Afghanistan faces near-total digital blackout after Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada's directive dismantled the country's fibre-optic network infrastructure.

The Taliban’s hard-line government in Afghanistan is making major inroads in garnering legitimacy abroad. Despite its extremist policies, the international community has accepted that the Islamist group is here to stay,

Peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan have failed in Istanbul after four days of negotiations, Pakistan’s information minister said early Wednesday, accusing the Taliban government in Kabul of refusing to act against militants blamed for deadly cross-border attacks.

Relations between the two neighbors hit a low point this month, with fighting killing people on both sides of the border. At issue is a rise in militancy in Pakistan since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

Cross-border fighting between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan reached a fever pitch, with Pakistan carrying out airstrikes in Kabul.

The Taliban has released a ‘Greater Afghanistan’ map showing several Pakistani regions within Afghan borders, escalating long-standing border tensions and triggering outrage in Islamabad.

The Taliban should end the arbitrary detention, torture, and other ill-treatment of journalists, discriminatory restrictions on women journalists, and censorship. Countries with Afghan journalists in exile should end their forced return to Afghanistan.

India and Afghanistan are set to strengthen diplomatic engagement, with the Taliban regime appointing its first diplomat to New Delhi since 2021, a move that follows Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s landmark visit to India last month.