RFE/RL's Radio Azadi is one of the most popular and trusted media outlets in Afghanistan. Nearly half of the country's adult audience accesses Azadi's reporting on a weekly basis.
The U.S. military has warned that security in Afghanistan is "not going in the right direction" and challenged the country's leadership amid reports that Taliban fighters have captured at least six provincial capitals in the span of a week.
Taliban fighters overran two provincial capitals, including the strategic city of Kunduz and Sar-e Pol in the north of the country on August 8, local officials and a spokesman for the militants said as the group stepped up its northern offensive and threatened more urban centers.
A senior police official in Jawzjan Province told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on August 7 that the Taliban has seized Sheberghan, the capital of the province, after reports of heavy fighting in and around the city.
Demonstrations known as the Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest) protests took place in a number of Afghan provinces on August 5. (Radio Azadi)
The Taliban’s leadership structure shows its political team in Doha has no direct control over battlefield commanders and fighters in Afghanistan.
A source in the western Afghan provincial hub of Zaranj says Taliban fighters have entered the city and its Kabul-backed governor and other senior officials have fled, leaving the militant group poised to capture its first major population center since an all-out offensive began four months ago.
An Afghan poet and historian has been tortured and shot dead by the Taliban in the country’s south, a local official said.
Police in Afghanistan’s northern province of Balkh say the Taliban killed a young woman for wearing tight clothing and not being accompanied by a male relative.
Thousands of Afghans have gathered in the streets and on rooftops in major cities for several nights to chant Allahu Akbar, or "God is the greatest." The demonstrations are a spontaneous show of support for the nation's security forces and an expression of defiance toward the Taliban.
The Taliban has intensified its attacks on Afghan cities in recent days, targeting the capitals of Kandahar, Herat, and Helmand provinces. As government forces battle to defend the city centers, thousands of civilians are being driven from their homes.
The United States and Britain have said the Taliban may have committed “war crimes” and accused the militant group of “massacring” Afghan civilians when it captured the southern town of Spin Boldak in July.
Residents of Afghanistan's second-largest city expressed fear of further Taliban advances on August 1 after at least three rockets struck and disabled Kandahar airport overnight.
Afghan security forces and Taliban militants clashed again on the outskirts of the western Afghan city of Herat on July 31 -- a day after the militant group attempted to storm into the city.
At least 20 people have been killed and 18 others injured in two separate traffic accidents, local officials told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
Fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces was reported July 30 on the outskirts of the western city of Herat, the capital of Herat Province.
As two districts in Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan fell to Taliban extremists, families fled to the city of Asadabad. Some describe escaping through a desert without decent shoes or clothing -- and they say those who couldn't endure the tough journey were left behind.
Civilians and traders in Kandahar complain of mounting insecurity and double taxation amid the conflict between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
As Afghanistan faces a resurgence of the Taliban, the hard-won rights of Afghan women hang in the balance. One young female reporter for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi says it's her mission to tell women's stories as they fight to defend their rights.
At least 40 people have been killed and 150 more are missing after flash floods hit the northeastern Afghan province of Nuristan.
Taliban advances across Afghanistan are forcing women journalists to give up their jobs, go underground, or even flee their country. Press freedom and journalist security are in a free fall after the Taliban overran large swathes of Afghanistan this year.
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