Uzbek Businessmen Travel To Afghanistan To Strengthen Bilateral Ties

According to Tasnim News Agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Velayati has not yet returned to Iran.

This photojournalist of Tasnim News Agency had been detained by the Taliban in Kabul last week while boarding a flight for Iran.

Tasnim reported that Velayati had been handed over to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kabul on Friday night.

The media agency expressed hope that this photojournalist will leave for Iran as soon as possible.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian announced on Friday night about the intensive diplomatic efforts of the Islamic Republic for the release of this photojournalist.

The Taliban have not yet announced the reason for the detention of Velayati.

He was released while several other journalists remain in Taliban detention.

Earlier, the Afghanistan Journalists Center announced that 13 journalists and media workers are being held by the Taliban.

Recently, Afghanistan International received clips of indecent video calls of Qari Qadir, the Taliban commander, at the lapis lazuli mine of Badakhshan.

According to Afghanistan International’s sources, senior officials of the Taliban had been made aware of the video clips and hence, Qadir had been dismissed from his job.

The clips showcase, Qadir, who was the commander of the lapis lazuli mine in the Kuran and Munjan district of Badakhshan, conducting inappropriate video calls with a young girl. Afghanistan International has gained access to six separate video clips which capture a total of eight minutes of sexual conversation between this Taliban official and the unknown girl.

Afghanistan International couldn’t determine the exact time and location of these video calls and the TV station couldn’t broadcast these video clips due to inappropriate content.

After the Taliban senior officials accessed these video clips through their messaging apps, several commanders of the group harshly criticised it. Amanuddin Mansour, the former governor of Badakhshan and the commander of the 217 Army Corps of the group, during a public gathering in Badakhshan province, criticised Qari Qadir for misusing the Taliban’s weapons and vehicles.

In a video clip that has been trending on social media, in the presence of senior Taliban officials in Badakhshan, the commander of 217 army corps of the Taliban confirms that Qari Qadir “misused the vehicles and weapons of the government” and committed adultery with a married woman.

The former governor of the Taliban in Badakhshan said, "I am ashamed to talk to you about Qari Qadir’s wrongdoings from this stage."

He added, "He [Qadir] has committed adultery with the women and misused weapons and cars of the Islamic Emirate. His video clips are available with me and our intelligence chief."

Afghanistan International's sources from Badakhshan said that after the scandalous recordings of Qari Qadir were circulated among some Taliban officials in Badakhshan, the group removed him from the security command of the lapis lazuli mine in the province.

The sources added that Qair Qadir is currently staying in Badakhshan and has been freely moving around.

This is not the first time that controversial video clips of Taliban officials have been leaked to the public.

Earlier, Afghanistan International had broadcast a video clip which showed Mullah Ahmad Akhund, the Taliban-appointed director of electricity in Kabul, sleeping with his bodyguard.

Taliban officials refrained from commenting on the video after it was released, but the leader of the group fired Ahmad Akhund from his job and summoned him to Kandahar.

The Taliban usually have a strict attitude against the allegations related to the sexual relations of Afghan citizens. According to the Taliban laws, sexual relations outside of marriage can be punished by whipping, stoning, and execution.

However, in dealing with its officials, the group has only acted to remove them from their government positions.

Farahi also emphasised that it is important to clarify the responsibilities which lie with the people of Afghanistan.

Noor Mohammad Hanif, the provincial director of Information and Culture of the Taliban in Nangarhar, also said that this meeting was held to garner support for the Taliban regime. During the gathering, Hanif urged people to stand up for the Taliban.

Bakhtar news agency reported on Friday that clerics, teachers, tribal elders, and other citizens in Nangarhar participated in the Taliban gathering.

Afghan analysts have repeatedly said that the Taliban government lacks the support of the people of Afghanistan due to the group violating human rights and imposing restrictions on girls and women. Many countries and human rights organisations consider the Taliban government to be an ethnocentric regime.

On Wednesday, Abbas Stanikzai, the deputy foreign minister of the Taliban, said in an interview with TOLOnews that no country has promised to recognise the Taliban so far.

WHO warned that with limitations imposed on door-to-door campaigns in Kandahar, children in this province are facing a significant risk of widespread outbreak of poliovirus.

According to the lastest report of the Poliovirus Emergency Committee meeting in May, five positive poliovirus cases had been registered in Nangarhar province.

The Poliovirus Emergency Committee stressed that during this year, 32 positive poliovirus cases were reported, most of them in the eastern regions, one case in the southern region, and one case in northern Balkh province.

WHO expressed hope that the number of poliovirus victims in Afghanistan is declining and population safety has been increasing, but it emphasised that health programmes need to be continued regularly to fully control the spread of the virus in the region.

The report added that the dire situation arose due to lack of funding and with the closure of such healthcare centers services to nine million Afghans is on the precipice of being stopped.

The global health body stated that Health System Transitional Strategy for Afghanistan is in final stages of completion.

The report added that even the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed the lack of funds and called for aid to cover salaries, operation costs and medicines.

WHO in its report stated that there has also been a reduction in the number of health and nutrition teams to 453 in June as compared to 513 in May 2023.

The report added that the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health has established a technical committee representing the Ministry, WHO and other partners to develop the National Health Policy for Afghanistan.