Outrage over women's exclusion from UN-led talks with Taliban

Taliban officials are attending a United Nations conference on the future of Afghanistan. It's the first time that they've joined such talks. Activists have criticized the UN for inviting the Afghan rulers to the gathering in Qatar. Human-rights and women's groups accuse the Taliban of wide-ranging abuses.

ISIS-K Moscow attacks – who is at risk?

Islamic State, a group that once sought control over parts of Iraq and Syria, has claimed responsibility for Friday's mass shooting at a concert hall near Moscow that killed at least 139 people. U.S. officials have said they have intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), that was responsible. The Islamic State once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Fleeing Afghanistan - Facing the threat of deportation and bureaucratic hurdles

Two years after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the human rights situation remains dire. It is not only people who had been employed by the US or its allies who have found themselves subject to repression and revenge. Human rights activists, artists and women’s advocates are all targets.

How an entire Afghan orchestra got asylum in Portugal | Focus on Europe

The Taliban's music ban forced an entire Afghan youth orchestra into exile. The students at Afghanistan's National Institute for Music – more than 250 in total – have been granted asylum in Portugal.

Afghan musicians in exile

The Taliban vandalized their music school and forbade them to play. So, the Afghan Youth Orchestra's musicians fled and continue to perform in exile. With the help of foreign donors, music school principal Ahmad Sarmast managed to get all his students out of Afghanistan. Now the Afghan Youth Orchestra has found a new home in the Portuguese city of Braga

How is Pakistan dealing with the security threat from Afghanistan?

 

Islamabad has reported an increase in cross-border attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Pakistan’s provinces along the Afghanistan border have come under repeated attack by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the TTP or the Pakistan Taliban.

Islamabad accuses the Taliban government in Afghanistan of allowing these fighters to use its territory to launch attacks. The Afghans deny the allegation.

Taliban Palace: The second year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan

 

Rare behind-the-scenes access to the Taliban spokesman who is confronted about the failing economy and broken promises.

With unprecedented access from Kandahar to Kabul, the Taliban’s main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid opens the doors to the presidential palace. He takes us to the centre of the Taliban’s transition from rebel fighters to the nation’s leaders.

After two years in power, what have the Taliban achieved in Afghanistan?

 It's now been two years since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of people fled the country at the time, fearful the takeover would mean a return to the harsh Islamist policies of the past.

An Afghan family’s harrowing journey to the U.S. border

 

Afghanistan: Inside the Taliban's Emirate • FRANCE 24 English

 Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, something they did faster than anyone anticipated. Since August, they have had to make a rapid transition to running the day-to-day business of a struggling state. From Kabul to the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and the mountainous Wardak province, our team have witnessed the grim reality of Taliban rule

What’s behind latest Afghanistan-Pakistan border tension?

 

The two neighbours closed a major crossing at Torkham in their most recent border dispute.

Forces from Afghanistan and Pakistan have exchanged fire at the Torkham border crossing.

The incident is the latest in a series of flare-ups between the two countries.

Leaving Afghanistan: Starting over in a new land

 

After the Afghan capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban in August 2021, there was a mass exodus as civilians fled their homeland.

They are now scattered around the world, from New Zealand to North America.

But what are their new lives like in countries and cultures far from home?

Taliban ban women workers in NGOs, more than 25 million Afghans in need of help

 

The UN says it will continue to work in Afghanistan despite a Taliban order banning women from working for aid agencies. That order is in addition to a long line of Taliban diktats preventing women from accessing jobs, education and social equality.

A big blow for Afghan women: Taliban bars them from universities

 

Women in Afghanistan express shock and anger over Taliban decision that drew international condemnation.

Women’s rights have come under attack since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August last year.

Girls have been excluded from schools and women’s employment rights have been limited.

The Taliban say they have acted in the national interest.

Afghan women protesting Taliban university ban report being arrested and beaten

 

People have marched outside Kabul University in Afghanistan's capital against the Taliban's decision to ban female students from university. Women marched the streets shouting 'everyone or no one' after the ban was announced by the higher education minister on Tuesday. In a clip obtained by the Associated Press, one woman said authorities used force to disperse the crowds in Kabul, 'whipping' and 'arresting' women who were demonstrating

Afghanistan: protests outside universities following ban on female students

 

A protest broke out at a university in the eastern city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, following the Taliban's decision to ban female students from higher education. Men and women held signs and chanted outside the school on the day the ban started. The decision was announced through a letter to private and government universities by the higher education minister, just three months after thousands of students sat entrance exams

How significant is the prisoner swap between US and Afghanistan?

 

The Taliban has freed an American contractor in exchange for an Afghan drug dealer.

The Taliban has released US Navy veteran Mark Frerichs in exchange for an Afghan tribal leader.

Frerichs was abducted in February 2020 while Bashir Noorzai was serving a life sentence for smuggling heroin.

Afghan soldiers who sought refuge in the US dream of taking their country back

Monday marked the first anniversary of the fall of Kabul and the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. A year ago, when the Afghan government collapsed and President Achraf Ghani fled, the future of Afghanistan was plunged into uncertainty.

Has the Taliban kept its promises in Afghanistan?

 

That headline is like asking does it snow in Siberia? 

The Taliban’s swift return to power in Afghanistan a year ago caught many by surprise.

Fighters captured a string of cities and the capital Kabul as US-led foreign forces left the country after 20 years.

Taliban leaders promised to be more moderate than the last time they were in power between 1996 and 2001.

But 12 months on, the international community refuses to recognise the Taliban government.

Crucial foreign aid is drying up, nearly all Afghans have faced food shortages and – despite promising to respect women’s rights – most girls are still banned from school.

The Afghan cyclists who fled to pursue their Olympic dreams

 

It has been one year since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.

One of the first things they did was ban women from playing any sport, putting female athletes in danger.

But with the help of a former World Champion cyclist, five young women from the national cycling team managed to escape to a town in northern Italy.

Some of them are now hoping to become the first cyclists to ever represent Afghanistan at the Olympics. The BBC visited them to find out how they’re settling in to their new lives.