Gunmen shot and killed a policeman deployed on security detail for polio vaccinators in north-western Pakistan on Tuesday, in yet another attack on health workers. The country struggled to contain the spread of the crippling disease. Another policeman was wounded…
George Cross hero accused of spying in Dubai
A George Cross recipient and former Royal Marine has reportedly been held in Dubai after being accused of spying. Former Lance Corporal Matt Croucher was arrested on 4 November, The Times newspaper said. The 40-year-old from Solihull, West Midlands, was…
Afghanistan earthquake: At least 120 killed and 1,000 injured in 6.3 quake
Hundreds of people are feared dead and at least 1,000 are injured after a powerful earthquake hit western Afghanistan, near the Iranian border. The 6.3 magnitude quake struck about 40km from the western city of Herat at around 11:00 local…
UN chief calls for reopening of girls’ schools in Afghanistan
Marking the second anniversary of the ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called on the ruling Taliban militants to reopen schools for girls. “Girls belong in school,” Guterres wrote on X, the social…
200 people suffer food poisoning in Afghanistan
At least 200 people fell sick due to food poisoning in east Afghanistan’s Khost province, an official said on Monday. The incident occurred in Satkai village of Zazai Maidan district on Sunday evening when the villagers attended a charity meal.…
Afghan interpreter who fled the Taliban killed in US gun violence
Nasrat Ahmad Yar, like thousands of other Afghans, came to the United States in the wake of the 2021 Taliban takeover, using a special visa for those who worked for the US military. The 31-year-old interpreter envisioned a new life…
Taliban order Afghanistan’s hair and beauty salons to shut
The Taliban have ordered hair and beauty salons in Afghanistan to shut in the latest restriction faced by women. A Vice and Virtue Ministry spokesman told the BBC businesses had one month to comply, starting from 2 July when they…
Police arrest 7 kidnappers, rescue man in Southern Afghanistan
Afghan police on Monday arrested seven kidnappers and rescued an abducted man in the southern Helmand province. The provincial information and culture directorate in a statement said “the provincial police personnel launched a series of special operations. “It arrested seven…
Afghanistan’s Taliban publicly executes man convicted of murder
Afghanistan’s Taliban has publicly executed a man convicted of the murders of five people, the Supreme Court says of the second confirmed official execution since the group returned to power in 2021. The execution took place on Tuesday in the…
Ex-provincial police chief among victims of bomb blast in northern Afghanistan
A former police chief of Afghanistan’s Baghlan province was among victims of a bomb blast that rocked Faizabad, the capital of northern Badakhshan province, on Thursday. The provincial director for Information and Culture Qari, Maazudin Ahamdi said Safiullah Samim, the…