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Roderic O'Gorman said those arriving from Afghanistan will not go into direct provision (Kabul airport file image)

Up to 500 extra places for Afghan family members

The Government has agreed to provide up to 500 additional places for Afghan family members.

Taliban fighters stand guard along a road in Herat (File pic)

Taliban hang bodies of 'kidnappers' in Herat city

The Taliban hung the bodies of four kidnappers from cranes after killing them during a shootout in Afghanistan's western city of Herat, a senior official said.

World • 25 Sep 21

The Taliban said they were 'finalising things'

Afghan girls to be allowed return to school 'soon'

Girls in Afghanistan will be allowed to return to school as soon as possible, the have Taliban said, after announcing the remaining positions in its all-male cabinet.

World • 21 Sep 21

Afghan women staged a 'silent protest opposite the Ministry of Education in Kabul

Afghan women 'beside themselves' over new restrictions

The Taliban's effective ban on women working has sparked outrage over the dramatic loss of rights after millions of female teachers and girls were barred from secondary school education.

World • 20 Sep 21

The increasing economic crisis following the Taliban takeover has led some low-income Afghans to sell their household goods

UN envoy meets Afghan interior minister wanted by US

Afghanistan needs urgent and sustained support from the international community to prevent a larger humanitarian crisis, the head of the UN refugee agency has said.

World • 16 Sep 21

The Taliban banned women from playing all sport during their first rule in the 1990s

Afghan girls' football team flees to Pakistan

Members of Afghanistan's national girls' football team have fled across the border into Pakistan, a month after the Taliban swept back into power.

World • 15 Sep 21

Journalists Nemat Naqdi, 28, (left) and Taqi Daryabi, 22, show their wounds sustained by Taliban fighters

Afghan journalists tell of beatings over protests

Two Afghan journalists are reported to have been badly beaten after being arrested by the Taliban for covering a protest by women demanding the right to work and education.

World • 09 Sep 21

Passengers sit inside the departure terminal at the airport in Kabul

First evacuation flight since US exit lands in Doha

Around 100 passengers, including Americans, have arrived in Doha on the first flight carrying foreigners out of Kabul since a US-led evacuation of Afghanistan ended on 30 August.

World • 09 Sep 21

Hardliners in top Afghan roles as women protest again

The international community greeted the make-up of the new government in Afghanistan with caution and dismay today after the Taliban appointed hardline veteran figures to top positions.

World • 08 Sep 21

Anti-Taliban uprising forces in Panjshir Valley was said to be the last pocket of resistance against the Taliban

Taliban take control of last holdout in Panjshir Valley

The Taliban said they had captured the last pocket of resistance in Afghanistan, the Panjshir Valley, as the top US diplomat flies to Qatar to try to handle the aftermath of the chaotic US withdrawal.

World • 06 Sep 21

Afghans struggled to reach foreign forces at Kabul airport last month to show their credentials to flee the country

'I don't deserve it' - woman fears life under Taliban

Chaos quickly ensued in Aliya's office when President Ashraf Ghani told Afghanistan that he had fled to the United Arab Emirates and, then, the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban.

World • 04 Sep 21

A Taliban fighter keeps watch as spectators watch the Twenty20 cricket trial match being played between two Afghan teams - 'Peace Defenders' and 'Peace Heroes' - at Kabul International Cricket Stadium today

Taliban close to forming new Afghan government

The Taliban is due to form a government within days, facing the enormous challenge of shifting gears from insurgent group to governing power, days after the United States fully withdrew its troops and ended two decades of war

World • 03 Sep 21

Taliban fighters stand guard outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport

Afghans flee to country's borders after airport closure

Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers struggled to keep the country functioning today after the final withdrawal of US forces, with foreign donors alarmed about an impending humanitarian crisis.

World • 01 Sep 21

5 challenges for the Taliban in Afghanistan

The Taliban have won the war - now they have to govern Afghanistan.

World • 31 Aug 21

Taliban fighters were in jubilant mood following the US withdrawal

Taliban celebrates defeating the United States

The Taliban has celebrated its total return to power in Afghanistan with gunfire and diplomacy, after the last US troops flew out of the country to end two decades of war.

World • 31 Aug 21

US soldiers stand guard as Afghans sit near the military part of the airport in Kabul

What happens now that US troops have left Afghanistan?

For the first since 2001 there are no US troops in Afghanistan. However, the end of the US military involvement in Afghanistan raises a new set of questions for President Joe Biden and his administration.

World • 31 Aug 21

A C-17 Globemaster takes off as Taliban fighters secure the outer perimeter of Kabul airport, as America controlled inside the fence

Foreigners can leave Afghanistan, Taliban assures West

The Taliban will allow all foreign nationals and Afghan citizens with travel authorisation from another country to leave Afghanistan, according to a joint statement issued by the United States, Britain and dozens of other countries including Ireland.

World • 29 Aug 21

Massoud Hossaini fled Kabul and is now in the Netherlands (file pic)

Afghan photographer warns of Taliban threat to media

An award-winning Afghan photographer has predicted the Taliban will shut down Afghanistan's media and says they are fooling the West by promising to allow journalists to operate freely.

Afghanistan • 28 Aug 21

Taliban members today standing guard at a checkpoint around Hamid Karzai International Airport, the centre of evacuation efforts from Afghanistan

US believes new Kabul attack 'highly likely' soon

US military commanders believe that another terror attack like the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport is "highly likely in the next 24-36 hours", President Joe Biden has warned.

World • 28 Aug 21

Taliban members stand guard at a checkpoint near Hamid Karzai International Airport

Taliban says it has taken control of parts of airport

The Taliban has taken control of parts of Kabul airport, a spokesman announced, as a 31 August deadline for the United States and its allies to complete evacuations looms.

World • 27 Aug 21

IS claimed responsibility for an attack on a wedding party in Kabul in 2019 - 60 people were killed

What is the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan?

As desperate Afghans crowd Kabul airport trying to get on any evacuation flights to flee the Taliban, officials have warned of another threat: the so-called Islamic State group.

World • 26 Aug 21

Medical staff bring an injured man to a hospital after two explosions killed several people in Kabul

ISIS bombs kill dozens in Kabul, including 13 US troops

Suicide bombers struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport with at least two explosions today, causing deaths among civilians and US troops.

World • 26 Aug 21

People who want to flee continue to wait around Kabul airport

Rush to evacuate from Afghanistan ahead of troop exit

Western nations continue to rush to evacuate people from Afghanistan, with less than a week until foreign troops leave, acknowledging that many Afghans who helped during two decades of war would be left behind.

World • 25 Aug 21

A woman passes by a beauty salon in Kabul, where photos of women have been covered in black pain

UN rights chief fears for women, girls in Afghanistan

The UN rights chief has voiced grave concern at the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban, urging them to honour commitments to respect the rights of women and girls.

World • 24 Aug 21

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid at a press conference in Kabul

Afghanistan's media enters the unknown under Taliban

Scores of journalists are among the tens of thousands of people trying to flee Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, fearful of violent reprisals from the militants.

World • 24 Aug 21