Over 3000 Afghans Return from Pakistan To Afghanistan In Last 3 Months, Says Taliban

Before their new appointments, Mohammad Ayub Khalid had been the governor of Kunar and Abu Hamza was the Taliban’s governor of Zabul.

According to the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, Mawlawi Abdul Jamil, the former judge in Badakhshan, has been appointed as the deputy governor of the province.

Mawlawi Afghan was the former deputy commander of the Taliban's 217 Omari Corps, who has taken over as the group’s governor of Zabul province.

According to Bakhtar News Agency, Mawlawi Amanuddin Mansour, the former governor of the group in Badakhshan, has been appointed as the new commander of the 217 Omari Corps, and Mullah Agha Mohammad Ibrahim, the former commander of the Taliban’s army corps, has been demoted and appointed as deputy commander of the 217 Omari Corps.

Vahidi said that the purpose of this committee is to verify the Taliban's claims about water scarcity and determine rights of Iran.

Earlier, the Taliban had said that there is not enough water in the Kajaki Dam in Afghanistan.

Vahidi added that with the formation of this committee, it will be clear if the Taliban or Iranian experts’ claims are right.

Vahidi said that the joint committee must visit the dams and assess the water level.

At the same time, Iran's interior minister has quoted the country's special envoy for Afghanistan as saying that the Taliban have agreed to the idea of forming a joint committee by the two sides.

The water rights issue between Iran and Afghanistan has escalated over the past few months.

Earlier, Feda Hossein Maliki, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament said that the water rights issue has become a military priority of the Islamic Republic.

Maliki emphasised that "no group" in Afghanistan can deprive Iran of its water rights from the Helmand River.

Maliki said that the Islamic Republic has no issue with the people of Afghanistan, but Tehran will not allow a group in the country to deprive Iran of its water rights.

On Friday, he also said that the Taliban will finally be forced to provide the water rights of Iran.

The Taliban officials have always emphasised that there is not enough water in the Helmand River.

The World Drug Report 2023 also stated in the report that the bulk of global illicit opium production continues to take place in Afghanistan, wherein in 2022, production reached 6,200 tonnes, equivalent to 80% of the estimated global production.

It also stated that there was less opium being produced in Afghanistan (10 per cent less) as compared to last year due to droughts in early 2022.

The report emphasised that the 2023 opium harvest in Afghanistan may see a drastic drop following the 2022 national drug ban, with possible global consequences. Early reports even suggest reductions in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

The report highlighted that the recent drug ban by the Taliban may be changing the drug supply in that country. “Continued reports and seizure events involving methamphetamine originating in Afghanistan suggest that the drug economy in that country is no longer exclusively dominated by illicit cultivation and trafficking of opiates,” the report stressed.

It also stated that the increase in the use and manufacture of methamphetamine in Afghanistan is of growing concern in South-West Asia and the Gulf, where trafficking in the substance is expanding beyond this region.

Alternative cultivation for farmers in Afghanistan and other countries is a vital factor in reducing poppy cultivation, according to the report and UNODC has called the lack of alternative cultivation options as detrimental for many farmers.

The UN has called on donor countries to immediately support rural Afghans so they can earn a living without cultivation of drugs.

The Taliban banned the cultivation and sale of narcotics in Afghanistan recently.

Sharafati said that these immigrants have returned “of their own will” to Afghanistan.

According to the Iranian official, about five million Afghan immigrants live in Iran.

Shrafati added that some migrants were also gathered by the relevant authorities from Tehran and other parts of Iran and transferred to the Mashhad camp.

According to Iranian reports, of the five million Afghan immigrants, about one million live in Khorasan Razavi province and Mashhad city.

Shrafati said that these people returned to Afghanistan through the Dogharoon border crossing after going through legal procedures.

The deportation of Afghan citizens has accelerated in recent days in Iran. Earlier, it had been reported by Iranian media outlets that more than 13,000 Afghan migrants were handed over to Taliban border guards in Iran in the past three weeks.

In the last two years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, many people have migrated to neighbouring countries including Pakistan and Iran.

At the same time, the International Organisation for Migration recently wrote in a report that in the last two years, about 3.6 million Afghans have migrated abroad.

During a visit to Kyrgyzstan, Steinmeier said that the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban is unacceptable and women and girls are being systematically oppressed.

In a joint press conference with Sadyr Japarov, the Kyrgyz president on Thursday, he also expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

Kyrgyzstan, like other countries, does not recognise the Taliban, but over the last two years, the representatives of Bishkek have visited Afghanistan and engaged with Taliban officials.