https://www.scmp.com/rss/524646/feed The latest news and top stories on Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the Taliban government. Known for being the long-serving "faceless mouthpiece" of the Taliban, he played a pivotal role in shaping their communications strategy. He has a background in Islamic jurisprudence and journalism. His work involves communicating the government's stance on various issues, including urging transport authorities to investigate a recent bus crash. Key accomplishments include elevating the Taliban's... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press Afghanistan accused Pakistan of killing at least 400 people in an air strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in the Afghan capital late on Monday. It marked a dramatic escalation of a conflict that began late last month and has seen repeated cross-border clashes as well as air strikes inside Afghanistan. International calls for a ceasefire have gone unheeded. Pakistan dismissed the accusation that it had hit a hospital, saying its strikes, which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan, did... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346806/afghanistan-accuses-pakistan-killing-civilians-fresh-kabul-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346806/afghanistan-accuses-pakistan-killing-civilians-fresh-kabul-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 20:27:26 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistan’s president on Saturday warned neighbouring Afghanistan’s Taliban government that it had “crossed a red line” by launching drone attacks on civilian areas in Pakistan and said the administration in Kabul had brought “grave consequences upon itself”. The statement by Asif Ali Zardari was the latest in what has become the deadliest fighting yet between the two neighbours. The cross-border clashes, which erupted late last month, have shown no signs of abating despite efforts by China and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346619/afghan-talibans-drone-attacks-civilians-crossed-red-line-pakistan-warns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346619/afghan-talibans-drone-attacks-civilians-crossed-red-line-pakistan-warns?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 13:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Explosions were heard in the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday, Agence France-Presse journalists said, with the Taliban government saying they were responding to aerial Pakistan attacks. A spokesman for Afghanistan’s defence ministry said “air defence strikes were carried out against Pakistani aircraft in Kabul”. Months of cross-border clashes have flared since Thursday when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the frontier, with Pakistani forces hitting back on the border and from the skies. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345024/pakistani-afghan-clashes-widen-arab-states-struggle-halt-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345024/pakistani-afghan-clashes-widen-arab-states-struggle-halt-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 09:49:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said on Friday they were willing to negotiate after Pakistan ⁠bombed their forces in major cities and said the allies-turned-foes were in “open war”. Pakistan struck the Afghan capital Kabul, the city of Kandahar, where Taliban leaders were based, and other towns, a Taliban spokesman said. The attacks were its first directly targeting Afghanistan’s government over allegations it harbours militants seeking to overthrow the Islamabad government. Taliban spokesman... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344949/afghanistans-taliban-open-talks-pakistan-open-war-continues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344949/afghanistans-taliban-open-talks-pakistan-open-war-continues?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 02:09:21 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on Friday, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring the neighbours at “open war” following months of tit-for-tat clashes. Journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead until dawn, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and the southern power base of the Taliban authorities. Pakistan’s latest operation came after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night over... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 01:01:15 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistan’s claim of killing at least 80 militants in strikes on Afghanistan is “false”, a Taliban government security source told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. “The figure of 80 martyrs given by the Pakistan regime is false and imaginary,” the source said on condition of anonymity. Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, offered no evidence for his claim in an interview with Geo News that at least 70 militants were killed in the strikes. Pakistan’s state-run media later reported... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344268/pakistan-targets-militants-afghanistan-testing-doha-truce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344268/pakistan-targets-militants-afghanistan-testing-doha-truce?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:07:16 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An overnight exchange of gunfire and shelling at a major Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing killed four civilians and one soldier, Afghan officials said on Saturday, the latest flare-up of fighting between the two countries despite a ceasefire since deadly clashes in October. Five other civilians were wounded, an Afghan government spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said in a video statement. The local hospital at the Pakistani border town of Chaman said three people suffered minor injuries during... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3335462/5-killed-latest-clash-afghan-pakistan-border-crossing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3335462/5-killed-latest-clash-afghan-pakistan-border-crossing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2025 11:51:14 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain A ceasefire between Afghanistan’s Taliban regime and Pakistan, agreed after intense clashes last month, is hanging by a diplomatic thread, following a wave of suicide bombings in Pakistan and disputed claims that it retaliated with cross-border drone strikes on Tuesday. With both countries vowing vengeance, analysts say regional states acting as mediators – Qatar and Turkey, and Iran and Russia – have only a narrow window of opportunity to prevent another round of hostilities. Otherwise,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334306/can-mediators-stop-afghan-pakistani-war-cat-and-mouse-game-enters-retaliatory-phase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334306/can-mediators-stop-afghan-pakistani-war-cat-and-mouse-game-enters-retaliatory-phase?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Nov 2025 05:30:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Afghanistan’s Taliban government said on Saturday its ceasefire with Pakistan would remain even though their latest talks failed, blaming Islamabad’s “irresponsible and uncooperative” approach. The two sides met on Thursday in Turkey to finalise a truce agreed on October 19 in Qatar, following deadly clashes between the South Asian neighbours. Both have remained tight-lipped on the content of the discussions, which are known only to have addressed long-standing security issues. “During the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3332043/afghanistan-blames-pakistan-security-talks-collapse-ceasefire-will-hold?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3332043/afghanistan-blames-pakistan-security-talks-collapse-ceasefire-will-hold?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 09:22:56 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Afghanistan and Pakistan, embroiled in fighting that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds, pledged on Sunday to respect a ceasefire. The truce, mediated by Qatar and Turkey, came into effect immediately and is intended to pause hostilities. Violence has escalated between the neighbours since earlier this month, with each country saying they were responding to aggression from the other. Afghanistan denies harbouring militants who carry out attacks in border areas. Pakistan is... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3329583/afghanistan-and-pakistan-agree-ceasefire-after-deadly-fighting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3329583/afghanistan-and-pakistan-agree-ceasefire-after-deadly-fighting?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Oct 2025 11:51:28 +0000 Reuters Reuters Mobile phone and internet services were restored in Afghanistan on Wednesday, local residents said, some 48 hours after diplomatic and industry sources said connectivity was abruptly cut on the orders of the Taliban administration. The mobile phone services of Roshan and Etisalat companies, the foreign-owned biggest providers, came back to life in the late afternoon, residents in Kabul and other cities said. Internet access was restored, according to companies providing the service. A Taliban... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3327514/taliban-deny-afghanistan-internet-ban-amid-outage-reports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3327514/taliban-deny-afghanistan-internet-ban-amid-outage-reports?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:20:31 +0000 Associated Press,Reuters Associated Press,Reuters An overcrowded bus carrying Afghans expelled from Iran crashed in western Afghanistan, and at least 79 people were killed, authorities said on Wednesday. The crash on the Herat-Kabul highway involved a motorcycle, a truck and a bus late on Tuesday, said Ahmdullah Muttaqi, head of the information department for Herat’s provincial government. The bus was carrying Afghan refugees expelled from Iran, part of an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, who were on their way from the border to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3322548/79-killed-bus-carrying-afghans-iran-crashes-and-catches-fire-near-herat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3322548/79-killed-bus-carrying-afghans-iran-crashes-and-catches-fire-near-herat?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:48:20 +0000