Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, rejected remarks by Asim Munir, Pakistan army chief, insisting Afghanistan is not being used against any country. He urged Pakistan to address militant activity within its own borders.
Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, warned that the systematic repression of women and girls in Afghanistan has become normalised and could amount to a crime against humanity.
Sources with several fibre-optic internet companies in Kabul told Afghanistan International that the Taliban have ordered regulators to cut residential fibre internet services across the capital.
Sources linked to the Taliban in Kandahar told Afghanistan International that the group’s intelligence agency has arrested Mullah Jan Mohammad Madani, a senior adviser to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Noor Ahmad Islamjar has urged Turkmenistan to accelerate implementation of a plan to operate the Torghundi Border Crossing on a 24-hour basis. The call comes when Taliban seeks to expand trade routes with Central Asia following disruptions in commerce with Pakistan.
Nai in Exile, an organisation supporting Afghan journalists and media outlets, has called on the United Nations and the European Union to intervene for the immediate release of journalists recently detained by the Taliban.
Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul, urged the Taliban to take practical measures against terrorist threats originating from Afghanistan.
Informed sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence forces besieged the offices of TOLOnews and its parent company, Moby Group, for more than six hours after the broadcaster reported the detention of two of its journalists on social media.
Taliban police in Badakhshan confirmed that at least two residents of Argo district were killed in clashes with Taliban forces during anti-poppy eradication operations.
Hamid Karzai, former Afghan President, said Pakistan has increased military and economic pressure on villages near the Durand Line, warning residents are being pushed to deal with Pakistani authorities.
Residents reported unidentified aircraft flying over Kabul on Saturday, along with Taliban gunfire. At least three independent sources told Afghanistan International that repeated shooting was heard across parts of the capital.
Local sources told Afghanistan International that armed clashes erupted in parts of Paryan district in Panjshir on Thursday, after which Taliban forces reportedly detained at least seven villagers.
Mohammad Jalal, adviser to Sirajuddin Haqqani Taliban’s interior minister, said Afghanistan was not created in a colonial office and remains a historic nation with centuries of culture, sacrifice and resistance.
Local sources told Afghanistan International that clashes between Taliban forces and residents in Argo district of Badakhshan over poppy eradication are continuing, with at least two people reported killed.
Afghan activists at the Paris conference urged France to recognise gender apartheid in Afghanistan and refer it to the UN Security Council for legal and diplomatic action against Taliban restrictions on women.
Karim Khurram, former Minister of Information and Culture of Afghanistan, accused Pakistan of promoting narratives against Afghanistan’s identity, reacting to remarks by a regional think-tank head suggesting the country could fragment.
Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said deadly attacks in Pakistan are largely linked to militant groups based in Afghanistan and accused India of backing armed groups operating inside Pakistan.
Local sources told Afghanistan International on Friday that Taliban forces clashed with residents in Argo district of Badakhshan over poppy eradication, leaving at least one person dead and three others injured.
Ismatulla Irgashev, Uzbek President Special Representative, met Tetsuya Yamada Director General of the South Asia Department at JICA, on Thursday to discuss joint projects aimed at Afghanistan’s socio-economic development.
The Afghan Shia Commission urged resolving disputes through dialogue, moderation and national unity at a meeting in Kabul. Its head said the group supports the Taliban’s “security achievements”.
Tahir Andrabi, Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said Taliban support for Pakistani militants is preventing tensions from easing, warning relations will not normalise unless such backing ends.
The Taliban Ministry of Refugees said 491 Afghans returned from Pakistan after being released from prisons, crossing via Torkham and Spin Boldak border points.