Photo: Marjan Wafa / IOM Taliban-controlled media have reported that in just one day, 1,168 Afghan families returned from Iran and Pakistan. Bakhtar News Agency wrote on Wednesday (August 27) that 574 families entered through Torkham in Nangarhar, 51 families through Spin Boldak in Kandahar, 108 families through Pul-e-Arbrishm in Nimroz, three families through Angur Ada in Paktika, and 432 families through Islam Qala in Herat. It is worth noting that the deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan continues and has intensified in recent days.

Photo: APP / The Nation Three Afghan women who married Pakistani citizens have filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking to stop their deportation to Afghanistan. According to The Nation, Justice Inam Amin Minhas referred the women’s petition to the Chief Justice at the request of their lawyer. Omar Ejaz Gilani, counsel for the three women, told the court that under Pakistani law, foreign women who marry Pakistani citizens are entitled to nationality, and their children are considered Pakistani as well. The petition comes at a time when the Pakistani government has decided to deport the last group of Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards. The deportation process is ongoing, and their legal stay will expire on September 1. According to official figures, the number of PoR cardholders in Pakistan exceeds one million. Many of these refugees have lived in Pakistan for years, and their forced return has raised serious human rights concerns.

Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana / AP via NPR UNICEF has warned that more than two million people in Gaza, especially children, are facing severe food shortages, calling debates over the level of hunger “obscene.” Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s Executive Director, told CBS on Sunday, August 24, “Children in Gaza are dying, and the time for debate and delay is over.” According to her, since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, nearly 18,000 children have been killed, while many more are suffering from psychological trauma and severe food shortages. UNICEF stressed that food aid deliveries are continuing, with efforts to provide essential items such as baby formula and child nutrition supplies to those in need. The agency once again called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and full access for journalists and aid organizations to Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), also warned that famine is the latest catastrophe facing the people of Gaza and that the territory has now become a “hell in all shapes.” In a message, he wrote that the slogan “Never Again,” tied to Holocaust remembrance, is being repeated today as the world remains silent in the face of Palestinian suffering. He added: “Every hour counts; open the gates and implement a ceasefire now.” The UN official also called on Israel to abandon narratives of denial, to allow international journalists and humanitarian organizations entry, and to permit the immediate delivery of aid. These warnings come as Israel’s Defense Minister announced that military operations will continue, and if Hamas does not accept Israel’s conditions, Gaza City’s center will be destroyed.

Photo: EU in Afghanistan / UNICEF via X The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced that the European Union has allocated 10 million euros in financial aid to support Afghan children. UNICEF stated that the rising number of Afghan migrants returning from Pakistan and Iran has placed heavy pressure on support services, and the funds will go to the “Afghan Children on the Move” program, which provides assistance to children returning from neighboring countries. According to UNICEF’s statement, the organization will deliver services over the next three years to 180,000 children and families, including immediate care for children separated from their families. UNICEF emphasized that these supports will be linked with long-term community-based solutions at border crossings including Islam Qala, Milak, Spin Boldak, and Torkham, so that families can rebuild their lives and the risks of unsafe migration can be reduced. The agency added that in just the past year alone, it assisted 14,000 children in Afghanistan who had been separated from their families.

Photo: IOM Afghanistan / UN Migration The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced that in the past ten months it has supported 5,627 Afghan women who have returned from Pakistan. On Monday, August 25, the organization said that the returnee women received assistance in the areas of health, counseling, and rebuilding their lives. These services were provided in cooperation with the UN Women. This comes as in recent months Iran and Pakistan have forcibly returned hundreds of thousands of Afghan migrants, including women and girls, to Afghanistan, a country where girls’ education is banned and the Taliban have barred women from participating in most social and professional fields. UN experts have warned that the return of women and girls to Afghanistan exposes them even further to the Taliban’s risks and harsh restrictions.

Social Media At least six people, including a woman and a child, were killed and nine others injured in two separate traffic accidents in Balkh and Badakhshan provinces. The Taliban police command in Badakhshan said in a statement on yesterday, August 24, that in Kohistan district three people, including a woman, a man, and a child, lost their lives. Five others were injured in the incident, which was attributed to poor road conditions. In another accident on the Hairatan–Mazar-i-Sharif highway, three people were killed and four others injured. No further details have been released about this incident. These accidents come as two days earlier, a traffic incident in Baghlan injured 24 people, and last week the fire of a 580 passenger vehicle in Herat claimed the lives of 79 people.

Photo: Mahmud Hams / AFP via Getty, published by The New Arab An Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza has killed at least 14 people, including four journalists. Al Jazeera, citing Gaza’s media office, reported that “Hossam Al-Masri, Mohammad Salama, Mariam Aboudaqa, and Moaz Abutah” were the four journalists killed in the strike on Monday, August 25. Mohammad Salama worked as a photographer with Al Jazeera. Reuters also wrote that Hossam Al-Masri, who worked as a cameraman with the agency, was killed in the attack. Another Reuters photographer, Hatem Khaled, was wounded. According to Al Jazeera, Mariam Aboudaqa was a freelance journalist contributing to outlets such as Independent Arabia and the Associated Press, while Moaz Abutah worked with NBC. With the killing of these four, the number of journalists killed since the start of the Gaza war has surpassed 200, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history. The Israeli army has not yet commented on the incident. It is worth noting that just a week ago another Al Jazeera journalist in Gaza was targeted by Israeli forces.

Photo: Reuters / via VOA News The UN Women says that war has devastating consequences for women and girls, yet women in different countries have managed to lead peace movements and play crucial roles in rebuilding communities after conflicts. On Sunday, August 24, the organization wrote on its X page that to achieve lasting peace and equality, more women must be included in decision-making processes and negotiations. The message stressed: “The world needs peace, and peace needs women.” This comes while women in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan are deprived of even their most basic rights. Over the past four years, they have been excluded from all social and political spheres, and their voices have been erased from decision-making structures.

Photo: Akhtar Soomro / Reuters Hundreds of Afghan families, after pressure from the Pakistani government and being evicted from rented houses by landlords, have been forced to take shelter in Argentina Park in Islamabad. These families are now living in harsh and unsanitary conditions and face an uncertain future. According to Pakistani media, about 300 Afghan families remain stranded in the park following shifts in U.S. and Western policies toward migrants and increased pressure from the Pakistani government. Among them are former Afghan women police officers who say they were forced to flee the country after threats and violence from the Taliban. Reuters has also reported that Afghan migrants are enduring life under plastic tents in Islamabad Park amid heavy rainfall. Quoting Samia, a 26-year-old woman who gave birth three weeks ago, Reuters wrote: “When my son was seven days old, I came here. We have been living in this park for 22 days now. My son was sick, but there was no doctor to treat him.” Another pregnant woman in the park, Sahera Babur, said: “If my child is born in these conditions, what will happen to us?” She added that Pakistani police ordered her landlord to evict her family solely because they are Afghan. According to sources, Islamabad police have repeatedly told these families to leave the park or face eviction and arrest. These refugees say they are trapped between threats and homelessness, and that returning to Afghanistan would mean facing the risk of death. Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has described the situation of these families as “precarious” and called for the establishment of a registration mechanism in Pakistan. The agency stressed that no refugee should be returned to a country where their life is at risk. Reports indicate that since 2023 alone, more than one million Afghan migrants have been deported from Pakistan, including over 200,000 since April this year. At the same time, Iran is also planning to expel more than one million additional Afghan migrants, a process that aid organizations describe as the largest refugee return crisis since the Taliban’s return to power.

Social Media An unexploded mortar shell detonated in Chak district of Maidan Wardak province, killing one child and injuring four others. The incident took place on Saturday, August 23, in the village of Koz Khawat. According to the Taliban’s Disaster Management Authority, the explosion occurred as the children were returning home from school. Health sources confirmed that the injured were taken to medical centers, with some reported to be in critical condition. Afghanistan remains one of the most vulnerable countries to mines and unexploded ordnance. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, in 2024 alone at least 564 people in the country have lost their lives in such explosions, 434 of them children.