Iranian FM Urges Taliban to Address Water & Border Issues With Practical Steps

High-ranking officials, including the Ministers of Defence and Interior, as well as the Intelligence Chief, are said to be spearheading this digital initiative.

The report identifies three key cyber groups operating under Taliban leadership: “Badri Virtual Devotees,” “Ababil Emarati,” and “Omari Defenders.” These groups are linked to prominent Taliban figures, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, Minister of Interior, Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid, Minister of Defence, and Abdul Haq Wasiq, Taliban’s head of intelligence.

Badri Virtual Devotees

Led by Anas Haqqani, brother of the Taliban interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Saeed Khosty, a former spokesperson to the Taliban’s interior ministry, this faction reportedly operates from three locations in Kabul, coordinating the activities of 150 individuals across 15 subgroups. They focus on promoting Taliban achievements and engaging in online confrontations with critics. This group is believed to manage around 500 anonymous Facebook entities and 800 accounts on social platform X, another popular platform among Afghans.

Ababil Emarati

Functioning with the Taliban's intelligence funding, this group, led by Abdul Haq Wasiq, is said to monitor and attack the Taliban's political opponents on social networks. This includes hacking attempts against prominent dissenters, with reported assistance from contracted hackers based in Pakistan.

Omari Defenders

Associated with Mullah Yaqub, the Taliban’s defence minister, this team works on enhancing his public image and targeting those who speak negatively about key Taliban figures. With offices in various parts of Kabul, the group includes about 100 employees and is led by a former Afghan radio and television journalist.

The report also highlights the extensive use of anonymous accounts by Taliban supporters to attack critics with abusive language. These social media operations are part of a broader strategy by the Taliban to control narratives and suppress opposition voices in the digital realm.

Pictures published by local media outlets in Mashhad indicate that the new ban has been implemented at the entrance of Mashhad's Friday market.

On Saturday, Shahrara newspaper, owned by the Mashhad municipality, quoted Hasan Kilidari, a senior executive in the municipality, as stating that, according to the approval of the city's municipal social commission, “from now on, the activities of foreigners, under any title, in all of Mashhad's mobile markets are prohibited”.

Official statistics from the Iranian immigration authorities reveal that approximately half a million Afghans in Mashhad are registered with a residence permit.

This figure constitutes 95% of the total population of immigrants in Mashhad.

The decision to prohibit the activity of Afghans in mobile markets has sparked a reaction from cultural activists among Afghan immigrants in Iran.

Zainab Bayat, an Afghan poet and cultural activist residing in Mashhad, reacted to this move by questioning the move on her Instagram handle, “How can Afghans provide income for their families when all doors closed?”

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that this programme will support nearly 100 journalists who were forced to go to Pakistan following the recent developments.

This programme aims to ensure the safety of journalists by lobbying with Pakistani policy and decision-makers. It also includes goals such as providing employment opportunities in the host country, offering legal assistance, and conducting workshops to empower journalists.

According to the RSF, there are currently about two hundred Afghan journalists living in Pakistan.

These reporters were forced to flee their country following the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

Over the past two years, the Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on the freedom of expression and media activity and has imprisoned a large number of journalists.

RSF said that Afghan journalists living in Pakistan are facing an uncertain future with administrative problems, lack of resources and harassment by the Pakistani police.

In light of the Pakistani government's new plan to deport Afghan refugees and immigrants, these journalists, along with hundreds of thousands of other refugees, are at risk of being deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.

Khosty raised the issue in his speech at a conference.

He shared a part of his speech on X social media platform on Friday, in which he mentioned that the media consistently reports on the Taliban's ban on girls' education and characterises its government as non-inclusive and oppressive.

While the former Taliban spokesperson did not specify any particular media outlet, he stated that the “enemy” consistently reaches out to individuals.

Following the takeover of power in August 2021, the Taliban imposed severe restrictions on the media. Consequently, hundreds of print, audio, and video media outlets were forced to cease operations due to the group's pressure, resulting in thousands of journalists fleeing abroad.

This former Taliban official had previously threatened to kill Taliban opponents abroad.

Khosty tweeted that he would "kill" fugitives and those who preach against the Taliban.

When Khosty served as the spokesperson for Sirajuddin Haqqani in the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, he had been surrounded by accusations of sexually assaulting a medical university student and subsequently compelling her into marriage.

Elaha Delawarzai was detained after the accusation and spent six months in prison. After her release, she claimed that during her detention, the agents of the Taliban's intelligence interrogated and tortured her.

Khosty has repeatedly denied the allegations of sexual assault and torture of Delawarzai.

According to these sources, the Taliban members have told some foreign officials that girls can be educated in religious schools and the Taliban leader has no problem with this.

These sources said that Taliban officials have argued that there is no difference between a school and a religious seminary and that this group teaches professional and religious issues at these seminaries.

According to sources, the Taliban officials have asked the international community to financially support their religious seminaries.

This is while the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Afghanistan, said in a recent Security Council meeting that evidence shows that more girls are studying in religious schools.

After the Security Council’s meeting, Otunbayeva told Afghanistan International during a press conference quoting the Taliban's Minister of Education that ten million children are studying in Taliban schools. She added that about five million other children are deprived of education.

Otunbayeva said on Thursday after the UN Security Council meeting that the Taliban are trying to bring more children into the religious education system because they believe that religious seminaries are more native to Afghanistan.