KABUL - The potential export value of Afghanistan’s opium has dropped 18 per cent this year, the United Nations anti-drug body reported today, but it cautioned that further progress hinges on rooting out corruption in the South Asian nation.

GENEVA - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has made its first visit to Afghan prisoners held by the Taliban. The visit took place last month in the north-western province of Badghis. Patrick Maigua reports from Geneva.

KABUL - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will enter its fourth decade of engagement with the refugee crisis in Afghanistan this month.