Afghan Women Hold Demonstrations in Kabul in Support of Iranians

Pakistan's chargé d'affaires, however, mentioned the country's aid and support to Afghanistan under the Taliban and said that the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan have positive and good relations. He stressed that the good relations between the two nations should not be undermined by the expression of viewpoints.

Abbas also pointed to other areas of cooperation, such as reducing the visa issuance time for Afghans; facilitating trade between the two countries; and creating exemptions for Afghanistan's exports, and mentioned the allocation of funds for 1,500 Pakistani scholarships for Afghanistan.

The chargé d'affaires of the Pakistani embassy emphasised on Pakistan's cooperation and assistance to Afghanistan and said that Islamabad in September allocated nearly one million dollars for the Muhammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Kabul.

Asad also mentioned that at the UN General Assembly, Pakistan had requested for the release of Afghanistan’s financial reserves and revival of the country’s banking system and said that Islamabad had also urged the international community to provide 4.2 billion dollars in humanitarian and economic aid to Afghanistan, which was requested by the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Abbas expressed these remarks after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern about the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan at the UN General Assembly.

Sharif said in a speech at the 77th UN General Assembly that Pakistan, like other countries in the world, is concerned about the "activity of major terrorist groups" from Afghanistan.

The Taliban's Foreign Ministry has dismissed these claims as baseless and emphasised that Afghanistan soil will not be used against any other countries.

Amir Khan Muttaqi the foreign minister of the Taliban, has said that if anyone uses Afghan soil against other countries, they will be punished.

He added that the stability of Afghanistan is in the interest of the region and there are interest groups that want to keep Afghanistan isolated.

The Taliban's reaction to concerns about the presence of extremist militant groups in Afghanistan comes at a time when Islamic State – Khurasan (IS-K) has attacked Uzbekistan and Tajikistan at least three times since the return of the Taliban to power in August 15, 2021.

On the other hand, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has repeatedly attacked the Pakistani army bases on the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Abdollahian made these remarks during a meeting with Csaba Korosi, the president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran in a statement said that Korosi too emphasised that countries expect the UN General Assembly to become more active in dealing with global security issues.

During the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations, various countries’ heads and representatives expressed concern about the activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, clearly said at the General Assembly that Islamabad, like other countries, is concerned about the activities of terrorist groups from Afghanistan’s soil.

The Taliban's foreign ministry, however, had issued a statement and said that if the group occupies Afghanistan’s permanent representation at the UN, they can address the concerns of the UN member states.

Nabil added that Afghans are aware who had exported the “Islamic Revolution” and harboured the enemies of Afghanistan.

The former Afghan intelligence chief recently supported the demonstrations of Iranian women with the slogan "Women, Life, Freedom".

He said that in both Afghanistan and Iran, women lead the fight against religious and sectarian extremism.

The recent stance of Nabil has been met with reactions from Iranian foreign ministry official Rasul Mousavi.

In response to these statements of Nabil, Mousavi said on Twitter, "The failure to recognise the main enemy and the inability to prioritise national interests is the main reason for the downfall of Afghanistan's political regimes."

Nabil, however, has replied to Mousavi’s remarks and stated that the emotional views of Afghanistan leaders towards its neighbouring countries have been a grave mistake.

According to Nabil, Afghan leaders have been deceived by common religion, culture, and language when they looked at the enemies and friends in the region.

“There are signals that the Taliban are indifferent to more than 50 per cent of the population,” he said referring to the ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education and growing restrictions on women’s rights and added, “Taliban are willing to risk international isolation. Such a scenario can lead to mass migration and a domestic environment conducive to terrorist organizations, as well as greater misery for the Afghan population. That’s why we have to engage,” he declared. He stated that “continued qualified engagement” was the most realistic way of helping the Afghan people.

Stressing that “patience is running out” for many in the international community when it comes to effectively engaging with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers, the Taliban, Potzel said that the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has monitored a steady rise in security incidents by terrorist groups and others.

“Our earlier warnings about the capabilities of Islamic State Khorosan Province (ISKP) were dismissed by the Taliban”, he told ambassadors.

“But ISKP has demonstrated in the last few months alone that it can carry out assassinations of figures close to the Taliban, attacks against foreign embassies, as well as fire rockets across Afghanistan’s border to attack its neighbours - all while maintaining its long-standing sectarian campaign against Shia Muslims and ethnic minorities,” said Potzel.

Armed clashes are continuing between Taliban security forces and armed opposition groups in the Panjshir, Baghlan, Kapisa, Takhar, and Badakhshan provinces, the UN envoy continued while calling for an investigation into allegations of extra-judicial killings there.

Despite some positive developments over the past few months, the Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan said that they have been “too few and too slow and they are outweighed by the negatives”.

Potzel stated that the per capita income has collapsed to 2007 levels – erasing 15 years of economic growth – and said that the country’s economic situation “remains tenuous”.

Moreover, a continued lack of political inclusivity and transparency in decision-making leave most Afghans without any government representation, he said. “There are no consistent mechanisms for citizens to provide feedback to the authorities and little indication that the Taliban wish to even hear any,” the UN envoy said.

National Resistance Front (NRF), the main anti-Taliban resistance force in Panjshir, has not reacted to the report so far.

The spokesperson of the Taliban police command in Panjshir has said that light and heavy weapons have been seized in the operation.

The National Resistance Front has been fighting against the Taliban mostly in the mountains and valleys of Panjshir province.