to be sympathetic to the NRF. The Taliban, however, controls the Afghan consulate in the eastern Tajik city of Khorog.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan accuses the Taliban of backing Jamaat Ansarullah, an Islamist militant group based in Afghanistan. Mainly comprising Tajik citizens, the group seeks to overthrow Tajikistan’s secular government.
In 2021, the Taliban deployed hundreds of Jamaat Ansarullah fighters along Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan after Dushanbe conducted joint military exercises with Russia near the frontier.
Obaidullah Baheer, an Afghan academic based in Kabul, said the Taliban has demanded Tajikistan hand over control of the Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe. The Taliban has also demanded the closure of alleged NRF offices in Tajikistan, he said.
The Status Quo
Despite differences, Tajikistan and the Taliban are taking steps to boost cooperation.
Afghanistan currently imports most of its electricity from Tajikistan as well as neighboring Uzbekistan. The sides are also discussing new economic projects and the loosening of visa restrictions.
But there are limits to their cooperation, experts say.
“These relations are unlikely to grow into handing over the Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe to the Taliban because it is a sensitive issue domestically for Tajikistan,” Tajik political analyst Shirali Rezaian told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
Lemon of Texas A&M University said Tajikistan’s recognition of the Taliban government remains unlikely. Russia is the only country to formally recognize the group’s rule in Afghanistan.
“The Tajik side has few incentives to break from the status quo,” he said.
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi and Tajik Service contributed to this report.