The family of Fardin Fidai confirmed that the Taliban have arrested the civil activist from Kabul on Thursday. The family stressed that Fidai left home four days ago for personal chores and had not returned till now.
The General Directorate of Intelligence of the Taliban told Fidai's family that they had arrested the civil activist.
Fidai's family added that the Taliban had not informed them about his whereabouts, but on Monday, Fidai's vehicle had been spotted at the Directorate of the Taliban intelligence agency in Kabul.
This is the second time that the Taliban has arrested this civil society member. Fidai had been arrested in February 2022 too, and had spent three days inside the Taliban prison.
European Union's special envoy Tomas Niklasson has called on the Taliban to carefully think about the consequences of their regressive policies on the people of Afghanistan.
In an interview with an Indian media outlet, WION, the EU special envoy for Afghanistan said that the situation in the country will only get worse.
“We have seen systematic violations of human rights under the de facto government, under the Taliban issuing various decrees, restricting the freedom of movement, and the rights of girls and women. Clamping down on journalists, and ethnic, and religious minorities being under threat. There is no constitution in place, the economy has declined rapidly since the Taliban took over and the security situation is deeply concerning both inside the country, with growing threats from organisations such as ISIS K,” Niklasson said.
Niklasson in the interview in Delhi said, "Afghanistan already harbours quite a number of Jihadis or militant organisations and neighbours are gravely concerned by the security situation.”
He also stressed that with the winter in Afghanistan at least 28 million people are relying on humanitarian aid, but the Taliban decided to ban women from working for NGOs, which in turn restricts full access to suffering Afghans.
On India, Niklasson said that the country has been providing beneficial aid to the Afghans, but is still contemplating on how to engage with the country further.
While emphasising that engagement with the Taliban is necessary for some, Niklasson said that they need to maintain contact with the people of Afghanistan, convey messages, understand the ground situation and facilitate the delivery of assistance.
Niklasson reiterated that the EU continues to stand with the Afghans as it has committed more than Euro 400 million of assistance to Afghanistan which is far more than most regional countries have contributed. He said that currently, they have to focus on what they can do to provide assistance and support to 40 million Afghans who desperately need support, at a time when the Taliban are bringing in radical decrees.
On suppression of women in the country, the EU special envoy stated that the change has to come from inside Afghanistan and they can only remind the Taliban of their obligations under international law.
On Pakistan, Nicklasson stated that Pakistan is deeply concerned by the security threat coming from Afghanistan while on Russia, he stated that it has not played a very constructive role apart from organising a number of regional format meetings.
Authorities in Iran's Razavi Khorasan announced the seizure of 18 kilograms of drugs on the border with Afghanistan. Mohammad Reza Dabiri, Director General of Police of the province, said that the drugs had been discovered on Friday at the Khaf country with Afghanistan.
Khaf county of Razavi Khorasan province shares 91 kilometers of joint border with Afghanistan.
Iranian media have also published pictures of the seized drugs.
The Taliban banned the cultivation and sale of poppy in Afghanistan this year, but no alternative has been announced by the group.
However, there have been reports that poppy cultivation continues in Afghanistan and is being smuggled to neighbouring countries.
Hugo Shorter announced on Saturday that his mission as head of the UK mission to Afghanistan has come to an end. Shorter had been in charge of the British Embassy for Afghanistan since January 2022.
The UK foreign office has not yet introduced the replacement of Shorter as the new head of mission for Afghanistan.
Shorter said that the UK mission’s priority under him has been life-saving support to around 28 million Afghans in need. He also said that his country has sent more than $600 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan since April 2021.
At the end of his term, Shorter also explained the policies of the British government towards Afghanistan. According to him, from London's perspective, after 40 years of conflict further violence is in no-one’s interest.
He stressed that instability and civil strife would lead to a deeper humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and there is a potential of Islamic State-Khurasan’s resurgence in the country.
The former British head of mission for Afghanistan has said that he has interacted with the Taliban and the Afghan society over the past year. Shorter acknowledged that some will not agree to the interaction with the Taliban, but he emphasised that "without dialogue, you cannot progress after years of conflict." According to him, "more isolation will not help the Afghan people”.
Shorter emphasised on the importance of girls' education in Afghanistan and said, "We must learn from the past. This means keeping dialogue open while remaining resolute on our principles."
Twitter Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk retweeted paragraphs of an article and said that Taliban are “making a day in the life videos” on the microblogging platform. Telegraph newspaper published an article on Monday and said that the Taliban have become dependent on Twitter.
The British daily added that the Taliban, who have left their villages and entered Kabul, are tired of the traffic, are afraid of street crimes, and spend their time on Twitter, in the capital city.
In reply to Musk's tweet, Mohammad Jalal, a member of the Taliban, wrote that Afghanistan has lithium reserves estimated at one trillion dollars.
He added that lithium in Afghanistan is a vital part of high-capacity batteries for electric devices and urged Musk to invest in Afghanistan.
However, Habib Khan, an Afghan reporter and one of the well-known Afghan civil activists, replied to Musk and said that the Taliban glorify suicide bombings and promote terrorism on the microblogging platform.
This journalist asked Musk to do Afghanistan a favour and stop the Taliban's access to Twitter.
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has reflected on the activities of the Taliban on the social platform, as over the past months a social media campaign has been launched against the activities of the group on Twitter.
Social media activists have launched #BanTaliban campaign on the microblogging site and urged Musk to stop Taliban’s activities on Twitter.
However, contrary to expectations, Musk has not taken serious measures to ban the Taliban’s access to the platform. At the same time, several Taliban members have bought blue ticks on Twitter.
During the two decades of war with the international forces and the former Afghan government, the Taliban have used social media as a tool to spread their thoughts, news, and activities.
In many cases, the Taliban were faster than Afghan government’s spokespersons in spreading news and happenings around Afghanistan.
Dmitry Zhirnov, the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan, said that it is not easy to work in Kabul, because the situation is similar to that at the frontlines. He said that the diplomats should take care of their safety, use armoured vehicles, helmets, and body armour.
“The diplomats live behind security walls with barbed wire,” Zhirnov explained.
In an interview with Russian media outlets, Zhirnov added, "Diplomats should basically work like facing frontline conditions."
At the same time, the Russian diplomat stressed that Moscow wants to save Afghanistan from instability. He said, "Contact has now been made with the new authorities."
The statements from the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan comes close on the heels of the attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul in late 2022 in which two senior Russian diplomats had been killed. ISIS had claimed responsibility for this attack.