Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — At least 19 people were killed and 32 injured when a fuel tanker exploded in a tunnel north of the Afghan capital Kabul, a local official said Sunday.

The Salang Tunnel, which is around 80 miles north of Kabul, was originally built in the 1960s to assist the Soviet invasion. It is a key link between the country’s north and south.

KABUL, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Three attackers on a hotel in Afghan capital Kabul have been killed and the clean-up operation was over, chief spokesman of the Taliban-run caretaker government Zabihullah Mujahid said.

"The clean-up operation on the hotel is over by killing three attackers and rescuing all guests from the hotel," Mujahid said on his twitter account hours after the attack.

"All the foreign guests are safe and only two were injured after jumping from the hotel," he said.

KUNDUZ, Dec 11 (NNN-ANA) – Afghan counter-narcotics police, destroyed a drug processing lab and arrested six people, on charges of involvement in drug business in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province, yesterday, provincial head for information and culture, Matiullah Rohani, said.

“Acting on a tip-off, the units of counter-narcotic police, launched an operation in Nikpay village of Khanabad district, in the wee hours of yesterday, destroying the lab and arrested six persons from the site,” Ruhani told reporters here.

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Five passengers have been confirmed dead and 28 others injured as a passenger bus turned turtle in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province on Sunday, the provincial police said in a statement.

The road accident occurred outside the provincial capital city of Kunduz early morning due to reckless driving, leaving five dead including women and children and injuring 28 others, some of them in critical condition.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — More Afghans will be struggling for survival as living conditions deteriorate in the year ahead, a top official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said in an interview, as the country braces for its second winter under Taliban rule.

The religious group’s seizure of power in August 2021 sent the economy into a tailspin and fundamentally transformed Afghanistan, driving millions into poverty and hunger as foreign aid stopped almost overnight.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Nineteen people in northeastern Afghanistan were lashed for adultery, theft and running away from home, a Supreme Court official said Sunday. The announcement underscored the Taliban’s intention of sticking to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

It appeared to be the first official confirmation that lashings and floggings are being meted out in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

HERAT, Afghanistan, Nov 16 (NNN-ANA) – Five members of the Daesh outfit have been killed, during a special operation in Herat city, capital of western Afghanistan’s Herat province, provincial administration spokesman, Hamidullah Motawakel, said today.

Acting on tip off, the Afghan security forces stormed a hideout of the Daesh, in Babaji locality of Police District 12, of Herat city, early today, killing the five on the spot, the official told reporters.

KABUL, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Afghan women will no longer be allowed in parks, a spokesperson for the Taliban's morality ministry said, in part because they had not been meeting its interpretation of Islamic attire during their visits.

Mohammad Akif Muhajir, the spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, made the comments in an interview with local media and, when asked about the restrictions, referred Reuters to audio of the interview.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban are banning women from using gyms in Afghanistan, an official in Kabul said Thursday, the religious group’s latest edict cracking down on women’s rights and freedoms since they took power more than a year ago.

The Taliban overran the country last year, seizing power in August 2021. They have banned girls from middle school and high school, despite initial promises to the contrary, restricted women from most fields of employment, and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public.

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, Nov 6 (NNN-ANA) – One person has been confirmed dead, and two others went missing, following a landslide in Maimai district, of the northern Badakhshan province yesterday, provincial director for Information and Culture, Qari Maazudin Ahmadi, said today.

The incident took place in Waro area of Maimai district, yesterday evening, killing one person on the spot and injuring another, the official said. Two more villagers went missing, following the landslide in the mountainous area, the official said.