A U.S. government oversight agency that for nearly two decades tracked waste, fraud and abuse in American spending on Afghanistan is scheduled to shut down on January 31, 2026.

The office, known as the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), was created by the U.S. Congress in 2008 to independently review how billions of dollars in military, development and humanitarian aid were used in Afghanistan. It conducted audits, inspections and investigations to detect misuse of funds and recommend changes to improve accountability.

Over its lifetime, SIGAR documented thousands of instances of waste, fraud and abuse in U.S.-led reconstruction programs and reported on projects that failed to meet goals or were never completed. In its final reports, the office estimated that tens of billions of dollars intended for Afghanistan reconstruction were lost or mismanaged, and it highlighted systemic problems in planning, oversight and execution of U.S. efforts.

The closure of SIGAR comes as part of U.S. defense policy changes that set a deadline for the agency’s work to end this month. 

The Ministry of Justice announced on Wednesday that there is no article, clause, subsection, provision, or ruling in the legislative documents of the Islamic Emirate that is contrary to Islamic Sharia or lacks a Sharia-based source. Rather, these documents are fully in accordance with Islamic Sharia, and protesting against them is considered a protest against Sharia itself.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Justice, such protests have no Sharia-based or scholarly foundation and are carried out, out of ignorance or deliberate disregard. Such actions are deemed a crime under Sharia, and those who object to these laws will be referred to judicial and legal bodies for prosecution, the statement read.

“The legislative documents of the Islamic Emirate are drafted and derived by multiple committees of qualified Afghan scholars at the level of each relevant ministry and department, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Office of the Leader of the Islamic Emirate, using the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him), and authoritative Hanafi jurisprudential texts,” the statement reads.

The Ministry of Justice further emphasized that the aforementioned legislative documents are repeatedly reviewed for compliance with Islamic Sharia and, after that, are submitted to the Leader of the Islamic Emirate for endorsement.

The Center of Strategic Studies at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organized an academic conference titled “Mediation Diplomacy in Qatar’s Foreign Policy.”

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar’s Ambassador, Mirdef Al Qashouti, delivered a detailed and comprehensive presentation examining the role and importance of mediation diplomacy within Qatar’s foreign policy framework.

The conference was attended by a number of officials and staff members from various departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as researchers, professors, and students of international relations from universities across the country.