Iran Executes Two Afghan Citizens Accused of Attacking Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz

Mccaul added that US President Joe Biden is attempting to whitewash the Taliban’s and Al-Qaeda’s longstanding ties.

His comments come in the wake of Biden’s remark stating that Al-Qaeda is no longer operating in Afghanistan and that the Taliban had become the US’ national security partner in the region.

Mccaul wrote on his Facebook page, “Al Zawahiri, the leader of al Qaeda, was discovered living comfortably in Kabul in a home owned by a senior Taliban official, and when the US neutralised the Al-Qaeda leader, the Taliban disavowed the strike.”

He stressed that even though the UN and top US generals regularly report Al-Qaeda’s growing capabilities in Afghanistan, the Taliban has been aiding the terror group by sending across funds and providing it a safe haven in Afghanistan.

At the end of a White House press briefing last week, Biden had said, "Remember what I used to say about Afghanistan? I told Al-Qaeda would not be there. I told them to get help from the Taliban. What happened now? Read the press. I was right."

The Taliban had welcomed Biden's comments.

On Friday, Saleh on Twitter said that these helicopters are now parked in the western part of the Kabul Airport.

Saleh wrote on his Twitter account that these helicopters with code numbers 163 and 165 had been used by the CIA during the previous government.

According to Saleh, before giving it to the Taliban, the CIA had transferred the two helicopters to the United Arab Emirates for maintenance purposes.

Saleh, who lives in exile, stressed that the US gifted these helicopters to the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence as part of the "secret annexes" of the Doha Agreement.

He called the Doha agreement between the US and the Taliban a "deal and conspiracy" and said that the deal meant "recruiting the Taliban" and extremist groups as a geopolitical tool.

The Taliban have not yet commented on these statements of the former Vice President of Afghanistan.

In a separate incident, two other former members of the Afghan national army and police were killed in Mazar-e-Sharif city on Thursday.

According to the sources, Laal Mohammad had been murdered in front of his house in police district 9 of the city on Thursday evening.

One of his relatives told Afghanistan International that recently, he had returned from Iran with the mediation of a local influential figure in Balkh, after believing in the general amnesty offered by the Taliban.

In another incident, Mirwais, one of the former security forces members, and Mohammad Hazara, a former police officer in the previous government, had been murdered in Police District 6 of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday afternoon. According to the sources, Mirwais’ father was also one of the former local commanders in the previous government too.

The reports of killing former members of the Afghan security forces surface on a daily basis, while the United Nations in a recent report had said that the Taliban continues to kill former government employees in Afghanistan.

Human rights groups have repeatedly announced that the Taliban are trying to arrest, torture, and eliminate former security forces of Afghanistan.

The clock displayed the number of days, hours and minutes since he has been held by the Taliban (January 7) and will remain in place till he is released.

Paris-Centre mayor Ariel Weil, deputy Paris mayor Jean-Luc Romero-Michel, Behboudi’s wife Aleksandra Mostovaja and RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire all spoke at the event, stressing on the need to step up the campaign for Behboudi’s release.

Christophe Deloire, RSF secretary-general, said that every minute that this reporter spends in a prison cell is one too many. “Our campaign, reinforced by an active support committee, is being heard by the Taliban authorities,” Deloire added.

He was arrested by the Taliban in Kabul just 48 hours after arriving there on a reporting visit. Earlier, Reporters Without Borders, along with representatives of 15 French media outlets for whom Morteza worked, had signed a joint petition for the journalist's release.

Afghanistan is ranked 156th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

On Thursday, Russian media reported that according to Peskov, during the preparations for the next SCO summit, the Taliban’s request for taking part in the summit will be assessed.

He stressed that such decisions require the consensus of all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Earlier, the Taliban had asked the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to facilitate the participation of the group in the upcoming SCO meeting which is scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan.

The group has also criticised the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for not inviting their representatives to participate in the SCO heads of state virtual summit.

In a statement, the Taliban’s foreign ministry said that Afghanistan is an observer member of SCO and the absence of the group in the SCO virtual meeting "impedes coordination" with the organisation.

The Taliban's foreign ministry also called the absence of Afghanistan’s representatives during such meetings as an obstacle to comprehensive coordination to prevent instability and drug trafficking, support humanitarian assistance, implementation of infrastructural projects, and facilitate regional economic initiatives.

The 23rd meeting of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has been held virtually by India. Among others, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and the President of China, Xi Jinping, have participated in the SCO meeting.

However, at the SCO summit on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the organisation remains focused on Afghanistan, as the situation in the country continues to be tense.

Meanwhile, Bakhtiyar Hakimov, Russia’s Representative for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) affairs, in a press conference on Wednesday said that the Taliban has not been recognised for objective reasons, and engagements with the group are “informal”.