Over 37,000 Afghan Refugees Returned to Afghanistan from Iran in February, Says Taliban

Badloon stressed that the Taliban authorities have been negotiating to reopen the border for citizens and goods transit.

Earlier, Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, the director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that over the last five days, more than seven thousand trucks of goods have been stuck due to the closure of the Torkham crossing.

Sarhadi stressed that many of these lorries are loaded with food items that are likely to go bad.

In addition to trade with Afghanistan, Pakistan uses the Torkham crossing for exports to Central Asia.

Sources from Jalalabad city told Afghanistan International that up to 3,000 trucks most of which transport coal to Pakistan, have been stopped at the Torkham border.

Local Taliban officials in Torkham closed the crossing last Sunday, saying that Pakistani authorities did not fulfil their obligations.

The Taliban opened the crossing on Thursday, but it had remained closed by Pakistani authorities.

The council also stressed that it expects Tehran to support the operations of the embassy with the previous government’s structure and diplomats.

The National Resistance Council for Salvation of Afghanistan added, "Handing over of the Afghan embassy in Tehran to the representative of a group that reigns Afghanistan without any legitimacy is against diplomatic norms.”

The Council also asked other countries where Afghan political representatives are active to refrain from accepting Taliban representatives and respect the demands of the Afghan people.

Earlier, sources told Afghanistan International that Iran has decided to hand over the Afghan embassy in Tehran to the Taliban next Saturday.

According to the sources, 15 diplomats have decided not to work with the Taliban and the Islamic Republic has closed the embassy and prohibited these diplomats from entering the embassy’s premises.

Meanwhile, Zakir Jalali, a Taliban foreign ministry official has confirmed that the Afghan embassy in Tehran will be handed over to the group.

The Taliban’s director of prisons and the director of consular affairs of the Taliban's foreign ministry are also included in the delegation which has travelled to Tehran.

The Taliban had previously transferred groups of Afghan prisoners from Pakistani prisons to Afghanistan. There is no exact figure regarding the prisoners and their charges in Iran.

It is not known if these prisoners have been detained only for immigration issues. It is also not known what will these prisoners will face when they return to Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Currently, no independent human rights organisation can monitor the condition of Taliban prisons inside Afghanistan.

In the past few months, extensive reports of arbitrary arrests and brutal torture in Taliban prisons have been published in the Afghan media.

Addressing the Taliban, he said that they should know the difference between "right and wrong" and act accordingly.

This is not the first statement by the Taliban’s defense minister which indicates the differences among the group's senior leaders.

Recently, a number of senior Taliban officials have criticised the leadership of the Taliban.

Earlier, Yaqoob said that the Taliban leaders should avoid pride and arrogance and must listen to the legitimate will of the people.

Earlier, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister, had also criticised the "monopolisation of power" by the Taliban leadership and said that such a situation is not acceptable in Afghanistan.

In another part of his speech, with an implicit reference to the unmanned aircrafts spotted in the sky of Afghanistan, Mullah Yaqoob said that every one of the Taliban members sees it, but they can’t do anything to combat them.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson added that Moscow considers India a friend.

The meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 will be held on March 1 and 2, 2023, in New Delhi.

The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov will visit New Delhi for three days.

The Indian and Russian foreign ministers are due to discuss the way forward in improving the two countries’ relations and will discuss regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The Indian foreign minister had previously visited Moscow and discussed Afghanistan during a meeting with his Russian counterpart.

Russia and India cooperate on Afghanistan issues through the Moscow format. Recently, Moscow suggested the formation of Group 5 with the participation of Russia, India, Pakistan, China, and Iran to collaborate on Afghanistan issues.