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Russia says four survive charter jet crash in Afghanistan, condition of two others unclear

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Russia’s aviation watchdog said on Sunday four people survived the crash of a charter plane bound for Moscow in northern Afghanistan, citing the Russian embassy there, and it said the condition of two other passengers on board was not yet clear, Reuters reported.

Two Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) provincial officials said four survivors were now with Islamic Emirate government officials who had reached the remote, mountainous site of the crash. They said that two other passengers had died.

The IEA government’s top spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pilot of the plane was among four who had survived.

“The investigative team of the Islamic Emirate continues their efforts to search for and provide assistance to the remaining individuals,” he said in a statement.

The Russian-registered charter plane with six people on board disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan a day earlier, Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said on Sunday, after Afghan police said they had received reports of a crash, read the report.

The plane was a charter ambulance flight travelling from Thailand’s Utapao Airport in Pattaya to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan on a French-made Dassault Aviation (AM.PA), opens new tab Falcon 10 jet manufactured in 1978, Rosaviatsia said in a statement.

About 25 minutes before the plane vanished from radar screens, the pilot warned that fuel was running low and that the plane would try to land at an airport in Tajikistan, Russian news outlet SHOT reported, citing an unnamed source.

The pilot then reported that one engine had stopped, and then that the second one had also stopped, SHOT reported.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the details shared by SHOT.

India’s civil aviation authority said the plane was not a scheduled commercial flight or an Indian chartered aircraft.

The flight was carrying out a private medical evacuation from Thailand’s Pattaya, a popular tourist destination for Russians, to Moscow, Russian state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the Russian embassy in Bangkok.

“On board was a bedridden patient in serious condition, a Russian citizen, who was transported from one of the hospitals in Pattaya to Russia,” the RIA news agency reported, citing a source at Thailand’s Utapao International Airport.

“She was accompanied by her husband, a private entrepreneur, also a Russian citizen, who paid for the flight.”

Several Russian media outlets said the passengers were a couple from Volgodonsk in southern Russia, Reuters reported.

A manifest list for the plane, published by the SHOT news outlet, appeared to show the crew were also Russian nationals.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case to determine if safety rules had been violated.

The plane’s reported owner, a small Russian firm called Athletic Group LLC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Islamic Emirate-run Afghan aviation ministry said in a statement on X that the plane’s planned route did not include passing through Afghanistan’s air space and that “probably due to technical issues” the plane had diverted from its planned route.

The statement said a ministry technical team was investigating the matter.

Afghanistan police had received reports of a plane crash in a remote, mountainous region of Badakhshan in Afghanistan’s far north, a provincial police spokesperson said on Sunday.

Zabihullah Amiri, a spokesperson for Badakhshan’s provincial government, told Reuters a team had been sent to the location of the crash, a remote area more than 200 km (124 miles) from the provincial capital Fayzabad.

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UN official warns Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis could threaten regional stability and security

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A senior United Nations official has warned that Afghanistan’s deepening humanitarian crisis could have consequences beyond the country’s borders, potentially affecting regional security, stability and migration routes.

Bruno Lemarquis, the UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said on Friday that the country was at a “difficult crossroad” more than five years after the Islamic Emirate returned to power.

He said relative stability and security were being undermined by a fragile economy, restrictions on fundamental rights and growing humanitarian needs.

Lemarquis described restrictions on women and girls as “severe and sweeping,” saying they continue to face barriers to education, employment and participation in public life.

He noted that more than 2.6 million girls have been deprived of secondary education since 2021, while female university enrollment currently stands at zero.

The UN official also highlighted the impact of the mass return of Afghan migrants, saying approximately 6.7 million Afghans have returned to the country since 2020, many of them forcibly expelled from neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan and Iran.

He said the large-scale returns were placing additional pressure on Afghanistan’s already overstretched public services, stressing that returnees urgently need legal documentation, protection and employment opportunities.

Lemarquis also raised concerns over a reported increase in opium poppy cultivation, citing a UN report that found production had risen by 330 percent in 2025 following a sharp decline after the 2022 ban imposed by the Islamic Emirate.

He said efforts to prevent poppy cultivation must be accompanied by viable alternative livelihoods for farmers.

Meanwhile, humanitarian needs in Afghanistan are expected to rise further in 2027 amid mass returns, regional instability and extreme weather risks associated with El Niño.

However, international humanitarian funding has continued to decline. According to Lemarquis, assistance reached $2 billion in 2023, fell to $1 billion in 2025 and has amounted to only $570 million so far in 2026.

He warned that funding shortages were threatening essential services, with around 40 percent of primary healthcare facilities expected to close between 2025 and 2026, potentially affecting 700 of the country’s 1,900 health posts.

Describing the consequences as “very, very, very significant,” Lemarquis urged the international community not to turn its back on Afghanistan.

“And there is a saying in Afghanistan that is ‘What is happening in Afghanistan is not staying in Afghanistan,’” he said.

“The consequences could go beyond the Afghanistan border, potentially affecting regional security, regional stability and migration pathways.”

 
 

 

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Pakistan reviews US plan to deport Afghans through its territory

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Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says it is reviewing reports that the Trump administration plans to deport Afghans through Pakistan, adding that it is consulting relevant stakeholders to find a mutually acceptable way forward.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan made the remarks at a press conference on Friday, saying Islamabad remained committed to close coordination with its allies and partners.

“We will continue to act in accordance with our international obligations and established protocols,” Khan said.

He added that the matter was under consideration and that all relevant aspects were being carefully examined in consultation with concerned stakeholders.

 

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Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah exits Afghanistan after 20 years

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Pakistan-based Bank Alfalah has completed its exit from Afghanistan after 20 years of operations, transferring its local banking business to Ghaznfar Bank, the lender said in a notice to shareholders on Friday.

The bank said the transaction was completed on November 5 after the signing of final agreements, approval from the State Bank of Pakistan and Da Afghanistan Bank, and fulfilment of other required conditions.

The deal allows Bank Alfalah to sell and transfer its operations in Afghanistan to Ghaznfar Bank, following approval from the regulatory authorities in both countries.

“Bank Alfalah has acco­rdingly ceased its banking operations in Afghanistan and will complete the closure of its Afghanistan bra­nches in accordance with applicable regulatory req­u­ir­ements,” the notice said.

Bank Alfalah began operating in Kabul in 2005, offering both conventional and Islamic banking services. 

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