Economic Situation of Afghanistan Promotes Drug Cultivation, Says Senior Russian Official

The British foreign office stressed that travel across Afghanistan is extremely dangerous.

According to FCDO, there is currently no British consular service in Afghanistan and the ability to provide consular assistance is severely limited.

The UK foreign office has also warned that there is a heightened risk of detention of British nationals in Afghanistan. According to the statement of the FCDO, the British Government may not be notified about such detentions; communications with next of kin may not be guaranteed; and detention may be lengthy.

In March 2023, the Daily Mail had reported that the Taliban had detained three British citizens.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, this is the second time that the UK has asked its citizens not to travel to Afghanistan.

The British Foreign office had warned British citizens last year to refrain from traveling to Afghanistan due to high security threats.

Mawlawi Sayed Abdul Jabir Takhari, Taliban’s General Consul in Karachi, said that currently, 282 Afghans remain in prisons in the Sindh province.

In a video message, the Taliban official announced that 2,380 Afghans have been released from Pakistani prisons.

Takhari asked Sindh province officials to stop the arrest of Afghans who are visiting the country for medical purposes and release Afghan citizens from the province’s prisons.

In recent days, the Pakistani police has increased pressures on Afghans and have detained many of them in various locations inside the country.

In a joint statement on Thursday, the leaders of the United States and India said that the territory of Afghanistan should never be used to threaten or attack any country, shelter or train terrorists, or plan or finance terrorist attacks.

The President of the United States and the Prime Minister of India committed to continue close consultations on the situation in Afghanistan. They also discussed the necessity of continuing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister of India is on a visit to the United States and has met with a number of officials of this country, including the US President Joe Biden.

The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Afghanistan has not yet released a statement about Thursday's meeting with the Taliban's interior and foreign ministers.

However, according to the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, during his meeting with Haqqani, Sinirlioglu emphasised on "the fundamental rights of the Afghan people" and told the Taliban official that "they must take concerns of the United Nations seriously”.

Meanwhile, Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, had addressed the Security Council and in an unprecedented manner criticised the Taliban government on Wednesday, describing it as "unpopular", ethnocentric”, and patriarchal.

She stressed that the Taliban will not be recognised without respecting the rights of Afghan women.

However, during the meeting with the UN Special Coordinator, the Taliban's interior minister spoke about the achievements of the Taliban in the fight against ISIS and drugs. Haqqani has called the concerns of neighbouring countries of Afghanistan about ISIS threats as an "exaggeration" and "propaganda in favour of ISIS".

Despite the Taliban's emphasis on suppressing ISIS in Afghanistan, the country’s neighbours, who enjoy good ties with the Taliban, are not convinced by these statements of the Taliban and have warned about the danger of ISIS and the spread of instability to neighbouring countries and the region.

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations on Wednesday, expressed concerns about the presence of ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and the expansion of drug production in Afghanistan.

Iravani had addressed the UN Security Council and said that the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and the region feel threatened by the terror and drug issues.

The Taliban’s foreign minister, however, spoke about the group’s expectations from the UN Special Coordinator’s report and asked him to consider the "sensitivities and realities" of Afghanistan in his report on the situation in the country.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, claimed that the group has "ensured women's rights within the framework of Islam" despite the criticism of the UN member states about the ban on women’s right to work and education during Wednesday’s Security Council meeting.

Muttaqi has called the international sanctions against the Taliban "collective punishments and orders of foreigners". Referring to what he called the "achievements of the Taliban without external support", the group’s foreign minister told the UN Special Coordinator that the countries of the world should fulfil their "responsibilities" towards Afghanistan.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, said, “Pakistan will not negotiate with individuals who are responsible for the killing of Pakistani civilians and law enforcement officials.”

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, in an interview with TOLOnews, had said that the Taliban will mediate between the TTP and Pakistan, if Islamabad asks them.

Mujahid stressed that mediation between the two is in the interest of the region.

Baloch also stressed on the recent statements of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the foreign minister of this country, regarding negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

In an interview with the Washington Post in January, Zardari had said that Pakistan's leadership will not negotiate with terrorist organisations that do not respect the constitution and other laws of the country.

In April, the spokesperson of the Pakistan Army criticised the country’s previous government's initiative to talk with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Earlier, reliable sources told Afghanistan International that a new round of talks between Pakistan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) had begun with the mediation of Waziristan tribal elders.

Sources told Afghanistan International that over the past few weeks, a delegation of Waziristan tribal elders travelled to Afghanistan and met with Noor Wali Mehsud, the TTP leader.