Group's Political Ties With Tajikistan Expanding, Says Taliban's Deputy Prime Minister

Abdul Kabir, the Taliban's deputy prime minister for political affairs, said that the group's political relations with Tajikistan are improving compared to the past.

Abdul Kabir said that although Tajikistan has not yet handed over the Afghan embassy to the Taliban, extensive trade relations between the two countries are underway.

The Taliban's deputy prime minister said on Friday, January 3, that the Afghan embassy in Dushanbe is not under the management of the group so far, but the Sher Khan port crossing is open to traders from the two countries.

Abdul Kabir said that Afghan and Tajik businessmen are currently moving between the two countries. In his speech in Kabul, he claimed that the Taliban's political and economic relations with the countries of the region were expanding and progressing.

The Taliban official also called on countries hosting Afghan refugees to stop forcibly deporting Afghans and allow Afghans to return to their country voluntarily.

In the past three years, Tajikistan has had the least relations with the Taliban compared to other Central Asian countries.

Tajikistan has so far refused to accept the Taliban's diplomatic representative at the Afghan embassy. On the other hand, some anti-Taliban groups have been active in Tajikistan during this period.