Afghanistan

13 May 2023; MEMO: The Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani met Taliban officials in the Afghan city of Kandahar, in the south of the country on Friday.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid posted pictures on social media on Friday of a visit by a high-ranking Qatari delegation.

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, May 13 (NNN-ANA) – At least seven commuters were killed, and 14 others injured, in a road accident in Afghanistan’s northern Badakhshan province, head of the provincial department of information and culture, Qari Maazudin Ahmadi, said today.

The accident occurred in Kezer village of Khash district, last night, when the bus overturned due to technical problems, killing seven people on the spot, including women and children, and injuring 14 others, some in critical condition, Ahmadi said.

AYBAK, Afghanistan, May 12 (NNN-ANA) – Former governor of Afghanistan’s central Bamyan province, during the then Afghan government, Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, has surrendered to authorities in the northern Samangan province, provincial Director for Information and Culture, Firuzudin Munib, said today.

Munib said, Zuhair surrendered to security forces in the Dara-e-Suf Bala district, yesterday and has been shifted to the provincial capital, Aybak City.

KABUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces have discovered and seized 94 pieces of different kinds of weapons in eastern region of the war-torn country, said a statement of the Ministry for National Defense released here on Wednesday.

During the search operations, which have covered the eastern region including Nangarhar and Khost provinces over the past couple of weeks, the security forces have found different types of weapons, including several stocks of AKM, AK-47 and the U.S.-made M16 assault rifles, along with thousands of bullets, the statement added.

BAMYAN, Afghanistan, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Millions of kids around the world dream of becoming football legend Lionel Messi, but Afghan boy Amir Husain is not one of them. He has never even seen a live game of the Argentinian national football team.

Hussain, 14, lives in central Afghanistan's Bamyan Valley where the famous Buddhas of Bamyan stand. Although the old-fashioned TVs, which have been used for several years there, can receive sports channels, few children in the village have the chance to stay up all night watching a football match.

MAHMUD-E-RAQI, Afghanistan, May 2 (NNN-ANA) – At least 45 guests were injured at a wedding ceremony, as roof of a house collapsed, in Afghanistan’s eastern Kapisa province, the provincial police office said today.

The guests of the wedding party were sitting in the house, in Nijrab district, when the roof caved in at around 1:00 p.m. local time, injuring 45 people, some in critical condition, the police said in a statement, adding that, all the injured had been shifted to the district hospital.

KABUL, May 1 (NNN-ANA) – Afghan farmers harvested more than 72,000 tonnes of cotton over the past year, the Ministry for Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock said in a statement, today.

Afghanistan collected 72,493 tonnes of cotton from 54,869 hectares of land last year, the statement said.

Last year, the year of 1401 in Persian calendar, ended on Mar 20, 2023, and the year of 1402 commenced on Mar 21, 2023.

TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotics police have discovered and seized 2,850 kg of hashish in the southern Uruzgan province, provincial police spokesman Mawlawi Zahid said on Monday.

The smuggled goods were hidden in the cavities of two vehicles, and were discovered by police during a vehicle check outside the provincial capital on Sunday, the official added.

The drivers escaped, he said, adding that efforts are underway to arrest the culprits.

KABUL, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police have rescued a child from kidnappers' clutch in Afghanistan's capital city Kabul and arrested three kidnappers, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said on Sunday.

Without providing more details, the officer said that the child was rescued in Police District 10 very recently and an investigation had been initiated into the case.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have shared a rare audio message from their supreme leader, who says justice is an instrument for the Afghan government’s survival.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, an Islamic scholar, almost never appears in public and hardly ever leaves the Taliban heartland in southern Kandahar province.

He surrounds himself with other religious scholars and allies who oppose education and work for women. Only one known photo of him, years old, exists.