Afghan Taliban Leader

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.

When China launched its Belt and Road Initiative 10 years ago, Britain's then-finance minister said it had "tremendous potential to spread prosperity and spread prosperity and sustainable development".

The decision to ban women from educational institutes was announced by the Taliban officials in December and it drew widespread condemnation from foreign governments and the United Nations.

Gunmen shot dead an Afghan former lawmaker and one of her bodyguards in the capital Kabul in a night-time attack at her home, police said on Sunday.

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.

The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada showed up Friday at a major gathering of clerics in the Afghan capital called to rubber-stamp the hardline Islamist group's rule over the country.

Haqqani also said that the Taliban regime is seeking "good relations with the US and the international community."

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 World Bank has put four projects in Afghanistan worth $600 million on hold amid concerns over a decision by the country's ruling Islamist leaders to ban girls from returning to public high schools, the bank said.

One of the Taliban's most secretive leaders, whose only picture on US "most wanted" lists is a grainy semi-covered profile, was photographed openly for the first time Saturday at a passing-out parade for new Afghan police recruits.

The Taliban's foreign minister said Monday he held talks in Iran on the weekend with Ahmad Massoud, son of the late legendary Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, and guaranteed his security if he returned home.

The Taliban issued a decree Friday in the name of their supreme leader, instructing Afghan ministries "to take serious action" on women's rights, but failed to mention girls' access to schools.

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.

An Afghan business leader who employs hundreds of women on her saffron fields has vowed to speak up for the rights of her workers, and "not remain silent" under Taliban rule.

An Afghan business leader who employs hundreds of women on her saffron fields has vowed to speak up for the rights of her workers, and "not remain silent" under Taliban rule.

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.

When China launched its Belt and Road Initiative 10 years ago, Britain's then-finance minister said it had "tremendous potential to spread prosperity and spread prosperity and sustainable development".

The decision to ban women from educational institutes was announced by the Taliban officials in December and it drew widespread condemnation from foreign governments and the United Nations.

Gunmen shot dead an Afghan former lawmaker and one of her bodyguards in the capital Kabul in a night-time attack at her home, police said on Sunday.

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.

The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada showed up Friday at a major gathering of clerics in the Afghan capital called to rubber-stamp the hardline Islamist group's rule over the country.

Haqqani also said that the Taliban regime is seeking "good relations with the US and the international community."

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 World Bank has put four projects in Afghanistan worth $600 million on hold amid concerns over a decision by the country's ruling Islamist leaders to ban girls from returning to public high schools, the bank said.

One of the Taliban's most secretive leaders, whose only picture on US "most wanted" lists is a grainy semi-covered profile, was photographed openly for the first time Saturday at a passing-out parade for new Afghan police recruits.

The Taliban's foreign minister said Monday he held talks in Iran on the weekend with Ahmad Massoud, son of the late legendary Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, and guaranteed his security if he returned home.

The Taliban issued a decree Friday in the name of their supreme leader, instructing Afghan ministries "to take serious action" on women's rights, but failed to mention girls' access to schools.

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.

An Afghan business leader who employs hundreds of women on her saffron fields has vowed to speak up for the rights of her workers, and "not remain silent" under Taliban rule.

An Afghan business leader who employs hundreds of women on her saffron fields has vowed to speak up for the rights of her workers, and "not remain silent" under Taliban rule.