Dec 5 (Reuters) – Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged heavy fire along their border late on Friday, officials from both countries said, amid heightened tensions following failed peace talks earlier this week.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province. A spokesman for Pakistan’s Prime Minister accused Afghan forces of “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border.
“Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a statement.
The exchange came two days after a new round of peace talks between the South Asian neighbours ended without a breakthrough, though both sides agreed to continue their fragile ceasefire.
The talks in Saudi Arabia last weekend were the latest in a series of meetings hosted by Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia aimed at cooling tensions following deadly border clashes in October.
At the heart of the dispute, Islamabad says Afghan-based militants have carried out recent attacks in Pakistan, including suicide bombings involving Afghan nationals. Kabul denies the charge, saying it cannot be held responsible for security inside Pakistan.
Pakistan, Afghanistan exchange heavy fire along border, officials say
In the frenzied American exit from Afghanistan, Obaidullah Durani, a fighter pilot who had been trained by U.S. forces, was scrambling to get his family out, too. His daughter, Hela, was hoisted over the fence by a Marine at the Kabul airport as the family rushed to make a departing plane. But Mr. Durani’s wife, Shafaro, was separated from him and their two children and never made it onto an evacuation flight.
Allowed to enter the United States through a special program for people who worked with American forces, Mr. Durani settled in Arizona, with his infant daughter and toddler son. He had never changed a diaper in his life, he said, but he was now a single father juggling parenting with delivery jobs. Yet he felt safe in the United States and hopeful that the family would eventually be reunited.
That all changed with the deadly attack on National Guard members last week in Washington, D.C., which authorities say was carried out by a 29-year-old Afghan man.
That threatens the lives built by the Duranis and thousands of other Afghan families in the United States.
Mr. Trump has seized on the shooting to intensify his broader anti-immigration campaign, and he has sought to depict the attack and the man charged, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, as evidence of a dangerously broken system he inherited from President Biden.
“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” the president said on Truth Social. “If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them.”
All told, about 200,000 Afghans who were considered wartime allies of the United States have been admitted to the United States since the chaotic pullout that concluded the 20-year occupation. Many had worked alongside U.S. troops in combat or on bases; others were employed by organizations — including The Times and other media outlets — as well as institutions that supported U.S. operations or interests.
The rhetoric and the threats from President Trump have stirred panic in communities that are home to many Afghan arrivals, including the Phoenix area where about 4,000 have settled since 2021.
He and his children have a green card interview scheduled for Dec. 17. He had many questions: Would the interview still take place. And, if it did, could his family end up being detained? Deported? What about his wife, whose process to enter the United States was now at a standstill?
“Every Afghan is worried,” said Mr. Durani, who delivers Amazon packages. “They shouldn’t punish all of us because of one person.”
“I’m here contributing, working, paying my taxes,” he said. “This is a country of laws and democracy; the man has been arrested.”
The center’s co-founders, Julianna Larsen and Robin Peterson, fielded a barrage of calls even as they coped with the people walking in for help.
“Right now, if you leave the country, you might not be allowed back,” Ms. Peterson told one caller, who had plans to visit family members in Pakistan. “It’s too risky, even if you have a green card.”
Mirwais Daudzai, who also visited the center, works at the Phoenix airport assisting passengers who require wheelchairs. He greets them with a smile, asks about their journeys and eases them into the chairs. When travelers learn that he fled to the United States from his native Afghanistan, he said many tell him they are glad he is safe in America. Some slip him a generous tip.
That kindness seemed to vanish last week, Mr. Daudzai said, after the deadly attack in Washington D.C. and the anti-immigrant measures announced by the government.
On Thanksgiving, the day after the shooting, a traveler was about to hand Mr. Daudzai a $20 bill, but shoved it into her pocket instead after hearing he was from Afghanistan.
It happened againover the long holiday weekend, Mr. Daudzai said. It was a hostility he had not previously encountered since arriving in the United States.
“Before this problem, I’m so happy and relaxed in this country,” said Mr. Daoudzai, 31, . “I have a job, I’m safe, I have no enemies.”
Now, “people are looking at all Afghans as terrorists,” said Mr. Daudzai, who was a police officer in his homeland and is in the United States with his wife. Both have active green card applications.
In the days since the shooting, U.S. officials have disclosed that Mr. Lakanwal was part of a paramilitary force that worked with the C.I.A. and was admitted to the United States as part of the effort to protect Afghan allies after the Taliban returned to power. Earlier this year, Mr. Lakanwal was granted asylum, which allowed him to remain in the United States and to seek a green card and citizenship.
For years, the admission into the United States of Afghans who supported the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan has enjoyed bipartisan support.
After the fall of Kabul in 2021, Americans across the political spectrum mobilized to welcome Afghans in one of the largest volunteer efforts since the end of the Vietnam War. Churches and synagogues in communities from Arizona to Virginia collected donations, furnished homes and taught newcomers how to navigate bus lines.
Before being allowed into the United States, the evacuees underwent extensive vetting. Many spent weeks or months in overseas way stations, such as Qatar, where they had to complete security checks, medical screenings and immigration paperwork. Once in the United States, they typically spent weeks on military bases before being resettled in communities across the country.
Most of them entered the United States with a special status called humanitarian parole under a program called Operation Allies Welcome. They then applied for asylum, which put them on the path to permanent residency in the country that gave them safe haven.
“They have worked for the last four years to achieve stability and integrate into American life,’’ said Ms. Larsen, co-founder of the refugee center in Mesa.
The Trump administration had already sharply restricted Afghan immigration as part of a travel ban announced in June, dashing hopes of many separated families that they would be reunited any time soon.
But the future of many Afghans, both those already in the United States and those hoping to immigrate, has been clouded by the Nov. 26 shooting, which killed one Guard member, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and wounded another, Andrew Wolfe, 24.
President Trump has announced additional measures that could jeopardize the ability of Afghans in the United States to remain permanently. Among them is a plan to conduct new security checks of people already granted green cards, or lawful permanent residency.
As of Tuesday, the Trump administration has suspended the processing of all immigration applications filed by nationals of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, who had been barred from entering the United States under an executive order Mr. Trump issued in June. It is unclear when, or if, the suspension might be lifted.
Hekmatullah, 38, who said he was a former spokesman for the Ministry of Transport in Afghanistan, visited the center to seek camaraderie with fellow Afghans. His immigration status is especially precarious.
He, his wife and their three young daughters fled first to Iran, then to South America, where they joined the wave of humanity trudging through the perilous Darien Gap to make their way to North America.
They crossed the U.S. border with Mexicoearly last year and headed to Phoenix, where a brother-in-law, a former cargo plane pilot, had been resettled in 2021.
Hekmatullah, who spoke on condition that he be identified only by his first name to protect relatives in Afghanistan, applied for asylum, got a work permit and found a job at the airport.
His daughters, 11, 9, and 7 are thriving in school and already speak flawless English. In Afghanistan, they would be deprived of educational opportunities because they are girls.
“My kids are the most precious thing I have,” he said, as his daughters played on computers.
“If there was no Taliban and the country had stability,” he said, “I would not have left my country.”
Now Hekmatullah fears their asylum case, and their future in the United States, could be in jeopardy.
“We left because of fear,” he said. “Now fear is following us.”
On Tuesday, rumors that federal agents were spotted near an Amazon warehouse prompted many Afghans to skip work delivering packages.
Several men gathered at the Arizona Refugee Center to compare notes. Whether they had asylum or permanent residency, they were unwilling to risk an encounter with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they said.
“I have a green card in my pocket,” said Khalil Sarwari, 48 producing it as proof. “But this crazy person caused big problems for everyone.”
Before starting his afternoon shift pushing wheelchairs, Mr. Daudzai stopped by the center, where he has been taking English classes. He also had a previously scheduled appointment there with a real estate agent.
His eyes were bloodshot from a sleepless night. Out of the blue, it seemed, the subcontractor that employs him at the airport had asked him to bring in his documents for review for the first time in more than two years.
“I’m so confused,” he said. “Do I buy a home? Or am I going to be deported?”
Miriam Jordan reports from a grass roots perspective on immigrants and their impact on the demographics, society and economy of the United States.
From Welcome to Worry: Afghans in the U.S. Face Uncertainty, Backlash
The shooting of two National Guard members, one of whom later died, in Washington DC has led to major immigration policy changes by the Trump administration.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said the suspect – from Afghanistan – had entered the United States under an Afghan resettlement scheme launched during the Biden administration.
And Republican officials have claimed, without providing evidence, that he had not been vetted.
The DHS has suspended processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals “pending further review of security and vetting protocols”.
What has been said about Afghan vetting under Biden?
The DHS said the suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US under an Afghan resettlement scheme, Operation Allies Welcome (OAW).
The scheme was launched in August 2021 under the Biden administration to resettle “vulnerable” Afghans after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in the same year.
“They came in, they were unvetted, they were unchecked”, said President Trump, who called a reporter “stupid” for asking why he blamed the Biden administration for the Washington attack.
In an FBI news conference, the agency’s director Kash Patel claimed the previous administration “made the decision to allow thousands of people into this country without doing a single piece of background checking or vetting”.
And in a press release on the day of the attack, the DHS said the suspect “is one of thousands of unvetted Afghan nationals let into the country under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome program”.
Most Afghan nationals arriving on the OAW programme were given permission to stay in the country for two years under a process known as “parole”.
Afghans on parole are subject to reporting requirements (such as medical screenings and critical vaccinations) and could lose their right to stay in the US if these requirements are not met.
Those who took “significant risks” to support US troops in Afghanistan were admitted as lawful permanent residents after completing the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process.
According to the charity AfghanEvac, Lakanwal had an active SIV application but was granted asylum this year under the current Trump administration.
How were Afghans vetted under the scheme?
We contacted the White House for more details about Lakanwal’s vetting. It did not provide them but told us:
“This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people.
“The Trump Administration is taking every measure possible – in the face of unrelenting Democrat opposition – to get these monsters out of our country and clean up the mess made by the Biden Administration.”
We also contacted the DHS and CIA, who did not get back to us.
Although we do not know the suspect’s vetting arrangements before he entered the US we do know how vetting was supposed to work for the scheme he arrived on.
An archived government website for the OAW scheme, last updated at the start of this year, mentions a “rigorous” and “multi-layered” vetting process, which involved collecting biometric information such as fingerprints and photos from Afghans before they were allowed to enter the country.
It mentions multiple government agencies involved in vetting, including the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center.
There have been mixed reports into the effectiveness of the programme’s vetting.
A 2022 audit carried out by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) – a US government oversight body – found that “some information used to vet evacuees through US Government databases (such as name, date of birth, identification number, and travel document data) was inaccurate, incomplete, or missing”.
The OIG said this problem was partly as a result of the DHS not having a list of Afghan evacuees “who lacked sufficient identification documents”.
It also reported that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States”.
Two years later another OIG audit of the scheme found weaknesses in the government’s ability to identify potentially negative information (such as national security concerns) about some Afghans parolees.
However, earlier this year the OIG commended the FBI for its role in screening Afghans on the scheme.
“Overall we found that each of the responsible elements of the FBI effectively communicated and addressed any potential national security risks identified,” it said.
As well as reviewing audits of OAW, BBC Verify contacted several experts for their views on the vetting process.
Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration analyst at the Cato Institute think tank, said the programme “was more inconsistent than usual by OIG accounts and compared to the more intensive refugee review process”.
“Because of the chaotic nature of the evacuation, information was lost and some checks weren’t run until the migrants were already out of Afghanistan.”
Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the immigration advocacy group the National Immigration Forum, told BBC Verify she was present at the US military bases where evacuees were initially processed.
“Evacuees were processed on military bases and held for several weeks, and even months, until they were ready for entrance into the United States. This is when the security vetting and medical screening was processed, extensively”, she said.
“Even the best vetting can’t predict the future. He [Lakanwal] could have had a clean record, been an appropriate candidate for humanitarian protection, and then something changed.”
In the four years since the evacuation, thousands of Afghans have safely resettled in the US and this is the first major incident, Ms Murray said.
“The fact that one person committed a horrific act doesn’t mean other Afghans now pose a threat,” she added.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that the suspect had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan.
The BBC’s Afghan Service spoke to a soldier from Lakanwal’s former military unit, the Kandahar Strike Force (KSF).
The soldier said there was vetting to get into the unit which took around three to four weeks and involved being recommended by a senior KSF officer and undertaking a “call history check” of their mobile device.
If the candidate passed that stage they may have been referred to a security check carried out by the US, which involved collecting biometric data from the applicant.
The Afghan Service corroborated the soldier’s account by speaking to a commander from the KSF unit, who also confirmed the soldier’s identity and added that a criminal record check was also part of the vetting process.
The Pentagon says its investigation into the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan remains ongoing and is expected to be completed by next summer.
A Pentagon spokesperson says the U.S. Defense Department’s investigation into the chaotic withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is still ongoing and is expected to be completed by the summer of next year.
Kingsley Wilson, speaking Tuesday, said the review remains underway and has not yet produced new findings. The probe focuses on the final phase of the Biden administration’s exit strategy in August 2021, which led to a rushed evacuation of U.S. personnel, Afghan partners and civilians.
The Pentagon has faced repeated criticism from lawmakers and veterans over how the withdrawal was executed, especially after the collapse of the Afghanistan government and the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport that killed U.S. troops and dozens of Afghan civilians.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked the handling of the exit, blaming President Joe Biden for what he calls an avoidable failure. Trump has also argued that the withdrawal damaged U.S. credibility, left military equipment behind and enabled extremist groups to regain strength.
Recently, Trump claimed that Biden allowed “thousands” of Afghans into the United States who, he alleged, are linked to terrorism, drug trafficking and violent crime. The Biden administration has rejected such claims, saying all evacuees were vetted through U.S. and international intelligence databases.
Trump’s remarks intensified following the recent shooting incident in Washington involving Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan asylum seeker accused of attacking two National Guard soldiers near the White House. Lakanwal has denied the charges in court, and his legal team says the case is still under investigation.
Civil rights organizations and refugee advocacy groups have warned against using the incident to justify collective blame or discriminatory policy changes toward Afghanistan refugees. They argue that many evacuees risked their lives supporting U.S. operations and should not be associated with isolated criminal cases.
As the Pentagon continues its review, debates surrounding accountability, immigration policy and the legacy of the Afghanistan withdrawal remain politically charged and are expected to intensify ahead of the upcoming election cycle.
Pentagon Says Afghanistan Withdrawal Review Will Be Completed by Next Summer
Terrorism risks linked to Afghanistan and the Middle East are evolving and intensifying, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday, warning that extremist groups are adopting new methods and technology to expand operations.
At the two-day BRICS+ Counterterrorism Conference in Moscow, Dmitry Lyubinsky said Islamic State and al-Qaeda are evolving and reorganising across borders.
Lyubinsky said militant groups are increasingly using artificial intelligence, modern communications tools and cryptocurrencies to spread propaganda, raise funds and support criminal networks, a pattern also documented in recent Western intelligence assessments and technology-focused research.
The conference, titled “BRICS+ 2025: National and Regional Strategies to Combat Terrorism amid Emerging Security Challenges,” aims to craft a coordinated approach to what speakers described as a fast-moving threat environment.
Lyubinsky said instability in Afghanistan and continued conflict in the Middle East require “close monitoring and rapid response,” arguing that the situation poses risks beyond regional borders. International analysts have echoed similar concerns, saying Afghanistan under Taliban control has become a hub for transnational militant actors.
Russia has repeatedly raised alarms over the deteriorating security landscape in Afghanistan. In September, Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said more than 23,000 foreign fighters representing international terrorist organisations were active in the country, calling the situation a serious threat to regional and global security.
Taliban officials continue to deny the claims, insisting they have dismantled Islamic State networks and prevented Afghanistan territory from being used for cross-border operations. However, U.N. reporting suggests several extremist factions remain active and capable of regrouping.
Participants at the Moscow conference said counterterrorism efforts will require both traditional security mechanisms and new frameworks for digital oversight, reflecting the shift of militant recruitment and financing into virtual spaces.
Whether BRICS+ members can translate shared security concerns into concrete coordinated action remains unclear, but officials said momentum is growing for deeper cooperation as global power competition and instability reshape regional security priorities.
Russian Official Warns of Rising Terror Threats Linked to Afghanistan and Middle East
The United States’ 20-year attempt to stand up democracy in Afghanistan descended into a cesspool of corruption and squandered as much as $29.2 billion in waste, fraud and abuse in pursuit of unrealistic goals, according to a government watchdog report released on Dec. 3.
The scathing report is the culmination of a 17-year investigation by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which Congress created in 2008 to investigate and oversee the United States’ occupation.
Its conclusion: The American occupation was a failure, doomed from the start by unrealistic and uninformed goals, and run through with corruption and abuse of taxpayer dollars.
The failures of the occupation of Afghanistan resurfaced in recent weeks since a 29-year-old Afghan man who immigrated to the U.S. in the wake of the withdrawal was charged in the shooting of two National Guardsmen blocks from the White House, killing one. The suspect worked for years in Afghanistan with top-secret, CIA-led units known for their brutality and disregard for human rights, and showed signs of severe depression and psychological stress stemming from the experience.
The shooting prompted President Donald Trump to further crack down on refugees from Afghanistan and other countries seeking asylum in the U.S., a move criticized by advocates and some veterans who worked with Afghan allies.
US-backed government was a ‘white collar criminal enterprise’
Congress spent about $144.7 billion on Afghanistan reconstruction – much more than the United States spent on the Marshall Plan, the push to help Europe recuperate after World War II, including accounting for inflation, according to the report. That money, investigators found, stood up an Afghan government and military plagued by corruption and inefficiency, which collapsed within days when the U.S. withdrew its forces in 2021.
“The government we created over there… was essentially a white collar criminal enterprise,” Gene Aloise, SIGAR’s acting inspector general, told reporters at a Defense Writers Group briefing.
For the first 10 or 12 years of the occupation, the United States “just ignored corruption,” Aloise said. SIGAR investigators issued four reports on the issue, generating “window dressing improvements” but no significant change, he said.
Contractors, both Afghan and American, siphoned off billions of dollars in kickbacks and embezzled from U.S. funds, according to the report. An Afghan businessman paid $1.25 million in bribes to American servicemembers, stealing oil from the U.S. military to sell on the black market, in one case investigated by SIGAR. In another case, an American defense contractor and his wife evaded taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars in income from reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan.
SIGAR investigations resulted in 171 criminal convictions and recovered $167 billion in funds, according to the report. But some corrupt Afghan officials and contractors were off limits, Aloise said.
“We would identify guys who were bad guys who earned kickbacks, bribes, whatever, but they could have been working for the CIA or another agency, so we were told, ‘hands off,'” said Aloise.
The United States spent $38.6 billion on military and civilian infrastructure and weapons for the Afghan army, including 96,000 ground vehicles, 427,300 weapons, 162 aircraft and 17,400 pairs of night-vision goggles, the report found.
When the United States withdrew, about $7.1 billion of weapons were left behind. Facilities Americans built for the army that were not destroyed “can be assumed to be under Taliban control,” the report concluded.
In addition, the report found that the U.S. military worked with Afghan warlords accused of human rights atrocities. It maintained a “tacit acceptance of sexual violence by Afghan allies,” including “tolerating” the practice of “boy play,” or the widespread sexual abuse of young boys, according to the report.
Investigators were stonewalled by Biden administration
Throughout the inspector general’s investigations, Aloise said, investigators faced a “general lack of cooperation” from U.S. officials. It was worst during the Biden administration, which “just shut us down for a year,” he said.
“They wouldn’t talk to us, they wouldn’t work with our people,” he said.
In interviews with SIGAR, senior U.S. officials said they felt the effort was doomed years before the Afghan government’s 2021 collapse.
“Even in my early days, at least I had a sense that we were kidding ourselves,” William Wood, the ambassador to Afghanistan from 2007 to 2009, told investigators in the report.
In the 20-year war, more than 2,320 U.S. servicemembers, 69,000 Afghan military and police, and 46,000 civilians were killed, according to Brown University’s “Costs of War” project.
“The cost was much higher than just money,” Aloise said.
Link to SIGAR final report: https://www.sigar.mil/Portals/147/Files/Reports/sigar-final-report.pdf
Afghanistan occupation dogged by corruption, wasted billions – report
Russia was the first country to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on July 3, 2025.
The Kremlin spokesperson, during a press conference in India, stated that Russia is strengthening its relations with Afghanistan.
Dmitry Peskov added that Russia shares regional interests with Afghanistan and that the Kremlin has a common perspective with New Delhi regarding relations with Afghanistan.
Peskov said: “We are strengthening our relations with Afghanistan. We know our counterparts are present there, and we must discuss regional issues with them. We have shared interests in the region and will continue to develop our relations with Afghanistan. In this regard, we have a mutual understanding with India.”
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan also considers the expansion of economic and political relations with Russia beneficial for both countries.
The Deputy Minister of Economy, referring to the Kremlin’s influence over Central Asian countries, emphasized Russia’s significant role in improving Afghanistan’s relations with these nations.
Abdul Latif Nazari, Deputy Minister of Economy, stated: “Russia is a powerful country in the region and can play a positive role in enhancing the relations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with Central Asian countries.”
Russia was the first country to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on July 3, 2025.
Following this move, bilateral relations between Kabul and Moscow have been expanding.
Russia Strengthening Ties with Afghanistan, Says Kremlin Spokesperson
According to a UN report, the Security Council may consider issuing a resolution addressing the recent strains between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The ongoing tensions between Kabul and Islamabad have raised concerns among members of the United Nations Security Council.
According to a UN report, the Security Council may consider issuing a resolution addressing the recent strains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The draft resolution is expected to express concern over the escalating situation and call on both sides to refrain from further military actions and resolve disputes through dialogue.
The report states: “The clashes between Pakistan and the Taliban are an issue for the Council. Council members may wish to consider adopting a resolution that expresses concern regarding the recent escalation, urges both sides to refrain from further military action, and encourages them to return to dialogue with a view to resolving their dispute peacefully.”
Bilal Omar, an international relations expert, said: “Whenever peace and stability are threatened anywhere in the world, the international community, especially the Security Council steps in to normalize the situation and prevent further conflict.”
According to the report, the Security Council also plans to hold an informal consultative meeting to receive an updated briefing from UN officials on the tensions and their regional implications.
Some political analysts see a potential UN resolution on Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions as significant, saying it would draw greater international attention to the conflict.
Wahid Faqiri, another expert on international relations, stated: “The UN’s growing interest in the Afghanistan-Pakistan issue is a positive development. It could apply international pressure on both sides to resolve the current conflict through peaceful negotiations.”
This comes as representatives from Kabul and Islamabad are currently in Riyadh for talks.
UN Security Council Mulls Resolution on Kabul-Islamabad Tensions
A security research consortium claims new footage may show Hamza bin Laden in Afghanistan.
A transatlantic intelligence consortium monitoring al Qaeda activities has released a video it claims shows Hamza bin Laden inside Afghanistan. The group says the footage was recorded several months ago and digital identifiers were removed to prevent tracing.
The Taliban have yet to comment on the claim. They have repeatedly denied hosting al Qaeda figures and insists no foreign militant networks are active in Afghanistan.
In the released footage, Hamza bin Laden appears in an outdoor setting with what looks like an urban environment in the background. The consortium did not specify the location but said the video aligns with intelligence assessments suggesting he may have relocated to Afghanistan after years of secrecy.
The report comes more than two years after al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul’s Sherpur district in August 2022, an incident that raised renewed concerns over the Taliban’s ties with al Qaeda after the U.S. withdrawal.
Previous United Nations Security Council monitoring reports have stated that al Qaeda maintains close relations with other groups and continues to operate multiple training camps in Afghanistan. Confirmed locations were cited in Parwan, Ghazni, Laghman and Uruzgan provinces.
A paper published by the Paris Geopolitics Academy suggests Hamza bin Laden may be present in Panjshir, though the claim has not been independently verified.
The new footage has intensified debate among Western intelligence analysts who warn that Afghanistan could again become a safe haven for transnational militant groups. They say the timing of the release may be intended to signal that al Qaeda leadership remains active and operational despite years of counterterrorism pressure.
Whether the video confirms Hamza bin Laden’s presence in Afghanistan remains unclear. Intelligence officials say verification could take time, but if proven authentic, the footage may intensify international scrutiny over regional security and counter-extremism commitments.
Intelligence Consortium Claims Hamza bin Laden Presence in Afghanistan
Ten Afghan migrants attempting an illegal border crossing were shot dead by Iranian guards near Farah province, the Taliban police spokesman said Tuesday.
At least ten Afghan migrants attempting to cross into Iran were shot dead by Iranian border guards near the Sheikh Abu Nasr Farahi crossing, Taliban officials in western Afghanistan said on Tuesday. Two others who were part of the group remain missing.
Taliban police spokesman Mohammad Naseem Badri said the victims were residents of Farah province and were trying to enter Iran illegally when Iranian forces opened fire. He did not provide details on the exact timing of the incident.
Deadly shootings involving Afghan migrants along Iran’s eastern border have been reported repeatedly in recent years. Human rights monitors say most victims are undocumented workers attempting to reach Iran due to poverty and unemployment under Taliban rule.
One of the deadliest incidents occurred last year in Sistan-Baluchestan when Iranian guards reportedly opened fire on a group of about 300 Afghans. Taliban officials later confirmed at least two deaths and several injuries among those returned to Afghanistan.
In 2020, Iranian border forces were accused of torturing and forcing Afghan migrants into a river in Herat’s Golran district. Officials from Afghanistan’s former government said 18 migrants had died in that incident.
Despite repeated criticism from Afghanistan rights groups and refugee advocates, Tehran has defended its border policy, saying it is confronting mass illegal crossings, drug smuggling networks and security threats.
The Taliban administration has not announced whether it will file an official complaint. Kabul and Tehran have previously held talks on refugee safety, water disputes and border management, but tensions persist.
Humanitarian organisations warn that as economic pressure and deportations from Pakistan increase, more Afghans are attempting dangerous routes into Iran, raising fears of further casualties on the border.
Iran Border Guards Fatally Shoot 10 Afghan Migrants at Frontier
The United Nations says aid workers are still in a “race against time” to remove rubble and rebuild after the devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last month, killing at least 2,200 people and cutting off remote areas.
The 6.0-magnitude quake on Aug. 31 was shallow, destroying or causing extensive damage to low-rise buildings in the mountainous region. It hit late at night, and homes — mostly made of mud, wood, or rocks — collapsed instantly, becoming death traps.
Satellite data shows that about 40,500 truckloads of debris still needs to be cleared from affected areas in several provinces, the United Nations Development Program said Wednesday. Entire communities have been upended and families are sleeping in the open, it added.
The quake’s epicenter was in remote and rugged Kunar province, challenging rescue and relief efforts by the Taliban government and humanitarian groups. Authorities deployed helicopters or airdropped army commandos to evacuate survivors. Aid workers walked for hours on foot to reach isolated communities.
“This is a race against time,” said Devanand Ramiah, from the UNDP’s Crisis Bureau. “Debris removal and reconstruction operations must start safely and swiftly.”
People’s main demands were the reconstruction of houses and water supplies, according to a spokesman for a Taliban government committee tasked with helping survivors, Zia ur Rahman Speenghar.
People were getting assistance in cash, food, tents, beds, and other necessities, Speenghar said Thursday. Three new roads were under construction in the Dewagal Valley, and roads would be built to areas where there previously were none.
“Various countries and organizations have offered assistance in the construction of houses but that takes time. After the second round of assistance, work will begin on the third round, which is considering what kind of houses can be built here,” the spokesman said.
Afghanistan is facing a “perfect storm” of crises, including natural disasters like the recent earthquake, said Roza Otunbayeva, who leads the U.N. mission to the country.
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
