Afghan Businesswomen Face More Challenges Than Opportunities, Says US Chargé d'Affaires

According to the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, the Taliban’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum added that a new team will be sent to Helmand to work on the exploration of mining sites.

Delawar considers Helmand a mineral-rich province and said that effective measures should be in place for extraction of the province’s mining sites.

Delawar had earlier said that the Taliban government will start the extraction of 150 new mining sites across Afghanistan.

He stressed that Russia has been very closely monitoring the situation in Afghanistan.

Without naming any country or organisation, the Russian diplomat said that terrorists receive financial support from outside Afghanistan.

However, he accused the United States and its allies of having a hand in de-stabilising Afghanistan and the country’s border regions.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister added that the weapons and ammunition left by the NATO military forces in Afghanistan have been used by terrorist groups.

Syromolotov added that since Afghanistan is a potential source of terrorist activities, Russia will remain in contact with the Taliban.

The Russian diplomat emphasised that the Taliban should fulfill their commitments to forming an inclusive government, fighting terrorism, countering narcotics, and respecting human rights in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defense of the Taliban also confirmed the attack on the employees of the 207th Al-Farooq Corps in Herat.

The ministry added that five people had been killed and several others were injured because of an attack by unknown armed men on a vehicle that was ferrying medical personnel of the Taliban.

In the past months, the Taliban’s Al-Farooq corps members have been regular targets of armed attack.

Bennett urged the world to take immediate action against the Taliban to stop the suppression of the Afghans.

Bennett presented a report of his 12-day visit to Afghanistan, including to Panjshir and Bamiyan provinces, to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

He spoke about his meetings with eyewitnesses in Panjshir and added that he has seen massive evidence of human rights violations in the province.

Bennett added, "The clashes between the Taliban and its opposing forces are going on in Panjshir and other northern provinces. There are credible reports of killings of prisoners of war in cold blood, which indicate serious violations of international and human rights laws.”

He added that according to the reports and statements of eyewitnesses, people have been severely oppressed by the Taliban.

Responding to reports of the severe human rights situation in Afghanistan, the Taliban's foreign ministry said on Wednesday, that these reports have been based on "rumours".

Bennett in a press conference in New York also said that due to the world's excessive attention to the Ukraine issue, Afghanistan has been forgotten. He criticised the lack of news coverage of the terrorist attack at the Kaaj educational center in the international media.

Bennett described the current situation of women and girls in Afghanistan as worse than the first period of Taliban rule in the 1990s.

The UN Special Rapporteur added that Hazaras and other minority communities have a history of prosecution. He pointed to the attack at the Kaaj educational center in western Kabul, where the victims had been killed because of their ethnicity and sect.

Bennett added, "The Kaaj attack has several interconnected aspects. It means, it has been an attack on an ethnic group, a religious minority, an attack on education and an attack on young girls.”

The Taliban haven’t reacted to the Afghanistan Freedom Front’s statement.

The Front has called on the Taliban to stop detentions, torture, and imprisonment of former Afghan security forces and has warned the Taliban that if the group continues to oppress former Afghan security forces, more members of the Taliban will be killed in targeted killings.

According to human rights organisations, despite the general amnesty given by the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have continuously arrested and killed former Afghan security forces.