Tag:Taliban

Muttaqi, a key architect of the Taliban's post-2021 takeover diplomacy, travelled to the southern province of Kandahar on Friday for the audience with Akhundzada.

The report, filed under Section 7044 of the foreign operations appropriations legislation, outlines multiple fronts on which Washington plans to back human rights, education, and free expression – particularly for Afghan women and girls – even as the Taliban remain in control of most of the country.

The global human rights watchdog said that Afghanistan now faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, exacerbated by donor governments’ aid cuts and the return of 1.9 million refugees expelled from Iran and Pakistan. 

The Afghan caretaker government is working to assist the sudden influx of returnees. Local officials in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces have been coordinating transportation to help families return to their hometowns.

The coming weeks will determine how the repatriation unfolds and whether diplomatic efforts can alter the course of what many fear could become one of the largest forced migrations in recent history.

Many Afghan women and girls are battling severe mental health issues, with some taking their own lives, others disappearing into Taliban prisons, and those with the means fleeing the country.

Despite the Islamic State’s setbacks in the Middle East, the assessment reveals that ISIS-K remains operationally capable and aggressive, leveraging its influence beyond South Asia to inspire and enable attacks across the globe.

Severe funding shortfalls have already forced the closure of more than 200 health facilities, impacting nearly two million people, as well as resulted in significant reductions to essential malnutrition services.