UN Special Representative to Kabul Discusses Women’s Rights with Afghan Women

Salahuddin Ayubi, a powerful Uzbek commander of the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, had left Kabul for his hometown in Faryab province in recent weeks due to reports of dissatisfaction with the Taliban’s policies.

Last week, sources in Faryab said that a delegation of the Taliban had met Ayubi in Maimana city, but an agreement had not been reached between the two sides.

It has been reported that Ayubi has been dissatisfied with the Taliban due to the neglect of Uzbeks' participation in the group’s governance structures.

Many believe that Ayubi has played a prominent role in the war against the former Afghan government and the fall of the northern provinces in the past years, but has been ignored by the Taliban leadership after the group took control of power in Afghanistan.

Bennett’s visit to Panjshir comes at a time when the residents of Paryan district of the province protested against the Taliban.

Last month, following the Taliban’s killing of the members of the National Resistance Front (NRF) forces in cold blood in Panjshir, Bennett had asked the Taliban to investigate the killings. However, his stance had been met with criticisms by the NRF officials.

A spokesperson of the NRF had said that the Taliban have been "the main perpetrators of the war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

Meanwhile, earlier Mohammad Alam Izadyar, the former deputy of the Afghan Upper House of Parliament, had quoted Bennett as saying that he was keen to visit Panjshir to document and report human rights violations by the Taliban, but the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) official had barred him due to security concerns.

The Minister of Interior of Tajikistan addressed the two-day conference on regional security cooperation and border management. He emphasised that Afghanistan's problems should be the focus of all stakeholders.

The International and Regional Border Security and Management Cooperation to Counter Terrorism and Prevent the Movement of Terrorists conference, kicked off on 18 October in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The conference has been held in cooperation with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Tajikistan, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

On the first day of the conference, Emomali Rahmon, the Tajikistan president had said that to curb security risks, it is necessary to build a security belt around Afghanistan. Rahmon had stressed that terrorists try to cross the Central Asian borders.

Taliban have not reacted to these statements of Tajik officials. However, the group has launched a campaign on Twitter in the past days to promote their suicide attacks in the past twenty years in Afghanistan.

Sources added that the Taliban have tried to prevent the spread of the demonstrations to other areas.

The former soldier who has been detained by the Taliban had returned to a civilian job after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

Sources told Afghanistan International that on Monday the Taliban detained two brothers of this former soldier, tortured them, and then released them. The group, however, raided the former soldier’s home and detained him on Tuesday.

According to sources, on Wednesday morning, the Taliban delivered the former soldier back to his family, but with broken arms, because of severe torture.

The Taliban members attempted to enter the former soldier’s home when they were met with protests from the family members and other villagers.

The sources confirmed that the Taliban officials have also arrested two other residents of Paryan district.

According to sources, protesters in Paryan shouted anti-Taliban slogans. Many of the protesters were women residents of Paryan district.

The Taliban have told residents of Paryan that a delegation of Taliban officials will meet with the protesters in Paryan district.

The protests in Paryan take place at a time when, according to sources, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan is on a visit to Panjshir province. Sources said that Bennett will meet with Taliban officials during his trip to Panjshir.

Iranian foreign minister, however, didn’t elaborate on the details of the proposed meeting.

Abdollahian referred to the presence of more than four million Afghan refugees in Iran and said that Iran supports "peace and stability in Afghanistan so that the refugees are able to return to their country".

Abdollahian emphasised that Tehran uses "all its capacities to establish peace and tranquility in Afghanistan".

Recalling last year's meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries in Tehran, he urged for the implementation of the resolutions of the meeting to overcome the security threats to Afghanistan and the region.

Pakistan's representative in Afghanistan affairs, also said in a meeting, that "current developments in Afghanistan have impacted living standards of Afghans and has increased instability inside and outside the country".

Sadiq Khan emphasised on the importance of the constructive role of regional countries regarding Afghanistan affairs.