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Afghan embassy in DC to close
The Afghan embassy in Washington, which is under severe financial pressure and cut off from the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government in Kabul, will close down in the coming week, a senior State Department official confirmed Saturday.
Its diplomats, holdovers from the old government, now have a month to apply for US visas before being deported – though not back to Afghanistan, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, AFP reported.
Around 100 diplomats currently work at the embassy in Washington or at Afghan consulates in Los Angeles and in New York, according to The New York Times.
Roughly one-fourth have yet to apply to remain in the US, the American official said.
“The Afghan Embassy and consulates are under severe financial pressure. Their bank accounts are not available to them,” the official told AFP.
He added, “we have no intention of accrediting diplomats who are appointed by the Taliban (IEA) at this time.”
The group will retain its current diplomatic status for 30 days.
The official said the State Department had “now made arrangements in cooperation with the Afghan Embassy to facilitate an orderly shutdown of operations in a way that would protect and preserve all diplomatic mission property in the United States until operations are able to resume,” AFP reported.
Five people lost their lives after a vehicle veered off the road and fell into a river in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province on Saturday, local officials said.
According to Ehsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the Badakhshan police, the incident occurred when an SUV skidded off the road on Tashkan Bridge and plunged into the river.
Kamgar said that security forces in Kishm district have so far recovered the bodies of four passengers, while search operations are underway to locate the fifth victim.
The victims were residents of Argo district.
Moldova’s government has included Afghan airlines in its updated list of carriers banned or restricted from operating in the country, effective 19 February 2026, in line with EU aviation safety rules.
The order, signed by Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea, covers more than 200 airlines from around 20 countries, including Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Most face a complete operating ban in Moldovan airspace and airports, while some have limited operational permissions, state news agency Moldpres reported.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Moldova will monitor compliance. The ban remains in place until Moldova joins the European Union.
Iranian border authorities say they have saved the lives of 700 Afghan nationals who were attempting to enter the country irregularly and had become severely affected by cold weather.
According to Iranian media reports, Majid Shoja, commander of the border forces in Razavi Khorasan province, said that heavy rainfall and harsh weather conditions along the Taybad frontier had exposed the group to hypothermia and a serious risk of death. He added that Iranian border units deployed medical teams and used all available resources to treat the affected individuals.
Shoja urged Afghan citizens to use official and legal border crossings if they need to travel to Iran, warning that unauthorized entry will be met with legal consequences.
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