Najim Rahim

Local officials reported 813 confirmed deaths, though the toll was expected to rise. Homes were reduced to rubble, and hospitals are overwhelmed.

But the Afghan resistance movement is no match for the Taliban’s military might.

Relief Efforts Intensify in Afghanistan After Devastating Earthquake (Published 2022)

In a stricken village in Paktika, ‘Everyone here cried from night to morning.’ (Published 2022)

An intrusive sweep that has spanned several provinces risks alienating Afghans and fueling the insurgency the new government is trying to stop.

Relatives, friends and colleagues of Zemari Ahmadi angrily dismissed any suggestion he had ties to ISIS-K. The U.S. military is investigating.

Whatever happens once the United States withdraws will not bode well for Afghan women. But even the gains made for them over the last 20 years have often been fleeting.

With the final U.S. troops gone, triumphant scenes were clouded by the prospect of famine and financial collapse. The Taliban spokesman called for international engagement.

“This is now a different kind of war, reminiscent of Syria.” The seizure of five capitals has amplified fears about Afghanistan’s future after the U.S. withdrawal.

Reeling on the battlefield, Afghan government officials face the difficult question of whether to let captured cities go in order to hold what they still have.

The setbacks come at a harrowing moment for Afghanistan, just as American and international troops are set to leave the country in coming weeks.

The insurgents are trying to rebrand themselves as effective governors as they capture new territory. But there is more evidence that they are unreformed.

Concerned by the Taliban’s offensive, regional power brokers are again recruiting and arming volunteer militias. But some fear the quick fix will lead to a wider breakdown.

The government blamed the Taliban for the attack on the British-American charity, the HALO Trust. The militant group denied any responsibility.

Widespread poverty and an ambitious private hospital are helping to fuel an illegal market — a portal to new misery for the country’s most vulnerable.

Afghan men in an impoverished border settlement die trying to smuggle opium into Iran, leaving behind loved ones forced to survive on their own.

The cleric’s supporters in Herat are enforcing harsh Shariah law reminiscent of the Taliban’s. Women are alarmed, and the government has been able to do little.

At least 32 civilians were killed at a politically tense time in the country, just days after the United States and the Taliban signed a deal for American troops to withdraw.

Afghan leaders sent combat forces to capture a belligerent warlord, but many critics believed the deadly raid was a political stunt gone awry.

Two school bombings last month in Afghanistan renewed fears of a return to repression should the Taliban become part of a future government.