Afghan Taliban Chief

Afghan government employees must attend mosque five times a day or face punishment, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said Thursday in his latest edict enforcing an austere interpretation of Islam.

The Taliban's acting governor of the Afghan central bank met China's ambassador this week to discuss banking relations and business, the bank's spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

Top UN officials warned Wednesday that a Taliban government order banning Afghan women from working for its mission in the country would violate the world body's charter and demanded the ban be revoked.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday questioned the government over Rs 200 crore being set aside for assistance to Afghanistan, asking if it was correct to give funds to the Taliban-ruled country.

On the International Day of Education, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the Taliban in Afghanistan to reverse the ban on girls' access to secondary and higher education.

Al Qaeda Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world's most wanted terrorists and a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, was killed in a drone strike carried out by the US in the Afghan capital Kabul.

Taliban supreme leader Hebatullah Akhundzada on Wednesday said that Afghan soil will not be allowed to be used for carrying out attacks on other countries.

Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief on Saturday ordered the country's women to wear the all-covering burqa in public -- one of the harshest controls imposed on women's lives since the hardline Islamists seized power.

The Taliban must uphold the fundamental human rights of women and children, the United Nations chief said Wednesday, urging the international community to release frozen Afghan aid to prevent families from selling their babies to buy food.

Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has made his first-ever public appearance, officials announced Sunday, after he addressed supporters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

The United Nations aid chief said Wednesday he had released $45 million in emergency funds to help prevent Afghanistan's battered healthcare system from collapsing.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday vowed to boost humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as she pledged the 27-nation bloc stands "by the Afghan people".

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday urged countries to dig deep and provide desperately needed aid to Afghans, and to support women and others whose rights appear threatened by the Taliban.

UN chief Antonio Guterres pleaded for nations to continue dialogue with the Taliban, during an interview with AFP Thursday, as he expressed fears that the hardline Islamists' return to power in Afghanistan could embolden jihadists in the Sahel.

Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, is in Kabul to meet the Taliban leadership, which is in advanced stage of government formation.

Afghan government employees must attend mosque five times a day or face punishment, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said Thursday in his latest edict enforcing an austere interpretation of Islam.

The Taliban's acting governor of the Afghan central bank met China's ambassador this week to discuss banking relations and business, the bank's spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

Top UN officials warned Wednesday that a Taliban government order banning Afghan women from working for its mission in the country would violate the world body's charter and demanded the ban be revoked.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday questioned the government over Rs 200 crore being set aside for assistance to Afghanistan, asking if it was correct to give funds to the Taliban-ruled country.

On the International Day of Education, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the Taliban in Afghanistan to reverse the ban on girls' access to secondary and higher education.

Al Qaeda Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world's most wanted terrorists and a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, was killed in a drone strike carried out by the US in the Afghan capital Kabul.

Taliban supreme leader Hebatullah Akhundzada on Wednesday said that Afghan soil will not be allowed to be used for carrying out attacks on other countries.

Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief on Saturday ordered the country's women to wear the all-covering burqa in public -- one of the harshest controls imposed on women's lives since the hardline Islamists seized power.

The Taliban must uphold the fundamental human rights of women and children, the United Nations chief said Wednesday, urging the international community to release frozen Afghan aid to prevent families from selling their babies to buy food.

Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has made his first-ever public appearance, officials announced Sunday, after he addressed supporters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

The United Nations aid chief said Wednesday he had released $45 million in emergency funds to help prevent Afghanistan's battered healthcare system from collapsing.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday vowed to boost humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as she pledged the 27-nation bloc stands "by the Afghan people".

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday urged countries to dig deep and provide desperately needed aid to Afghans, and to support women and others whose rights appear threatened by the Taliban.

UN chief Antonio Guterres pleaded for nations to continue dialogue with the Taliban, during an interview with AFP Thursday, as he expressed fears that the hardline Islamists' return to power in Afghanistan could embolden jihadists in the Sahel.

Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, is in Kabul to meet the Taliban leadership, which is in advanced stage of government formation.