The United States has called on the Taliban to release an American civil engineer abducted in Afghanistan two years ago. Mark Frerichs, a 59-year-old US Navy veteran, was kidnapped in early 2020 and passed on to the dreaded Haqqani Network a month before Washington signed the true pull-out deal in Doha.

United States president Joe Biden demands release of Mark Frerichs

The Taliban have reportedly deployed suicide squads at the border with China and Tajikistan. Afghan youth are also being recruited for a special suicide battalion in the Afghan army.

Report: Suicide battalion to be part of Taliban Army in Afghanistan

The deep blue mountain lakes in the central Bamyan province of Afghanistan have been a major hub of tourism. But with the return of the Taliban, there are very few people who are now able to muster the courage to visit these sites of spectacular natural beauty.

Afghanistan: No tourists venture into Taliban country