Herat

Government forces combat Taliban incursions on key Afghan cities

Flights from Kandahar airport were cancelled when rockets hit the runway, an official said, as the Taliban pressed on with their sweeping offensive across the country.

Afghan Taliban rejects Eid festival ceasefire to defend gains, group

Taliban is waging a sweeping offensive across Afghanistan, attacking cities, snapping up territory and seizing border crossings with the withdrawal of foreign troops all but complete.

Afghan troops, warlord prepare to take trade crossing back from Taliban

Herat province authorities says they are deploying fresh troops to retake Islam Qala post, the biggest trade crossing between Iran and Afghanistan, under Taliban's control, as local militia chief promises to lend fighters in the mission.

Taliban seizes key border crossing with Iran as Afghan soldiers flee

Islam Qala border crossing with Iran, located in Herat province, falls to Taliban with Afghan security officials fleeing across the border, senior security officials say.

Afghan govt gathers local militias to halt advancing Taliban

Key politicians with background of anti-Taliban or anti-Soviet resistance are converging in their areas of influence to mobilise forces for a likely face-off with the marching Taliban. But rights groups fear such militias could become abusive force.

Satellite pictures show fire devastation on Afghan-Iran border

At least 60 people were injured as hundreds of fuel tankers exploded last week in a massive blaze that tore through a customs post in Afghanistan close to the Iranian border, disrupting power supplies and causing millions of dollars of damage.

Afghan Taliban proposes August timeline for talks with government

The offer from the militants comes amid soaring violence that has threatened to derail US-backed efforts to bring Kabul and the Taliban to the negotiating table and seek an end to Afghanistan's nearly 19-year war.

Dozens killed in Afghanistan air strikes

Afghan officials say eight civilians are among 45 people killed in air raids in eastern Herat province.

Probe into claims Afghan migrants forced into river by Iran guards

An Afghan government official who did not want to be named said seven migrants had died and 30 were still missing, according to survivors who returned to Herat, a province in Afghanistan on the border with Iran.

Zero Point: Where Afghans returning from Iran speak of torture and trauma

On a piece of unowned land between Iran and Afghanistan, a small makeshift clinic is offering the first medical response to dozens of refugees returning from Iran - and many return with stories of horrendous injustice.

Taliban militants kidnap 27 peace activists in western Afghanistan

The activists were travelling from Herat to neighbouring Farah province on Tuesday evening when their convoy was stopped by the Taliban.

Roadside blast kills dozens in Afghanistan

At least 35 people were killed and 27 others wounded in western Afghanistan when the bus they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb, officials say, a day after the UN warned civilians were dying at "shocking" levels in the war-torn country.