Kabul’s groundwater is falling to record lows, pushing many residents to buy drinking water from mobile tankers, according to the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW).
The Ministry’s spokesman Qari Matiullah Abid said that they have begun to regulate water providers and that up to 200 of them have been legalised, with guidance to source from surface water or outside the city.
He added that monitoring teams are active, and curbs are in place on large users such as factories and high-rises.
“Excessive reliance on groundwater could create serious problems, consumers must use surface water where possible and exercise restraint,” Abid said.
Environmental scientist Dr Mohammad Dawood Shirzad warned companies are over-extracting and hauling Kabul’s groundwater to other areas.
He said the city’s expansion has blocked natural recharge, adding, “Even with normal rain and snowfall, the water balance will still be negative.” He urged bottling near rivers to avoid further depletion.
A Mercy Corps report in April 2025 found aquifer levels have dropped 25–30 metres in a decade, with extraction exceeding recharge by about 44 million cubic metres a year.
It warned Kabul could run dry by 2030, displacing millions; nearly half of boreholes are already dry and up to 80% of groundwater is unsafe, while only about 20% of households have piped supply.
Mercy Corps also reported some families spend up to 30% of income on water and many incur water-related debt.
In June, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said nearly one-third of Afghans still lack safe drinking water, with more than 10 million using unsafe sources. The European Union office in Afghanistan has voiced similar concerns and offered support.
Separately, Minister of Economy Qari Din Mohammad Hanif asked Japan and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to resume a US$24m Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded project to supply drinking water to New Kabul, which was suspended since December 2020.
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Morocco has evacuated more than 100,000 people from four provinces after heavy rainfall triggered flash floods across several northern regions, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
The United States and Argentina have signed a framework agreement to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals on Thursday, reaffirming a shared commitment to building secure, resilient and competitive supply chains.
Russia said on Wednesday that the parties to the New START nuclear arms control treaty are no longer bound by its obligations or related declarations, marking a further erosion of the last remaining legally binding framework limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces.
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.
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).
Mexico said it will stop sending oil to Cuba as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the Caribbean nation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Tuesday (3 February) of exploiting a U.S.-backed energy ceasefire to stockpile weapons and launch large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine ahead of peace talks.
Paris prosecutors have summoned X chairman Elon Musk and former chief executive Linda Yaccarino for questioning in April as part of their probe into the X social media network, they said on Tuesday.
Ukrainian and Russian officials wrapped up a "productive" first day of new U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, Kyiv's lead negotiator said on Wednesday (4 February).
Nearly 200 people were killed when armed men launched coordinated attacks on remote villages in western and northern Nigeria, authorities and residents said on Wednesday (4 February). Officials described the assaults as among the deadliest this year, amid the country’s worsening security crisis.
The United States and Argentina have signed a framework agreement to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals on Thursday, reaffirming a shared commitment to building secure, resilient and competitive supply chains.
Russia said on Wednesday that the parties to the New START nuclear arms control treaty are no longer bound by its obligations or related declarations, marking a further erosion of the last remaining legally binding framework limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces.
Milan prosecutors have placed an elderly Italian man under investigation over allegations that foreigners paid to shoot at civilians during the 1990s siege of Sarajevo, sources with direct knowledge of the case said on Wednesday.
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