Page 7 - Afghanistan

Earthquake devastates Afghan villages; kills 800 and injures 2,500

Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government. The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage. The quake at 11:47 pm was centred 27 kilometres east-northeast of Jalalabad, the US Geological Survey said. It was just 8 kilometres deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed. Footage showed rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands. The Taliban government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference Monday that the death toll had risen to at least 800 with more than 2,500 injured. He said most of the casualties were in ...

India offers support to Afghanistan after earthquakes kills over 500

More than 500 people were killed and over 1000 people injured after an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of Monday

6.0 magnitude earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan, at least 600 killed

Taliban government officials have appealed to humanitarian organisations for assistance in rescue operations across remote mountainous regions, many of which can be reached only by air

Earthquake of magnitude 6.0 jolts southeastern Afghanistan near Pak border

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake shook southeastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border late Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake's epicenter was 36 kilometers (22 miles) north or Basawul, Afghanistan, and it had a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), the USGS said. It struck at 11:47 pm local time Sunday, with no damage immediately reported. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on October 7, 2023, along with strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated that at least 4,000 perished. The UN gave a far lower figure of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.

Trump cuts funding for Afghan resettlement programmes, sparks criticism

Congressional statistics show nearly 60,000 Afghans in Afghanistan are still awaiting asylum case reviews, while more than 170,000 remain in the queue for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs)

To Lose a War: How the US slowly lost its way in Afghanistan conflict

A gripping account of two decades in Afghanistan, tracing the Taliban's fall, America's missteps, and the enduring human cost in Jon Lee Anderson's To Lose a War

The Art of War and Peace: From Ethiopia to Ukraine, what's changed, endured

The book contains analytical accounts of the 20-year Afghan War, which ended with ignominious withdrawal of US and Western military forces & with the Taliban gaining control over the entire country

The world nearly beat polio, but missteps and fake records revived it

For the past decade, Sughra Ayaz has travelled door to door in southeastern Pakistan, pleading with parents to allow children to be vaccinated against polio to wipe out the paralytic disease. She hears their demands and fears. Some are practical families need basics like food and water more than vaccines. Amid rampant misinformation and immense pressure for the campaign to succeed, Ayaz said, some managers have instructed workers to falsely mark children as immunised. And the vaccines, which must be kept cold, aren't always stored correctly, she added. The World Health Organisation and partners embarked on their polio campaign in 1988 with the bold goal of eradication a feat seen only once for human diseases, with smallpox in 1980. They came close several times, including in 2021, when just five cases of the natural virus were reported in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But since then, cases rebounded, hitting 99 last year, and officials missed at least six self-imposed eradication ...

Afghanistan inks $10 bn deal to generate 10K MW power across country

Acting Minister of Energy and Water Abdul Latif Mansoor said the deal marked a major achievement for the Islamic Emirate and a vital step toward the country's economic progress

Taliban has suppressed Afghan women's rights, says US SIGAR report

According to the report, the US allocated only around $342 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in fiscal year 2025, a sharp drop from over $968 million in 2023

Pakistan renews deportation drive, forces thousands of Afghans to border

Millions of Afghans have fled into Pakistan over the past several decades due to conflict and instability, including hundreds of thousands who arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021

Over 1.1 million Afghans deported from Iran, UN rushes aid amid crisis

In response to the worsening crisis, Tom Fletcher, the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated $10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to assist returnees from Iran

Germany deports 81 Afghan nationals, 2nd flight since Taliban's return

Germany deported dozens of Afghan nationals to their homeland on Friday, the second time it has done so since the Taliban returned to power and the first since a new government pledging a tougher line on migration took office in Berlin. The Interior Ministry said a flight took off Friday morning carrying 81 Afghans, all of them men who had previously come to judicial authorities' attention. It said in a statement that the deportation was carried out with the help of Qatar, and said the government aims to deport more people to Afghanistan in the future. More than 10 months ago, Germany's previous government deported Afghan nationals to their homeland for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to step up deportations of asylum-seekers. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more

Man held in Bangladesh for suspected ties to Pak-based militant group

Md Foysal reportedly travelled to Afghanistan via Pakistan and recruited others for extremist activities

US appeals court steps in as norms protecting Afghans set to expire

An appeals court has stepped in to keep in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that have allowed them to work in the US and be protected from deportation after they were set to expire as part of the Trump administration's efforts to make more people eligible for removal from the country. The Department of Homeland Security in May said it was ending Temporary Protected Status for 11,700 people from Afghanistan in 60 days. That status had allowed them to work and meant the government could not deport them. CASA, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group, sued the administration over the TPS revocation for Afghans as well as for people from Cameroon those expire August 4. A federal judge last Friday allowed the lawsuit to go forward but did not grant CASA's request to keep the protections in place while the lawsuit plays out. CASA appealed the case Monday and won a stay keeping in place the temporary status for Afghans that was set to expire Monday. The appeals court gave no reason

UNHCR concerned over widespread return of Afghan refugees from Iran, Pak

UNHCR head in Afghanistan, Arafat Jamal, said that the country is not well prepared to receive this influx of returnees

WFP raises alarm as 10 million Afghans face hunger due to aid cuts

The Ministry of Economy claims to have initiated programs aimed at reducing poverty and unemployment, which it says could alleviate some of the nation's pressing challenges

UN adopts resolution on Afghanistan's Taliban rule despite US objections

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Monday over US objections calling on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to reverse their worsening oppression of women and girls and eliminate all terrorist organizations. The 11-page resolution also emphasises the importance of creating opportunities for economic recovery, development and prosperity in Afghanistan, and urges donors to address the country's dire humanitarian and economic crisis. The resolution is not legally binding but is seen as a reflection of world opinion. The vote was 116 in favour, with two the United States and close ally Israel opposed and 12 abstentions, including Russia, China, India and Iran. Since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures, banning women from public places and girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade. Last week, Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban's government. Germany's UN Ambassador Antje Leendertse, whose count

India abstains from UN resolution on Afghanistan, calls for end of terror

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Afghanistan to uphold human rights, adhere to international law and take decisive action against terrorism amid a worsening humanitarian crisis

Iran mass expels Afghan refugees, raising alarms for women under Taliban

Iran's deportation of 250,000 Afghans, many of them women, has sparked a humanitarian crisis as returnees face deadly heat, Taliban restrictions, and limited support at overcrowded border crossings