UK Commits over 28 Million Dollars to Address Food Insecurity in Afghanistan

The Taliban Deputy Prime Minister also said that the group seeks to "further develop their relations" with Qatar.

Although Qatar does not recognise the Taliban's regime, the country enjoys close relations with the group and hosted the US-Taliban talks in Doha.

While international organisations call Afghanistan unstable, Abdul Kabir in his meeting with the Qatari official stressed that Afghanistan is safe. He called the return of several former Afghan officials to the country a sign of security in Afghanistan.

The organisation stated that orphan children and widows have been among the most vulnerable Afghan groups, who are often unable to eat even one meal a day.

According to ICRC, about 20 million people in Afghanistan lack access to nutritious food, and more than 24 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

ICRC stressed that the worsening crisis in Afghanistan has been driving millions of people into extreme poverty, with many being forced to eat scraps or pick waste to avoid starvation.

The sources added that the Taliban tried to prevent the press conference, but as the activists continued with their agenda, around 60 Taliban members from various agencies, including the group’s General Directorate of Intelligence, stormed the conference venue and detained the activists.

The sources said that the Taliban detained Zarifa Yaqoobi, and four of her male colleagues and transferred them to an unknown location.

According to the sources, the Taliban members also searched the cell phones of all participants and beat up those who declined to bow down to the group’s demands. According to them, the Taliban members even deleted photos and video documents from the event.

The conference was held at the "Mirzaee Center" located in district 13 of Kabul city. The journalists had been prevented from attending the conference too. The Taliban officials, however, have not reacted to the reports of detention of these activists.

However, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Special Representative for Afghanistan told TASS news agency, that the Taliban will not attend the Moscow format meeting.

The last Moscow Format consultative meeting on Afghanistan was held on October 20, 2021. United States had not sent a representative to the meeting. However, the Taliban delegation headed by Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister of the group, was present during the Moscow meeting held last year.

The formation of an inclusive government was the main agenda of last year’s Moscow meeting. In the meeting, Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban, had urged the international community to recognise the group’s government in Afghanistan.

Hanafi had promised that there would be no threat emanating from Afghanistan to regional and international security. But since then, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan have been among the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan that have been attacked by Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K) several times.

After the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Czech Republic temporarily shut down its embassy in Kabul.

According to Czech media, the consular services of the Czech Republic for the citizens of Afghanistan will be provided by the Czech embassy in Islamabad.

The Czech Republic first opened its embassy in Kabul in 2007.

The Taliban have not reacted to the news so far.