Afghanistan

While not directly addressing the Bagram issue, the Taliban and allies made it clear that they would not tolerate foreign military forces in Afghanistan.

Thinking naively that Afghans living in Dubai would be either refugees or have wised up - I asked one what he thinks of the Taliban. His answer? "Wonderful."

Amir Amiri, who had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024, was released through Qatari mediation and on his way to Doha.

The ban was said to prevent immoral activities. Instead, it has cut off business and education opportunities.

Local residents said that Pakistani fighter jets had bombed four houses. Two security officials, however, denied this, saying there had been explosions in a munitions dump in a militant hideout.

Taliban rejects Trump’s demand to return Bagram Air Base, citing Afghanistan’s sovereignty under the Doha Agreement. Trump warns “bad things” could follow if the US doesn’t regain control.

"If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN," US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Trump has cited Bagram’s proximity to China as one of the main motivations behind this proposed move, stating that the location is “about an hour away from where China is developing nuclear weapons."

Barbie and Peter Reynolds, whose family had voiced serious concerns over their health and their ability to survive Taliban custody, were detained by the group's interior ministry on February 1.

The emerging policy threatens to disrupt government services that had moved online in recent years and to stall humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.

Taliban representatives met with US Officials to discuss normalization efforts, diplomatic relations, and freeing detained US citizens.