The European Union said on Monday, 31 August, that it has allocated €15 million in partnership with the World Food Programme to strengthen livelihoods and improve the resilience of people in Afghanistan.
Pakistani media report that the prolonged closure of crossings with Afghanistan has hurt Pakistan’s trade, agriculture, poultry industry and exports, while leaving large numbers of people on both sides of the border without work.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front says its forces clashed with the Taliban in Zebak district of Badakhshan on Sunday night, 30 August, after Taliban fighters attacked one of its positions.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit opened in Bishkek on Monday, 31 August, with Afghanistan-related concerns over security, terrorism and drug trafficking expected to feature. The Taliban was again not invited.
Nearly two weeks after Juma Khan Fateh, a Taliban dissident commander, surrendered and one phase of tensions in Badakhshan ended, the province is entering a new period of deeper internal Taliban divisions and defiance of orders from Kandahar.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told the Financial Times that he would fully welcome US investment in Afghanistan, including in mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi says the group’s government wants to normalise relations with the United States and has urged Washington to abandon what he described as a confrontational approach towards the Taliban.
Three anti-Taliban fronts carried out at least 50 attacks across Afghanistan over the past month. The Freedom Front, United Front and National Resistance Front claim the attacks left dozens dead and wounded.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said in a speech marking the country’s 35th independence anniversary that Tashkent would continue its constructive and resolute policy towards Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has rejected concerns raised by the CSTO secretary-general over the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border, saying intelligence circles of some hostile countries may be spreading false information.
German media reported that a three-member Taliban delegation arrived in Berlin on Wednesday on a confidential visit. Germany’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the trip, saying it was linked to plans for further deportations of Afghan nationals.
A new US poll shows that a majority of Americans support protecting and admitting Afghans who worked alongside US forces. Support rose from 52 per cent to 72 per cent after voters learned more about their role during the US mission.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the United States of choosing to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks rather than focusing on eliminating terrorism.
Iran has invited Mawlawi Habibullah Hessam, a senior National Resistance Front member, and Jawad Salehi, a member of Afghanistan’s Shia Ulema Council, to a meeting of the Supreme Council of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening in Tehran.
The UK government has updated information on Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani Network, and his father, former network leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, in its Afghanistan sanctions list.
The Taliban police command in Baghlan says its forces killed two National Resistance Front commanders during an operation in Nahrin district. The Taliban identified the commanders as Shams and Baba.
The United Nations and research organisation REACH warned in a new assessment published on Thursday, 27 August, that persistent hunger, displacement and drought are severely threatening the mental health of people in Afghanistan.
Two former prisoners from Herat Central Prison told Afghanistan International that severe overcrowding, delays in food distribution and difficulty accessing water and basic necessities are among the prison’s main problems.
Taalatbek Masadykov, secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, has voiced concern over the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border, saying the first weapons and equipment will be delivered to Dushanbe this autumn.
The United Front of Afghanistan says at least 180 religious scholars from across the country have issued a fatwa calling on the group to carry out military operations against the Taliban.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman says the Afghan Taliban could be considered an Indian proxy if it does not act in its own interests and instead serves what Islamabad describes as India’s efforts to destabilise Pakistan.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan says the Taliban has launched a “broad and multi-layered cognitive and psychological warfare campaign” against its opponents after failing to suppress resistance militarily.