Khaama: Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said on Friday in Khost province that a government ruling through “fear and force” cannot be considered legitimate, implicitly acknowledging the use of intimidation by the Taliban. Speaking to a crowd of locals, Haqqani stressed that leaders should not humiliate or condemn citizens, and that a government should foster
By Zhakfar Ahmadi Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 11, 2025 The Afghan Taliban’s dreaded morality police have arrested four young men for dressing like characters from the British TV series Peaky Blinders. The men were detained in the western Afghan city of Herat this week. The Taliban accused them of “promoting alien culture” after photos went
Amu: Taliban have effectively dismantled media freedom in Afghanistan since seizing power in August 2021, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday, citing systematic surveillance, censorship, arbitrary detentions and torture of journalists, with women in the media bearing the brunt of the crackdown. The 2025 report, based on dozens of interviews with journalists
Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has banned professors and administrative staff below grade four from using smartphones at universities, citing concerns that mobile phone use “causes distraction and complicates work.” Click here to read more (external link).
Khaama: Afghan citizens criticized the nationwide internet blackout, warning it deepens isolation, disrupts communications, limits access to information, and pushes Afghanistan further from global progress and development. Afghan citizens have voiced sharp criticism over the nationwide shutdown of fiber optic internet, warning that the blackout threatens communication and further isolates the country. Access to fiber
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi September 26, 2025 Maryam has worked as an online interpreter since the Taliban banned women from most jobs in Afghanistan. But her livelihood is under threat after the hard-line Islamist group last week shut down access to fiber-optic Internet in large swaths of the country. The move has left government offices, homes,
Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has barred media outlets in Herat from broadcasting images of people or other living beings, local sources said Tuesday. Officials from television stations and YouTube channels were summoned by the ministry and ordered to comply with the restriction, participants in the
Afghanistan International: Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada attempted to block the use of smartphones in Afghanistan before ordering the shutdown of wireless internet, sources told Afghanistan International. According to the sources, about a year ago in Kandahar, Akhundzada asked the Taliban’s council of clerics to find a “religious justification” for banning smartphones. The aim, they
Amu: Taliban morality enforcers in Kabul barred a group of employees from Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the state-run electricity company, from entering their offices on Thursday, Sept. 11, because they were not wearing the required headwear or had trimmed beards, according to local sources. Taliban agents from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue
Afghanistan International: Sayed Mohammad Ibrahim Gailani, known as Pir Ibrahim Baba, is the nephew of Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, former head of the Qadiri Sufi order. His lineage traces back to the prominent Sufi Abdul Qadir Gailani, founder of the Qadiri order. Sayed Ahmad Gailani, a former jihadist leader, served as head of the High