Afghanistan
NATO: U.S. Ambassador To NATO Discusses Russia, Afghanistan
Ambassador Victoria Nuland at RFE/RL's Prague broadcast center on May 31 (RFE/RL) June 1, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- United States Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland was in Prague this week to discuss a proposed missile-defense shield with Czech officials and other NATO allies. The system would consist of a radar, to be based in the Czech Republic, and missile interceptors in neighboring Poland. The United States says the system would protect much of Europe and the United States from missile attacks coming from hostile or rogue states.
Washington has repeatedly said it is not aimed at Moscow, but Russia this week accused the United States of starting a new arms race. RFE/RL correspondents Jeremy Bransten and Irina Lagunina interviewed Nuland about missile defense and NATO's operations in Afghanistan.
RFE/RL: Let's start with the proposed missile-defense system that Washington wants to base in the Czech Republic and Poland. Despite all the U.S. assertions to the contrary, it seems that Moscow believes it's going to be aimed against Russia. Russia this week test-fired an ICBM designed to carry multiple warheads. President Vladimir Putin said that it was part of a response to the U.S. shield. Is there a danger that this could escalate into a new arms race between Moscow and Washington? Isn't it irresponsible to risk such an arms race?
Victoria Nuland: You know, it's really quite unfortunate that Russia has chosen to escalate its own rhetoric. We have said repeatedly that this is a defensive system, that in fact the interceptors carry no warheads, that they are two-stage missiles -- they can't even catch anything coming from Russia -- and that we are prepared to offer full transparency, full verification of all of those things, and even more importantly, we've said to the Russians: "Hey, don't build missiles. Join us in building missile defenses. Let's develop these systems together." Obviously, you don't wake up one morning and say: "I'd like to launch an ICBM now." This missile has been in development for many, many years. It's designed to modernize their aging missiles. We consider that a normal part of development and it's just unfortunate that this has been counterposed.
RFE/RL: So what kind of concrete cooperation is Washington offering Moscow?
Nuland: We've offered a full range of things. The president called [Russian] President Putin in March and made a general offer and then [U.S. Defense] Secretary Gates was in Moscow about a month and a half ago. Everything from joint technology development to building radars together, sharing information from the system. It could only be limited by what we could agree to, so again, as I said, our hope is that the Russians, instead of focusing on building missiles, will join us in building missile defenses, because we think that just as we are at threat from an Iranian missile program, so is Moscow.
RFE/RL: Is the proposed missile-defense shield primarily aimed at Iran? What about North Korea and other 'rogue states?'
Nuland: The radar in the Czech Republic and the interceptors in Poland are the part of the system that would create additional coverage, not just for the United States but also for all of our allies against a long-range missile threat, primarily from Iran. As you know, for the North Korean threat, we have facilities in Alaska and California, so the primary focus now is on Iran. They today have missiles that can threaten allies that are at short range. They're developing medium-range missiles, and we believe that by 2015 they could have a long-range capability. As you know, it's going to take some time to finish our negotiations and our building, so we want to be ready.
RFE/RL: Why did the United States select Poland and the Czech Republic? Are they the optimal place for blocking potential Iranian missiles? Why not position the shield closer to the region?
Nuland: It's purely a matter of geography. What the radar does is it helps you cue on the incoming missiles so that the interceptor can catch it. If it is too close to the launch, for example if it were in Turkey or Bulgaria, it doesn't have enough time to cue the missile before it's already flown past, so you need a little bit of time, so that's how…it's pure physics and geometry.
RFE/RL: Let's return to U.S.-Russian relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 31 accused the United States of starting a new arms race. What is your response?
Nuland: We just find it ludicrous, frankly. President Bush and President Putin presided over one of the deepest cuts in strategic weaponry for both sides, Moscow and Washington, in history. That should be the legacy of these two guys. That is the legacy my president believes in for their time in office. We are talking now about a defensive system, as I said, that has no warheads on it, 10 interceptors, can't even fly high enough to reach Russian missiles, and Moscow is turning this into an enormous new strategic threat. The strategic threat for the United States, for our European allies, and for the people of the Russian Federation today comes from Iran and comes from the fact that despite our best efforts -- those of Washington, of Moscow, and of all the countries in between -- to stop, limit, deter Iran from trying to acquire weapons, we haven't succeeded. And that's where we need to redouble our efforts and need to redouble our defenses in case diplomacy doesn't work.
RFE/RL: So you're saying that Putin's wording -- that this is an arms race -- is just rhetoric that has no basis in fact?
Nuland: The concern is that it is completely mischaracterizing for the Russian people and for all of us what this is about. This is a defensive system. It's a tiny, tiny system, and it's designed for Iran. What we would hope is instead of spending his energy in that direction, he would put his energy towards building missile defenses with us, rather than new Russian missiles.
RFE/RL: There appears to be a certain contradiction. On the one hand, NATO officials, as well as the Russian military, say the two sides have very fruitful cooperation within the NATO-Russia Council. On the other hand, Russia seems to be treating NATO as an organization hostile to Russia's interests? How do you square the two?
Nuland: I'm a big believer in the NATO-Russia Council. We're about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of NATO-Russia relations and of sitting together as 27 countries in alphabetical order around the table in the same way that NATO allies do. And the hope was that obviously with the end of the Cold War, that the security challenges and threats that we faced, both allies and Russia, were more the same than they were different, and that we had the potential to cooperate across the range.
I would say -- and I say this not only as a diplomat, I say it as a mom -- the NATO-Russia Council has been important in the sense that there are a whole bunch of programs that we do together -- NATO military officers, Russian military officers, NATO civilians, Russian civilians that are below the level of this political rhetoric now -- that are important, and they are important for proving to the next generation that we can work together. For example, every single year we have an exercise to plan and be ready in case of a nuclear accident. For example, Russia just joined NATO allies in Wyoming last year. That gives NATO allies and Russia the chance to know each other, to work together, to know that in that kind of crisis we could do something.
We are both now training Afghans and Central Asians in counternarcotics. The threat of drugs from Afghanistan is a threat to Russia and a threat to all of us, so we're working together there, and our drug enforcement folks are learning to work together. They know we have a common purpose.
So the NATO-Russia Council is important in building those next-generation relationships of confidence and cooperation. I think the distressing part is that the political rhetoric is going in the opposite direction, because I want to live in a world -- my kids want to live in a world -- where we're working together to beat the common threats, not creating artificial threats between us.
RFE/RL: Moving to the situation in Afghanistan, the number of Afghan civilian casualties has risen recently as the result of U.S. air strikes and other U.S.-led combat activity. It's putting pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Nongovernmental organizations say that compensation mechanisms for the families of those killed are inadequate. Is there any initiative under way by the U.S. government to see that proper compensation payments are made to the families of innocent civilian victims?
Nuland: The United States, particularly our military operating in theater, does pay compensation, not only to affected families but also to tribes in affected areas as compensation for the loss of life, the loss of breadwinners. What we're trying to do in a NATO context now is to get more of our allies to have similar funds, either in common as a NATO fund or nationally, because we find that they don't often have that ability to react quickly. I think that everyone is conscious of the importance [of this issue], whether they are coalition forces or NATO forces.
We are doing all we can to minimize civilian casualties and any civilian loss of life is one too many. That said, I think we have to appreciate what the Taliban are trying to do. They understand that it is a vulnerability, and they are increasingly trying to use Afghan civilians as human shields and to abuse the hospitality of the population and put civilians in harm's way. We also need to speak up and say that there is no -- as the secretary-general likes to say -- moral equivalency between us and an enemy who beheads, kills schoolteachers, bombs indiscriminately.
So that's what we're facing. It is a war and civilians are unfortunately being targeted.
RFE/RL: That can be explained in a sort of abstract way but are you concerned that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is being put in an increasingly tenuous position because the more civilian casualties rise, the less he's going to be able to explain that to his people?
Nuland: I think what's important is that whenever we have an incident like this, we are prepared to investigate quickly to, as you say, compensate to the best of our ability, to explain to the population how it happened and why it happened, and often to tell the story of the active abuse by the Taliban of the village. And I think President Karzai understands that. He's frankly been a true father to his nation in going to comfort those who've been caught in the crossfire. He went down recently to Shindad himself. He always sees the families in the [presidential] palace, so it is a long and difficult struggle. We need his leadership and we also need to continue to be as careful and caring as we can be.
RFE/RL: Recently, there were several reports from Afghanistan saying that key Taliban commanders had been killed in numbers that would not allow their followers to regroup and stage major offensives. That was clearly incorrect and Taliban fighters have regrouped and continue to be very active. What went wrong?
Nuland: I think actually we've had considerable success over the winter and spring months. There was a lot of talk six months ago about a massive Taliban spring offensive that, in fact, did not materialize because NATO forces, coalition forces, and Afghan forces have been so active, particularly in the Kandahar area, Helmand, and throughout the east. And, as you say, we have been able to take out some of the ringleaders.
But we still face a serious and committed movement, and they work very actively to grow new leaders as quickly as they can. So this is not a quick struggle. This is going be a long struggle and it's going be a struggle not only on the military side, the part that we hope increasingly Afghans can take over. But this is a very poor country, the fifth-poorest in the world before this started, that has gone through 20 plus years of civil war, and we have all got to be committed to the strengthening of the Afghan economy, the democratic system, a better way of life for a long, long time -- and, obviously, beating the drug problem, too.
RFE/RL: Some argue that the Taliban has regained popularity among parts of the population because the same warlords that ruled the regions for years are still there, so locals don't see any benefit, any changes, under the Karzai administration. Do you see this reliance of warlords as a weakness of the Karzai administration and of NATO operations in Afghanistan?
Nuland: I think that one of the great successes of the Karzai period has been his ability to create a big tent and bring a lot of the old warlords into a political process, whether they're in parliament or government. I think what we still see is the Taliban being able to operate and move within its historic Pashtun belt and largely doing it the way insurgents do it. They do it by intimidating the population, and so our job is to help the government offer another way of life, offer the security to help the population withstand that kind of intimidation and offer economic opportunities other than growing poppies, which obviously fueled the Taliban. That's the challenge as we see it. It's less a warlord challenge, and more a challenge of better governance, better economic opportunity, better security than what the Taliban are offering.
RFE/RL: What's at stake for NATO in Afghanistan? The alliance has made this mission its key priority and it seems it can't afford to fail or it could raise a big question mark about its purpose and viability for the future. Do you agree?
Nuland: I'm an optimist by nature, but I've also been out to visit our soldiers every few months since this operation started and I've got to tell you: this ain't your daddy's NATO. This is a NATO that is working hand-in-hand with the Afghan National Army, working multinationally on the ground, as trainers from the air, and also training the next generation of Afghans, whether it's security providers and even in terms of growing their economy -- we have an economic commitment there too. So I think NATO is more than up to the challenge as a military-political organization. I think what's important is that European leaders continue to remind their populations that this is a mission that needs to be supported in our own security interest.
Thinking Strategically
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- By Farhad Shinwari,
- Azmat Ali Shah and
- Kian Sharifi
For Afghan Refugees In Pakistan, A 'Cruel' Countdown Has Begun
Pakistan’s plan to deport millions of Afghan migrants has drawn sharp criticism as the country begins implementing its controversial policy.
Rights groups warn that many returnees face severe risks in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, including persecution, violence, and economic hardship. Vulnerable individuals such as women, journalists, human rights defenders, and former government officials are particularly at risk.
The government had initially set March 31 as the deadline for Afghan migrants to leave voluntarily or face deportation. However, the deadline was postponed until April 10 due to the Eid al-Fitr holidays marking the end of Ramadan, officials said.
The delay provides a brief reprieve for tens of thousands of Afghans but does not alter the government’s goal of expelling up to 3 million migrants by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, around 40,000 Afghans in Pakistan await uncertain resettlement to third countries, mostly in the West. Many fled after the Taliban’s 2021 return, fearing retribution due to ties with the United States, NATO, and other Western organizations.
Who Is Being Deported?
The deportation campaign targets Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, undocumented individuals, and those who arrived after the Taliban’s return to power.
There are around 800,000 ACC card holders and 1.4 million Afghans who have been issued Proof of Registration (POR) cards by the UN refugee agency. POR card holders are not yet being deported, Pakistani officials say, as their permits expire in June.
ACC holders are granted temporary permission to reside in Pakistan, but the validity and duration of their stay are determined by the federal government. Unlike POR cardholders, ACC holders do not have guaranteed protections against deportation beyond the government’s specified deadlines.
This poses another problem, as members of the same family can hold different immigration statuses.
That’s the case for Rehmat Khan, a man in his 50s who is facing immediate deportation because he is an ACC card holder, while the other members of his family are POR card holders.
“I don’t know how I can leave my family behind, and I don’t know who will support them when I am deported to Afghanistan,” he told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal.
Rehmat Khan is one of approximately 20,000 Afghans who live in Jalala refugee camp, some 150 kilometers northwest of Islamabad. Residents of the camp have been formally notified to prepare to leave.
Most of the Afghans in the camp are descendants of refugees who migrated to Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Many are in their 30s, meaning they have never lived in Afghanistan and consider Pakistan their home.
The camp functions as a small village, with several schools, houses mostly made of mud, and a makeshift bazaar.
“I am in 11th grade. Sending me back to Afghanistan at this point in the school year will ruin my future,” a student who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons told Radio Mashaal. “There are no educational opportunities there, and I am unfamiliar with the education system. I was born and raised here, and I know this place better than Afghanistan.”
A holding camp to process the relocation of refugees has been established in Landi Kotal in Peshawar, where Frontier Corps paramilitary forces and local police are deployed.
While no refugees are currently housed in the camp, officials expect an influx of families in the coming days as the repatriation process gains momentum.
Rights Groups Alarmed by ‘Cruel’ Deadline
The United Nations has expressed alarm over the plan, warning that some people would be at risk once in Afghanistan.
“We urge Pakistan to continue to provide safety to Afghans at risk, irrespective of their documentation status,” said Philippa Candler, UNHCR's country representative, said in a statement on February 5, when the initial deadline was set.
Amnesty International has also condemned the deportations, calling them a violation of international human rights law.
“The Pakistani government’s unyielding and cruel deadline to remove Afghan refugees shows little respect for international human rights law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement,” Amnesty’s deputy regional director for South Asia, Isabelle Lassee, said on March 26.
She added that portraying Afghan refugees as a threat is “disingenuous” and scapegoats a community that has fled persecution.
Despite mounting criticism, Pakistani officials defend the policy as necessary for national security and resource management.
The Pakistani government has often blamed militant violence and criminal activity on Afghan citizens, allegations rejected by the extremist Taliban-led government in Kabul.
- By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal,
- Farhad Shinwari,
- Azmat Ali Shah and
- Will Tizard
Masses Of Afghans Being Deported From Pakistan Face Angst And Uncertainty
With Pakistan beginning to enforce a deportation deadline that passed on March 31, hundreds of thousands of Afghans who fled the Taliban's takeover in 2021 now face an uncertain future. Other Afghans have lived in Pakistan's Mardan camp for generations, and many have never lived in Afghanistan. Some have established businesses in the camp that they say could never function under a ruined, Taliban-run economy.
Hundreds Of Thousands Of Afghans In Pakistan Brace For Deportations
More than 800,000 Afghans who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021 live without papers in neighboring Pakistan.
These undocumented Afghan refugees and migrants face a rapidly approaching deportation order issued by Islamabad requiring them to leave the country by March 31.
Another 1.4 million Afghans who are formally registered with the Pakistani government and who hold a Proof of Residence card issued by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) have until June 30 to return to their homeland. Many have lived in Pakistan for decades.
The fate of an additional 40,000 Afghans who are waiting to be resettled to third countries, mostly in the West, is unclear.
Pakistan initially said these at-risk Afghans, a group that includes activists, journalists, and former members of the defunct Western-backed Afghan government and its armed forces, must leave or face deportation by March 31. But a source at the Pakistani Interior Ministry told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that the deadline for them to leave the country has been extended to June 30.
Among this group are some 15,000 Afghans who are waiting to be resettled in the United States, although their status remains unclear after President Donald Trump's administration announced that the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) would be suspended for at least three months starting on January 27.
“We are left in a deep despair,” said Hina, a 25-year-old Afghan woman who lives with her family in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.
Her family had been cleared for resettlement in the United States and even booked their flights from Islamabad. But now they are in limbo.
“Our dreams of building a safe future [in the United States] have been shattered,” added Hina. “We can’t return to Afghanistan where our lives will be at risk, nor can we build a stable life in Pakistan.”
Growing Fears
Pakistan has already forcibly deported more than 800,000 undocumented Afghans since 2023, when it launched a major crackdown, according to the UN.
The deportees have returned to a country gripped by devastating humanitarian and economic crises, and many have struggled to access shelter, health care, and food and water.
The deportations have coincided with tensions soaring between the unrecognized Taliban government in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Islamabad has accused the Taliban of sheltering Pakistani militants, a claim rejected by the Afghan militant group.
Ahead of the March 31 deadline, Pakistani police conducted night raids and arbitrarily detained and arrested hundreds of Afghan refugees in the capital, Islamabad, and the nearby city of Rawalpindi, according to international rights groups.
Videos shared on social media show Pakistani police using loudspeakers to order undocumented Afghans to leave Islamabad.
"The problem is that our children go to school here and we have jobs here,” Obaidullah, an undocumented Afghan refugee living in Peshawar, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. “What will we do in Afghanistan?”
Dire Situation
The tens of thousands of Afghans who are awaiting resettlement abroad face a race against time.
Many of them are in a dire financial situation in Pakistan, said Maiwand Alami, who leads an NGO to help Afghan refugees in Islamabad.
“They have sold their homes in Afghanistan, but that money has since run out,” Alami told RFE/RL. “But [their] biggest problem is uncertainty about their immigration cases. Everybody is anxious about it.”
“Afghans in Pakistan are now required to extend their stay every month. It costs 20,000 rupees [about $71] per person which is a lot of money here, especially if you don’t have any income,” Alami said.
The resettlement of Afghans to the West is uncertain amid increasingly anti-migrant sentiment across Europe and the United States.
Trump said the United States “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans.”
He ordered the suspension of USRAP “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.”
- By RFE/RL
American Woman Freed By Taliban, Second Release Of US Hostage In 8 Days
An American woman has been released by the Taliban rulers in Afghanistan after being detained since February, the second freeing of a US citizen in the past eight days.
In a video posted by US President Donald Trump on March 29, Faye Hall said she had been released by the Taliban after being detained in the war-torn country last month.
"I've never been so proud to be an American citizen," Hall said in the video. "Thank you, Mr President…God bless you."
Trump thanked Hall for the comments and added: "So honored with your words!"
Former U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad first announced the release hours earlier on X, saying it had occurred on March 27. He said she was in the care of the Qatari delegation in Kabul.
"American citizen Faye Hall, just released by the Taliban, is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home," said Khalilzad, who has been part of a US team seeking the release of hostages held by the Taliban.
The development came a week after George Glezmann, 66, was released from detention in Kabul following the first visit by a senior US official to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops in August 2021.
Hall had been detained in February while with a British couple in their 70s, Barbie and Peter Reynolds.
British media said the Reynolds had been operating school projects in Afghanistan for 18 years and had remained in the country despite the Taliban’s return to power.
Reuters quoted a US official as saying Adam Boehler, Washington's special envoy for hostage affairs, had worked with Qatari officials and others to win Hall’s release.
There was no immediate information on the British couple. Their daughter has pleaded for their release, citing health concerns.
Several Americans are still detained in Afghanistan.
Upon his release, Glezmann also thanked Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others who helped free him.
He told Fox News he was abducted in the streets of Kabul and thrown "into a dungeon with no windows no nothing."
Two other Americans held in Afghanistan were exchanged in late January for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.
Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 and was incarcerated in a US prison.
Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Mahmood Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022.
The world community has not recognized the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, although some countries -- including Russia, China, and Turkey -- still maintain embassies in Kabul.
Qatar has also maintained direct contact with the Taliban and has helped broker negotiations for the release of US hostages.
Amid poverty and unrest in the country, the Taliban rulers have made moves to open ties with the rest of the world. Western nations are reluctant to engage with the extremist group amid complaints of widespread human rights violations, especially against girls and women.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, Reuters, AFP, and AP
Millions Of Afghan Girls Barred From School For Fourth Consecutive Year
The new school year started in Afghanistan on March 22, but for the fourth consecutive year, millions of teenage girls were barred from attending classes.
Among them was Khalida, who was in the ninth grade when the Taliban seized power and banned education for girls above 12 years old.
“The ban has had a big impact on my life,” Khalida, now 18, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. “I used to spend all my time on my studies. Now my time passes aimlessly.”
The school ban has had a catastrophic impact on an estimated 2.2 million girls in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has erased women from public life and severely restricted their fundamental rights.
There has been a surge in forced, early, and child marriages. Child marriages have increased by around 25 percent since the Taliban takeover, according to the UN.
The lack of educational and professional prospects for women has fueled a rise in female suicides, making the country one of the few in the world where more women take their own lives than men.
"The lack of access to education not only threatens our future but also hinders our country from progress and development,” said another teenage Afghan girl, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
“We have the right to study, progress, and have a bright future," she told Radio Azadi.
UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, said the repercussions of the school ban will last for generations.
“The ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation,” UNICEF said in a March 22 statement.
“With fewer girls receiving an education, girls face a higher risk of child marriage with negative repercussions on their well-being and health.”
The agency warned that over 4 million girls will be out of school if the ban lasts until 2030.
Calls To Do More
Senior UN officials and Afghan female activists have termed the Taliban’s treatment of Afghan girls and women as “gender apartheid.”
They have called for the international community to put more pressure on the Taliban to reverse its ban on education for girls beyond the sixth grade.
No country has recognized the Taliban’s government, which is under international sanctions. But a growing number of countries, including some in the West, are cooperating with its government on trade, security-related issues, and immigration.
"The Taliban still go around and travel freely,” said Pashtana Durrani, a prominent Afghan education activist who lives in exile.
“They give interviews. They have bank accounts. Their families live abroad yet they have banned Afghan women from getting an education.”
She added: “The international community should be asked whether they truly want the Taliban to open girls’ schools or not?”
Uncertainty Clouds The Future Of Thousands Of Afghans Seeking US Migration
For over three years, Syed Abdul Samad Muzoon, a middle-aged former Afghan security official, has lived with his wife and their teenage daughter in Pakistan to pursue immigration to the United States.
During Washington’s nearly two-decade-long war in Afghanistan, he worked for the Afghan security forces in sensitive roles, he said, helping the US war effort.
Yet, there is still no clarity on whether they will ever be able to make a fresh start in the United States because of new curbs on immigration.
In January, hundreds of Afghans cleared for resettlement in the United States were prevented from traveling to the country after President Donald Trump immediately suspended Washington’s refugee program and foreign aid after assuming office on January 20.
On February 18, Reuters reported that the State Department's program to manage Afghan resettlement in the United States will be shut down in April.
Media reports suggest that the Trump administration could impose a new travel ban to bar the entry of people from Afghanistan and Pakistan, which would close all pathways for Afghans to move to the United States.
The State Department, however, disputes this. “There is no list,” Tammy Bruce, its spokesperson, told journalists on March 17.
Trump has been elected twice on an anti-immigration platform. In a Gallup poll from 2024, a majority of Americans (55 percent) said that they believed there should be less immigration to the United States.
Since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, Washington has helped some 200,000 Afghans resettle.
But Muzoon and many more Afghans might never have a chance to begin a new life in the United States. Tens of thousands of them have been living in Pakistan, Qatar, Albania, and other countries for years as they wait for a final decision on their refugee and immigration cases. Fearing retribution by the Taliban, many are fearful of returning to Afghanistan.
'Extreme Predicament'
Advocacy groups estimate that up to 200,000 more Afghans may be eligible for US immigration. Meanwhile, after reviewing government documents, CBS reported that more than 40,000 Afghans who have already been cleared to leave the country are now stranded.
“I and other Afghan refugees here are in an extreme predicament,” Muzoon said.
Since late 2023, Pakistan has expelled more than 800,000 Afghans, and in the capital, Islamabad, Afghans face constant harassment and police brutality.
Muzoon and 20,000 more Afghans in Islamabad now fear repatriation to Afghanistan after the Pakistani government announced it would forcefully deport some 1.5 million documented and undocumented Afghans if they fail to leave by the end of this month.
“I am suffering from the uncertainty and the seemingly endless wait for our cases,” he said.
Muzoon said threats to his life and family prompted him to flee Afghanistan soon after the Taliban seized the Afghan capital, Kabul, on August 15, 2021, as it toppled the pro-western Afghan republic.
He is among more than half a million Afghans, mostly educated professionals and officials who were integral to running the Afghan republic, who fled the Taliban’s takeover.
Most feared being persecuted for working with the US-led international forces in Afghanistan. Others were senior officials in the Afghan government or worked in the civil society sector.
Three years on, those still waiting for a decision on their US immigration are stuck.
“We are living in extreme despair,” said Maiwand Alami Afghan. He leads an informal association of Afghan refugees in Islamabad.
'Hanging By A Thread'
He said most families in Islamabad sold their properties and belongings in Afghanistan, but that money is now running out.
“Most of us are hanging by a thread,” he said.
Afghan said he had worked for US-funded development projects, which, he fears, makes it impossible for him to return to Afghanistan because the Taliban have persecuted some Afghans associated with the US presence in the country.
“We will still be refugees in our own country, because we don’t have a house, job, or any prospects to earn a livelihood,” he said.
Washington, however, does not look like it will be welcoming any more migrants. During his election campaign, President Trump promised stricter controls on immigration.
In his speech to Congress on March 4, Trump said his administration “has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history.”
Steps taken by Trump after taking office have effectively blocked or suspended the two primary routes for Afghans to immigrate to the United States.
Under the Special Immigration Visa (SIV), Afghans who worked directly for the US government, such as embassy staff or translators for its forces, qualify for relocation. Afghans granted visas under this program can still relocate to the US without financial assistance from Washington, according to Afghans seeking relocation under the program.
“Those who have assisted us and worked with us, that’s been a policy and a dynamic that we’ve worked on from certainly even the previous administration, working to try to get that happening,” said Bruce, the State Department spokesperson.
The refugee program, which enabled former Afghan government officials, lawmakers, and civil society figures to immigrate to the US, is suspended for the next couple of months.
However, the suspension of the State Department's Afghan resettlement program has rattled Americans involved in or supporting the initiative.
“Right now, there's a lot of uncertainty,” said Shawn VanDiver, head of the Afghan Evacuation Association, a coalition of US veterans and advocacy groups that support Afghan resettlement.
'Nothing But Problems And Worries'
VanDiver is now lobbying the US Congress to remove the “complete stop” Trump’s executive orders have put on Afghan resettlement. He says that Congress had authorized Afghan resettlement through December 2027.
“President Trump needs to listen to the voices,” he said, pointing to the bipartisan support in Congress, veterans and service members, who want the immigration of Afghans to continue.
In a statement on March 18, the Afghan Evacuation Association said the ambiguity surrounding the immigration of Afghans “is unnecessary and cruel”. It called on Washington to provide “clear and unequivocal answers” to its wartime Afghan allies.
In media statements and letters, scores of lawmakers have urged President Trump to “fully restore humanitarian and refugee protections for our Afghan allies.”
Several courts across the United States are hearing cases regarding refugee and foreign aid suspensions. Some have issued injunctions against Trump’s executive orders.
A State Department spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “At this time, no decisions have been made” about its Afghan relocation program.
The spokesman said the department is “considering” the future of its Afghan relocation program, officially called Enduring Welcome and the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE).
The spokesperson noted that it “continues to provide life-sustaining support to Afghan allies and partners previously relocated to our overseas case-processing platforms.”
In Islamabad, Muzoon has little understanding of how his future will unfold amid the domestic US wrangling over the fate of Afghans seeking immigration to the country.
He hopes to avoid being deported back to Afghanistan. He wants to move to the United States to send his daughter to school, treat his wife’s depression, and seek some treatment for his heart ailment.
“I have nothing but problems and worries,” he said.
- By RFE/RL
UN Children's Agency Calls On Taliban To Lift Ban On Girls' Education
The UN children’s agency has urged Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government to immediately lift a ban on girls' education beyond primary school, saying that if the ban continues until 2030 more than 4 million girls will have been deprived of their right to education.
Afghanistan's ban on girls' secondary education "continues to harm the future of millions of Afghan girls," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on March 22. “The consequences for these girls -- and for Afghanistan -- are catastrophic.”
The appeal by UNICEF comes as a new school year began in Afghanistan, where girls beyond sixth grade have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
The Taliban justifies the ban, saying the education of girls beyond the sixth grade doesn't comply with their interpretation of Shari’a law.
Russell called for all girls to be allowed to return to school.
“Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education,” Russell said in the statement, adding that if the rights of young girls continue to be denied, “the repercussions will last for generations.”
She pointed out that the ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation.
“With fewer girls receiving an education, girls face a higher risk of child marriage with negative repercussions on their well-being and health,” she said.
The consequences of the ban will affect the number of female doctors and midwives, and this in turn will leave women and girls without crucial medical care.
UNICEF projects an estimated 1,600 additional maternal deaths and over 3,500 infant deaths because of the situation.
The Taliban has allowed limited exceptions to the ban in the health and education sectors, but these jobs come with severe restrictions and the number of women in the workforce continues to fall, according to the United Nations.
Pakistan hosted a global conference in January at which Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned the state of women’s and girls' rights in Afghanistan as gender apartheid.
Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders not to "legitimize" the Taliban-led government and instead to "raise their voices" and "use [their] power" against the militant group's curbs on women and girls' education.
"Simply put, the Taliban do not see women as human beings. They cloak their crimes in cultural and religious justification," Yousafzai told the gathering in Islamabad.
With reporting by AP
- By RFE/RL
American Glezmann Returns Home After 2-Year Detention In Afghanistan
George Glezmann, an American who was released from detention in Afghanistan on March 20, has arrived in the United States and been reunited with his wife, a State Department spokesperson said.
Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on March 21 that Ryan Corbett, another former American prisoner in Afghanistan who had been held in the same cell as Glezmann, was in a welcoming party for Glezmann at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
"After a brief ceremony, George and [his wife] Aleksandra flew to another location in the United States to rest and recover," Bruce told reporters at a regular State Department news briefing.
Glezmann, 66, was released from detention in Kabul following the first visit by a senior US official to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country in August 2021.
Former US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on X that he and Adam Boehler, a senior adviser at the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met with Taliban officials in Kabul on March 20.
"We succeeded in obtaining the release of an American citizen, George Glezmann, after two years in detention in Kabul. The Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to [President Donald Trump] and the American people," Khalilzad said.
Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
“I feel like born again,” Glezmann said on Fox News after arriving at Joint Base Andrews. “I’m just thankful. I’ve got no word to express my gratitude for my liberty for my freedom.”
Glezmann also thanked President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others who helped free him, he said on Fox News, recalling how he was abducted in the streets of Kabul and thrown "into a dungeon with no windows no nothing."
Boehler told Fox News he expects to see more Americans released.
“The Taliban understand that there is a new sheriff in town. That president Trump is that new sheriff and that’s why you are seeing something like this," he said.
One of the other US citizens being held in Afghanistan is Mahmood Habibi, who also has been held since 2022.
Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken into custody by Taliban authorities while on a tourist visit to Afghanistan in December 2022 and had been deemed wrongfully detained by the US government.
Rubio called Glezmann's release "a positive and constructive step" that was aided by officials in Qatar, which has often hosted negotiations between Washington and the Taliban.
"It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan," he added.
The release comes two months after two other Americans held in Afghanistan were exchanged for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.
Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 and was incarcerated in a US prison.
Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022.
Undocumented Afghans In Iran Face Uncertain Future Amid New Restrictions
Millions of Afghans in Iran face an uncertain future as Tehran prepares to implement sweeping restrictions that will cut off access to health care, education, housing, and other essential services for undocumented immigrants.
The new policy, set to take effect on March 21, has left many Afghans grappling with impossible choices between a hostile host country and an unstable homeland.
For Rasheed, an Afghan immigrant living in Iran, the consequences of these policies have already hit home.
Rasheed recently returned to Afghanistan after doctors in Iran refused to treat his elderly mother for her heart disease.
“I was told to return to Afghanistan because Afghans were not supposed to get any treatment here,” Rasheed recalled of his conversation with an official at a government hospital in Tehran.
“My mother’s condition was rapidly deteriorating, which prompted me to return to my country,” he told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. Rasheed requested that his real name be withheld to protect his identity.
In Karaj, a city near Tehran, Ehsan Zia, another Afghan immigrant, is devastated that his two teenage daughters can no longer attend school.
“Our hopes have been dashed,” he told Radio Azadi. “Even here, my daughters are being deprived of education.”
Zia moved to Iran three years ago after the Taliban banned teenage girls from attending school following their return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Despite having a legal visa to stay in Iran, Zia says he has been unable to enroll his daughters in school due to bureaucratic obstacles and shifting policies.
Who Will Be Affected By The New Policy?
Earlier this month, the Center for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants’ Affairs (CAFIA) at Iran’s Interior Ministry announced six categories of Afghans who will remain eligible for key services under the new rules.
These include Afghans registered as refugees, those with valid visas or work permits, former employees of the Western-backed Afghan government that was toppled by the Taliban, and families with school-going children who apply for visas.
Tehran has already deported more than 2 million Afghans over the past two years as part of a campaign targeting undocumented immigrants.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of CAFIA, defended the government’s move, telling the semiofficial ISNA news agency that “there is no obstacle to returning [to Afghanistan] due to the relative stability and declared policies of the current Afghan government.”
The United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that that some 4 million Afghans live in Iran, including more than 2 million undocumented migrants. Figures cited by Iranian officials and media vary widely, with some claiming that 8 million Afghans reside in Iran.
Risking Tensions With The Taliban
The crackdown on undocumented Afghans has coincided with rising anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran. Impoverished Afghan migrants are often scapegoated for crimes, insecurity, and unemployment. Such views have fueled mob violence against Afghans as well as mass arrests and brutal treatment by Iranian police and border security forces.
“Cutting off basic services to migrants will disrupt the labor market and drive more people into the underground economy,” said Graeme Smith, senior Afghanistan analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
Afghan migrants make up a significant portion of Iran’s labor force in agriculture and construction -- sectors that could suffer if undocumented workers are expelled en masse.
Smith also warned that Tehran’s policies could worsen tensions between Iran and Afghanistan. The Taliban government has already clashed with neighboring Pakistan over its treatment of Afghan refugees.
“The Taliban may feel provoked to respond, for example, with restrictions on water sharing,” Smith said, referring to a long-standing dispute over water rights.
Experts argue that Tehran’s approach could backfire, both economically and geopolitically. An isolated and heavily sanctioned Iran needs stable relations with Afghanistan’s Taliban government to expand trade ties, maintain border security, and build a more integrated regional economy.
“Not only will this cause suffering for the Afghans affected,” Smith noted, “but it’s a self-defeating policy for Tehran.”
American Glezmann Released By Taliban After Visit To Kabul By Senior US Official
US citizen George Glezmann has been released from detention in Kabul following the first visit by a senior US official to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country in August 2021.
Former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said in a post on X that after he and Adam Boehler, a senior adviser at the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met with Taliban officials on March 20, the 66-year-old Glezmann was "on his way home to his family."
"We succeeded in obtaining the release of an American citizen, George Glezmann, after two years in detention in Kabul. The Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to [President Donald Trump] and the American people," Khalilzad said.
Details of the negotiations were not revealed. The United States, like most countries, does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
No mention was made of another US citizen being held by the Taliban, George Mahmood Habibi, who also has been held in Afghanistan since 2022.
Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken into custody by Taliban authorities while on a tourist visit to Afghanistan in December 2022 and had been deemed wrongfully detained by the US government.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirmed the release, calling it "a positive and constructive step" that was aided by officials in Qatar, which has often hosted negotiations between Washington and the Taliban.
"It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan," he added.
The release comes two months after two other Americans held in Afghanistan were exchanged for a Taliban man imprisoned for life in California on drug and terrorism charges.
Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 and was incarcerated in a US prison.
Aid worker Corbett, 40, and Habibi, 37 -- who led the Afghan Aviation Authority under the previous Afghan government -- were detained separately in August 2022.
- By RFE/RL
RFE/RL Audiences Voice Support For Its Journalism -- And Fears For Its Future
Amid an attempt by US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt congressionally allocated funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the broadcaster’s audiences in the countries it covers are voicing support and admiration for its journalism.
From Iran to Belarus, Afghanistan to Russia, Pakistan to Ukraine: Readers and listeners praised RFE/RL journalists for their brave, impartial, and honest reporting on the front lines of war and in some of the world’s most repressive political and media landscapes -- and expressed concern that it could vanish.
“I live in a small village. We don’t have satellite or reliable Internet. Your radio [is] giving me hope,” one listener in Iran wrote in a Telegram message to Radio Farda, RFE/RL’s Persian-language service.
Another listener from Iran posted on social media that Radio Farda “is my main source of information because of its unbiased and professional reporting."
“Losing it would be very difficult. I hope that day never comes,” the listener wrote.
Trump on March 14 signed an executive order aiming to reduce seven federal agencies – including the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees RFE/RL and other US taxpayer-funded broadcasters like Voice of America (VOA).
After the executive order was published, Kari Lake, senior adviser to the agency's acting CEO, sent a letter saying the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL had been terminated.
RFE/RL is nonetheless continuing its work and on March 18 filed a federal lawsuit to block USAGM’s attempt to terminate the broadcaster's federal grant that provides funds necessary to operate.
Unlike VOA, which is a federal agency, RFE/RL is a private, nonprofit corporation, with corporate headquarters in Delaware and editorial headquarters in Prague.
Breaking Through 'The Darkness Of Lies'
In Ukraine, where RFE/RL has covered Russia’s full-scale invasion from the front lines since it was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022, reader Oleh Prozorov thanked RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service for its “protection of political freedoms.”
“Sometimes you were like a ray of light that broke through the darkness of lies,” Prozorov wrote on Facebook.
In a message to RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, reader Lesya Bondaruk expressed fear of losing “a bastion of real freedom of speech and thought."
“An attack on Radio Liberty is an attack on humanity’s freedom of speech. This cannot be allowed,” she wrote.
Readers and viewers of RFE/RL’s Russian-language services expressed gratitude for their coverage of the country amid a steady decline in press freedoms during Putin’s 25 years in power that intensified following the Ukraine invasion.
“I am in Russia, engulfed in the zombifying, villainous propaganda of the Kremlin. Current Time is the only Russian-language TV channel that can be trusted, with objective information and many documentary programs,” wrote one viewer of RFE/RL’s 24/7 Russian-language television channel.
“I am endlessly amazed by your reporters who risk working in front-line areas, the professionalism of your anchors, and the high level of journalism,” another Current Time viewer wrote in a message to the network.
'Ray Of Hope' In Afghanistan
Hundreds of messages and calls have poured in from RFE/RL listeners in Afghanistan and Pakistan expressing deep concern about the fate of the broadcaster’s Afghan Service, known locally as Radio Azadi, which broadcasts in the Dari and Pashto languages, and Radio Mashaal, a Pashto-language service in Pakistan.
“Radio Azadi is very important for us. It keeps me informed about the world. I listen to it day and night, both on the radio and my phone,” Radio Azadi listener Haji Khodaiberdi wrote in a WhatsApp message.
“Radio Azadi is a ray of hope for countries that are often forgotten. Its programs connect people from small villages to the world. Living in a remote village with only one radio, I find its voice truly comforting. I hope your programs always remain strong and vibrant,” listener Safa Mehr wrote.
Another listener, Nabiullah Zabuli from Afghanistan’s southern Zabul Province, urged Trump and “everyone who can influence this decision to reconsider” cutting funding for Radio Azadi.
“Please do not betray your millions of loyal listeners. Keep this beacon of information alive,” he wrote.
Heela Darkhast Ahmadzai, a Radio Azadi and Mashaal listener, said in a Pashto-language Facebook post that both channels are “sources of enlightening our minds and thinking.”
“We Pashtun women learned a lot from those two radio stations,” she wrote. “And we came to know about our rights, education, and about the world from those two platforms.”
Another Radio Mashaal listener, Ebadullah Khan from the Shangla district in northwestern Pakistan, said on Facebook that the broadcaster’s journalists “did their job with courage” and that their “journalistic efforts in spreading awareness among the people are great.”
'This Story Must Go On'
In Belarus, where the government of Belarusian autocrat Aleksandr Lukashenko has all but wiped out independent media, RFE/RL’s Belarusian-language service is one of just a handful of news organizations continuing to report critically on authorities.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one reader, Zmitrok Siemieniuk, said that he immediately rushed to find out what was going on and came across Radio Svaboda’s YouTube channel.
“There were millions of views, which helped me grasp what was really going on, and I still use Radio Svaboda’s channels,” he wrote on Instagram. “You provide news free of propaganda and hatred. I can learn about the most important events happening in the world. And, of course, here I can read the news in my native language.”
Another reader, Tatsiana, said that Radio Svaboda “is the only place in the world where I could truly feel like a citizen of a free, European Belarus.”
“In 2020, millions of Belarusians who took part in the peaceful revolution against Lukashenko’s brutal authoritarianism embraced Radio Svaboda’s values, while it live-streamed these historic events in real time,” she wrote in a private message.
“Its mission remains unfinished today -- this story must go on.”
Based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Afghan Service, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, Current Time, RFE/RL's Radio Farda, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, and RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service
Afghans No Longer Celebrate Nowruz Amid Poverty, Taliban Restrictions
Jalal Shirzad grew up watching his home city of Mazar-e Sharif host the largest celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in Afghanistan every year, with thousands of people coming from all over the country to enjoy several days of festivities.
The celebrations would be kicked off by an ancient flag-hoisting ceremony at a religious shrine famous for its blue tiles, followed by food fairs, music and dance parties, traditional sports games, and family picnics.
But under the Taliban’s rule, Nowruz has become just another day for many Afghans, says Shirzad, a 30-year-old author from Mazar-e Sharif, the capital of the northern Balkh region.
Shirzad and several other Afghans who spoke to RFE/RL said that amid the crippling poverty and many restrictions imposed by the Taliban they have no plans to celebrate Nowruz, which falls on March 20 this year.
“There is no difference between Nowruz and any other ordinary day anymore,” Shirzad said. “People have to go to work as usual on Nowruz. It’s not even a public holiday anymore.”
The hardline Taliban group, which returned to power in Kabul in August 2021, has scrapped Nowruz as a public holiday but said people were free to celebrate it.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told RFE/RL at the time that Nowruz will not be celebrated in Afghanistan officially with state-organized events, but people “will not be prevented” from marking it privately.
During its previous stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban had banned Nowruz as a pagan holiday.
Nowruz, which marks the beginning of spring and the first day of the Persian New Year, has been celebrated in the region for more than 3,000 years.
‘The Fun Has Gone Since Taliban Came’
Many Afghans, especially women, say despite being “free to celebrate” Nowruz, many bans and restrictions imposed by the Taliban-led government don’t allow them to mark their new year in a meaningful way.
Taliban authorities have outlawed music and banned women from going to public parks and leisure facilities. Women, who must follow a strict dress code, should not even be heard in public, according to a Taliban law unveiled late last year.
Mursal, a resident of the capital, Kabul, who gave only her first name for security reasons, said Nowruz, the once-popular event, has lost its meaning for Afghans under Taliban rule. Mursal said she has no choice but to ignore Nowruz.
“I have not celebrated Nowruz since the Taliban took power. We used to have a picnic, we used to go out with family and friends, now women aren’t allowed to do any of that. All the fun and enthusiasm of Nowruz has disappeared under the Taliban,” Mursal told RFE/RL.
‘Real Nowruz Is Distant Memory In Afghanistan’
Preparations for Nowruz traditionally started several days before the new year, with several families coming together to prepare sumanak, a dish made from germinated wheat.
Households also prepared haft mewa, a salad made from seven different dried fruits served in their own syrup.
Muhammad Tahir, a Kabul resident says that most Afghans struggle to buy most basic foods, let alone ingredients for Nowruz snacks and specialties.
“Real Nowruz is a distant memory now. We used to buy new clothes, we used to go fruit shopping, we used to have fun. That’s all gone,” Muhammad said.
Written by Farangis Najibullah based on interviews conducted by RFE/RL Radio Azadi correspondent Asadullah Ludin.
Barred From Studying By Taliban, Afghan Woman Uses Tech Skills To Keep Power Running
Under the Taliban, Afghan women can't study at universities or work in most jobs.
But 22-year-old Zahra Ali has created a small business that brings in an income and provides a much-needed resource to her neighbors.
At her home workshop in Kabul, she builds rechargeable battery packs that help compensate for the country's unreliable power grid.
"I produce a lot. I can't keep up with all the orders. It's because Afghanistan faces frequent power shortages," she explains next to a work bench full of batteries, soldering irons, and electrometers.
Customers who buy the battery packs charge them when the electricity is flowing and then use them when power from the grid is intermittent or is cut off.
Before the Taliban returned to power in 2021, she studied at the Herat Institute of Technology.
Since then girls and women have been barred from secondary and higher education, and there are few places where they can work.
The Taliban has allowed limited exceptions in the health and education sectors, but these jobs come with severe restrictions and the number of women in the workforce continues to fall, according to the United Nations.
Women must also be accompanied by a male relative when traveling longer distance from their homes and can face harassment and checks even when close to home.
"It's not easy to work in the current situation. It takes a lot of effort and courage," says Ali. "I have faced many obstacles, but eventually I decided to build this workshop to generate an income, so I won't have to rely on my family and friends."
She says there were few women working in science and technology even before the Taliban resumed power, but she remains undeterred.
"Producing power banks is not a job only for men. I mean that women can do it too, but we need to work hard and be committed."
Barred From Studying, Afghan Woman Uses Tech Skills To Keep Power Running
Under the Taliban, Afghan women can't study at universities or work in most jobs. But 22-year-old Zahra Ali has created a small business that brings in an income and provides a much-needed resource to her neighbors. At her home workshop, she builds rechargeable battery packs that help compensate for the country's unreliable power grid.
EU Politicians Make Push For Radio Free Europe Funding After Trump Cuts
European Union politicians said they are continuing their push into possible support for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after the US government moved to cut the Prague-based broadcaster's funding amid concerns its closure would be a blow to pro-democracy media.
Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak told reporters in Brussels on March 18 that several nations have supported the initiative so far but the bloc must act quickly as "it would be a big mistake to let this institution die."
"We must initiate some interest and meet with commissioners and some states. At this point, that initiative has been supported by seven other nations, and after we make the initiative public at the General Affairs Council, more countries will join us," Dvorak said, adding the issue needs to be resolved in a matter of "several weeks."
At the initiative of the Czech Republic, a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 members on March 17 addressed the issue with the future of RFE/RL unclear due to the cutting of its Congress-approved funding by the administration of President Donald Trump over the weekend.
EU Countries Voice Their Support Of RFE/RL
While Dvorak said he did not want to reveal the names of the countries that have voiced their support for the move, diplomatic sources told RFE/RL that Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the three Baltic nations are among those who support the initiative.
"The financial challenges faced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty put independent journalism at serious risk in regions where the free press is silenced, from Russia and Belarus to Iran and Afghanistan," Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said in a post on X.
" If RFE/RL disappears, disinformation and propaganda will fill the void. That would a direct win for those who seek to undermine democracy.... Europe cannot let that happen. Protecting a free press means protecting democracy. Access to fact-based reporting is not just a principle, it is a necessity for security and fundamental freedoms," he added.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said after the March 17 foreign ministers meeting that he sensed "a certain interest" from other EU members in his country's initiative, and that "it is our responsibility to seriously deal with this issue."
Radio Free Europe's Cold War History
Lipavsky's Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski, also voiced support for RFE/RL, recalling how his father listened to the station as well as the Voice of America broadcaster during the Cold War.
"It's how we learned the basic facts about our own countries because communist propaganda was so tightly controlled," he told reporters. "And these institutions continue to do similar work for autocracies today."
Trump signed an executive order late on March 14 that aims to reduce seven federal agencies -- including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federal broadcasters.
The order, which also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development, gave the heads of each governmental entity named seven days to submit a report confirming full compliance.
Hours after the executive order was published, a letter from USAGM said the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL, headquartered in the Czech capital, Prague, had been terminated.
RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Capus said canceling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America's enemies," a point that was echoed by many media rights watchdogs, democracy advocates, and politicians.
Added US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "The Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle entities established and funded by Congress that provide accurate, unbiased information to hundreds of millions of people in countries where press freedom is under attack undermines the US commitment to democracy."
'Critical Lifeline'
“If President Trump gets his way, those who depend on US-supported independent media as alternatives to Chinese and Kremlin run media outlets and those living under authoritarian regimes will lose a critical lifeline."
The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.
The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.
This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.
"Sweden has cosigned a Czech initiative to look for ways in which the EU and its member states can support Radio Free Europe and its role as a voice of freedom, where it is needed the most," Swedish EU Affairs Minister Jessica Rosencrantz said.
Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over editorial independence and the direction of programming during his first term.
He has reiterated those concerns again since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.
RFE/RL operates in 23 countries and 27 languages across Central and Eastern Europe, the Near East, and Central Asia.
What's Behind The New Wave Of Violence In Pakistan's Balochistan?
Balochistan, a vast mineral-rich province in southwestern Pakistan, has been the scene of a simmering separatist insurgency for nearly a quarter-century.
But a remarkable rise in violent attacks in the strategic region bordering Afghanistan and Iran and home to the marginalized Baluch minority has highlighted the region's fragility.
On March 16, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group pursuing Balochistan's secession from Pakistan, claimed an attack on security forces in the remote district of Noshki.
Pakistani officials said the attack, a suicide truck bomb, killed three soldiers and two civilians. But the BLA claimed the attack killed 90 soldiers.
Train Hijacking
Just last week, the group declared a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and others hijacked a passenger train in Balochistan's historic Bolan Pass.
The unprecedented attack, even by the standards of Pakistan's violent recent past, went on for more than 36 hours.
The BLA claimed it killed hundreds of members of the security forces traveling on the train.
The Pakistani Army, however, said it killed dozens of militants in a successful rescue operation that freed most of the hostages.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the conflicting claims of the two sides in the sparsely populated region inaccessible to journalists.
But the rising violence marked a significant escalation at a critical time for Pakistan as the Muslim nation of 250 million people reels from political turmoil, economic downturn, and an escalating insurgency by the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State-Khorasan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
"The major drivers of the worsening conflict are changes within the BLA and the worsening political and economic crises," said Zafar Baloch, a Balochistan researcher based in Britain.
"The current outcome was predictable because the BLA has transformed," he said.
He said that during the past seven years, the BLA turned from a nationalist insurgent group into "a highly sophisticated, disciplined militant group, which now possesses sophisticated arms."
Pakistani officials have frequently blamed the easy availability of sophisticated US arms left behind in Afghanistan. Groups such as the BLA and TTP now use sophisticated night-vision goggles, sniper rifles, and other military gear possibly acquired from Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, violence by both the Baluch separatist rebels and Islamist TTP has been on the rise.
Pakistan has blamed Afghanistan's Taliban government and its regional archrival India for the rising violence. Kabul and New Delhi have rejected Islamabad's claims.
During the past year, Baluch separatists carried out 175 attacks, up from 110 the year before. These attacks killed and injured nearly 700 people, most of whom were members of the security forces.
Imtiaz Baloch, an analyst covering Balochistan for Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the BLA's increasing organizational sophistication is behind the rising violence.
He said the Majeed Brigade, the BLA's suicide squad, which works under its central command led by its leader Bashir Zeb, is now capable of planning and conducting sophisticated attacks.
"Their intelligence-gathering capacity has increased, which results in meticulous planning for attacks such as taking an entire train hostage," he said.
"Now they appear capable of successfully laying traps for the security forces," he said.
Increasingly Sophisticated Attacks
In addition to the Majeed Brigade, the BLA claims to have separate guerrilla, special forces, and intelligence units that have launched increasingly sophisticated attacks against Pakistani troops and Chinese workers involved in numerous infrastructure, energy, and mineral extraction projects in Balochistan.
Baloch, the analyst in Islamabad, argues the Pakistani government's failure to win over Balochistan's alienated residents through a genuine political process and dispensing justice has harmed its legitimacy in the impoverished region where literacy and development levels are low.
"The state is unable to connect to and address the problems of ordinary citizens," he said.
Experts maintain that Balochistan's political crises have been extenuated by Islamabad's strategy of supporting figures loyal to the military over ethno-nationalist parties that hold genuine popularity among the Baluch populace.
However, these Baluch political parties, whose leaders have led most elected provincial governments since the 1970s, lost controversial parliamentary elections in February 2024.
The Baluch parties accused Islamabad of widespread rigging in the province.
Sarafaz Bugti, a Baluch politician supported by the military, promised to defeat militant groups by promoting good governance and bringing development to Balochistan.
But a year later, violence in Balochistan is mounting, which has added to public skepticism of Islamabad's promises.
"The Baluch have given up on parliamentary politics, which has increased the lure of groups such as the BLA for the youth," said Baloch, the researcher in Britain.
Every Two Hours A Woman Dies During Childbirth In Afghanistan
Every two hours. That's how often a woman dies during childbirth in Afghanistan.
The staggering maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. And under the repressive rule of the Taliban, the situation is only getting worse.
Among the victims was a young woman who died during childbirth in her village in the northwestern province of Badghis in December.
"Both my sister and her unborn child died," said Fereshta, the woman's sister. "There are no midwives or any health centers in our area."
Fereshta did not name her sister, who she said was in her 20s and had three young children.
In Afghanistan, at least 638 mothers died for every 100,000 births, according to the UN figures for 2024. The real number could be even higher as some cases go unreported, especially in remote areas.
The UN said many of the deaths were due to preventable pregnancy complications exacerbated by severe shortages in qualified birth attendants and an under resourced health-care system.
Rising Maternal Deaths
The maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan was 1,346 for every 100,000 births in 2000, during the Taliban's first stint in power. The ratio dropped to 629 in 2020 due to generous international support and development aid.
But since the Taliban regained power in 2021, the number of deaths during childbirth has increased again.
The public health-care system in Afghanistan, which was largely funded by foreign aid for nearly two decades, has been in freefall since the Taliban seized power and international donors immediately cut financial funding.
While some foreign aid organizations continue to operate in Afghanistan, many of them have been forced to curb their work as international funding diminishes.
In a major blow, the United States, the largest foreign donor, paused its humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in January.
The UN estimates that the absence of the US aid in Afghanistan could result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths between 2025 and 2028.
Exacerbating the situation, the Taliban has banned women from attending university and severely restricted their job opportunities, including in the health sector.
In December, the hard-line Islamist group banned women from attending medical institutes that offered classes in midwifery, nursing, dental hygiene, and laboratory science.
Tom Fletcher, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said the ban is set to prevent more than 36,000 midwives and 2,800 female nurses from joining the country's health sector in the foreseeable future.
Taliban 'Does Not Care About Women's Health'
A midwife at Kabul, who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said the Taliban "does not care about women's health, as if this issue does not exist."
The woman, who has worked in state hospitals for more than two decades, said women's lack of access to information about maternal health is also an ongoing issue.
The high maternity rate in Afghanistan, she said, "is not only about a lack of access to a clinic or a midwife during childbirth."
"Expectant mothers should be under constant monitoring of clinics from the early stages of pregnancy," she added. "But in many cases in Afghanistan, even in big cities, pregnant women come to hospital only when they have some major health issue or only to give birth."
Afghan Survivors Speak Out: What The Taliban Does To Imprisoned Women
Today, Afghan women face more than 100 restrictions -- controlling everything from their appearance and movement to their right to work and study. Those accused of violating the Taliban’s so-called "morality laws" are often detained and arrested. What happens to those who suddenly find themselves behind bars in Taliban prisons? These stories often go untold, as most victims of the regime are threatened or forced into silence.
Pakistan Sets April 1 Deadline For 'Afghan Card' Holders, 'Illegal Foreigners' To Leave
Pakistan ordered Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders and “all illegal foreigners" to leave the country, either voluntarily or through deportation starting on April 1, raising fears among the Afghan community of repression should they return to their homeland.
“The Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Program has been implemented since November 1, 2023. In continuation to government’s decision to repatriate all illegal foreigners, national leadership has now decided to also repatriate ACC holders,” the Pakistani Interior Ministry said in a statement on March 7.
“All illegal foreigners and ACC holders are advised to leave the country voluntarily before March 31, 2025; thereafter, deportation will commence on April 1,” it added.
The ministry said that “sufficient time” has been given for the “dignified” departure of those affected and it pledged that “no one will be maltreated during the repatriation process.”
The Pakistani government has often blamed militant violence and criminal activity on Afghan citizens, allegations rejected by the extremist Taliban-led government in Kabul.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of providing a safe haven for extremists linked to Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TPP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, inside Afghanistan, charges the government in Kabul also rejects.
In late January, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government approved a plan to repatriate ACC holders but did not specify a date.
An Afghan woman in Pakistan told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on condition of anonymity that she had fled to Pakistan because the Taliban had violated basic human rights in Afghanistan.
"We call on the government of Pakistan to retract what it has said regarding us at this difficult time," she said.
Qaiser Khan Afridi, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad, told Radio Mashaal on March 7 that he is continuing to discuss the fate of Afghans with officials of the Pakistani government.
Pakistan's government in late 2023 launched the effort to repatriate foreign citizens -- the majority of whom are Afghans -- first focusing on foreigners with no legal documentation but now including those with the ACC, a document that had allowed Afghan asylum-seekers to temporarily remain in Pakistan.
When the repatriation program was announced, Abbas Khan, Pakistan's commissioner of Afghan refugees, told RFE/RL that refugees were given ACC documentation in 2016 in an agreement among the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the UNHCR.
"They agreed that those citizens would be gradually returned to Afghanistan. But that did not happen," Khan said.
Pakistan has been a popular refuge for Afghans for decades, beginning during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation. Others fled fighting during the ensuing Afghan civil war and the Taliban's first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.
Millions of Afghans returned to their homeland following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban from power.
But after the Taliban seized power again in 2021 amid the withdrawal of international forces, an estimated 700,000 more Afghans left for Pakistan to escape a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis and possible retribution by the Taliban.
According to UN data, more than 800,000 Afghans hold ACC status in Pakistan. Another 1.3 million are formally registered with the Pakistan government and hold a separate Proof of Residence (PoR) card. The statement did not mention the effect on those with PoR status.
The UN has estimated that at the peak, some 3.8 million Afghan refugees were in Pakistan, although Islamabad put the number at above 4.4 million.
Some 15,000 Afghans in Pakistan are awaiting to be approved for resettlement in the United States, although their status remains unclear after President Donald Trump's administration announced that the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) would be suspended for at least three months starting on January 27.
With reporting by Reuters
Pakistan's Arrest Of Islamic State Operative Signals Renewed U.S. Cooperation
Pakistan's arrest of a suspected Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) operative and his extradition to the United States signals renewed counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries, experts said.
The United States accuses Mohammad Sharifullah, a suspected senior member of IS-K, the Afghanistan branch of Islamic State, of helping plan the 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport that killed 13 American soldiers and 170 Afghans.
Sharifullah appeared in a US federal court on March 5. He did not enter a plea, and he will next appear in court on March 10. He will stay in custody until then, the judge said.
Sharifullah has been charged with providing "material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death" and faces life in prison.
Pakistan said Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, was arrested recently in the country's southwestern province of Balochistan, near the border with Afghanistan. It came after Pakistani intelligence reportedly received a tip from the CIA.
Islamabad's strategic importance has waned since the US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
But Sharifullah's capture and extradition is "a very notable development," said Lucas Webber, senior threat intelligence analyst at Tech Against Terrorism, an UN-backed project that monitors extremism online.
Webber said it could point to "signs of more coordination to come between the two countries."
US President Donald Trump thanked Islamabad "for helping arrest this monster" during his State of the Union address on March 4.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for recognizing his country's role in counterterrorism efforts and pledged to "continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability."
Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, news director at the Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Pakistan's handover of Sharifullah is a significant boost to relations between Washington and Islamabad.
"It gave Trump something to showcase during an important occasion," he said.
Islamic State In Afghanistan
Based in Afghanistan, IS-K has carried out deadly attacks against the Taliban, which seized power in 2021.
The extremist group has also staged a series of devastating, high-profile assaults in Russia, Iran, and Tajikistan in recent years.
Webber said Sharifullah's capture is a "major event in the US fight against IS-K."
Pakistani officials said Sharifullah is an Afghan citizen, a claim rejected by the Taliban government.
US officials said Sharifullah admitted to being a member of IS-K and to his role in the August 2021 bombing, one of the deadliest attacks of the entire 19-year US-led war in Afghanistan.
Sharifullah also confessed to training the suspected IS-K militants involved in the March 2024 attack on a concert hall outside Moscow that killed around 140 people, according to the Justice Department.
The department said he also played a role in a deadly attack on the Canadian Embassy in Kabul in 2016, which killed 10 guards.
"IS-K is highly multifaceted, expanding its operational cells and networks," said Webber. "It's a very dynamic, robust, internationally reaching organization and poses a serious threat."
American Porn Star Whitney Wright Sparks Fury With Trip To Afghanistan
Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban rulers have banned education and most jobs for Afghan women, who are also barred from parks, gyms, and bathhouses.
They are not supposed to leave their houses without a male guardian and live under draconian Taliban morality laws.
With such constraints, Afghan women are furious after photos and videos emerged of an American porn actor visiting their country.
While the Taliban has not acknowledged the visit, adult film star Whitney Wright posted photos of her visit to an Afghan tourist landmark on her Instagram account.
"It is fundamentally hypocritical," said Wazhma Tokhi, an Afghan women's rights and education activist.
"Afghan women are imprisoned in their own homeland, while foreign visitors -- no matter their background -- are treated with hospitality," she added.
In recent years, Wright has visited the predominantly Muslim nations of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
RFE/RL's Radio Azadi couldn't reach the Taliban or Wright for comment.
The U.S. State Department currently advises Americans to "not travel to Afghanistan for any reason" because "multiple terrorist groups are active in Afghanistan and US citizens are targets of kidnapping and hostage-taking."
Wright would require a visa as a US citizen, although the Taliban's unrecognized government does not control the Afghan Embassy or consulates in the United States.
The Taliban has been keen on wooing foreign tourists to boost its international image and showcase the significant drop in violence in the country since it returned to power in August 2021.
Some Afghan women have said the Taliban is using female tourists to cultivate a positive image and highlight how safe the country is even for foreign women.
"This freedom is only for foreigners, not for Afghan women who are deprived of their most basic rights," Nasima Bidargar, an Afghan women's rights activist, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
'Gender Apartheid' In Afghanistan
After returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban immediately banned teenage girls from school. It closed the doors of universities and other seats of higher learning to women in December 2022. The extremist group has also banned women from working for international NGOs and other sectors.
Even public parks exclusively reserved for women and restaurants and cafes owned or frequented by women have been shut down by the Taliban regime.
In August 2024, the Taliban enacted a new morality law specifically targeting women by requiring them to be accompanied by a male chaperone in public while covering their faces. It also banned women from singing or even raising their voices in public.
Senior United Nations officials and Afghan female activists have termed the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women as a "gender apartheid."
In January, the International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the Taliban's Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for bearing "criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds."
Dressed in a black veil, Wright posted a video on Facebook of her walking in the snow near Band-e Amir. The famed crystal-blue lakes and soaring cliffs are one of the most popular national parks in Afghanistan's central province of Bamiyan. In August 2023, the Taliban banned Afghan women from the park.
"As an Afghan woman, this situation is harrowing for me," a female resident of Bamiyan told Radio Azadi.
Doctors Swamped With Malnourished Children At Afghan Hospital
Doctors at a hospital in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar have told RFE/RL they've admitted 5,500 malnourished children in the last six months alone. That number is just a small fraction of the nearly 3 million children in Afghanistan who are suffering from malnutrition, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Taliban Declares End To Doha Agreement With The United States
Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers say they no longer consider the Doha agreement -- a peace deal with the United States that paved the way for the withdrawal of Western forces from the country -- to be valid.
Speaking on February 28, the fifth anniversary of the agreement, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the accord was limited to a particular time frame, which has now expired.
“The Islamic Emirate has its own governance system, and now we are no longer moving forward based on that agreement,” he told the state TV.
Mujahid said that the Taliban had fulfilled its key obligation under the agreement by preventing Afghanistan from becoming a launchpad for terrorist attacks against Washington and its allies.
He called on Washington to “take positive steps to engage with Afghanistan” and help in removing the Taliban leaders from international sanctions lists.
The Doha agreement paved the way for the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in return for the Taliban’s counterterrorism guarantees.
However, crucial parts of the agreement requiring talks among Afghans to form a new transitional government were never fully implemented.
Some U.S. officials have blamed the Doha agreement for prompting the collapse of the pro-Western Afghan republic ahead of the final U.S. military withdrawal on August 31, 2021.
The agreement was negotiated and concluded by the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a September presidential election campaign debate, he defended the deal as "a very good agreement" and blamed his successor, President Joe Biden, for the death of soldiers during the withdrawal, as well as for leaving behind weapons and failing to enforce the terms of the agreement.
Today, Afghans have mixed views about the agreement.
“The Doha agreement was a positive development because it ended the four-decades-long war in Afghanistan,” Anwar, a resident of the central Ghazni Province, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
One Kabul resident said negotiations among Afghans would have produced a better outcome for their country.
While the Taliban seized power in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, no country has yet formally recognized its government.
Inside Afghanistan, the Taliban has established a government led by its clerical leadership.
It has implemented harsh bans on the education, employment, mobility and public role of Afghan women, which has turned it into an international pariah.
Deadly Blast Rocks Pro-Taliban Seminary In Pakistan
A powerful explosion at a seminary in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least seven people, including a top cleric.
The Jamia Haqqania seminary in Akkora Khattak, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, is renowned for training key Taliban figures.
Local officials said that those killed in the blast on February 28 include Hamid ul-Haq Haqqani, a Pakistani politician and deputy head of the seminary.
Provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed told reporters that initial evidence suggests the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber specifically targeting Haqqani.
The Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, said in a statement that it "strongly condemns" the attack on the religious school
No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the local emergency services, told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that least 20 people were injured in the explosion.
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