Belgian Islamist Preacher, Who Praised Taliban, Travels To Afghanistan

The source said that Taliban officials are also likely to meet with the ISI chief.

The Taliban on Tuesday announced that the group’s Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and the group's intelligence chief, Abdul Haq Wasiq, had made an unannounced visit to the United Arab Emirates.

During the visit, senior Taliban security officials met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the head of state of the United Arab Emirates, in Abu Dhabi.

According to the security source, the purpose of the visit was to mediate between the Taliban and Pakistan. Taliban officials are also likely to hold talks with the ISI chief during the visit.

Recently, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials during his visit to Pakistan.

The Taliban's relations with Pakistan have been severely strained after Pakistani warplanes attacked eastern Afghanistan. Both sides accuse each other of supporting their armed opposition groups. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of supporting and arming TTP militants. The Taliban has also accused Pakistan of supporting ISIS and claimed that ISIS bases are located in Pakistan's Balochistan.

Pakistan has so far refused to negotiate directly with the Afghan Taliban on Pakistani insurgents, but the increase in militant attacks has inflicted heavy casualties on its military.

According to reports, the rate of security incidents in the country has increased by 90% since 2020. Many observers have linked Pakistan's insecurity to developments in Afghanistan, especially since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.

Following the escalation of tensions, a group of politicians from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa met with Pakistani army chief Asim Munir last week and called for dialogue and interaction with the Taliban. Pakistan's army chief has also emphasised that the only difference between the country and the Taliban is the issue of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Earlier, some sources said that Islamabad had asked China to pressure the Taliban to stop supporting the TTP.

The Pakistani military has identified the militant as Mohammad Khan Ahmadkhel, 48, an Afghan citizen.

Mohammad Khan Ahmadkhel, a native of Wazakhwa District of Paktika Province, was killed on January 11 after a clash with Pakistani security forces, the Pakistani military's public relations said on Tuesday, January 21.

"This incident is irrefutable evidence of the involvement of Afghan citizens in terrorist activities in Pakistan," the Pakistani military statement said.

Pakistani officials once again called on the Taliban to fulfil their commitments to prevent the use of Afghan soil to carry out "terrorist" acts against Pakistan.

An official Emirati media outlet also wrote that Haqqani spoke with Sheikh Mohammed about the recent developments in Afghanistan.

Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on his Facebook page that Abdul Haq Wasiq, the group's intelligence chief, is also accompanying Haqqani on his trip to the UAE.

According to the Taliban spokesman, Haqqani's meeting with Sheikh Mohammed "discussed issues of interest to the two countries, mutual stability, economic strengthening of Afghanistan, and some other important issues".

The state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) also reported that Sheikh Mohammed held talks with the Taliban's interior minister on Tuesday at Qasr al-Shati in Abu Dhabi about the recent developments in Afghanistan and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

According to the report, the two sides also discussed Afghanistan's reconstruction and stability, ways to develop and prosper the Afghan people.

The news agency wrote that Haqqani appreciated the UAE's humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

A few days ago, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban's foreign minister, visited the United Arab Emirates along with a delegation. During that visit, Muttaqi met with the UAE president as well as India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hosted important meetings of Western delegations with Taliban representatives in recent years since the group came to power in Afghanistan.

Mohammad Sadiq Khan said that the two sides agreed to jointly address these challenges.

Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan affairs wrote on his account on the social media platform X, "Today, I hosted Hashem Ashjazade, Iran's special representative for Afghanistan affairs and director general for South Asia at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

The meeting was also attended by Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iran's ambassador to Islamabad, and Mohammad Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan's ambassador to Tehran, Sadiq Khan said.

The Islamic Republic and the government of Pakistan were among the few countries that established diplomatic relations with the Taliban at the very beginning and kept their embassies open in Kabul. However, due to the Taliban's lack of cooperation on the issue of Iran's water rights, as well as the group's unwillingness to suppress the Pakistani Taliban, Islamabad and Tehran's relations with the Taliban have been strained.

He told a meeting of the country's Security Council on Monday that the policy goes back to the Joe Biden administration.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday, January 20, stressed that the United States is using Afghanistan's neighbouring countries to achieve this goal. He said that his remarks were a reference to the policies of former US President Joe Biden's administration.

"We will also not forget Afghanistan," he said at a meeting of the Russian Security Council. “The Americans are also trying to re-establish their presence to some extent, and they are using neighbouring countries for this purpose. They are thinking of restoring their military facilities there,” he added.

In early 2021, Joe Biden announced the end of the long-running US foreign military operation in Afghanistan, and only a few months later, the Taliban entered Kabul without any resistance, taking control of the city within hours.

Some Republican politicians and US veterans have repeatedly criticised the Biden administration for its handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.