Quran Desecration in Stockholm: Taliban Bans Sweden’s Activities in Afghanistan

Durrani urged Taliban officials not to complain about the issue to the Pakistani government.

This is for the first time that a senior Pakistani official has confirmed the use of the country’s airspace for the US’ over-the-horizon attack in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the US targeted Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the al-Qaeda network, and several other targets of the terror group in Kabul and Ghazni provinces.

The United States also conducts surveillance operations in Afghanistan's airspace. Taliban officials, including the group's defence minister, have said several times that Afghanistan's airspace has remained "occupied”.

The Taliban have publicly asked Pakistan to prevent the US unmanned aircraft from crossing that country's airspace into Afghanistan's airspace.

However, in an interview with "Pashto 1" TV channel, Durrani said that the UN resolution to suppress the al-Qaeda network has been applicable.

Pakistan's special envoy for Afghanistan said that the whole world is committed to the 1367 and 1373 UN resolutions. That’s why, he stressed that “we [Pakistan] should not be blamed”.

This senior Pakistani diplomat added that the same resolutions allowed the US to attack Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former leader of the al-Qaeda network in District 10 of Kabul, and Osama bin Laden, the founder of the terror group in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Durrani emphasised that the Taliban has not been a proxy force of Pakistan in Afghanistan. He stressed that "every Afghan is a free man”.

Officials of the former Afghan government accused the Pakistani government of being dishonest in the Afghan peace process and of supporting the Taliban to continue terror and insurgency in Afghanistan.

However, Durrani said, "The solution to Afghanistan's problem was not in the hands of Pakistan, but I ask them, what did you do for the interests of Pakistan? They facilitated India and another front appeared against us and India was giving money to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistani and Baloch fighters.”

On Monday, WPF announced on Twitter that it urgently needs one billion dollars to continue operations.

The organisation added that WFP is the “last lifeline” for the most vulnerable families, including widows and women-led households.

Recently, WFP told media outlets that this year, about 15 million people across Afghanistan need food support.

The UN agency stressed that it can help only about five million people in need of food in Afghanistan.

According to UN reports, after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the number of people in need of food aid has increased rapidly and reached 21 million in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban came to power, international aid to Afghanistan was cut off, and unemployment and poverty spread across the country rapidly.

At least three sources from the teacher training centers also confirmed the news of the closure of the directorate of teacher training.

These sources, who spoke to Afghanistan International on the condition of anonymity fearing reprisal from the Taliban, provided a copy of the “Appointment Guideline" of the Taliban’s Ministry of Education.

Apparently, the “guideline” has been revised and approved by the Taliban’s directorates of education in Kabul and the provinces. Along with other issues, the document stated that the teacher training centers have been removed from the organisational structure of the Taliban’s Ministry of Education.

The “guideline”, however, stated that the staff members of these centers could be appointed to vacant positions in the schools and religious seminaries of the Taliban.

However, sources who spoke to Afghanistan International said that the staff members of the teacher training centers are concerned that with the closure of the directorate, more than 4,000 professional and experienced teachers and staff members of the directorate will lose their jobs.

According to Shaheen, both sides talked about the importance of engagement and humanitarian aid.

Earlier, Dickson had said on Twitter that Doha remains an important hub for engagement with Afghanistan.

The meeting between Shaheen and the UK Charge d’Affairs for Afghanistan was held on Sunday after Dickson returned from his visit to Kabul.

During his visit to Kabul, Robert Dickson had met with the Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and the group’s higher education minister Nada Mohammad Nadim.

During the meeting with Dickson, Muttaqi had asked for the UK’s engagement with the Taliban.

However, London has repeatedly said that the policies of the Taliban, especially the violation of women's rights, have isolated the group.

Muhibullah Tayeb, a human rights advisor in the Afghan delegation in Geneva, addressed the UN Human Rights Council, about the forced displacement in northern and western Afghanistan and said that the oppressive environment in Afghanistan has forced many Afghans to flee the country.

On Sunday, Tayeb warned that after fleeing, the victims of forced displacements remain without protection.

He stressed that the Taliban have shut down shelters for victims of human trafficking and called for measures to protect those who have been forcefully displaced.

Since taking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, numerous reports have been published that the Taliban have forcibly displaced local residents in various provinces, including Daikundi, Takhar, Baghlan, Faryab, Panjshir, and Sar-e Pul provinces.

In addition, many local sources said that dozens of families have been relocated to Takhar province from border areas and Pakistan in the past weeks. Some sources said that the families were Pakistani citizens, but others said that they were Afghans who had been displaced by war during the previous years.

Earlier, the Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, had confirmed that refugees from the North Waziristan region of Pakistan have been transferred to areas in western and northern parts of Afghanistan.