Afghanistan

The Haalvsh human rights organisation says at least 17 Afghan migrants, including women, men and children, died from severe thirst in the Mak Sookhteh area near the Rotak border zone in Saravan, Iran.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says former Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour sought talks with ISIS and instructed him to exchange messages by email with the group’s spokesman.

The Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation has launched military exercises in south-eastern Kazakhstan, focusing on countering the possible infiltration of militant groups from Afghanistan into Central Asian countries.

Sources told Afghanistan International that former Taliban official Mutasim Agha Jan was released from Taliban custody before noon on Monday, a day after he was detained.

At least eight women were detained in Kabul’s Taimani area on Saturday evening, 12 September. A resident told Afghanistan International that they had personally witnessed the arrests.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi says both the Muslim world and Western countries have urged the Taliban administration to reopen schools for girls, acknowledging that their continued closure is a problem.

The UN Human Settlements Programme says millions of people in Afghanistan still lack access to safe and reliable drinking water, despite water being essential to life, and has called for stronger efforts to ensure universal access.

Informed sources told Afghanistan International on Sunday evening that Taliban Interior Ministry and intelligence forces had detained Mutasim Agha Jan, a former senior member of the group, after surrounding his religious school in Kandahar city.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Sunday denied the presence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, rejecting a Washington Post report that cited Western security officials and a UN body as saying the group is active again in the country.

China’s ambassador to Kabul, Zhao Sheng, held a farewell meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at the end of his diplomatic mission in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s UN representative has expressed deep concern over what he called growing terrorist activity from Afghan territory, saying more than 4,700 Pakistanis have been killed in such attacks over the past three years.

Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, warned at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday that ISIS-Khorasan in Afghanistan remains a serious security threat.

Local sources in Badakhshan say the Taliban has detained dozens of people in recent weeks, with arrests reportedly increasing since a new Taliban governor and police commander took office in the province.

Michael Semple, a former EU diplomat in Afghanistan, says al-Qaeda members remain in the country, but the group is weakened and no longer poses a major threat. He said the Taliban now represents a greater threat than al-Qaeda.

The Taliban Defence Ministry said on Saturday that a 13-member delegation had travelled to Beijing to attend the 13th Xiangshan Forum. The delegation is led by Latifullah Hakimi, the ministry’s inspector general.

Nazira Haji Zada, an Afghan migrant and US permanent resident, has been deported to her country of origin after admitting involvement in an ISIS-inspired attack plot. It is the first such deportation ruling in nearly three decades.

Sami Sadat, leader of the Afghanistan United Front, says his forces do not need foreign troops to fight the Taliban, but are seeking support from the international community.

The Taliban Defence Ministry says a commander from its 209th Army Corps met a Turkmen border commander to discuss security along the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border and closer coordination between border forces.