Tag: taliban

“Open War” Breaks Out Between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Pakistan has declared it is in “open war” with Afghanistan’s Taliban government following a gradual escalation of tensions and cross-border clashes along the disputed Durand Line. Under Operation Ghazab lil-Haq (“Righteous Fury”), Pakistan launched airstrikes in response to what it called “unprovoked firing” from across the border.

Pakistani forces targeted at least 22 locations, including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost, and Paktika, saying they struck Taliban headquarters, ammunition depots, logistics bases, and other key military installations. Explosions were reported in Kabul.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghan forces had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military positions in response to earlier Pakistani airstrikes. Afghan officials said they attacked Pakistani border troops in retaliation and claimed their drones successfully hit military targets inside Pakistan, though Islamabad said any drones were intercepted by anti-drone systems without damage.

Casualty figures are sharply disputed. Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said at least 274 Taliban fighters were killed and more than 400 injured since the operation began, while 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 wounded. Pakistan’s information minister gave a lower Taliban death toll of 133 and said two Pakistani soldiers were killed.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government claims 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, eight Taliban fighters died, and 11 were injured. Kabul also said 13 civilians were wounded in a reported Pakistani strike on a refugee camp in Nangarhar and claimed to have captured Pakistani soldiers, which Islamabad denies.

Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Islamabad had exhausted diplomatic options and would now take “decisive action,” blaming the Taliban for instability and terrorism. Asif accused the Taliban of turning Afghanistan into an Indian “colony,” exporting terrorism, and aligning with India, framing the conflict as a response to security threats and India’s growing ties with Kabul.

Mujahid said Afghanistan wants the fighting resolved through dialogue but warned it would respond to further Pakistani actions. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Afghanistan would defend itself and urged Pakistan to change its policies and pursue good neighborly relations.

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For years the Taliban told women to cover up in public. Now they’re cracking down

In stop-start efforts since November, Taliban officials have cracked down on women and girls in the western city of Herat who have been ignoring the hardline group’s rules by showing their faces. Enforcement agents are preventing them from entering hospitals and seminaries and pulling them out of public transport.

Initially, women and girls were punished for not wearing a burka — the Afghan burka is typically blue, has a netted opening for the eyes and drapes down around the body, largely constraining the woman wearing it. Later, after what residents described as pushback, officials enforcing the rules relented and allowed women to wear the typical conservative dress in this part of Afghanistan, a voluminous cloak known as a chaddar, along with a face mask.

At the main hospital in the Western city of Herat, one health worker described female staff milling outside the entryway for hours, waiting for colleagues on the night shift to hand over their burkas so they could enter — like a token that allowed them “entry permission,” the worker said. In another incident, Human Rights Watch reported on a female surgeon, who was detained for several hours for not donning the burka.

Forcing women to don burkas, to cover their faces or even to wear a hijab, or head covering, “is part of the Taliban’s policy of controlling women’s bodies to make women invisible,” said Sahar Fetrat, a researcher in the women’s rights division of Human Rights Watch. She said in a statement: “Afghan women and United Nations human rights experts have called this “gender apartheid.”

In interviews conducted since November, more than a dozen Herat residents described different incidents to NPR. They all requested anonymity, or that we only use an initial of their first names, fearing reprisal from Taliban officials. The crackdown was run by officials of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which is tasked with the implementation of the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law.

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Taliban to jail barbers who shave men’s beards for up to 15 months under radical Islamic law

Barbers who cut off men’s beards in Afghanistan are set to be jailed under the Taliban‘s increasingly radical regime.

Some young men are also reportedly being beaten up and ‘humiliated’ for defying strict cultural laws by daring to pick a Western-style haircut.

Offending hairdressers will be referred to the Taliban’s feared judicial authorities and could face up for 15 months in prison.

The totalitarian regime claims it is merely laying down Islamic law.

Beard removal was already illegal under its dystopian-sounding Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, but did not carry a prison sentence.

Some accused of crafting non-traditional styles have already faced temporary detention, however, meaning their businesses have ground to a halt for days.

Esmatullah, from the Balkh province, told the Telegraph: ‘We are branded as agents of the former government if we trim our beards or keep what they call a Western hairstyle. 

‘The Taliban interrogate and beat people simply for how they look.’

He said a local college student was beaten up by Taliban members who also lopped off his hair with scissors, because he had decided to shave the sides of this head.

Another barber in Balkh said that many of his customers now ask him to visit them at their homes for haircut or grooming sessions, because it is too risky to do in public.

Many have also seen a steep decline in business since the Taliban reestablished in August 2021.

Last week, Taliban morality enforcers detained eight barbers in Afghanistan’s Parwan province for shaving or styling beards.

Their shops were shuttered, and their have been families told they will be detained for a month.

Taliban officials summoned male barbers in the Balkh province on Friday to the drum home the message that the crackdown is on.

Another Balkh barber told the newspaper: ‘If people are not allowed to shave their beards or cut their hair as per their choice, who will come to our shops?

‘We live hand to mouth, and these edicts will leave us without enough food on our plates.’

Since sweeping back to power in the wake of the Western withdrawal, the Taliban has steadily tightened its grip on the people of Afghanistan and stripped away their freedoms.

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SURPRISE! Watchdog Claims U.S. Weapons Left Behind by Biden in Afghanistan Now Make Up ‘Core’ of the Taliban Military

A watchdog has now confirmed that American weaponry left behind in the botched 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan now makes up the ‘core’ of the Taliban military.

This means that if American soldiers are ever again put on the ground in an armed conflict in Afghanistan, there is a distinct possibility that they could be injured or killed by weapons paid for by the American taxpayer. Thanks, Joe Biden!

Joe Biden could have been impeached for a number of things, but he should have been impeached for this. All of this.

Just the News reported:

Afghan watchdog concludes billions in weapons U.S. left behind form ‘core’ of Taliban military

The inspector general responsible for scrutinizing U.S. reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan has detailed the billions of dollars wasted by the U.S. government during the 20-year war in the country and concluded that the arsenal of U.S.-provided military weaponry that was left behind now forms the “core” of the Taliban’s own military machine.

A massive number of U.S.-made and U.S.-supplied weapons and military facilities were left behind in Afghanistan as a result of President Joe Biden’s troop withdrawal announcement in April 2021, which resulted in the dissolution of the Afghan military, a chaotic U.S. evacuation, and a Taliban takeover in August 2021.

The Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) issued its “final forensic audit report” this week more than four years after the U.S. withdrawal and evacuation from the country, concluding that “these U.S. taxpayer-funded equipment, weapons, and facilities have formed the core of the Taliban security apparatus.” SIGAR said in its final report that it will close its doors at the end of January 2026 as a result of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2025.

It’s simply maddening.

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Bombshell Report Reveals Shocking New Motive for DC National Guard Shooter

The shooting of two National Guard members in Washington last week has taken a jarring new turn, and the emerging theory about the gunman’s motive points to a far deeper national security threat.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national accused of killing Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounding Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, had served alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan before Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal. If you’ve been wondering why someone who once helped American troops would suddenly target National Guardsmen, you’re not the only one asking that question. Federal investigators now believe the Taliban may have blackmailed Lakanwal into carrying out the attack.

“U.S. intelligence is investigating information that a Taliban hit squad threatened to murder Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s family in Afghanistan unless he opened fire on American troops in the nation’s capital,” reports the Daily Beast. “But investigators are asking themselves why a man who was vetted by two administrations, and with no criminal record and no history of extremism, should drive across the country on an apparent suicide mission to shoot at heavily armed U.S. military personnel with a revolver.”

One line of inquiry they are seriously pursuing, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation, is that Lakanwal was made an offer he could not refuse. Either he accepted the mission, or his family in Afghanistan would be beaten, murdered, and possibly beheaded.

Lakanwal was a member of the Afghan Scorpion Forces working closely with the CIA as a GPS tracking specialist. He helped the U.S. military escape from Kabul in the shambolic retreat from Afghanistan in August 2021. Between August 14 and 30, more than 123,000 people were airlifted from Kabul Airport. The Afghan fighter joined one of the last flights because he served the United States and due to the danger he would be in if he were left behind.

About 700 Scorpion Forces members are understood to be detained in Afghanistan because they worked with America and its allies.

According to the report, the fallout from Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan is still unfolding. In the five years since the pullout, a Taliban military unit known as Yarmouk 60 has been hunting down—and in many cases killing—Afghans who worked with the United States and its allies. Earlier this year, a member of the “Afghan Triples,” an elite special forces unit created and backed by the U.K. to fight the Taliban, escaped to Germany in hopes of bringing his family to safety. Yarmouk 60 responded by murdering his wife and father, along with four of his children, including two young girls who were beheaded.

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Bloody Escalation on the Durand Line: Taliban Announce 58 Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Retaliation for Airspace Violations, Pakistan Reports 200 Afghan Fighters Eliminated and Closes Borders

On October 12, 2025, the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan became a battlefield. The Taliban, from Kabul, claimed responsibility for the deaths of 58 Pakistani soldiers in overnight retaliatory operations. These actions were in response to alleged airstrikes by Islamabad on Afghan territory the previous Thursday.

The Taliban government spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, detailed in a press conference that Afghan forces captured 25 Pakistani military posts. He also reported 30 enemy soldiers wounded and the seizure of weapons and ammunition. «Up to nine of our mujahideen have been martyred and 18 wounded,» Mujahid specified.

From Islamabad, the Pakistani Army contradicted the figures. It admitted 23 of its own casualties and 29 wounded. In contrast, it claimed to have neutralized over 200 Taliban and allied fighters, including members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Pakistani security sources described the Afghan attacks as «unprovoked» and highlighted the destruction of terrorist camps.

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Taliban Sells £40 Fake Death Threats for Asylum Seekers to UK

Fake death threat letters produced by the Taliban are being used to dupe the Home Office in asylum applications for Afghan migrants. The Telegraph has the story.

A Telegraph investigation can reveal how corrupt officials in Afghanistan produce government letters threatening to kill asylum seekers. The letters are then used as evidence in asylum applications.

To demonstrate how easily such documents can be obtained, an undercover Telegraph reporter paid Taliban officials £40 to produce three fake letters from different regional offices on official headed paper, signed by local administrators.

The letters can be published in full, but have been redacted to protect sources.

They include warnings that the Taliban will “deliver justice upon you” — shorthand for execution — for co-operating with the “evil government of England”.

One letter says: “The mujahideen monitor all your activity on social media and will deliver justice when they see you. God will be pleased and you will be freed from this shameful life.”

The practice of purchasing fake letters raises fresh questions about the integrity of the asylum system and whether genuine refugees are being disadvantaged by forgeries.

Multiple migrants housed in Home Office hotels and Taliban officials in Afghanistan told the Telegraph that the use of fake letters is widespread.

In one case, a rejected asylum seeker said they submitted a fake letter in an appeal as evidence of facing danger in Afghanistan.

The new application was then approved, although it is not clear if the letter was the only piece of evidence that judges took into account.

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Afghan women lose their ‘last hope’ as Taliban shuts down internet

Fahima Noori had big dreams when she graduated from university in Afghanistan.

She had studied law, graduated from a midwifery programme and even worked in a mental health clinic.

But all that was taken away when the Taliban swept into power in 2021. They banned girls over the age of 12 from getting an education, severely restricted job options for women and recently removed books written by women from universities.

For Fahima, the internet was her last lifeline to the outside world.

“I recently enrolled in an online university [and] I had hoped to finish my studies and find an online job,” she said.

On Tuesday, that lifeline was cut off when the Taliban imposed a nationwide internet shutdown that is set to last indefinitely.

“Our last hope was online learning. Now [even] that dream has been destroyed,” said Fahima.

Her real name has been changed to protect her identity, as have the names of all others interviewed for this article.

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Taliban Rejects Trump’s Call to Return Afghan Air Base to US Control

The Taliban regime on Sept. 21 rejected President Donald Trump’s call for the United States to regain control of the Bagram Air Base, the main base for U.S. forces in Afghanistan before their 2021 withdrawal.

In a statement, the Taliban emphasized that “Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance” and urged the United States to abide by the pledge it made under the 2020 Doha Agreement.

“It should be recalled that, under the Doha Agreement, the United States pledged that ‘it will not use or threaten force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan, nor interfere in its internal affairs.’ Therefore, it is necessary that they remain faithful to their commitments,” the Afghan ruler stated.

The regime also expressed its intention to have “constructive relations” with the United States “on the basis of mutual and shared interests.”

“Accordingly, it is once again underscored that, rather than repeating past failed approaches, a policy of realism and rationality should be adopted,” it stated.

In response, Trump warned on the Truth Social platform that “bad things are going to happen” if the Taliban regime refuses to return control of the major air base to the United States.

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Mamdani for years used July 4 to promote self-styled ‘Taliban’ rapper who ‘worshipped’ 9/11 hijacker

New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani for years marked the Fourth of July by sharing a photo of a rap group that is infamous for its glorification of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and for its praise for one of the 9/11 hijackers.

Mamdani wished his social media followers a “Happy 4th” on Independence Day in 2021, 2023, and 2024 — less than one year before the failed rapper and socialist activist became the Democratic Party’s nominee — in tweets accompanied by a picture from a music video of the two lead singers of the controversial rap group called The Diplomats (also known as Dipset), who were famous — and infamous — for some of their pro-terrorism-tinged lyrics.

Mamdani, a longtime rap aficionado who took a largely unsuccessful stab at being a rapper himself, has tweeted “Happy 4th” exactly four times — sharing the picture of the pro-terrorist Dipset rap group on the Fourth of July in 2021, 2023, and 2024 — and then, only after becoming the Democratic nominee, sent out a much more anodyne, standard-fare, politician-style tweet in 2025 wishing his followers “Happy 4th” featuring pictures from a Democratic Club BBQ held in Queens.

Rappers “worship” ringleader of 9/11 hijackings that murdered almost 3,000 people

The Harlem-based rap group’s own lyrics from the 2003 album that Mamdani repeatedly promoted describe the hip-hop collective as the “Dipset Taliban”, “Harlem’s own Taliban”, and “Harlem’s Al-Qaeda” and described the group’s songs as “9/11 music” — while one of the group’s main singers compared himself favorably to Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and declared in a song that “I worship the prophet” Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the 19 terrorist hijackers on 9/11 and who piloted American Airlines Flight 11 crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

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