The Taliban’s Ministry of Aviation announced on Wednesday that Ariana Airlines has resumed direct flights to Urumqi, China. Jailani Wafa, the deputy minister of aviation of the Taliban, said that the direct flights will lead to growth in trade between the two countries.
According to the Taliban, Ariana Airlines will have one weekly flight from Kabul to Urumqi.
Last year, the foreign ministers of the Taliban and China discussed the resumption of direct flights between the two countries.
Among the countries in the region, China has shown more willingness to invest in Afghanistan's mines, and the Taliban, which is isolated globally, has shown more interest in China's role in Afghanistan's economic development.
Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of Iran, rejected the statements of high-ranking Taliban officials about the lack of water in Afghan dams. Vahidi referred to Iranian experts and said that there is water in Helmand River.
He asked the Taliban to react responsibly to the "friendship messages of Iran”.
Earlier, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, asked the Islamic Republic not to politicise the water rights issue from the Helmand River and stressed that there is no water in the Kamal Khan dam.
Vahidi's statements about the water rights issue indicate that the high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic do not believe in the Taliban officials’ statements. On Tuesday, Iran's Interior Minister said, "If the other side claims that Hirmand [Helmand River] does not have water, our experts should be sent to the place and investigate. If there is no water, we will not have any dispute."
The Iranian officials’ demand to dispatch an expert team to assess the Taliban’s claims of lack of water in the Kamal Khan dam has not been accepted by the Taliban. The Taliban officials have said that they are ready to address the water rights issue through face-to-face talks between Iran and Taliban officials.
Family of detained Afghan poet and writer Zabih Ayar said that the Taliban has not provided them any information about his whereabouts even a month after his detention by the group. Taliban arrested Ayar on April 21 from district six of Ghazni city.
According to Ayar’s family, the Taliban have transferred him to an unknown location.
Mohammad Nasim, the poet's uncle, said that their efforts to contact the Taliban’s security and intelligence agencies haven’t produced any results in finding the whereabouts and the fate of Ayar.
He emphasised that Zabih Ayar is not a criminal and the Taliban are obliged to provide information about his arrest.
Meanwhile, Ahmad, the poet's brother, said that soon after the arrest of Ayar, the Taliban intelligence agency admitted that the poet had been arrested by the group, but they have denied detaining him now.
Ayar's family added that after his detention, the Taliban arrested some of his friends too.
The Taliban has not officially said anything about the arrest of this poet.
In the past twenty months, the Taliban has arrested several Afghan university professors, activists and writers.
Ebrahim Raisi, the President of Iran, said that Afghan women and girls can bring pride to Afghanistan and the Islamic Ummah. During a visit to Indonesia, Raisi emphasised on the education of women in Afghanistan.
The Iranian president, who was addressing a joint press briefing with his Indonesian counterpart too, referred to the "success of Iranian women" and spoke about the common views of these two countries on international and regional issues, including Palestine and the situation in Afghanistan.
During the presser, Raisi also emphasised on the importance of the formation of an inclusive government with the presence of all ethnic groups, and the facilitation of educational opportunities, and social activities for women in Afghanistan.
Raisi also spoke about 35,000 children with disabilities in Afghanistan and said that "two decades of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan has brought nothing, but destruction and killing”.
He emphasised that Iran and Indonesia have decided to seriously fight against "unilateralism" in issues related to the countries of the region and the world.
The Iranian president is on a three-day visit to Jakarta which started on Monday at the official invitation of the Indonesian President. The purpose of this trip is to expand the economic, political, and cultural relations between the two countries.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced that the front’s members attacked a Taliban outpost in district one of Taloqan city in Takhar province on Monday evening. According to AFF, one Taliban member has been killed, and three others have been injured in the attack.
So far, no other source has independently confirmed the attack. In previous cases, the Taliban has not reacted to AFF or National Resistance Front’s attacks.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front, an anti-Taliban armed group, announced the front’s "spring operation" against the Taliban on April 14. During this time, the group has reported several attacks in Kabul and other provinces.
AFF confirmed in April that several of its key members, including prominent commander Akmal Amir, had been killed in a battle with the Taliban in the Salang district of Parwan province.
Ali Salajegheh, head of Iran’s Department of Environment (DoE), announced that Iranian officials and Taliban members have discussed water rights from the Helmand River. Salajegheh said on Monday that they hope that diplomacy leads to receiving the water rights of Iran.
According to Iran’s Student News Agency (ISNA), the head of Iran’s Department of Environment stressed on the meeting with the Taliban and water rights issue and said that Iran’s president has personally intervened to address the issue.
However, Salajegheh did not provide more details about the meeting between the officials of the Taliban and the Islamic Republic.
In the past week, tensions between the Taliban and the Islamic Republic of Iran over water rights from the Helmand River have escalated.
Earlier, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi asked Iranian officials to address the water rights issue through understanding and face-to-face talks instead of “making noise in the press”.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have said that they are committed to the water rights of Iran from Helmand River according to the 1973 water rights treaty between Iran and Afghanistan, but said that drought in Afghanistan is the main reason behind water shortage issues.
However, the Iranian authorities believe that the Taliban has been lying to them and have demanded a visit of Iran’s technical teams to assess the Taliban’s claims regarding drought and the lack of water in dams in Afghanistan.
