LAHORE: Afghanistan have won the toss and elected to bat first against Australia in the Group B clash of the 2025 Champions Trophy at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.

MUMBAI: The cricket world rose in effusive praise for the Afghanistan men's cricket team, especially Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai, as they played a stellar role in a stunning victory over former champions England in the Champions Trophy 2025 in Lahore on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: England's Champions Trophy campaign hangs by a thread as they prepare to face Afghanistan on Wednesday, knowing that another defeat, following their opening loss to Australia, could see them staring at early elimination. Former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain have weighed in on England’s struggles, raising concerns over Jofra Archer’s form and calling for a promotion up the order for skipper Jos Buttler.

KABUL: The Afghan interim government's Ministry of Public Health on Monday announced a four-day vaccination campaign aimed at protecting nearly 6.3 million children under the age of five from poliovirus.

ZARANJ: Afghan police discovered more than 50 kg of illicit drugs and apprehended two alleged drug smugglers in western Afghanistan Nimroz province, the provincial director for counter-narcotics department Mawlawi Faiz Mohammad Faizani said Friday.

KARACHI: South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in the third match of Group B clash of ICC Champions Trophy at National Stadium.

KARACHI: Afghanistan will make their Champion Trophy debut against South Africa at the renovated National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday. Led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan has developed a reputation for being the surprise package in global tournaments, having impressed in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup.

KABUL: Afghanistan have finalised their squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, starting from February 19 in Pakistan and UAE, with teenage spinner AM Ghazanfar ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury.

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan pacer Shapoor Zadran has announced his retirement from international cricket following a distinguished career that spanned for more than 10 years.

NEW DELHI: Nahida Sapan, who will captain Afghanistan in their T20 match against Cricket Without Borders, believes Thursday’s game at the Junction Oval can open doors for females in the country in all aspects and has called on the ICC to give the exiled team more support.

NEW DELHI: Nick Hockley, chief executive of Cricket Australia (CA), believes the exhibition match featuring an Afghanistan women's team in Melbourne is a 'real beacon of hope' for the females of the country.

NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan will join Afghanistan as their mentor for 2025 Champions Trophy, said sources in the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Wednesday.

KABUL: Afghanistan’s capital Kabul has become the epicentre of multiple explosions during the last 24 hours as border clashes between Pakistan and Afghan forces intensify. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, an explosion was reported in Kabul close to the office of the interior ministry in front of Sheikh Zayed Hospital. The latest explosion in Afghanistan’s capital is the second within 24 hours with the first being near the Indian Embassy at Kabul’s Shahri Naw area on Friday.

KABUL: Heavy clashes erupted between Afghan and Pakistani border forces at border crossing points, killing 19 Pakistani soldiers and three Afghan civilians, local media reported on Saturday.

KABUL: Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday issued a stern warning to Pakistan, urging Islamabad to learn the lessons of history before targetting Afghanistan.

KABUL: At least 44 commuters have been confirmed dead and 76 others were injured in two separate road accidents in east Afghanistan's Ghazni province on Wednesday night, a local official reported Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has made a return to the Test squad for the upcoming two-match series in Zimbabwe, said the country’s cricket body.

KABUL: A total of 404 Afghan children with congenital heart disease (CHD) have received free surgical treatment over the past nine months in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, Mawlawi Mudassir Hamraz, spokesperson for the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) said on Saturday.

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird has defended the decision to avoid bilateral matches with Afghanistan, responding to accusations of hypocrisy made by outgoing ICC chair Greg Barclay.

MUMBAI: Singer Tony Kakkar has come up with a new track titled "Afghani Afeem Hai", a pulsating Indi-pop. He said that the track is a musical rollercoaster of emotions.

FAIZABAD: At least six people were killed after a passenger vehicle fell into the Kokcha River in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, the provincial Department of Information and Culture said in a statement.

NEW DELHI: More than 10 countries are looking to imbibe India's generic pharmacy model to make affordable medicines accessible to the public, according to reports.

MELBOURNE: The Afghanistan women’s cricket team, currently living as refugees in Australia, is set to play a T20 match against the Cricket Without Borders XI in Melbourne on January 30. This will mark the team’s first time reuniting since fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, which barred them from playing at home.

KABUL: A total of 325 Afghan refugees have been deported to Afghanistan from Turkey over the past two days, according to a statement from Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation on Sunday.

KANDAHAR: Counter-narcotics police in Afghanistan's Kandahar province have uncovered illicit drugs, including heroin and opium poppy, and arrested seven suspected drug smugglers over the past week, provincial police spokesman Mullah Asadullah Jamshid said on Saturday.

KABUL: Afghan counter-narcotic police have destroyed 21 drug processing labs and arrested 20 suspects for alleged involvement in illicit drug business in eight out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, the Interior Ministry said in two separate statements.

KABUL: Measles cases are surging in Afghanistan, with nearly 6,000 positive cases in 2024, according to the latest data from the country's Ministry of Public Health.

KABUL: Afghan security personnel have rescued two abducted children from kidnappers in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, provincial police spokesman Mullah Asadullah Jamshidi said on Monday.

KABUL: Six people lost their lives and nine others were injured due to a big fire at a gas factory in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, local media reported.

KABUL: Three persons have been killed as a blast ripped through a mechanic shop in eastern Afghanistan's Ghazni province, provincial police spokesman Khalid Sarhadi said.

KHOST: Security personnel in Afghanistan have seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition in the eastern Khost province, the provincial police office said in a statement.

AFGHANISTAN: Police have prevented attempts to smuggle a large quantity of relics, including ancient coins, in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, provincial director for information and culture Abdul Shakor Spand said on Friday.

KABUL: At least eight passengers lost their lives after a vehicle carrying them from a wooden bridge plunged into a river in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province, provincial authorities said on Monday.

KABUL: Police have discovered a variety of arms and ammunition, including a DSHK-type anti-aircraft gun, from the Almar district of northern Afghanistan's Faryab province on Monday, said a statement of the provincial police office.

KABUL: The driver of a mini-bus lost his life and 14 commuters sustained injuries as the vehicle plunged into a ravine in eastern Afghanistan's Laghman province, provincial police spokesperson Mohammad Yunus Yusufzai said on Monday.

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council has strongly condemned Tuesday's terrorist attack against a school and an education center in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

KABUL: More than 450 tons of expired food and beverages were destroyed in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, the country's Ministry of Public Health said on Wednesday.

KABUL: Strong reactions continue in Afghanistan against Pakistani military's air strikes and rocket attacks on Afghan provinces, with many blaming Pakistan for violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty, Tolo News reported.

KABUL: Afghanistan has reported a death toll of at least 47 after Pakistani military air strikes hit the provinces of Khost and Kunar provinces, Pajhwok News reported.

NEW DELHI: The banned terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has warned Pakistan that their fighters are going to avenge the killing of innocent Afghans in air strikes in Khost and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.

KABUL: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reacted to the airstrikes of Pakistani jets on Afghanistan's Khost and Kunar provinces and expressed deep concern over the killings of civilians, Khaama Press reported.

UNITED NATIONS: Witnessing the enormity of human suffering during an Afghanistan visit, an international panel of emergency experts called for urgent, life-saving action, UN humanitarians said.

KABUL: Geneva Call, an independent humanitarian organisation, has said that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is dire and warned that if cash does not reach soon, poverty and misery will increase in this country.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met the members of the Sikh-Hindu delegation from Afghanistan who came to thank him for their safe evacuation from the war-torn nation along with the Guru Granth Sahib Swaroop.

NEW DELHI:Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has attacked US president Joe Biden's decision over allocating $3.5 billion to the victims of 9/11 and added that he must retreat his decision and hand over the property of the Afghan people back to them, Khaama Press reported.

KABUL: Several Afghan women took to the streets of Kabul calling for the release of female activists after one of them was freed.Parwana Ibrahimkhil, who went missing last month, was released and she claimed that she was held detained by Taliban forces, TOLO News reported.

KABUL: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that he met Taliban Health Minister Qalander Ebad for talks on the "dire" health and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: The Taliban views ISIL-K as its primary kinetic threat, as the group aims to position itself as the chief rejectionist force in Afghanistan, with a wider regional agenda threatening neighbouring Central and South Asian countries, as per a UN report.

FAIZABAD(Afghanistan):A total of 60 Afghan cadets after receiving training were commissioned to the police force in Afghanistan's northern Badakhshan province, Maazudin Ahmadi, Provincial Head of the Information and Culture Department, has said.

KABUL: At least 318 media outlets in Afghanistan have closed since the Taliban took over the country in August last year, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said.

KABUL: Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that the formation of an inclusive government and respecting the rights of women are the will of the citizens of the country, not only the international community.

KABUL: The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has announced that 27 civilian and military airports across the country have resumed operations after they were halted following the fall of the former administration last August, the media reported.

KABUL:A visiting Taliban delegation led by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met a group of Afghan civil society members in Oslo, during which the two sides reportedly agreed to work together for the betterment of the war-torn nation, according to media reports.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: The group stages of the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 came to an end with qualification shootouts, superb centuries and a five-wicket haul.

CHANDIGARH: Farid Mamundzay, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to India, during his visit to Punjab on Tuesday, called upon Mr. Banwarilal Purohit the Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh at Punjab Raj Bhavan.

BASSETERRE: The International Cricket Council (ICC) said Afghanistan's warm-up matches ahead of the ICC Men's Under 19 Cricket World Cup have been cancelled due to 'delay in obtaining visas'. It also said that the warm-up matches for England and the UAE have been rescheduled.

NEW DELHI:Taliban officials in northern Balkh province, bordering Uzbekistan, have announced the closure of all general baths for women, Khaama Press reported.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to consider the request of a man from Kerala seeking extradition of his daughter, who left India in 2016 to join terrorist organisation IS, and her daughter from Afghanistan.

HERAT: A man in west Afghanistan's Herat province sold his 10-year-old daughter for marriage without telling his wife, in order to keep his other children alive and fed.

WASHINGTON:The US is set to appoint two senior officials to lead to support Afghan women, girls, and human rights, the State Department announced in a release.

KABUL: In the wake of several new restrictions imposed by the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, several women staged a protest in Kabul calling for their right to education, employment and social freedom to be honored, the media reported.

KABUL: The Unicef announced that it has deployed mobile health teams across Afghanistan to address issues faced by women and children amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the war-torn nation.

NEW DELHI As Qatar and Turkey seek to take control of operations at the Kabul airport, Afghan businessmen are urging the government to sign a contract with a company from the United Arab Emirates instead, as many Afghans have investments in the UAE and they fear access will be restricted, Tolo News reported.

KABUL:Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that Islamabad must not interfere in Kabul's internal affairs, a statement which came in response to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's remark about the ongoing political situation in the war-torn nation, as well as the threat posed by the Islamic State terror group, the media reported.

NEW DELHI/KABUL:The situation in Afghanistan is increasingly dragging towards haplessness and desperation with no signs of any positive initiatives by the Taliban government to ensure an inclusive government and put an end to human rights violation.

NEW DELHI:The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called upon the Taliban to demonstrate their support for the rights of every Afghan.

KABUL: The World Health Organization (WHO) has commenced construction of a new trauma centre in a remote district in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, the world body announced on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Malala Yousfzai, activist for female education and Nobel Peace Prize winner, delivered the message of Foroutan Sotooda, an Afghan school girl, to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US President Joe Biden, Tolo News reported.

KABUL: The Unicef on Tuesday launched the largest-ever single-nation appeal for $2 billion to respond to the humanitarian needs in Afghanistan.

UNITED NATION: The UN General Assembly has decided to defer action on the representatives of Afghanistan and Myanmar, which means that the incumbent representatives will continue to represent their countries.

WASHINGTON:US President Joe Biden said on Friday that the drawdown in Afghanistan is "on track", but troops will not leave the country in the next few days.When asked by reporters at the White House whether the US will complete withdrawal in the next few days, Biden replied, "No, we're on track exactly as to where we expect it to be."

KABUL:A total of 33 militants were killed in Afghan airstrikes that struck Taliban gatherings in Kaldar and Shortepa districts of Balkh province, an army spokesman said on Thursday.

AMRITSAR: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Bibi Jagir Kaur has condemned the grenade attack targeting the minority Sikh community in Jalalabad, Afghanistan and called on the Government of India to negotiate with the Government of Afghanistan and take the lives of Sikhs there. . - Ensure the safety of goods.

KABUL: One dozen Afghan provinces, including Kabul, remained without electricity as another power pylon was destroyed by an explosion on Wednesday, national power company Breshna Sherkat confirmed.

KABUL: Afghan forces have retaken three districts from the Taliban amid continued fighting between the two sides, but lost two others to the militant group, the Defence Ministry said.

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's security establishment, fearful of strategic encirclement by India, apparently continues to view the Afghan Taliban as a relatively friendly and reliably anti-India element in Afghanistan, as per a brief prepared by the US Congressional Research Service.

KABUL:At least 46 Taliban militants were killed and 25 others injured in fierce clasheswith security forces in Afghanistan's Takhar province, the Ministry of Defence said.The clashes occurred on Saturday when the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) backed by local Public Uprising Forces and supported by the Air Force targeted a Taliban convoy and militants' aggregations in the suburban districts of Dasht-e-Qala and Rustaq, the Ministry said in a statement.

KABUL: At least 24 Taliban militants were killed and 15 others injured in gun battles with Afghan security forces in Kunduz province, an official said on Saturday.

SRI NAGAR:The Army has said that the US pull out from Afghanistan may push some militants into Kashmir, but the security forces are ready to tackle any situation.

KABUL: At least 23 members of an Afghan Armys special unit were killed during fierce clash with the Taliban in the northern province of Faryab, a security official said on Thursday.

KABUL: The Afghan government's security forces evicted Taliban militants and took control of a key suburban district in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab after heavy clashes, the country's Ministry of Defense confirmed on Wednesday.

KABUL: Amid an increase in the ongoing intense fighting, Afghan forces have retaken two districts in the north of the country which were overrun by the Taliban, a media report said.

KABUL: Eight Afghan policemen have been confirmed dead in an alleged insider attack at a police checkpoint in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the troubled Helmand province on Sunday.

KABUL: At least 50 militants loyal to the Taliban outfit were killed and dozens more injured in a series of air raids by government forces in Afghanistan's Paktia province, a top official has confirmed.

KABUL: As the level of violence remains high in Afghanistan despite efforts to jumpstart the stalled peace process, a total of 119 people were killed in clashes and security incident in just two days, June 3-4, an official said here.

KABUL: Units of the Afghan Special Forces stormed a Taliban hideout in northern Baghlan province and rescued eight security personnel from the armed group's detention centre on Monday, an army statement said.

KABUL: About 40 Taliban militants and five policemen were killed in the latest spate of violence in Afghanistan as massive gun-battles raged across the war-torn country, according to multiple sources.

KABUL: Nine civilians lost their lives and three others were injured as a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Thursday, a police spokesman said.

KABUL: Fighting in Afghanistan resumed with 31 Afghans, mostly militants, killed in the insurgency-battered Asian country on Sunday after a three-day ceasefire observed with the start of Eid al-Fitr on Thursday to enable celebrations of the end of the Muslim fasting month Ramadan, officials said.

KABUL: Afghans, as victims of the so-called US-led war on terror, would continue to suffer after the withdrawal of the American troops, according to a political analyst.The people of Afghanistan as the victims of the so-called US-led war on terror had suffered in the war during the 20-year-old presence of the huge military and would continue to suffer even after the troops' pull out as the militants are still very much active in the country," analyst Nazari Pariani told Xinhua news agency.

KABUL: At least 78 people have died in Afghanistan due to heavy rainfall and flash floods in the past week, the country's National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON: The Taliban has not launched any attack against US and coalition forces in Afghanistan since the drawdown began, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said.

ISLAMABAD: At least four Pakistani soldiers were killed on Wednesday during an attack by militants at the country's border with Afghanistan, the military said.

KABUL:The US forces in Afghanistan have handed over a key operating base to the Afghan National Army in the restive southern Helmand province, reported local media.

KABUL:Five soldiers and eight militants were killed when fighting erupted in Afghanistan's northern Badakhshan province on Saturday night, a local source confirmed on Sunday.

WASHINGTON:The White House has said the US military will send additional forces to Afghanistan to protect US and coalition forces during the withdrawal.

FAIZABAD(Afghanistan):Five militants have been confirmed dead as a clash erupted in Shahr-e-Bazarg district of northern Badakhshan province on Sunday, provincial government spokesman Sanahullah Rohani said.

GHAZNI(Afghanistan): Afghan fighting planes targeted the Taliban hideouts in the restive Muqar and Gilan districts of eastern Ghazni province on Saturday, killing 12 insurgents and injuring six others, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

GHAZNI: Afghan fighting planes targeted the Taliban hideouts in the restive Muqar and Gilan districts of eastern Ghazni province on Saturday, killing 12 insurgents and injuring six others, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

QALAT(Afghanistan):A total of 15 people were killed and eight others injured as a mini-bus collided with a truck coming from opposite direction in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province on Thursday, provincial police chief Mohammad Wais Samimi said on Friday.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Arif Alvi has said that India is using Afghanistan's soil to carry out terrorist activities in Balochistan.The Pakistani President was speaking to the US media on various issues on Thursday. On ties between New Delhi and Islamabad, he said that Pakistan cannot move towards normalisation of ties with India it rolls back its August 5 decision to scrap Indian-occupied Kashmir's autonomy, the Geo TV reported.

KABUL: Nine militants have been killed and three others injured in cleanup operations conducted by government forces in Afghanistan's Helmand province, police said on Monday.
A large number of arms and ammunitions were also seized from the Taliban hideouts in the operations launched on Sunday, Xinhua news agency quoted the police as saying.

NEW DELHI: India is concerned about the vacuum that will be created after withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from war-torn Afghanistan, Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday.

CANBERRA:Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday that the country's remaining troops in Afghanistan will leave in September.

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has announced that all US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan before September 11, a move to end the longest war in American history.