Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former envoy for Afghanistan, says the Taliban’s harbouring of terrorist groups risks a repeat of the 9/11 attacks and could have unpredictable consequences for the region.
Taliban authorities in Nangarhar say a group’s commander in Chaparhar district was shot dead on Friday, and his brother has been arrested on suspicion of killing him.
Reports from Afghanistan’s north-eastern Badakhshan province indicate that internal Taliban tensions have reached a peak.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met Bangladeshi Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad during his visit to Tehran. The Taliban Foreign Ministry said the talks focused on expanding bilateral ties, particularly trade cooperation.
A credible source in Kabul told Afghanistan International on Saturday that about 20 students were injured in Friday night's explosion at Kabul University. They were taken to Aliabad Hospital, and their condition is reported to be stable.
Sources told Afghanistan International that Khalid Masood, a commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was killed in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. Taliban authorities have not commented on the incident.
Hussain Yasa, spokesperson for the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan, said no meetings will take place in Tehran between leaders of anti-Taliban groups and the Taliban’s deputy prime minister or other senior Taliban officials.
Local sources in Badakhshan told Afghanistan International that a Taliban delegation sent by the group's leader failed to reach an agreement with dissident Taliban commander Juma Khan Fateh. Sources said Taliban military activity has since intensified.
Former Pakistani envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said Pakistan will continue striking targets inside Afghanistan as long as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants launch attacks on Pakistan from Afghan territory.
The hacker group Afghan Dragons says it has taken the Taliban Defence Ministry’s website offline in protest against the suppression of protesters in Afghanistan, particularly the detention of women in Herat.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, on Friday on the sidelines of former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran.
The US State Department said Washington supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. The statement comes after Pakistan has carried out at least 13 cross-border strikes inside Afghanistan in recent years.
Sources close to former Afghan President Hamid Karzai told Afghanistan International that the Taliban did not allow him to attend the official funeral of former supreme Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban detained at least 12 women and one man from three areas of Herat on Thursday. Witnesses said the number of detained women may be higher.
Iran invited both the Taliban and its Afghan opponents to attend the funeral of former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Tehran. Muttaqi and the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs are in Iran to attend the funeral of former Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said its recent airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan were carried out under its right of self-defence against what it called the heinous actions of terrorists.
Local sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that Abdul Jamil Joya, the former deputy head of analysis at Badakhshan’s National Directorate of Security, died from injuries sustained in an armed attack in Faizabad, Badakhshan. He was buried on Thursday.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi travelled to Tehran on Thursday to attend the funeral of Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, has criticised Germany’s policy of deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan, describing it as a idea that leaves Europe vulnerable to Taliban pressure.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said inter-ministerial consultations were held with the Taliban in Kabul. The talks covered bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields.
Informed sources told Afghanistan International that Mohammad Rahmati, managing director of Tamadon TV, is seriously ill in Taliban custody and has been denied access to medication and medical treatment.