Afghanistan | DD News

September 21, 2025 5:02 PM

Trump says ‘bad things’ will happen if Afghanistan does not return Bagram air base

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened "bad things" would happen to Afghanistan if it does not give back control of the Bagram air base to the United States, and declined to rule out sending in troops to retake it. "If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN," Trump said in a Truth Social post. Trump said on Thursday that the United States had sought to regain control of the base used by Ame...

September 19, 2025 11:56 AM

Trump says US seeks control of Afghanistan’s Bagram air base given up in withdrawal

The United States seeks to regain control of Bagram air base in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump said on Thursday during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but an Afghan official dismissed the need for any U.S. presence. The historic Soviet-built airstrip was the main base for American forces in the mountainous South Asian nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001, until their 2021 withdrawal led to a takeover by the Islamist Taliban movement. "We're tryin...

September 8, 2025 12:16 PM

Afghan earthquake survivors refuse to return to villages, fearing landslides

Haunted by the fear that aftershocks could bring rocks crashing down from the mountains, the survivors of Afghan earthquakes vowed not to return to destroyed villages but camp in fields and on riverbanks instead, even without tents to keep off the rain. "We have no shelter, not even a tent," said 67-year-old farmer Adam Khan, leaning on a stick outside his ruined home in the village of Masud in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, devastated last week by earthquakes and subsequent aftershoc...

September 4, 2025 12:50 PM

Earthquake of 4.8 magnitude shakes Afghanistan again

Another earthquake of magnitude 4.8 struck Afghanistan on Thursday, a statement by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said. This is the third earthquake in the region in the last five days. According to the statement, the recent earthquake struck at a depth of 135 km. In a post on X, the NCS said, “This earthquake’s magnitude was 4.8 on the scale, and it occurred at a depth of 135 km.” People aware of the matter categorise shallow earthquakes as more dangerous than deep earthqua...

September 3, 2025 4:13 PM

Afghanistan airdrops commandos to rescue earthquake survivors

Afghanistan airdropped commandos on Wednesday to pull survivors from the rubble of homes in mountainous eastern areas ravaged by earthquakes this week that have killed 1,400, as it ramped up efforts to deliver food, shelter and medical supplies. The first earthquake of magnitude 6, one of Afghanistan's deadliest in recent years, unleashed widespread damage and destruction when it struck the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar around midnight on Sunday at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles). A seco...

September 3, 2025 11:33 AM

New quake shakes devastated Afghan region, rescue teams face challenges

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 shook southeastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, sparking fears of further damage and destruction almost two days after a large quake in the same region killed more than 1,400 people and injured thousands more. Tuesday's quake occurred at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), the same level as the one that struck at midnight on Sunday with a magnitude of 6. That was one of Afghanistan's worst quakes in years, flattening houses in remote villages. The aftershoc...

August 20, 2025 12:04 PM

Evicted Afghan refugees huddle in Islamabad park, dreading return home

Evicted from their homes and huddling under plastic sheets after heavy rains, Afghan refugees in a park near government offices in Islamabad said they had nowhere to go as Pakistan pressures landlords to expel documented families. Among them is Samia, 26, from Afghanistan’s Hazara minority, a Shi’ite community long persecuted at home, who gave birth just three weeks ago. "I came here when my baby was seven days old, and now it has been 22 days … we have no food, and my baby was sick but ...

July 16, 2025 10:24 AM

Thousands of Afghans secretly moved to Britain after data leak

Britain set up a secret scheme to bring thousands of Afghans to the UK after their personal details were disclosed in one of the country's worst ever data breaches, putting them at risk of reprisals from the Taliban after their return to power. Concerns that individuals could be targeted by the Taliban led the previous Conservative government to set up the relocation scheme, involving thousands of people and estimated to cost the government about 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion). The leak by th...

April 16, 2025 9:11 AM

Earthquake of magnitude 5.9 strikes Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan

In the early hours of Wednesday, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). The tremor occurred at 04.43 a.m. IST (local time), with the epicentre located at latitude 35.83 degrees North and longitude 70.60 degrees East, at a depth of 75 kilometres. The NCS shared the details on X, stating: "EQ of M: 5.9, On: 16/04/2025 04:43:58 IST, Lat: 35.83 N, Long: 70.60 E, Depth: 75 Km, Location: Hindu Kush, Afghanistan." ...

March 12, 2025 11:32 AM

Pakistan rescues 155 hostages from train, dozens still held, sources say

Pakistani forces have rescued 155 passengers from a train that was hijacked by separatist fighters in the southwest of the country, security sources said on Wednesday, while the government said an operation was underway to rescue dozens still held hostage. Militants blew up a railway track and opened fire on the train on Tuesday as it travelled from Quetta, Balochistan's capital city, to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an ethnic armed group, claimed r...