Afghanistan

The Taliban have launched a crackdown on suspected Islamic State hideouts in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, following an increase in bloody attacks by the group in recent weeks.

A Pakistani official says the ‘troika plus’ meeting aims to find ways to avert a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Taliban officials in Afghanistan's provinces are imposing even stricter rules than those announced by the group's leaders in Kabul, while often ignoring the meager rights protections they themselves had set out. 

Central Asian republics are stepping up their diplomatic activity in the face of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, seeking to balance fears of increased extremist activity in the region against the risk of an economic collapse that could send refugees flooding across their borders.

[…] The United States government's determination to leave Afghanistan according to a set timetable, irrespective of allies' reservations, has reignited the debate over the need for greater EU strategic autonomy. 

Representatives of the countries bordering Afghanistan have met in Tehran to discuss how to coordinate actions in response to the change in government in the war-torn country. The foreign ministers of the six nations bordering Afghanistan and Russia all participated in the conference on October 27.

China pledged to help the Taliban “rebuild the country” while reiterating calls for the U.S. to lift sanctions against the new leaders of Afghanistan as the economy worsens.

Russia on Monday urged Western countries to engage with the Taliban and for the European Union to re-open its embassy in Afghanistan, warning that the country was at risk of descending further into drug trafficking and terrorism. The call came after Moscow last week hosted members of the Islamist regime for international talks, and the Taliban agreed to work with Russia, China, and Iran on regional security.

An international Russia-hosted meeting Wednesday pressed the Taliban to form a “truly inclusive” government in Afghanistan and called for the United Nations to convene a donor conference as soon as possible to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe facing the war-torn country.

At a virtual conference to discuss the deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan on Tuesday, G20 nations highlighted the importance of urgently channeling humanitarian aid to Afghans through independent international organizations without formally recognizing the Taliban government.