Afghan Taliban

The UK government is to open new refugee resettlement routes for Afghan women and girls and for Palestinians, an announcement linked to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and made around the Labour Party conference in 2026. The move signals a shift in UK asylum policy toward targeted humanitarian schemes for groups facing acute risk.

Pakistan says its forces have thwarted an attack along the border, with several Taliban fighters reported killed in the exchange. Details on the exact location and casualties remain limited, but the incident adds to ongoing tensions between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban leadership over cross-border militancy.

South African officials have held talks with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai focused on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. The discussion comes as Afghan women continue to face severe restrictions on education, work and public life under Taliban rule. The talks signal growing international diplomatic attention to the issue, with activists pressing governments to keep pressure on the Taliban and defend Afghan women's access to schooling.

Taliban authorities have arrested three people in Khost province, Afghanistan, over the alleged use of Starlink satellite internet equipment. The detentions highlight the Taliban's restrictions on internet access and their efforts to control unlicensed communications technology. The case has drawn attention to how Afghans are turning to satellite connections to bypass government-imposed internet limits.

California State Senator Aisha Wahab, the first Afghan-American elected to a US state legislature, is calling on Washington to pursue diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan. She argues that continued isolation of the country worsens conditions for ordinary Afghans and that dialogue is needed to address humanitarian and security concerns, a position that is drawing attention among Afghan communities and policymakers.