Can Russia help ease tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan?
Russia has close ties with the Taliban and is courting Islamabad, but analysts say its leverage remains uncertain.

Russia has close ties with the Taliban and is courting Islamabad, but analysts say its leverage remains uncertain.


![Afghanistan's Taliban government has identified hundreds of new sites to mine gemstones [Mohsin Khan Momand/Al Jazeera]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/d6a0ec66-65c7-4f86-808f-c19ba8e681c7-1790670626.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)


![A member of Taliban security forces uses a metal detector amid the rubble of a house that was damaged in what the Taliban said was a Pakistani airstrike in Gurbuz district of Khost province, Afghanistan, September 24, 2026 [Reuters]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-09-24T092006Z_1498853770_RC2KPNA6I1N1_RTRMADP_3_AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN-1790305246.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)


Fariba Hashimi, who used to disguise herself as a man to train in Afghanistan, finishes second in women’s road race.

Several people have reportedly been killed in an explosion at a mosque near a police complex in northwest Pakistan.
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad describes misgivings about the US handling of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
A court has temporarily suspended a directive to expel the students, but the threat of eviction lingers.
The two men, detained in the western city of Herat on August 9, were released on Thursday morning.
The Taliban navigates a complex web of global trade and security alliances without gaining full political recognition.
















Afghans have gathered in Kabul to mark five years since the Taliban returned to power.
The Taliban government brought security and stability but is facing increasing alienation of the general population.
More than half of women’s organisations operating in Afghanistan could cease operations within next year: UN Women.