Amu: Taliban have detained at least eight residents in the central province of Panjshir following an explosion claimed by an anti-Taliban armed group, according to local residents and sources. Residents said the arrests took place after an explosion on Monday evening in the village of Manjenesto in Abdullah Khil district. Among those detained are three teachers, according to local sources. Three sources told Amu that Taliban forces began making arrests on Tuesday morning and that the district remains under heavy security control. Residents said interrogations are continuing and that movement in the area is being closely monitored. The detentions came after an explosion in Manjenesto village on Monday evening. Shortly afterward, the Green Unit, the armed wing of the Green Trend movement led by former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, claimed responsibility for the attack. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Demand Absolute Obedience to Akhundzada, Bans All Questioning of His Orders
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada
8am: The Taliban’s Central Fatwa Council (the Fatwa Council), acting on orders from Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, has prepared a treatise titled “The Effects of Obedience in Strengthening the Islamic System” and distributed it widely among the public and the group’s fighters. The Taliban stated that the work was produced for “the general public” and their fighters to instill unconditional obedience to the group’s supreme leader, and to make clear that questioning Hibatullah’s orders and commands is not permissible. According to the Taliban, neither the public nor the group’s members have any right to question Hibatullah’s commands, as those commands contain wisdom the supreme leader does not wish to be made public. The treatise equates obedience to Hibatullah with obedience to God and the Prophet, framing it as foundational to the strength of the Islamic system. Its introduction claims that the fall of the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Ottoman caliphates was not caused by enemy attacks, but by the “rebellion of subjects against their rulers.” The treatise warns that if the Taliban fail to obey their leader, their own regime will face the same fate. Hibatullah, who wrote the foreword to the work, describes obedience as indispensable, claiming that without it, no aspect of life can function properly. The Fatwa Council further asserts that anyone who dies without pledging allegiance will have died “the death of ignorance.” Click here to read more (external link).
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Russian security chief says ISIS-K recruiting Central Asian nationals in Afghanistan
ISIS Militants
Amu: Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), said on Tuesday that the ISIS regional affiliate in Afghanistan is actively recruiting citizens of Central Asian countries and labor migrants living in Russia. Speaking at a meeting of security chiefs from the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow, Bortnikov said ISIS-K, the group’s Afghanistan-based branch, was drawing recruits from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. He said the group was also attempting to establish clandestine networks across the region and prepare potential attacks. The meeting was attended by senior security officials from several countries, including Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the Taliban’s defense minister. Click here to read more (external link).
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Tolo News in Dari – May 26, 2026
Taliban Closes Radio Stations In Ongoing Media Clampdown
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
May 25, 2026
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have closed down three local radio stations in the latest move in an ongoing crackdown that has seen the country’s media landscape decimated since the militant group seized power for a second time in 2021.
The radio stations — Tahsin al-Quran, Sanga, and Zama Ziwer — were operating in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, the Taliban’s birthplace and stronghold.
In a statement on May 24, the Taliban’s Department of Information and Culture accused the radio stations of failure to pay their taxes, not being licensed, and of substandard broadcasting.
The same statement also urged other radio stations to align their broadcast with “Islamic principles and ethics.”
The latest move drew immediate criticism from media advocacy and rights groups.
“Pressure on the media has increased, especially on radio stations,” Hamed Obaidi, head of the Afghanistan Media Support Organization, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
Obaidi added that the reasons given for closing the stations were merely a pretext to muzzle public opinion.
Last week, when another local station, Radio Bamyan, was shut down for not renewing its license, a source at the radio told Radio Azadi that the Taliban had actually prevented it from doing so.
Taliban-run Afghanistan ranks 175th in the latest edition of the World Press Freedom Index, released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last month. Only Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, North Korea, and Eritrea were rated lower.
RSF said 43 percent of media outlets in Afghanistan had been closed since 2021, documenting the dismantling of independent media with women journalists being disproportionately targeted.
Since August 2021, more than 165 media professionals have been arrested — including 25 in 2025 — and the media watchdog says “journalism has been choked by relentless censorship.”
The 2025 annual report by the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), released in December, also noted increased censorship and repression.
“Examples include forced confessions from imprisoned journalists, restrictions on the participation of female journalists in press conferences held by senior officials, and the censorship of women’s voices during live news coverage,” it said.
The AFJC report also documented the closure of at least 20 television stations in the country since 2021. The group also condemned the closure of the three Kandahar-based radio stations.
Taliban regulations have also imposed sweeping censorship systems, banned entertainment programming and films, and placed restrictions on women’s participation in media.
Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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Afghanistan Faces Trade Crisis Due To Pak Border Closure & Hormuz Tensions
Afghanistan International: After border crossings with Pakistan were closed, Afghanistan shifted much of its trade through Bandar Abbas Port of Iran, but disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has now severely affected trade and aid deliveries. According to Associated Press, Afghans had increasingly turned to Iranian routes as an alternative to Pakistan’s Karachi Port. Click here to read more (external link).
Farhad Darya says Afghanistan belongs to all ethnic communities
Farhad Darya
Khaama: Farhad Darya called for greater acceptance of Afghanistan’s ethnic and cultural diversity during a gathering marking Hazara Culture Day in Washington, D.C. Speaking Sunday at the event, Darya said he hopes a day will come when “no child fears because of identity and no mother cries because of her child’s ethnicity.” Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – May 25, 2026
Afghanistan Freedom Front Claims It Killed Taliban Fighter in Kabul
8am: The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) has claimed that one Taliban fighter was killed and three others were injured in a military attack in Kabul. The group said in a statement on Sunday, May 24, that the incident took place on Saturday evening in the Surobi district of Kabul province. Click here to read more (external link).
Deadly shooting near Kabul’s Sarai Shahzada leaves four dead
Ariana: Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul Police Command, said the incident took place at around 2 p.m. near the busy currency exchange market in central Kabul. According to Zadran, those killed included the son of former jihadi commander Allah Gul Mujahid, his bodyguard, a civilian woman and another civilian man. Click here to read more (external link).