Recognise All of Forms of Anti-Taliban Resistance, Stress Vienna Meet Participants

The former Afghan army general stressed that the ISIS mastermind is Abdullah Omar Bajawari and added that “Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban are lying as usual”.

Sadat emphasised that closing the case of killing 173 Afghan citizens and 13 American soldiers is "disgraceful and disturbing" when the killer is still alive.

Earlier, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy for Afghanistan’s peace affairs, had said that the Taliban has carried out deadly attacks against ISIS and has killed many of the group’s leaders in Afghanistan.

US military officials on Tuesday informed the father of a slain American soldier that the Taliban killed a high-ranking ISIS figure who played a key role in a suicide attack on the US forces at Kabul Airport in August 2021.

The father of the American soldier said that the authorities did not provide information about the identity of the ISIS member or how he has been killed.

An American official quoted the Taliban as saying that the group was not aware of the fact the dead ISIS member was involved in the Kabul airport suicide attack.

The attack on the Kabul airport took place during the last days of the withdrawal of American soldiers from Afghanistan.

The Russian foreign minister, however, described the Taliban as the "reality" of Afghanistan and emphasised that engagement with the group is needed.

In response to a question by Afghanistan International, Lavrov said, "We will not recognise the Taliban until it fulfils its commitments. As the countries of the world have said, these commitments include the formation of an inclusive government.”

He added, "Inclusive government not only means the presence of all ethnic groups, but also political forces. Taliban says that Uzbeks and Hazaras are also present in their government. That is true, but they are members of the Taliban group. Political forces should also have a strong presence in their government."

The Taliban has rejected the formation of a government with the presence of other political groups and has called human rights an "internal issue" of Afghanistan.

During a press conference in Tehran, however, he stressed that these countries have contributed less than the promised amount.

Iranian media have reported that Griffiths met Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on Tuesday during his visit to Tehran.

The two officials discussed the humanitarian situation in the region, from helping Afghanistan to earthquake-stricken countries such as Turkey and Syria.

Griffiths discussed the extraordinary conditions prevailing in Afghanistan and the need for 16 million people to receive humanitarian aid in the country.

He also stressed that the Taliban must fulfill their obligations to guarantee the right to education, work, and activism of Afghan women and girls.

Omari has not clarified which countries he meant when he mentioned “foreign invaders”, however, the Taliban usually refers to the United States and other countries which had been present in Afghanistan as part of the coalition of NATO member states from 2001 to 2021 as “occupiers”, and “invaders”.

Earlier, the Washington Post, citing leaked US documents, said that Afghanistan has changed into a hub of terrorism and ISIS coordination.

In an audio message released by the group's Ministry of Interior on the occasion of Eid, Omari emphasised that the Taliban has been established to stabilise Afghanistan.

Omari emphasised that those who publish “fake reports about the presence of forces that destabilise Afghanistan,” can’t tolerate the stability and current situation of Afghanistan.

He said that the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan is "media propaganda", while in the past 20 months of the Taliban reign in Afghanistan, ISIS has taken responsibility for bloody attacks in Kabul and various provinces of the country.

On the other hand, Central Asian countries have repeatedly expressed their concerns about the presence of ISIS fighters in Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.

The ‘Bread and Red Flowers’ documentary will be screened at the special screening section of this film festival.

Bread and Red Flowers depicts the story of Afghan women's perseverance and suffering under the rule of the Taliban. The documentary tells the lives of three women.

After the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghan women have been excluded from social life, which has once again brought the issue of Afghan women to become a hot political and artistic topic in the world.

This is not the first time that Sahra Mani has depicted the lives of Afghan women through her work. In 2018, she produced another movie called "A Thousand Girls Like Me".

The film narrated the story of the sexual assault of a girl which happens within a family. Khatera, the main character of this film, is repeatedly sexually assaulted and impregnated by her father. However, she rises up against her father and takes him to court.