Afghanistan

• August 22, 2025

  Iran's Water Crisis Worsened By Taliban Dam

  This edition of the Farda Briefing looks at growing concerns in Iran about the Taliban’s new dam in Afghanistan that threatens the water supply of millions in northeastern Iran.

• August 20, 2025

  China Dangles Belt And Road Investment To Mend Taliban-Pakistan Ties

  Amid a major diplomatic push by China across South Asia, Beijing is looking to strengthen ties between the two neighbors at an August 20 trilateral meeting in Kabul where it will discuss integrating Afghanistan into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

• August 18, 2025

  World Food Program Warns Of 'Unprecedented' Hunger Crisis In Afghanistan

  Kabul residents have told RFE/RL that they are begging for rice and "ready to accept death," as the World Food Program said it was "turning hundreds of thousands of people away" from nutrition centers.

• August 18, 2025

  World Food Program Calls For Aid To Avoid ‘Famine’ In Afghanistan

  “We’re turning hundreds of thousands of people away” from food distribution centers amid a funding shortfall, the World Food Program’s country director in Afghanistan has told RFE/RL.

• August 16, 2025

  Russia Boosts The Taliban's Quest For Legitimacy. Who Will Be Next?

  Russia’s recognition of the Taliban marks a bold challenge to Western norms, boosting the group’s quest for legitimacy. The move could sway allies like China and Central Asian states, though Iran and Persian Gulf nations remain cautious.

• August 15, 2025

  Kabul's Quiet Resistance: Young Afghans Navigate Life Under The Taliban

  Just before the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban in August 2021, RFE/RL spoke with several young professionals in Kabul who voiced their fears and anxieties about the future. We reconnected with them again this week to see how their lives have unfolded.

• August 14, 2025

  Four Years On, UN Says Taliban Close To 'Erasing' Afghan Women From Public Life

  Four years after the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan, the United Nations says the ultra-conservative group “is closer than ever to achieving its vision of a society that completely erases women from public life.”

• August 14, 2025

  What Would My Day Look Like If I Lived In Kabul?

  In 2021, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. That changed the lives of millions, especially women and girls. Countless freedoms have been stripped, with bans on education, work, and daily activities. This video contrasts the life that Afghan women had with the harsh reality under the Taliban.

• August 02, 2025

  Afghan Expert Says Sudden Cutoff In US Aid Has Hit The Vulnerable Hard

  Afghan activist and scholar Orzala Nemat says the sudden cutoff of aid under President Donald Trump has been a shock, leaving vulnerable populations exposed.

• August 02, 2025

  After Key Report On Afghanistan, State Department Says Taliban Was Keeping Aid

  A US body set up in 2008 to assess efforts to support Afghanistan has made its 68th and final quarterly report to Congress -- with damning details of waste and “pervasive corruption” over the course of the nearly 20-year Western intervention as well as concerns about Trump administration aid cuts.

• July 29, 2025

  Taliban Restrictions Blamed For Surge In Suicides Among Afghans

  Suicide rates have increased in Afghanistan in recent years, as the nation grapples with crippling poverty, a lack jobs and opportunities, and severe restrictions imposed upon them by the country’s Taliban-led government.

• July 28, 2025

  Bad Move: Taliban's Chess Ban Adds To Crackdown On Sports And Pastimes

  Afghanistan’s Taliban recently suspended chess over concerns that it encourages gambling, which is banned in Islam, a move that takes away yet another activity from the country's population.

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