218 Former Government Officials, ANDSF Members Killed Since Taliban’s Takeover in 2021

Khawaja Mohammad Asif, the former defence minister of Pakistan, had described the Afghan Taliban as "freedom fighters". So, in response, Dawar said that Asif should also consider TTP the same.

The former defence minister of Pakistan, who is a prominent member of the Pakistan Muslim League Party, had criticised former Afghan vice-president Amrullah Saleh for his comments on the possibility of the collapse of Pakistan like the Soviet Union.

Asif wrote that Saleh lost his position in Afghanistan to "a group of freedom fighters". He described the Afghan Taliban as "fearless fighters equipped only with fearless spirit of taking on the mighty NATO”.

Meanwhile, Khawaja Asif and other Pakistani officials consider the TTP group, which has the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban, to be a terrorist organisation.

In this case, Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistan's House of Representatives, wrote on social media platform X, “If one considers the Taliban in Afghanistan as "freedom fighters", then by these standards, you'd consider the TTP as the same.”

He added, "The reason Pakistan suffers from terrorism is because of this apologist attitude and confusion of mainstream politicians towards the Taliban."

Hafiz Zia Ahmad, a spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs of the group, said on social media platform X that priority has been given to newborn Afghan children.

Zia Ahmad emphasised that these children should have electronic Afghan identity cards.

However, he added that the baby's birth certificate, electronic ID cards of the child's father, passport, and residence card of the host country are also acceptable for issuing passports to the newborn Afghan children.

The Islamic Republic of Iran handed over the Afghan embassy in Tehran to the Taliban earlier in 2023. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic has kept its embassy active in Kabul. However, Tehran has not recognised the Taliban yet.

Taliban shut down the operations of the broadcast network about three weeks ago and had also insulted the employees of the TV and radio stations.

According to Afghanistan Journalists Center, Atal Stanekzai, the director of Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV, confirmed the reopening of the stations and said that the Taliban’s directorate of information and culture allowed the resumption of the broadcast network’s operations at around 4pm local time on Sunday.

Sediqullah Qureshi Bedloon, the head of the directorate of information and culture in Nangarhar, said that the operations had been temporarily shut down due to “violations".

The Taliban forces arrested these women on Sunday evening for planning an in-house protest in Khair Khana area of Kabul.

Haqparast said on social media platform X that the movement’s members had been released due to the "united advocacy” of Afghan citizens.

She expressed hope that "there will be no harm to the protesters and their families”.

It is not known which agency of the Taliban had arrested these women activists.

Khalid Zadran, the spokesman of the Taliban Police in Kabul, denied the arrest of these protesters.

A member of the movement told Afghanistan International that the Taliban surrounded the house in which the women activists had gathered and entered it to arrest the activists.

According to Afghanistan International’s source after being suppressed by the Taliban, women protesters have shifted to in-house movements, but it seems that the Taliban can now infiltrate these places too.

According to Barakat, AFTF saw the participation of 30 Afghan men and women and was headed by Fatima Gilani, the former chairperson of the Afghan Red Crescent Society.

Barakat added that the participants discussed current challenges and potential confidence-building measures in Afghanistan.

Barakat did not provide any details about the presence of Taliban representatives at the AFTF meeting, but reliable sources told Afghanistan International that Farooq Azam, the advisor to the Ministry of Water and Energy of the Taliban, had travelled from Kabul to Jakarta to participate in this meeting.

These sources added that this meeting had been held as part of the efforts in line with the "policy of engagement with the Taliban".

Barakat also stressed that "diplomats from Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Belgium, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Norway, the European Union, and representatives of the World Bank" met with the participants.

Afghanistan International sources said that Afghan politicians and civil society members, including former Afghan ambassador Omar Samad; lawyer Kawun Kakar; former diplomat Asila Wardak; Kabul University professor Faiz Zaland; former Afghan minister Ehsan Zia; former member of parliament Abdul Qayyum Sajjadi; political activist Jafar Mahdavi; former interior minister Wais Barmak; former parliamentarian Golali Safi; civil society activist Khadija Mahdi, and political activist Ayoub Erfani participated in the meeting.