Afghanistan's government said on Thursday that Russia had become the first country to officially recognise its rule, calling it a "brave decision".

More than 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June, most of them deported, as returns surge ahead of a deadline set by Tehran, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday.

More than 100,000 Afghans have left Pakistan in the past three weeks, the interior ministry said Tuesday, after Islamabad announced the widespread cancellation of residence permits.

Pakistan's foreign minister arrived Saturday in Afghanistan to meet Taliban officials after his country expelled more than 85,000 Afghans, mostly children, in just over two weeks.

Afghanistan's Supreme Court said three convicted murderers were executed by order of Taliban authorities on Friday, bringing to nine the number of men publicly put to death since their return to power, according to an AFP tally.

Young, urban women in Afghanistan are increasingly ditching the all-enveloping blue burqa with a face mesh that has become a symbol of the Taliban's oppression of women.

Mohammad Sharifullah has confessed to scouting out the route to the airport, where the suicide bomber later detonated his device among packed crowds trying to flee days after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the Justice Department said.

The Taliban government makes regular visits to neighbouring and regional countries, including in Central Asia, Russia and China.

Violence has waned in Afghanistan since the Taliban surged back to power and ended their insurgency in 2021, but the Islamic State (IS) group frequently stages gun and bomb attacks challenging their rule.

Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claims Pakistani forces targeted civilians in eastern Kunar province

Australian Jibra'il Omar, formerly Timothy Weeks, dies of cancer in Kabul after surviving years as a Taliban hostage and embracing Islam.

Taliban's ban on Afghan women in NGOs escalates the humanitarian crisis and enforces stricter gender-based restrictions.