Afghanistan

13 May 2026
A framed portrait and the coffin of Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara, who was killed in a militant attack, are displayed on the day of his state funeral, in Bamako, Mali, on April 30.
A 15-year-old boy, who lost his leg in a landmine explosion, walks out of the prosthetics center in Sanaa, Yemen. In 2024, more than 6,000 victims of landmines and explosive remnants of war were recorded, with children the biggest casualty group. 
Opinion

Lurking landmines: 'Postwar' is a misleading term in conflict zones

With contaminated farmlands and living spaces, lives cannot be safely rebuilt

3 May 2026
A doctor gives a patient a ready-to-eat supplement at an Afghan Red Crescent clinic in Kabul. Afghanistan's nutritional deficit is growing worse as tensions escalate along its borders. (Photo by Samiullah Popal)
Afghanistan turmoil

Malnourished Afghan minors trapped as two wars cut off supplies

Taliban-Pakistan tensions, US-Israel attacks force millions into acute food insecurity

11 April 2026
A truck decorated with a portrait of Ali Wazir, a parliamentarian who has consistently spoken out against Taliban violence, is seen parked in a workshop in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 2024.
Opinion

Criminalizing cooperators, Pakistan can never win wars against the Taliban

As the most terrorism-affected country in the world, Islamabad must work with non-violent activists

10 April 2026
A drug rehabilitation center destroyed in what the Taliban said was a Pakistani airstrike smoulders in Kabul on March 18.
2 April 2026
Taliban police guard the area where a strike hit a house in the Momand Dara district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan, on March 13.
Afghanistan turmoil

Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of shelling outskirts of eastern city

Attack killed and wounded civilians, Afghan government says

30 March 2026
Deepening India-Taliban ties come as Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan remain strained due to cross-border conflict that started last October. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters)
Afghanistan turmoil

India and Taliban deepen ties as Pakistan-Afghan conflict intensifies

Taliban Doha chief says natural resource development 'will be mutual benefit'

22 March 2026
Rescue workers comb through what remains of a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul that the Taliban said was bombed in a Pakistani air strike on March 16.
International relations

China's mediation efforts falter in Pakistan-Afghanistan clashes

Islamabad's cross-border airstrikes intensify despite Wang Yi's intervention

19 March 2026
Taliban soldiers climb aboard a vehicle following exchanges of fire between Pakistan and Afghanistan forces, near the Torkham border in Afghanistan, on Feb. 27.
International relations

Pakistan-Afghan tension breaks into 'open war,' says Islamabad

China and Iran offer mediation as hostilities explode along the frontier

28 February 2026
Military vehicles move on a road in a location given as Nangarhar, Afghanistan, in this screengrab from a handout video released on Feb. 26. Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been high for months. (Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense via Reuters)
International relations

Pakistan defense minister says there is now 'open war' with Afghanistan

Tensions between neighbors threaten fragile Qatar-mediated ceasefire

27 February 2026
Local residents stand next to a damaged car at the site of a cross-border Pakistani army strike in the Behsud district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, on Feb. 22.
International relations

Pakistan says it launched border strikes in Afghanistan

Red Crescent reports 18 killed several others wounded

22 February 2026
Rana Ihsaan Afzal Khan, a close aide to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, insists investor confidence is on the rise now that the administration has approved selling a 75% stake in state-owned Pakistan International Airlines to a private consortium. (Photo courtesy of Pakistan Embassy in Tokyo)
12 February 2026
A man buys medicines from a pharmacy in Kabul. (Photo by Naweed Ahmadzai)
Afghanistan turmoil

Afghanistan bans Pakistani medicines even as Afghans face drug shortage

Expanding domestic production, diversifying supply chain cited by public health official

9 February 2026
Plate It Forward CEO Shaun Christie-David is flanked by Kabul Social employee Yakut Hamayoun, left, and head chef Roya Moeen, right. It is one of his four Sydney restaurants. (Photo by Rurika Imahashi)
Food & Beverage

Sri Lankan-Australian restaurateur making a delicious difference

Ex-banker finds calling helping marginalized, keeping firm eye on bottom line

1 February 2026
People from northwestern Pakistan gather in Karachi in July 2025 to protest against militant violence and killings in their home region. 
Opinion

Afghanistan and its neighbors need border security cooperation

Region faces growing threat from militant networks spilling over borders

22 January 2026
Jahongir Kobulov and his Afghan assistant, Muradi Najibullah. Kobulov says he opened his shop at Airitom once the free trade zone was set up. (Photo by Abror Kurbonmuratov)
Trade

Uzbek-Afghan free trade zone grows as Taliban curbs Pakistan ties

Business is thriving but geopolitical uncertainties can unravel commerce

19 January 2026
Soldiers secure the entrance to the headquarters of a Pakistani paramilitary force following an attack by suicide bombers in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Nov. 24, 2025.
International relations

Afghan border closure reducing terror attacks: Pakistan

Military says reopening unlikely to come soon as security takes precedence

9 January 2026
People stand on Nov. 25 in front of houses in Afghanistan's Kunar province that the Taliban government said were damaged after Pakistan carried out raids. 
Opinion

Afghanistan is once again proving that geography is destiny

Nation sits at intersection of Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and Russian ambitions

31 December 2025
A grinning influencer man declares "Welcome to Afghanistan" in this promotional Instagram video for an Afghanistan-based tourism company. (Screenshot)
Opinion

Influencers are free to film Afghanistan, while journalists are locked out

From my time reporting in the country, I know that what is unseen matters as much as what is shown

21 December 2025
An Afghan recipient of U.S. Special Immigrant Visa holds his son as he and his family prepare to sign a lease on a new apartment in Houston in 2021, following their evacuation from Afghanistan.
Immigration

Trump's DC shooting response puts Afghans' asylum, transit in limbo

Blanket visa freeze forces refugees to reassess, risks straining ties with host nations

10 December 2025
These trucks are loaded with the belongings of Afghans attempting to return to their country after Pakistan closed border crossings with Afghanistan. They were pictured at the border crossing in Chaman, Pakistan, on Oct. 16.
Trade war

Pakistan's trade war with Afghanistan boomerangs on its economy

Taliban turns to Iran and India after border clashes shut key routes

30 November 2025
Rescue workers arriving at a court building in Islamabad on Nov. 11 after a suicide attack.
International relations

Pakistan-Afghanistan clash looms after militant attacks in Islamabad

Experts expect Pakistani 'targeted operations' and Taliban power struggle

13 November 2025
Afghan farmer in a Jalalabad province poppy field in 2014 when no drug bans were in place.
Trade

Opium cultivation booms in Pakistan, Iran as Taliban bars Afghans

Banned poppy farming in Afghanistan remains a small fraction of 2022 level

11 November 2025
An Afghan restaurant in New Delhi: India's welcome of the Taliban foreign minister in October has made Afghan refugees nervous about their futures. (Photo by Kanika Gupta)
Immigration

Afghan refugees' fears grow as India warms to Taliban

New Delhi's shift means UNHCR resettlement may be evacuees' only hope

6 November 2025
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake in August brought shoddily built homes cascading down hillsides in eastern Afghanistan. (Photo by Aga Khan Development Network)
Natural disasters

Time running out for quake-hit Afghan region as winter nears

Humanitarians aim to 'build back better' but reconstruction faces acute funding shortage

19 October 2025
People carry the Pakistani flag-draped coffin of a soldier, who died following overnight border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, during a funeral in Kurram, a tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on Oct. 12.
International relations

Pakistan's Afghan attacks expose its frustration with militants and others

Taliban 'closeness with India' proves final straw in sparking Islamabad action

15 October 2025
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is welcomed by an Indian official at New Delhi, Oct. 9. (Handout via Reuters)
International relations

India reopening embassy in Kabul, says foreign minister

Key announcement comes as Jaishankar meets Afghan Taliban's Muttaqi in Delhi

10 October 2025
Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, pictured here attending a conference in Tehran in December 2023. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
International relations

Taliban's 1st high-level India visit to send signals to US, China, Pakistan

Development comes after UN Security Council Committee grants exemption to travel ban

8 October 2025
Soldiers from the Pakistan Army following a militant attack in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Pakistan on Sept. 2. At least 19 Pakistani soldiers and 45 TTP militants were killed in multiple clashes earlier this month.
International relations

Pakistan urges Afghan Taliban to choose a side: Islamabad or militants

Warning comes after recent deadly clashes and China's failure in mediation

19 September 2025
Taliban fighters and supporters ride on a pickup truck during celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the start of Taliban rule in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 15. (AP Photo/Nava Jamshidi)
Opinion

Afghans are hungrier than ever after four years of Taliban rule

International recognition means little when millions face famine and malnutrition

1 September 2025