On the morning of September 17, Taliban fighters entered Esmatullah’s home in Panjshir’s Hesarak Valley, tied his hands and took him away. The previous day, two Taliban military vehicles had been set on fire in the area, prompting a security operation that led to the detention of dozens of residents. Esmatullah, whose name has been changed for his safety, said he had no involvement in the incident. At a Taliban military facility in Dashtak, he saw more than 30 local residents being held over the attack. He was released after a week, but six men from his village remained in detention when he spoke to Etilaatroz. Read the full report here: kabulnow.com/?p=56450

A man was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province on Monday, local sources reported, amid a recent increase in mysterious killings and other violent crimes across the country. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56490

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has accused Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of actively supporting Pakistani militant groups and allowing them to plan attacks from Afghan territory, while rejecting allegations that Pakistani airstrikes have killed civilians in Afghanistan. In a statement issued on Monday, October 26, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said attacks planned and launched from Afghan territory had killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and caused more than 3,500 casualties in 2026 alone. It said Islamabad could not remain indifferent to repeated attacks against its civilians and security forces. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56487

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched the second phase of an economic recovery programme in Afghanistan, with support from South Korea, to strengthen livelihoods and rebuild community infrastructure in five provinces. UNDP Afghanistan announced the launch on Monday, October 26, saying the second phase of the Reviving Economic Activities and Improving Vulnerable Environments (REVIVE II) programme would focus on strengthening livelihoods, rebuilding social infrastructure, revitalising economic activities and improving communities’ resilience. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56484

A 12-year-old boy has been killed after an old piece of unexploded ordnance detonated while he was playing with it in eastern Nangarhar province, local Taliban officials said. The incident occurred on Sunday evening, October 25, in the Gandumak area of Sherzad district, according to a statement from the Taliban governor’s media office in Nangarhar. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56481

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is continuing to deliver humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through Uzbekistan, using a logistics and supply hub established in the Uzbek city of Termez to maintain the flow of life-saving supplies into the country. Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, said in a video posted on X on Sunday, October 25, that the agency had established the logistics centre in Termez to transport humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56478

Taliban forces have arrested four residents of Dara district in northeastern Panjshir province, with their reasons for detention remaining unclear, local sources said. The four men, identified as Muslim, Shir Shah, Abdul Kabbar and Sayed Rahman, were arrested on Friday, October 23, in the Abdullah Khil Valley of Dara district, according to the sources. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56475

Two young men have been killed in separate incidents in southern Kandahar and eastern Nangarhar provinces, one in a robbery and the other in a shooting between two families reportedly triggered by a dispute between children. Five other people were injured in the family clash in Jalalabad, local sources said. In Kandahar, a young man identified as Ehsanullah was stabbed by robbers who stole his mobile phone. A source who requested anonymity told KabulNow that Ehsanullah was originally from Paktia province. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56472

Humanitarian organizations working in the shelter and non-food items sector have requested $12.8 million to provide winter assistance to vulnerable people across Afghanistan. According to a report by the Shelter and Non-Food Items Cluster, the funding will support humanitarian operations in 102 high-priority districts across the country. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56468

A young man has been shot dead under unclear circumstances in the Kayan area of Khadir district in central Afghanistan’s Daikundi province, local sources confirmed to KabulNow. A source told KabulNow that the victim was identified as Hassan Khudai, approximately 21 years old. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56465

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan says interference by Taliban authorities and restrictions on women have hampered women’s and girls’ access to services in the country’s western region. In its latest humanitarian access snapshot, published on Saturday, October 24, OCHA reported that around 90 percent of aid organizations participating in a September survey had experienced difficulties providing services to women and girls in western Afghanistan. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56462

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Afghanistan has called for people with disabilities to be included in decisions affecting their lives, emphasizing the need to listen to their experiences and priorities. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56458

The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), an armed anti-Taliban group, says its fighters launched rocket attacks on Taliban military facilities and training centres at Bagram Airfield in Parwan province, killing or wounding more than 10 Taliban members. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56454

United Nations human rights experts expressed concern on Thursday over reports that European Union member states are deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan, saying the country remains unsafe for forced returns and that such actions could violate international law. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56446

Afghanistan’s education system is facing mounting challenges under Taliban rule, with millions of girls barred from secondary and higher education, male university enrolment down by nearly one-third since 2019 and a sharp decline in academic staff, according to a joint report by UNESCO and UNICEF. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56437

The European Union has allocated €12 million to provide emergency health, nutrition, protection and water and sanitation services to more than 347,000 people in crisis-affected communities across southern and southwestern Afghanistan, the humanitarian organization INTERSOS said. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56434

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Thursday confirmed a security incident involving one of its staff members in Afghanistan’s central Bamyan province, saying the employee was unharmed. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56430

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported six new cases of poliovirus in Afghanistan, bringing the total number of confirmed human cases in the country to 42 in 2026. In its latest polio bulletin, WHO said three of the newly confirmed cases were detected in Kandahar province, two in Nangarhar province’s Bati Kot and Goshta districts, and one in Kabul’s Musahi district. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56427

The Global Campaign to Stop the Hazara Genocide has launched an international petition calling for urgent action to protect Hazaras in Afghanistan, prevent forced displacement and pursue legal recognition of the alleged genocide against the community. The online petition urges the United Nations, its Human Rights Council, governments, national parliaments, competent international justice bodies and human rights organisations to take immediate measures to protect Hazaras, stressing that action to safeguard lives must not be delayed until legal investigations are completed. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56424

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that one-third of nutrition centres across Afghanistan have closed or suspended services due to funding shortages, as food insecurity and malnutrition continue to worsen in the country. OCHA said more than four million infants and children under the age of six are expected to require treatment for acute malnutrition next year, raising concerns about the impact of declining humanitarian assistance on vulnerable families. Read more: kabulnow.com/?p=56421