Afghan officials have agreed to expanded cooperation with the United Nations regarding housing and jobs for returning Afghan citizens.
They held meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday with members of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kabul.
“The United Nations will spare no effort in providing support to refugees and assisting in their reintegration,” the UNHCR representative Barham Salih said.
Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi said decades of conflict created heavy financial and human losses and that refugees had been forced out of neighbouring countries.
However, according to an official statement, Hanafi said that since the establishment in 2021 of the Islamic Emirate – an alternative name for the Taliban -- more than eight million refugees have returned to the country.
A 2025 report by the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said returns from Pakistan accelerated after authorities there set a deadline for undocumented Afghans to leave or be deported. It coincided with a separate wave of Afghan citizens returning from Iran.
In a second meeting on Wednesday, Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar met Salih and said assistance should move towards development projects.
The office said Baradar wanted returning refugees and internally displaced Afghans to benefit from services including housing, schools and electricity.
The mass influx of Afghans returning home has been adding significant pressure on housing, jobs, access to clean water and other basic services. According to the UNHCR and IOM, more than 890,000 people returned to Afghanistan during the first half of this year.
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Militants in southwestern Pakistan have killed 42 army and police personnel in multiple attacks, the country’s military has said.
Pakistan is tightening enforcement of its Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan ahead of a 10 July deadline, after which Afghan nationals living in the country without valid visas face immediate arrest under an Interior Ministry directive.
Pakistan's military on Monday linked cross-border militancy, hybrid threats and water security during the 276th Corps Commanders' Conference, reaffirming continued intelligence-based counterterrorism operations and support for the government's position on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).
Afghanistan's disaster authority says it and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are seeking to expand cooperation on emergency response as the country continues to face floods, earthquakes, drought and the long-term threat from mines and unexploded ordnance.
It has been a punishing week for large parts of China, and forecasters warn the worst may not be over. After Typhoon Maysak left a trail of destruction and at least 23 people dead, Super Typhoon Bavi is now threatening the country's eastern coast.
At least 12 people have been killed in forest fires in Almeria in southern Spain, Andalucía’s emergency agency has said, as firefighters continue efforts to put out the blaze.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington has agreed to resume talks with Iran after Tehran requested further negotiations, but declared that last month's ceasefire between the two countries was "over".
The U.S. military said on Wednesday it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain in the latest escalation to derail efforts to end the war.
Dozens of flights have been cancelled across East Asia as Super Typhoon Bavi approaches China. The typhoon, which has maximum sustained winds of 162 kph (100mph), is nearing a remote chain of Japanese islands, east of Taiwan on Friday.
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A 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering British politician Ann Widdecombe has been released and is no longer part of the investigation, UK police have said.
Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s capital early on Saturday, injuring at least 10 people, officials said. The attack came as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defence munitions while awaiting fresh supplies to counter Russian strikes.
The remains of 10 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide were carried to the Potočari Memorial Cemetery in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday ahead of their burial during the 31st anniversary commemoration.
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