Pakistan Dismisses Taliban Denial Over Bannu Police Attack

According to the UNDP report, around 26.6 million people in Afghanistan faced livelihood insecurity and were unable to meet basic living needs in 2024. In 2025, that figure rose to nearly 28 million after an additional 1.4 million people were affected.

The report stated that three out of every four people in Afghanistan do not have enough food.

Afghanistan is facing a deep humanitarian and economic crisis that has worsened since the Taliban returned to power, with poverty, unemployment and dependence on humanitarian aid increasing sharply.

International organisations have repeatedly warned that declining foreign aid, banking restrictions and the lack of investment have left Afghanistan’s economy in a fragile state.

According to UN reports, the Taliban’s sweeping restrictions on women and girls, particularly in education and employment, have had a direct impact on the economy and household livelihoods.

The United Nations and economic institutions have stressed that excluding women from education and the labour market has severely reduced Afghanistan’s productive and economic growth potential.

Continuing political instability, the return of migrants, climate change, drought and shrinking job opportunities have also increased pressure on Afghan citizens.

Despite efforts by aid agencies, international organisations warn that without sustained financial support and changes in Taliban policies, Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis is likely to deepen further in the coming years.

Speaking on Thursday, May 14, at the 21st meeting of security council secretaries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Shoigu stressed the need to counter terrorism and drug trafficking threats linked to Afghanistan.

He claimed the Taliban are engaged in armed conflict with Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).

Shoigu said Russian Security Council data indicates ISIS currently has around 3,000 members in Afghanistan. He added that the group carried out 12 major terrorist attacks in 2025, killing 40 military personnel and 25 civilians, while injuring more than 50 others.

The Russian official also warned of an increasing influx of Uyghur, Tajik and Uzbek militants from Syria into Afghanistan, involving groups formerly linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

He said Taliban security agencies had increased monitoring of radical groups entering Afghanistan but added that the Taliban were still unable to fully control some Islamist militants operating in the country.

Shoigu also claimed Taliban authorities had made significant efforts to combat drug trafficking. According to him, opium poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan have fallen by 90 per cent since the Taliban returned to power.

However, he said production of synthetic narcotics, including methamphetamine, had increased, with more than 30 tones seized along Afghanistan’s borders with neighbouring countries in 2025.

He added that around four million people in Afghanistan remain involved in cultivating narcotic crops because of severe economic conditions.

During the meeting, Shoigu also said Western countries had frozen around $590 billion in assets belonging to Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya and Afghanistan.

He added that world leaders would likely reconsider the safety of keeping national reserves in Western countries.

According to Russia’s TASS, Shoigu made the remarks during a meeting with President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov,and security council secretaries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

He said participants should exchange views on global and regional crises with a direct impact on security, including the ongoing instability in Afghanistan, alongside the conflicts in Ukraine and the war involving Iran.

Shoigu said he intended to discuss a number of practical initiatives aimed at strengthening cooperation in this area.

He said he believed these initiatives would strengthen the organisation’s international standing and demonstrate that member states follow an independent foreign policy.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which includes countries surrounding Afghanistan, has repeatedly warned in recent years about the consequences of insecurity and the activities of extremist groups in the country.

The European Union said in a post on X on Thursday, May 14, that it remained concerned about the situation of Afghan citizens, referring to a recent report by the United Nations Development Programme on the country’s humanitarian challenges.

The UNDP report said an unprecedented return of refugees, drought and declining aid had pushed Afghanistan deeper into crisis.

The report, published on May 13, stated that around 28 million people in Afghanistan were living in poverty in 2025 and that more than 80 per cent of households were in debt.

Over the past four years, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s work and girls’ education, showing no sign of easing those measures.

Three Kabul residents told Afghanistan International that after the explosions, the sound of warplanes and drones patrolling the skies above the city could be heard.

One resident said: “At around 3:25am, we heard gunfire followed by an explosion.” Another source also confirmed that “two powerful explosions” had occurred.

As of publication, Taliban authorities had not commented on the incident, and the exact cause of the explosions or any possible casualties and damage remained unclear.