Ariana: At least 19 Afghan migrants, including a baby, have died after a speedboat capsized in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Bodrum, Turkish authorities said on Wednesday. According to the Turkish Coast Guard Command, the vessel was carrying dozens of migrants when it ignored repeated orders to stop and attempted to flee at high speed despite rough sea conditions. The boat later began taking on water before overturning. Rescue operations were launched immediately, with teams supported by a helicopter from Izmir. Authorities said 20 migrants were rescued from the water, while 18 bodies were initially recovered at the scene. One more person later died in hospital, bringing the death toll to 19. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan falls 5–1 to Syria in Asian Cup qualifier
Ariana: Afghanistan’s national football team suffered a 5–1 defeat to Syria on Tuesday in an Asian Cup qualifying match in Jeddah, as a strong second-half performance by Syria overwhelmed the Afghan side. The loss follows Afghanistan’s earlier defeat to Myanmar in the qualifiers, adding pressure on the team as it seeks to remain competitive in the group. Click here to read more (external link).
Floods, rainfall kill 48 in Afghanistan over past week, ANDMA says
Amu: At least 48 people have been killed and 73 injured in Afghanistan since March 26, as heavy rains, flooding and lightning battered large parts of the country, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Taliban-run Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA). In the past 24 hours alone, six people were killed and seven others injured across 20 provinces, including Kabul, Kapisa, Parwan, Panjshir, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Zabul, Uruzgan, Ghor, Badghis, Sar-e Pol, Faryab, Samangan, Baghlan, Badakhshan, Kunar and Laghman, the ANDMA said. Click here to read more (external link).
US eases asylum freeze for vetted migrants, keeps Afghanistan ban
Ariana: The US Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday it is easing asylum restrictions for vetted migrants from low-risk countries, while maintaining bans on “high-risk” nations, including Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia. The move comes after last November’s attack near Washington’s Farragut Square, in which an Afghan asylee killed one National Guardsman and injured another, prompting stricter asylum screening under President Donald Trump. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – April 1, 2026
More Than 28,000 Afghans Return From Iran As Crisis Deepens
Afghanistan International: The Norwegian Refugee Council says more than 28,000 Afghan migrants have returned from Iran since the war began, warning returnees urgently need food, shelter, clean water and other basic services. The council had previously warned about the impact of the war on civilians and Afghan migrants in Iran, saying many Afghans live in cities that have been heavily targeted by US and Israeli attacks. Click here to read more (external link).
From Rotor Drones to Kamikaze UAVs: Tracking the Taliban’s Five-Year Shift
Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s use of drones has evolved over five years from commercial surveillance aircraft and propaganda tools into a more ambitious program involving armed and apparent one-way attack drones. Afghanistan International’s reporting indicates the Taliban have used drone aircraft since 2020. Before then, the Taliban’s Al-Emara Studio mainly used drones to film operations and produce propaganda videos. But after militants in Mosul of Iraq and elsewhere demonstrated how commercial drones could be fitted with explosives, the Taliban began using them in combat, according to the report. Click here to read more (external link).
Nearly 1,500 Afghans died on migration routes in 2025, IOM says
Amu: At least 1,492 Afghan nationals died or went missing during migration journeys worldwide in 2025, the International Organization for Migration said, underscoring the persistent dangers faced by migrants from Afghanistan. The figure makes Afghans the largest group among the 2,722 migrants from Asia and the Pacific who died or disappeared last year, according to the agency’s Missing Migrants Project. The findings, based on the organization’s annual regional overview, place Afghanistan ahead of Myanmar, whose nationals accounted for the second-highest number of fatalities, many of them Rohingya refugees. Most deaths involving Afghan migrants occurred along land routes between Afghanistan and Iran — a major transit corridor for those seeking to reach Turkey and, ultimately, Europe. The report said at least 1,323 Afghan deaths were recorded along this route alone. Click here to read more (external link).
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From Pressuring Staff to Embezzling Donor Funds: Complaints Against Taliban Environmental Chief in Herat
8am: Sources say that employees of the Herat Provincial Environmental Protection Directorate, under Taliban control, are deeply concerned about pressure from Abdulali Muttaqi, the Taliban’s newly appointed head of the department. According to the sources, this Taliban official exerts pressure on staff under various pretexts to force them to resign so that he can replace them with his own affiliates. The sources also refer to one employee who, on Muttaqi’s orders, has been barred from attending the office, with instructions given to his guards not to allow the employee to enter the department again. According to the sources, several others have also been dismissed from their duties under different pretexts. Meanwhile, sources say that he is also involved in administrative corruption and the misappropriation of funds. According to the sources, around 100,000 Afghanis in cash had been collected from companies in the Herat Industrial Park, but it remains unclear where the money has been spent, and its fate is still shrouded in ambiguity. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – March 31, 2026