Russia is deepening diplomatic and military cooperation with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, driven by security concerns in Central Asia. But worsening Taliban-Pakistan tensions and questions over the scope of Moscow's assistance are complicating the rapprochement.

Satellite imagery sourced by RFE/RL confirms Taliban claims they have completed a road that leads up to China's remote border with Afghanistan. However there is no indication Beijing intends to open the militarized boundary any time soon.

As the United States reassesses its global commitments, the opening of Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor creates a new trade artery between China, Central Asia and South Asia — giving Russia and China new openings to reshape the Eurasian order. The Changing Global Balance of Power On 4th October 2026, Afghanistan opened the Wakhan Corridor, which means […]

Despite sweeping restrictions on women’s employment, some Afghan women are finding ways to build businesses and earn a living. 

Impoverished Afghans are illegally selling their kidneys to repay debts and buy food. The selling of organs comes as the war-torn country grapples with one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

As millions of Afghans struggle just to afford food, some have turned to selling one of their last remaining resources: a healthy kidney. The costs can be devastating: One woman said her health has deteriorated since she sold a kidney for a modest sum that failed to clear her family's debts.

China is increasingly trying to diversify its connections to the region as Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan create new security and strategic problems for Beijing. The opening of a road through the Wakhan Corridor is an important step in that effort. Afghanistan has formally inaugurated a 121-kilometer road through the corridor, running from Broghil to the […]

The post Afghan road to China tests Pakistan’s power and leverage appeared first on Asia Times.

Five years after seizing Kabul, the Taliban’s strongest argument for international acceptance rests on control. The Taliban governs every provincial capital and faces no conventional army capable of marching on Kabul. It repeatedly cites improved security as proof that Afghanistan’s post-2021 order is settled. But armed resistance is becoming more geographically dispersed, more organizationally diverse […]

The post Bit by bit, the Taliban is losing control of Afghanistan appeared first on Asia Times.

I have watched Pakistan-Afghanistan relations long enough to distrust easy headlines, and last week’s news produced a few of them. At the Center-2026 (Tsentr-2026) war games in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, Taliban officers stood among the foreign observers. Reports say it was the first time Moscow had invited a Taliban military delegation since the movement returned […]

The post Russia courts the Taliban without dropping Pakistan appeared first on Asia Times.

The prolonged closure of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border has brought cross-border trade to a standstill, leaving tens of thousands of people on both sides without work. It has also disrupted commercial activity and strained longstanding family and social ties.

Tensions persist between Kabul and Islamabad, accompanied by an information war, psychological pressure, and border and political clashes. Introduction Pakistan has long held connections with various Afghan political factions. Pakistan, over the 1960s and 1970s, progressively supported religious and political groups that were against the Afghan government, aiming to establish an opposing force to its […]

Pakistani air strikes hit targets in Afghanistan's Kunar and Helmand provinces overnight on October 1. Pakistani authorities said they were targeting militants operating near the border, but Afghan witnesses said civilians were among the dead, including children.

Pakistan carried out a round of air strikes on October 1 on two Afghan provinces near the border based on "credible evidence" of militant activity in the area.

Afghan refugees being held at a camp in Qatar have been told it will be kept open for another nine months after a deadline for its closure passed, but they face continuing uncertainty over their fate amid an ongoing bar on entry to the United States.

America has become an imperial power that aims to invade and dominate the weak countries. This tendency has created global insecurity and led America to lose wars. In terms of natural resources and firepower, America dominates like no other country. It has the largest and most flexible military, the most weapons, and the most devices […]

Hundreds of Afghan medical students in Pakistan face expulsion, including women and students nearing graduation. Courts in several parts of the country have temporarily allowed them to stay and continue their studies, but their long-term future remains uncertain.

Thirteen people were killed and at least 35 others injured following a blast at a security checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan, near the border between Pakistan's Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

A former US Marine has spent days trying to see his brother at a camp in Qatar holding Afghan refugees in limbo after plans to bring them to the United States were blocked by a presidential executive order. The camp is due to close on September 30, and the inmates don’t know what will happen next.

An Afghan migrant has told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that his stepmother and four sisters died of thirst and hunger while attempting a dangerous journey to Iran after economic hardship forced the family to leave Afghanistan again.

At least 17 Afghans died of extreme dehydration in mid-September after crossing Iran through Pakistan, according to a human rights organization. Among them were a mother and her four daughters.