Over 20 Terrorist Groups Present in Afghanistan, Claims Chinese Ambassador

Earlier, Al-Jazeera had reported that 20 people had been killed and 40 others got wounded.

Sources said that the attack on Sediqiya mosque in Khairkhana area had been caused by planted explosives.

Meanwhile, Emergency Hospital in Kabul said that 27 injured had arrived at the hospital following the explosion, of which five were children. The hospital confirmed the death of three people to AFP.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Despite the Taliban’s claim of providing security across the country, Afghanistan has witnessed regular attacks by armed groups. In recent months, Islamic State- Khurasan (IS-K) has taken responsibility of most attacks on civilians.

Taliban, Hamid Karzai, the former president, and Abdullah Abdullah, former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation condemned the attack.

Despite an increase in explosive and suicide attacks, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, Taliban’s minister of promotion of virtues and prevention of vice in the group’s meeting in Kandahar said that after Taliban’s takeover, security situation has improved in Afghanistan, administrative corruption has ended and the economy is getting better. Bakhtar News Agency reported that he said, “After faith, security is very important”.

According to the agency, “general issues of the country” will be discussed in this meeting.

It has been reported that Hibatullah Akhundzada, supreme leader of the Taliban, will also participate in this one-day meeting.

On Wednesday, Hafiz Noor Ahmad Saeed, head of information and culture of Taliban in Kandahar, said that the purpose of holding this meeting is to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan.

The meeting is currently underway, and no more details have been published about it.

It is the second major meeting of the Taliban that has been held this year. Earlier, the group held a three-day meeting in Kabul in which supporters of the group announced their allegiance to Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Recently, an Iranian government-affiliated media outlet quoted Qomi as saying that the United States pushes for chaos in Afghanistan through the formation of the NRF. However, Iran’s special envoy in a presser said that he was misinterpreted.

According to the Iranian media, Qomi recently called the national resistance in Afghanistan a lie. Iran's special envoy at that time also accused America of seeking to create sectarian and ethnic clashes in Afghanistan.

After Qomi’s statement on NRF, Mohammad Reza Bahrami, former ambassador of Iran to Afghanistan, in Tehran, said that there are no signs that the National Resistance Front (NRF) is getting the support of Western countries.

According to Bahrami, who was speaking on the anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he has not yet seen any signs amidst the approach and operations of the NRF which depicts that it is being influenced by Western countries.

Explaining his viewpoint Qomi said, "The Americans are seeking to create a stage for civil war in the name of the resistance. This issue has nothing to do with the resistance front.”

Iran's special representative for Afghanistan said that after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic hosted a meeting between Taliban officials and resistance front officials in order to support the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

Iran's special representative for Afghanistan stated that the current Afghan crisis can be solved through political means.

Officials of the National Resistance Front have not commented on the statements of the Iranian authorities yet.

Recently, Ahmad Masoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front, said that there is no other option, but to fight the Taliban. In an interview with the Atlantic Council, Massoud said that the Taliban are not interested in dialogue.

According to Bakhtar News Agency, a Taliban-affiliated media group, these military vehicles have been repaired by Taliban’s 215 Azam Corps’ technical team.

Taliban’s Ministry of Defense said that the US had destroyed some of its military equipment during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US Congress in a report said that after their withdrawal from Afghanistan, they left military equipment worth USD 7 billion in the country.

The United States are mostly concerned about their equipment left in Afghanistan for three reasons, i.e., usage of the military equipment for violent actions by the Taliban; terrorist groups getting access to the equipment; and Russia and China’s access to this advanced equipment, who have close relations with the Taliban.

Earlier, several international organisations have suggested that Taliban may have sought China and Russia’s help for repairing the inoperative equipment.

According to Bahrami, who was speaking on the anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he has not yet seen any signs amidst the approach and operations of the NRF which depicts that it is being influenced by Western countries.

Speaking on the occasion of the first anniversary of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, Bahrami said that the NRF consists of former Mujahedin and security forces of Afghanistan.

Earlier, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's representative for Afghanistan, stated that the US seeks to destabilize Afghanistan by forming the NRF.

Qomi, had called the resistance in Afghanistan a lie and claimed that the US is organising 7,000 people on Afghan soil, for use in future programmes.

Iranian media quoted Qomi as saying, "The US is trying to create sectarian conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis, as well as between ethnicities in Afghanistan."

Qomi had also claimed that "part of the intelligence organisation of the former government had hands in the explosions across the country”.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has not recognised the government of the Taliban, and in the past year, the border forces of Iran and the Taliban have had military clashes in Nimroz province several times.

However, despite the tension between the two sides over Iran's claim of the Helmand River, Iranian and Taliban officials have tried to improve their relations.