Government urged to reconsider proposal for 1,100 Afghans, currently stranded in Qatar, who worked with US forces

Dozens of US lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Thursday to roll back any plans to ship to unsafe third countries Afghan nationals who worked with US forces during the war in their homeland.

In a letter seen by Reuters, more than 80 House of Representatives members, including at least three Republicans as well as Democrats, appealed to secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to reconsider plans for 1,100 Afghans who have been stranded in Qatar awaiting relocation.

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© Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

The closure of Afghanistan and Pakistan borders since October has severely impacted millions of residents and thousands of businesses.

A child reported among those killed when Taliban forces fired on crowds in Herat, who were protesting over arrests of women accused of violating hijab dress code

A Taliban crackdown on women’s dress code in Afghanistan has escalated into a rare mass street protest in the western province of Herat, with at least two people, including one boy, killed by security forces.

Officials made a wave of arrests in recent days targeting women and young girls accused of “improper hijab”. Residents say many families had received no information about the whereabouts or condition of those detained.

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© Photograph: Handout

© Photograph: Handout

© Photograph: Handout

Afghanistan’s Taliban government used live fire to disperse a protest in the western city of Herat over new restrictions on women, eyewitnesses told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

Afghan Talliban forces used gunfire to disperse a women’s rights protest in the western city of Herat on June 9 after residents demonstrated against the recent arrest of women accused of violating the mandatory dress code. One eyewitness said at least one person was killed.

When Kazakhstan launched Central Asia’s first large-scale cloud-seeding program on May 17, it called it a high-tech response to drought, water scarcity, and accelerating desertification.

An overloaded truck carrying Afghan families returning from Pakistan crashed in eastern Afghanistan on May 30, killing at least 22 people and injuring 36 others, local officials said.

Russia and Afghanistan’s Taliban have signed a military and technical cooperation deal, Russian media reported, but neither side released details, raising questions about whether it marks a substantive shift or a symbolic move.

The development of Afghanistan’s mineral resources has become the center of an information and geopolitical struggle where economic projects intersect with security issues, propaganda, and great-power rivalry. A recent article published by the US arms-industry, big-tech, banking, and other Western special interests-funded Lowy Institute’s “Interpreter,” boldly claims, “Afghanistan is surrendering its mineral wealth — and its […]