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Taliban

Taliban seeks international aid for Afghanistan’s reconstruction

Emphasising destruction caused by decades of conflict, Taliban called for technical help and economic development initiatives.

18 Nov 2024 - 1:09AMvideocam

Taliban to attend UN climate conference for the first time

10 Nov 2024 - 7:11PM

Opinion | As Chinese citizens in Pakistan face terror threats, Beijing can do more to help

6 Nov 2024 - 5:37PMvideocam

Islamist militants dressed as women kill 4, including 3 policemen, in Pakistan

Pakistani Taliban claimed attack in which militants wearing suicide vests stormed remote police base. Police shot dead all 5 attackers.

15 Oct 2024 - 5:39AM

An ambulance drives past a checkpoint leading to the site where Pakistani Taliban militants attacked police officers in Bannu, Pakistan on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Afghan Taliban vow to implement media ban on images of living things

The law, which will be gradually enforced, is aimed at persuading people that images of living things are against Islamic law.

14 Oct 2024 - 5:37PMvideocam

Opinion | Will suing the Taliban protect Afghan women? Maybe with China’s help

Taking legal action over gender discrimination in Afghanistan may have limited impact, but Beijing has influence it can use to bring change.

1 Oct 2024 - 5:30AMvideocam

Republicans accuse Biden team of lying about 2021 Afghanistan pull-out

House Republican report cites US Vice-President Kamala Harris as she seeks the presidency against Donald Trump.

9 Sep 2024 - 12:03PM

US Marines at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. File photo: US Marine Corps via Reuters

Taliban committed to engagement, UN calls morality law is ‘gender apartheid’

A Taliban government spokesman has said Afghan authorities are committed to engagement with the international community despite law backlash.

1 Sep 2024 - 6:54PM

Germany deports 28 Afghan nationals, the first since 2021 Taliban takeover

Germany does not have diplomatic relations with the Taliban, requiring the government to work through other channels. It is unlikely that Friday’s actions will lead to a wider thawing of relations between Germany and the Taliban.

30 Aug 2024 - 7:51PM

Taliban reject UN concerns over laws banning women’s voices and faces in public

The Taliban urge ‘thorough understanding’ of Islamic sharia law after UN criticism about the rights of women and girls.

27 Aug 2024 - 3:57PM

Burka-clad Afghan women walk on a road in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo: EPA-EFE

UN: Taliban restrictions on women and girls provide a ‘distressing vision’

The Taliban’s new bans on women’s voices and bare faces in public provide a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future, warned the UN.

25 Aug 2024 - 8:11PM

Afghan women queue to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 23, 2023. Photo: AP

Taliban codify morality laws requiring Afghan women to cover faces

The Taliban suspended Afghanistan’s previous constitution when they took over in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew, and said they would rule the country according to sharia law.

24 Aug 2024 - 11:00AM

Former Afghan president Karzai calls for girls and women to be educated

Karzai emphasised importance of women’s education. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has banned girls from studying beyond primary school.

19 Aug 2024 - 3:04AM

Uzbek PM visits Afghanistan, highest-level visit since Taliban takeover

Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday to discuss bilateral relations and strengthen trade.

17 Aug 2024 - 11:08PM

Children of Taliban fighters hold Taliban flags as they celebrate the third anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, August 14, 2024. Photo: AP

Afghan copper mine holds promise for Taliban, tempered expectations for China

As work begins on a long-delayed, multibillion-dollar project, Chinese officials remain cautious, while economic hopes rise in war-torn country.

25 Jul 2024 - 11:55PM

Taliban security personnel surround an excavator during the inauguration ceremony. Photo: AFP

Pakistan vows ‘no cake and pastries’ for TTP militants, heeding China’s warning

China’s warning that further investment hinges on an improved security situation likely acted as a catalyst, analysts say.

7 Jul 2024 - 6:00PMvideocam

Opinion | World leaders choosing closer Taliban ties betray Afghan women

The world had a chance in Doha to stand up to the Taliban, but its failure to do so left Afghanistan’s rulers stronger than ever.

4 Jul 2024 - 7:30PMvideocam

Afghanistan women want ICC help create refugee cricket team in Australia

After being frozen out of the sport by the rise of the Taliban, the women have called on the ICC to help them establish and run a ‘cricket team without borders’.

2 Jul 2024 - 8:00PM

An Afghan woman posing with her cricket bat in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2022. The ruling Taliban have banned women from competitive sports as well as most schooling and many realms of work. Photo: AP

Taliban told to ‘include women’ in public life during UN talks in Qatar

The Taliban has imposed a strict interpretation of Islam in Afghanistan, with women subjected to laws characterised by the UN as ‘gender apartheid’.

2 Jul 2024 - 5:26AMvideocam

Afghanistan to take gender-balanced team for first summer Games since Taliban

Taliban government has imposed curbs on women and girls condemned by the United Nations as ‘gender apartheid’ and has not been recognised by any country since its 2021 takeover.

19 Jun 2024 - 1:27AM

China’s Xi seeks Pakistan security guarantee as he pledges deeper cooperation

The request to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif follows a series of attacks on Chinese citizens, the most recent of which happened in March.

7 Jun 2024 - 9:29PMvideocam

President Xi Jinping welcomes Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

Russia invites Taliban to economic forum, as ties with West worsen over Ukraine

The St Petersburg forum, which once hosted Western CEOs and investment bankers, has changed significantly amid the Ukraine war, which has triggered a crisis in Russia’s relations with the West.

27 May 2024 - 6:52PMvideocam

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the plenary session of The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/Handout/RIA

Opinion | Why China should step up aid to Afghanistan

The Taliban has been accused of being slow to act on deadly flash floods that have killed more than 300 and left 40,000 children homeless. Also vulnerable to climate change, China can share its experience in mitigating floods with Afghanistan and increase aid to help the country rebuild

20 May 2024 - 4:35PMvideocam

‘Empowered generation’: to bypass Taliban work bans, Afghan women turn to YouTube

YouTube channels not only provide income, but also serve as a means for women to communicate their messages, experiences and aspirations, one analyst said.

17 Apr 2024 - 8:02PMvideocam

Afghanistan’s first female Olympian urges Paris Games ban over Taliban’s record

Friba Rezayee, the first woman to represent Afghanistan at the Olympics, said Afghan women should still be allowed to participate as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.

15 Apr 2024 - 7:35PMvideocam

Seen through the eye grid of a burqa, women walk through a market in Kabul. The Taliban – who say they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs – have closed girls’ high schools and placed travel restrictions on women without a male guardian and restricted access to parks and gyms. Photo: AP

Asia’s terrorism surge: Isis-K awakens sleeper cells in deadly strategy shift

Using Afghanistan as a homebase, Isis cells have hit targets in Russia, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey this year. Baloch separatists have also stepped up their attacks on Chinese interests in South Asia.

1 Apr 2024 - 12:40PMvideocam

A Russian soldier secures the area as a massive blaze burns in the Crocus City Hall concert venue on March 22 following a deadly attack claimed by Isis. Photo: AP

Top former US generals blame Biden administration for chaotic Kabul exit

The top two US generals who oversaw the evacuation of Afghanistan as it fell in 2021 told lawmakers that the Biden administration inadequately planned for the evacuation and did not order it in time.

20 Mar 2024 - 5:00PM

Opinion | Taliban has a choice: renounce al-Qaeda or remain in isolation

The world is willing to negotiate with the Taliban and help solve Afghanistan’s problems but, first, the de facto rulers must cut ties with al-Qaeda and address rising terrorism.

25 Feb 2024 - 9:17AMvideocam

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Taliban

The Taliban is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, and jihadist political movement that presently controls all of Afghanistan. It emerged in September 1994 as one of the prominent factions in the Afghan Civil War and largely consisted of students (talib) who had been educated in traditional Islamic schools. The movement spread nationwide, and ruled around three-quarters of the country from 1996–2001, before being overthrown by a United States-led invasion in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks. In 2021, with the departure of the US military from the country, the Taliban claimed control of the entire country, to which it has applied a hardline interpretation of Islam.

last updated:

9 September, 2024