Taliban offensive

Afghanistan's state-run news agency says at least 255 people have killed in an earthquake that struck the country's eastern Paktika province.

The state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the death toll Wednesday and said rescuers were arriving by helicopter.

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly T. Clements has called on the Taliban to discuss the plight of Afghan refugees and their return to the soil as many of them flee the war-torn nation when it seized power in Afghanistan last year.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are maintaining close ties with al-Qaida as they consolidate control over the country, and their main military threat is coming from the ISIL extremist group and guerrilla-style attacks by former Afghan government security personnel, U.N. experts said in a new report.

The Taliban members who killed her activist husband offered Zahra Husseini a deal: Marry one of us, and you'll be safe.

Husseini, 31, decided to flee. Through swaths of lawless flatlands she and her two small children trekked by foot, motorcycle and truck until reaching Iran.

The United States on Dec. 4 led a group of Western nations and allies in condemnation of the Taliban over the "summary killings" of former members of the Afghan security forces reported by rights groups, demanding quick investigations.

National Geographic magazine's famed green-eyed "Afghan Girl" has arrived in Italy as part of the West's evacuation of Afghans following the Taliban takeover of the country, the Italian government said on Nov. 25.

Seventeen Afghan journalists sheltering in Albania following the Taliban takeover are working away from home for two Afghan newspapers that they continue to produce online, Etilaat e Roz (Kabul Now) and Hasht e Subh (8am Daily).

For now, they are working from the rooms in the hotels where they are staying, while preparing a room which will serve as a joint office and newsroom.

Russia hosted talks on Afghanistan on Oct. 20 involving senior representatives of the Taliban and neighboring nations, a round of diplomacy that underlined Moscow's clout in Central Asia.

The Taliban warned the United States not to "destabilize" the regime on Oct. 9 during their first face-to-face talks since the U.S. withdrawal, as a deadly sectarian bombing raised further questions about their grip on power.

The Taliban killed a child. The reason - suspicion that his father was involved in the resistance against the new regime.

The news was spread by Afghan media, which published a video with the bloody body of the little boy. According to Panjshir Observer, the murder took place in Takhar province.