Taliban Seeks Participation of Russia & Kazakhstan In Trans-Afghan Railway Project

On Thursday, Jamaran news reported that these offices "were sealed after an order by the Taliban forces”.

The Khomeini Relief Committee is a quasi-governmental organisation which is founded on the order of the late supreme leader of the Islamic Republic. The committee also opened its offices in Afghanistan over the years.

The activity of this Iranian agency had been stopped after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in late 1990s, but after the fall of the group, the second round of work of the Khomeini Relief Committee resumed in the cities of Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, and Zaranj in 2002.

According to Jamaran news, the activity of the relief committee's office in Kabul was stopped almost a month ago, and its offices in Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat cities have been shut down on July 31 on the Taliban’s order.

It has been said that the Taliban forces have also approached the representative of the Relief Committee in Nimroz city of Zaranj, but its activities are still ongoing.

Iranian officials and the Taliban have not reacted to the news so far.

However, informed sources told Jamaran news that the Taliban sealed the Khomeini Relief Committee offices in the three provinces "without any prior notice”.

The Taliban attacked the relatives of the children and shot them in the Zazai Aryob district of the province.

Local sources told Afghanistan International the incident took place on Wednesday and the Taliban arrested and tortured a nine-year-old boy for playing PUBG in Zazai Aryob district.

Local sources said that following the arrest of the child, the Taliban summoned his relatives too. According to the sources, after verbal tensions, the Taliban shot the child's relatives.

In this shooting, an uncle of this child had been killed and two of his other uncles had been wounded. Three other people injured in this incident are residents of the district.

Earlier, Taliban had banned the mobile game, PUBG, in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Taliban police command in Paktia has confirmed that one person was killed, and five others were injured in this province. The Taliban police officials stated that these people had been killed and injured because of differences between two families in the district.

Sources said that after the incident, the local residents protested and carried the body of the dead man and displayed it in front of the Taliban governor's office in Paktia province.

Nooruddin Azizi, Minister of Commerce of Taliban, and Serik Zhumangarin, Minister of Trade of Kazakhstan, met and discussed these agreements in Astana too.

In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce of the Taliban announced that during the meeting, transit, trade, and banking between the two countries had been discussed.

TASS news agency reported on Thursday that Kazakhstan and the Taliban have agreed to have more cooperation in various fields.

According to TASS, Astana has agreed for the Taliban to open its trade representation in Kazakhstan.

Muttaqi added that during negotiations between the two sides, the Taliban emphasised on "Washington's respect for Afghanistan's sovereignty".

According to Al Jazeera, Muttaqi also stressed that the United States should lift sanctions on the Taliban.

On Wednesday, the Taliban’s foreign minister said that the group will not allow Afghanistan's soil to be used against other countries, including the United States.

"We want to solve the issue of foreign prisoners in Afghanistan in such a way that all parties are satisfied," said the Taliban's foreign minister.

On July 30 and 31, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West; Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights Rina Amiri, and Chief of the US Mission to Afghanistan based in Doha Karen Decker, along with other US officials met and discussed issues of critical interest with senior Taliban representatives and the group’s technocrats in Doha.

During a meeting with the Taliban delegation in Doha, the US special representatives emphasised on the "immediate and unconditional" release of US citizens who had been detained in Afghanistan.

While asking for the release of detained American officials, the US envoys did not provide details about the number of Americans in detention under the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, earlier, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had referred to the detention of several US citizens by the Taliban and said that about 175 US citizens remained in Afghanistan, some of whom had entered the country after the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021.

Zhumangarin said that Kazakhstan is ready to give scholarships to 30 Afghan students this year.

On Thursday, at the Afghanistan-Kazakhstan business conference, the Kazakh trade minister said that Astana will continue to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan.

Nooruddin Azizi, Minister of Trade of the Taliban, had also been present at this business conference.

After taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have closed schools and universities for girls and have not elaborated on when the group will reopen these educational centers.

However, several countries, including Kazakhstan, provide scholarships to Afghan students so that girls can continue their education.

According to Kazakh media reports, more than 450 Afghan students are currently studying in Kazakhstan.