Afghan Scholar Released After 3 Weeks in Taliban Custody in Kabul

Despite bringing the fire in the Salang pass under control, the Taliban officials said that the highway remains closed to traffic.

Taliban spokesperson for the ministry of public health, Sharaft Zaman Amarkhail added that the medical teams of the group are present at the scene of the incident.

On Saturday, a fuel tanker was engulfed in flames and the fire continued until Sunday. As per the Taliban officials, another fire occurred when a damaged vehicle inside the tunnel exploded due to the first fire.

Some sources said that the second fire had casualties, but the exact number has not been announced.

The two recent border skirmishes have left at least 10 dead and 45 wounded.

Earlier, Pakistani media had reported that a delegation of four Pakistani religious scholars will visit Kabul and Kandahar to discuss the recent border skirmish with senior Taliban officials, including Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, the group's defense minister.

Islamabad had announced that at least nine Pakistani civilians had been killed and 45 have been injured in two separate border incidents at the Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing, last week.

The Taliban had also announced that a member of this group had been killed, and a number of civilians had been injured in the border clashes.

Taliban and Pakistani forces engaged in gunfight on December 11 and 15 in Spin Boldak border areas.

Officials from the ministry of public works of the Taliban urged people to avoid traveling through the northern route until further notice.

During the last two days, there have been two fires and explosions at the Salang tunnel, which connects northern Afghanistan to the capital Kabul.

The exact number of victims of these explosions is not available. However, the Taliban told the media on Sunday that at least 19 people have been killed and 32 others have been injured in the first explosion.

The number of casualties from the second explosion is not clear yet.

According to the local people, "The Taliban want to seize six thousand acres of land of the indigenous people.”

Local sources said that this land mainly belongs to the members of Uzbek and Tajik communities in the province.

In the photos obtained by Afghanistan International, people of Sar-e-Pol villages are seen marching with shovels on their shoulders and chanting slogans against "ethnic oppression".

The Taliban have not yet reacted to these protests.

After the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 15, 2021, reports of forced migration of local people have emerged from various provinces of Afghanistan.

Karzai recently left Kabul for Dubai and then traveled to Germany.

As per the photo from the meeting with Manawi, other political figures including former chief of staff of president, Karim Khoram, had been present.

Manawi, who is considered to be close to Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front, recently delivered documents to the International Criminal Court that include the crimes of the Taliban.