The Taliban have released Matiullah Wesa, who had been imprisoned for advocating for girls' rights to education. However, the militants are expanding the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Recent earthquakes have killed and displaced thousands in western Afghanistan, exposing the Taliban's inability to function effectively as a government.

In an interview with FRANCE 24, the son of slain Afghan resistance hero Ahmad Shah Massoud warned that the international community "should not recognise" the Taliban, two years after their return to power. Ahmad Massoud said that without "internal legitimacy, the international community should stop themselves from giving recognition to any group.

North-western Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan, is home to a secluded tribe: the Kalash people. The pagan tribe are Pakistan's last polytheistic community, who have avoided mass Islamisation. But lately they have become the target of attacks from the Pakistani Taliban, who are now based in Afghanistan.

The International Assistance Mission said 18 staff members, including an international team member who local media reported as being a US national, were taken from their office on two separate occasions in a month.

Iran and Afghanistan have reportedly extended the cooperation between their intelligence services. Repeated terrorist attacks in Iran have exposed shortcomings in Iran's security agencies.

Fatal skirmishes last week near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border between troops and militants has resulted in a renewed crackdown on Afghan refugees.

Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers have prevented women scholarship recipients from flying to the United Arab Emirates to continue their studies. Their sponsor, a businessman from Dubai, is not giving up.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers took over the capital Kabul on August 15, 2021. A Taliban spokesperson denied the group was anti-woman in comments to DW, while the UN has accused it of gender apartheid.

By shutting down thousands of beauty salons across Afghanistan, the Taliban have taken another great stride toward erasing women from public life. Here are some of the other restrictions faced by Afghan women.

A UN report says Afghans are struggling to access medical and psychosocial help due to a sharp drop in donor funding since the Taliban took power in Kabul.

  Iran and Afghanistan are locked in a long-standing dispute over the sharing of water from the Helmand River. Clashes broke out recently along the border.