Taliban 'going door-to-door in manhunt for blacklisted Afghans'

Taliban will not make decisions about government until after 31 August – report

An Afghan official has claimed the Taliban does not plan to announce anything about its leadership until after the US withdrawal date passes.

It is understood Taliban lead negotiator Anas Haqqani said the group has made a deal with the US "to do nothing" until after the final withdrawal date.

He did not elaborate on whether the reference to doing nothing was only in the political field.

The Taliban have yet to expand on their plans to replace the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces – five days after seizing power in Afghanistan.

Friday prayers go without conflict in Kabul - reports

No Taliban gunmen were seen guarding the entrances of mosques or enforcing dress code restrictions in the Afghan capital today.

It was reported some mosques saw higher numbers of attendees than normal.

"People were as normal, as in the past, but there were more of them," said resident Jawed Safi, adding that there were "no restrictions so far."

The Taliban issued guidance to Imams around Afghanistan on Thursday, saying they should use weekly sermons and prayers to appeal for unity and urge people not to flee.

Top EU officials to visit military airport used as hub for evacuated Afghans

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel will visit a temporary camp at the Torrejón de Ardoz military airport near Madrid on Saturday.

The airport is being used as an international base to receive Afghans flown out of Kabul before they are redistributed to other countries in the bloc.

Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares told public broadcaster RTVE that Spain is receiving evacuees who have worked for EU bodies or EU member nations.

The evacuees are expected to spend several days at the camp for a health and security screening before moving to reception sites ahead of their journeys to other EU countries.

Taliban fighters hunting a journalist have shot dead a member of his family

Militants have killed the relative of a Deutsche Welle reporter and severely injured another, the German public broadcaster said.

Afghan journalists have reported being beaten and having their homes raided since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on Sunday.

The militants had initially promised they would allow free media and jobs for women – banned when the Taliban was last in power from 1996 to 2001 – in a news conference on Tuesday.

Deutsche Welle (DW) said the Taliban has been conducting door-to-door searches to find the journalist who is now working in Germany.

Other relatives were able to flee and are in hiding, according to the broadcaster.

"The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban ... is inconceivably tragic, and testifies to the acute danger in which all our employees and their families in Afghanistan find themselves," DW director general Peter Limbourg said.

"It is evident that the Taliban are already carrying out organised searches for journalists, both in Kabul and in the provinces. We are running out of time!"

Taliban 'searched closed Indian consulates in Afghanistan' for documents – reports

Militants from the Taliban searched closed Indian consulates in Afghanistan for documents and removed parked cars, sources claim.

The consulates at Kandahar and Herat were raided on Wednesday, according to NDTV.

Reports claim they "searched closets" in Kandahar for papers and took away vehicles parked at both embassies.

A government official said: "We expected this. They ransacked the place searched documents and also took away our parked vehicles from both embassies."

Taliban rounding up Afghans who worked with Nato forces – report

Militants are going door-to-door to find a "blacklist" of people who worked in key roles with the previous Afghan administration, according to a new report.

They are also reportedly targeting people who worked alongside Nato forces.

The report said: "Taliban are intensifying the hunt-down of all individuals and collaborators with the former regime, and if unsuccessful, target and arrest the families and punish them according to their own interpretation of Sharia law.

"Particularly at risk are individuals in central positions in military, police and investigative units."

The RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, which makes independent intelligence assessments, said the Afghanistan report was shared with agencies and individuals working within the UN.

Torture and killing of nine Hazara men is 'horrifying indicator of what Taliban rule may bring'

Taliban fighters killed nine ethnic Hazara men after taking control of Afghanistan's Ghazni province last month, Amnesty International has said.

The killings, which took place between 4 and 6 July in the village of Mundarakht, Malistan district, saw six men shot and three others tortured to death.

One man was strangled with his own scarf and had his arm muscles cut off, while another had his legs and arms broken and his hair pulled out, researchers from the human rights charity said.

The Hazaras are one of Afghanistan's largest ethnic minorities and were persecuted under the Sunni Taliban's earlier rule.

Amnesty International said the brutal killings are likely to represent a "tiny fraction of the total death toll inflicted by the Taliban to date", as the military group has cut mobile phone service in many of the areas they have recently captured, controlling which photographs and videos are then shared from these regions.

Pictured: Afghan boy, 5, who died after falling from Sheffield hotel window

An Afghan boy, five, died in a fall from a ninth-floor Sheffield hotel window just days after fleeing the Taliban, it has been reported.

South Yorkshire Police identified the child as Mohammed Munib Majeedi from Afghanistan.

They are appealing for information following the death on Wednesday.

In a statement, the force said: "It is reported that a five-year-old boy fell from the window of the Sheffield Metropolitan Hotel at around 2.30pm.

"The boy's family are being supported by specially trained officers."

The hotel was fully staffed and has 24/7 security and fire wardens.

The government has been using hotel accommodation to help support the accelerated efforts to accommodate those who have been relocated from Afghanistan.