Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health has launched the country’s first polio vaccination campaign of 2026, saying around 7.3 million children under the age of five are expected to receive oral drops during the round.
In an official statement, the ministry said the campaign is being implemented from 2 to 5 February 2026 in 18 provinces, including Kabul, Herat and Kunduz. It added that in Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul, the drive will run from 3 to 6 February.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Sharafat Zaman Amarkhail, said a follow-up round is planned in parts of the north-west to support implementation. “In order for the campaign to be implemented properly, it will be carried out in two districts of Faryab and two districts of Badghis next week, from the 9th to the 12th,” he said.
In Kabul, vaccination teams told AnewZ that freezing temperatures have reduced public cooperation during this round, despite teams being stationed at designated locations.
One resident, Rashid Ahmad, said he was “happy that the Afghan government is taking the polio vaccination campaign seriously.” He added: “All parents should cooperate with the vaccinators so these vaccines can reach every child.”
Afghanistan, alongside Pakistan, remains among the countries where children are still affected by polio, with health officials warning that sustained campaigns and community cooperation are key to ending transmission.
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Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall have pushed vulnerable Afghan families to breaking point, adding new pressure to a country already battered by poverty and food shortages.
Afghanistan is seeking Azerbaijan’s support to help secure its official participation in the upcoming United Nations COP31 global climate change conference, scheduled to be held in Türkiye, as Kabul looks to strengthen its engagement on climate diplomacy and technical cooperation.
Secret negotiations between U.S. officials and the Taliban over remaining American detainees have stalled, after the Taliban publicly tied any further releases to the fate of the last Afghan held at Guantánamo Bay, according to a report by The New York Times published on 26 January 2026.
The United Nations has renewed calls for the immediate lifting of restrictions on Afghan women’s access to education, work and public life, after a three-day visit to Kabul by its senior political affairs official.
Talks with the U.S. should be pursued to secure national interests as long as "threats and unreasonable expectations" are avoided, President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X on Tuesday (3 February).
Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío has denied that Havana and Washington have entered formal negotiations, countering recent assertions by U.S. President Donald Trump, while saying the island is open to dialogue under certain conditions.
Mexico said it will stop sending oil to Cuba as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the Caribbean nation.
10 people were killed and 26 others injured when a passenger bus rolled off a road and plunged into a ravine in southern Türkiye’s Antalya province on Sunday (1 February), local officials said. In a separate incident, at least seven people were killed in a collision in a tunnel.
Iranian media outlets have backtracked on claims President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered a return to nuclear talks with the United States, fuelling fresh uncertainty over the state of diplomacy between the two rivals.
A second group of Palestinians receiving medical treatment arrived in Egypt from Gaza via the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday (3 February).
Washington has accepted Tehran’s request to relocate planned nuclear talks, with negotiations now expected to take place in Oman on Friday (6 Februrary), Axios reported.
Türkiye’s defence and aerospace exports surged by 44 percent year on year in January 2026, hitting a record monthly high of more than $555 million as overseas demand for Turkish-built military technology continued to grow, the Turkish Defence Industries Secretariat said on Monday (2 February).
Kazakhstan sharply increased oil shipments to Europe in January, exporting 310,000 tonnes to Germany and sending a further 106,000 tonnes via the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.
Kazakhstan has approved plans for a second nuclear power plant in a significant scaling up of the country's nuclear ambitions. It comes a year after a referendum, which suggested more than 71 per cent support for the project, but which was also accompanied by allegations of irregularities.
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