295 NRF Members Killed in Action Against Taliban Last Year

Abdollahian had discussed the water rights issue during a phone call with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Foreign Minister of the Taliban.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said that Abdollahian emphasized that handing over Iran's water rights is an important indicator for measuring the Taliban's practical commitments to international obligations towards Iran.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, Iran has emphasized on the country's water rights from Helmand River in an unprecedented manner.

On Wednesday, Iranian President assigned the country’s foreign and energy ministries to follow up on the issue of Tehran’s water rights.

Iranian Foreign Minister on Friday told the Taliban Foreign Minister that a high-ranking delegation from the Ministry of Energy of Iran is going to visit Afghanistan soon to assess the existing obstacles and negotiate with the Taliban authorities about water rights.

According to Iranian foreign ministry, Muttaqi said, "We are committed to Iran's water rights. When water is available, we will direct it to flow towards Iran."

Iran's foreign minister stressed that the two countries can return the river to its proper channel by forming a joint technical and operational team, so that people on both sides of the border are not harmed by the wastage of water.

According to the Taliban, Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, has suggested the plan during a meeting with the Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on the sidelines of the Tashkent conference on Afghanistan.

In this meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral relations, and economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban earlier, in a decree, banned poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

However, Tajikistan's Interior Minister recently said that smuggling across the border has increased since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. Ramzan Rahimzada said that the Taliban has not been successful in preventing drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

Hafiz Zia Jalal, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Taliban Foreign Ministry, said in a tweet that Wang Yi spoke about China's aid to Afghanistan in the humanitarian sector and reconstruction, especially in trade and agriculture.

The Taliban said that China's foreign minister has pledged to start issuing visas to Afghans from August 1, 2022.

According to the Taliban, Amir Khan Muttaqi, expressed his appreciation for China in allowing Ariana Airlines flights to China's Urumqi city and said that this initiative will increase Afghanistan's exports to China.

The Taliban delegation led by Amir Khan Muttaqi went to Uzbekistan on Monday this week to participate in the Tashkent international conference on Afghanistan.

Representatives of 20 countries and organisations including the United States, Russia, the European Union, China, United Kingdom, India, Iran, and Pakistan were also present at the Tashkent conference.

According to the Taliban MoD, these military officers have completed an 18-month training course at the Indian Military Academy.

Taliban officials welcomed these officers at Kabul airport.

Earlier, Farid Mamundzay, Afghanistan's ambassador to New Delhi, said that 43 Afghan military officers had graduated from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in India.

The Ministry of Defense of the Taliban said that they had encouraged these military officers to return to Afghanistan.

The return of military officers comes at a time when watchdog groups and the United Nations, confirmed that the Taliban has killed dozens of military personnel of the former government in cold-blood and detained and tortured dozens of others.

The firing started at around 8:00pm on July 28 and as a result, a 30-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl, and a 17-year-old boy were injured. They were transferred to the Emergency hospital in Kabul.

Local sources told Afghanistan International that a Taliban unit, called “Laghmani Unit” came to Dara Orti of Salang district and warned people not to leave their houses.

“Later, forces of this unit went to the mountains and opened fire at every window from where lights could be seen switched on or if anyone was spotted moving around," sources said.

Taliban has not yet commented on this matter.

It is expected that SCO foreign ministers will discuss important regional and international issues and approve the decisions that are to be presented at the summit of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in September.

There will be one-on-one meetings of the foreign ministers of the SCO on the sidelines of the event.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban, who went to Uzbekistan last week to participate in the international meeting in Tashkent, has not returned to Kabul.

Muttaqi met with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China in the past few days.