Afghanistan
Latest reporting and analysis focused on Afghanistan.
Condemning Taliban Human Rights While Seeking Their Cooperation on Deportation: The Structural Rift in European Migration Policy
According to The New York Times, European countries that publicly condemn the Taliban government's human rights record are seeking Taliban assistance to deport Afghan refugees back to their country. The Taliban is exploiting European fears over migration as leverage, bringing the rift between Western diplomacy and domestic politics to the fore.
Truth Era Newsroom · 6 viewsPanjshir Under the Pickaxe: Afghan Miners and the Taliban's Non-Western Pivot Under Sanctions
Against the backdrop of continued Western sanctions and isolation policies, emerald miners in Afghanistan's Panjshir province still extract high-quality emeralds using primitive tools such as pickaxes and shovels; the Taliban, meanwhile, have signed mining agreements with Chinese, Russian, and Iranian investors. The report examines how sanctions constrain the modernization of the local mining industry and push Afghanistan's economic center of gravity further toward the non-Western camp.
Truth Era Newsroom · 0 viewsTaliban mass-detains Afghan women for "dress code violations"; UN warns actual cases may far exceed published figures
A report released Thursday by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) revealed that between July and September 2026, Taliban authorities in Herat and Kabul arrested or detained at least 52 women and 1 girl on grounds of violating dress regulations. Earlier this week, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for four senior Taliban officials on the basis that the systematic deprivation of Afghan women's rights constitutes a crime against humanity, but the mechanism's reach
Truth Era Newsroom · 0 viewsUN Documents Taliban Detention of Afghan Women Over Dress Code; ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Four Senior Taliban Officials
A statement issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on October 8 noted that between July and September 2026, at least 52 women and 1 girl in the Afghan cities of Herat and Kabul were arrested or detained on suspicion of violating dress code regulations or traveling without a male guardian; earlier this week, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for four senior Taliban officials, charging them with crimes against humanity for the systematic depriv
Truth Era Newsroom · 1 views"The Invisible Female Caregivers": French Documentary Reveals Afghan Women's Healthcare Predicament
The French documentary short "Afghanistan : les soignantes de l'ombre," directed by French journalist Mélanie Nunes, was recently broadcast on the French channel Arté, documenting the systemic obstacles faced by Afghan women seeking medical services under Taliban rule. Interviewees bluntly stated that "no one in their country cares about their opinions," a remark that is both an indictment of domestic realities and a reflection of the persistent gap between the international community's long-sta
Truth Era Newsroom · 36 views9/11 25th Anniversary: Al-Qaeda Still Active in Afghanistan, Legacy of U.S. Two-Decade War Re-examined
According to The New York Times, twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups continue to maintain a presence in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, creating a gap with the Taliban's public statements that the country is "no longer a haven," forcing an external re-examination of the actual effectiveness of the United States' two-decade-long military intervention.
Truth Era Newsroom · 27 viewsHamburg, Guantanamo and Afghanistan: The Twenty-Year Price of Germany's "Unconditional Solidarity"
A retrospective report by Deutsche Welle reveals how the "unconditional solidarity" pledged by German Chancellor Schröder on the day after 9/11 evolved into expanded domestic surveillance powers, two decades of military engagement in Afghanistan, and acquiescence in the detention of German citizen Murat Kurnaz at Guantanamo for nearly five years without evidence. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the 59 Bundeswehr soldiers who died had been exchanged for an outcome that was little chan
Truth Era Newsroom · 33 viewsOnly Recognized After Five Years, FIFA Leaves Afghan Women’s Football Players to Pay for Institutional Delay
It took five years for the Afghan women’s national football team to receive official recognition from FIFA. The delay exposed the structural unfairness of a system in which a transnational sports authority controls identity recognition while athletes can do little but wait.
Truth Era Newsroom · 28 viewsAfghan War 25th Anniversary: Australian Commemoration Focuses on Veterans, Former Special Forces Soldier on Trial Permitted to Attend, Afghans Absent from 'Freedom' Narrative
The Australian War Memorial held a 25th anniversary commemoration of the Afghan War in Canberra. Prime Minister Albanese invoked former Prime Minister Howard to justify the military intervention with 'freedom' rhetoric; former Special Air Service soldier and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, who is facing five charges of war crime murder, attended after the New South Wales District Court allowed his bail conditions to be modified. The memorial director confined his definition of 'succe
Truth Era Newsroom · 0 viewsNobel laureate Pillay denounces US sanctions on International Criminal Court as "unprecedented"; rare collective opposition from eight-country bloc
2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former South African International Criminal Court judge Navi Pillay has described the United States' sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court as "unprecedented" and "unacceptable." The latest US sanctions target the ICC as an institution, prohibiting American entities from any transactions with it; previously, the US had already sanctioned 17 of the court's judges and officials. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the move "a serious blo
Truth Era Newsroom · 0 viewsUS Turns Sanctions Spear Toward the International Criminal Court as an Institution
US Secretary of State Rubio has announced new sanctions against the International Criminal Court as an entity, prohibiting any transactions with the institution and freezing its assets in the United States. The sanctions target two judicial actions that have unsettled Washington — the Afghanistan investigation and the arrest warrant for Netanyahu — further manifesting the long-standing power asymmetry in international justice: those sheltered by the United States can evade prosecution, while def
Truth Era Newsroom · 0 viewsThe Uncontrolled Push Outside Kabul Airport: Former U.S. DEA Translator Separated from Children for Five Years
Five years after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, S, an Afghan woman who served as a translator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, has obtained a law degree in the United States but remains separated from her two older children stranded in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan due to repeated shifts in U.S. immigration policy. According to NPR, S now speaks daily by phone with her children thousands of miles away, and her elder daughter has been pulled from school because of
Truth Era Newsroom · 34 viewsFrom the World Trade Center to Guantánamo: Australian 9/11 Families' Questions 25 Years On
According to ABC News, the September 11 attacks 25 years ago killed 2,977 people, including 10 Australians. On the 25th anniversary, the families of Australian victims reflect on the pain of losing loved ones, their stance on the war on terror, the absurdity of nearly two decades of judicial waiting, and the role some media have played in stoking prejudice against Muslims. Estimates suggest post-9/11 wars and conflicts have caused a cumulative 4.5 to 4.7 million deaths — roughly 1,500 times the
Truth Era Newsroom · 32 viewsPakistan Orders Expulsion of Afghan Medical Students, Passing the Cost of State Conflict onto Ordinary Seekers of Education
On September 9, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council ordered medical colleges nationwide to suspend admissions of Afghan students for the current academic year and required enrolled Afghan students to return to Afghanistan. King Edward Medical University in Lahore became the first to implement the order, with 22 Afghan students asked to complete procedures within 24 hours. The directive comes against the backdrop of continued deterioration in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, with Pakistan havi
Truth Era Newsroom · 30 views