Taliban’s Foreign Minister Seeks Expansion of Relations with Moscow

According to him, during this period, some worn-out banknotes had been collected from the market and removed from circulation.

The Central Bank’s director of monetary policy added that the monetary inflation rate decreased from 15.3 percent to 3.5 percent.

Sadad stressed that the value of the Afghani currency against the US dollar has increased by 1.01 percent in the past year.

He claimed that the Afghani currency has better stability compared to the currencies of other countries in the region.

According to Kabulov, Group 5 will include Russia, China, Iran, India, and Pakistan. However, Kabulov told TASS news agency, "Pakistan objects to India's inclusion at this stage", and no progress has been made so far.

The Russian special envoy stressed that "Group 5" can create the opportunity to reach a regional consensus on Afghanistan issues.

Kabulov said, "We believe that Group 5 can be an engine not only to reach a regional consensus, but also to implement the goals of this consensus and address them to the current rulers of Afghanistan."

Bennett said that the Taliban’s decision is against the UN Charter and will seriously impact essential services for Afghans.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan added that women staffers are essential for the UN’s work in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban to reverse their decision immediately.

On Tuesday, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan expressed concerns about the ban on the work of women staff of the UN in Nangarhar province.

The UN delegation in Afghanistan warned the Taliban officials that UN offices cannot function without female employees.

Previously, the Taliban had banned women from working in non-governmental organisations.

Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has condemned the Taliban's ban.

The former US special envoy called the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan female staffers from working in the United Nations offices in Afghanistan wrong. He stressed that the decision will likely increase the suffering of the people in Afghanistan and will lead to reduced international assistance.

Khalilzad emphasised that the recent Taliban decision will complicate international dealings with the group and will be detrimental to the interests of Afghanistan.

The former special envoy of the US for Afghanistan added, “Afghan women have inalienable rights to education and work. These rights are recognised in Islam and international conventions.”

Sources confirmed to Afghanistan International on Tuesday that the Taliban had verbally told UN offices that local female staff would no longer work with the organisation. Following this order, the Taliban forces prevented female employees from entering the United Nations offices in Nangarhar province.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed its deep concerns and warned the Taliban officials that the United Nations cannot continue its work without female employees.

Taliban representatives repeatedly promised in the Doha negotiations that they would respect the right to work and education for women and girls. However, the group now excludes women and girls from schools, universities, and working in private and public sectors of the country.

Noor claimed that the Taliban has been killing people mysteriously under the garb of destroying ISIS hideouts.

The former governor of Balkh called the Taliban’s actions as "barbaric" and asked the international community, especially the United Nations, not to let the people become victims of the group's policies.

Noor’s statement about the Taliban’s killing comes a day after Mohammad Asif Waziri, the spokesperson of Taliban police in Balkh province, claimed on Monday that the Taliban forces had killed six ISIS members during a military operation in Nahar-e-Shahi district.

The Taliban has not released more details about the attack or the details of the dead men.

Mersad, a media outlet leaning towards the Taliban, reported that this operation was carried out in Street 13 of the Engineer Mehdi area.