Unknown Armed Men Kill Doctor in Northern Afghanistan

Quraishi Badloon, the press officer of the Taliban in Nangarhar, on Friday confirmed that the Taliban and Islamabad had agreed that the two sides will only let their citizens enter their countries through the Torkham crossing.

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.

He added that these numbers include Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan voluntarily and those who have been forcibly sent back.

Earlier, Mohammad Sediqifar, the Consul General of Iran in Herat province, had said that six million Afghan refugees have been living in Iran.

According to Sediqifar, Iran has facilitated education for around one million Afghans in schools and 40,000 Afghans in higher education. He also stressed that thousands of Afghans have jobs in Iran and these are part of Iran’s support for Afghanistan.

However, published reports indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran has forcibly deported a large number of Afghan citizens in the past year.

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.