Taliban Confirms Injury of Group’s Central Bank Governor in Traffic Accident

The Taliban’s Central Bank confirmed that Hedayatullah Badri, the governor of the bank, has been injured in a traffic incident.

The Taliban’s Central Bank confirmed that Hedayatullah Badri, the governor of the bank, has been injured in a traffic incident.
Earlier, Afghanistan International, citing its sources, reported that Badri was injured in a traffic incident on the Herat-Kandahar highway.
In a statement on Friday night, the Central Bank of the Taliban, said that Badri’s health condition is stable.
The bank added that Badri "has been treated and will soon return to work in the central bank".
The Central Bank’s statement also confirmed that one person was killed in the accident.
Images that reached Afghanistan International show that after this incident, the Taliban transferred Badri to Kandahar by helicopter.
Hedayatullah Badri is one of the well-known commanders of the Taliban. He previously worked as the group’s finance minister.

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, said that he spoke with various groups of Afghans, including women, about the human rights situation in Afghanistan during a four-day trip to Turkiye.
He said that there are serious concerns about the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
On Friday, Bennett wrote on social media platform X that he met Turkish government officials and UN entities during the visit.
Turkiye is one of the countries which has kept its embassy open in Kabul after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, and the country's ambassador often meets Taliban officials in Kabul. On the other hand, Turkiye has hosted Taliban delegations in Ankara on several occasions.
Despite the unofficial relations that Turkiye has with the Taliban, it hosts a large number of political leaders, parliamentarians and former government officials opposing the Taliban.

Sources from the Taliban group told Afghanistan International that in a traffic accident on the Herat-Kandahar highway, Hedayatullah Badri, governor of the Taliban Central Bank, was injured and his driver was killed.
According to the sources, Badri has been transferred to a hospital in Kandahar.
The Taliban has not officially commented on the traffic accident and health condition of Badri.
Hedayatullah Badri is one of the senior officials of the Taliban. He was the former finance minister of the Taliban.
More details about the incident have not yet been released.

The Taliban Railway Authority announced that Bakhturrahman Sharafat, the group's director of Railway Authority visited Iran's Chabahar port.
Sharafat said that Afghanistan will soon be connected to the Chabahar port through the Roznak railway route and Milak port in Nimroz province.
In a statement on Friday, the Taliban Railway Authority added that the "Chabahar-Zahedan-Nimroz/Milak" railway project is under construction in Iran.
The statement, quoting Iranian officials in the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said that Tehran is working to complete the project in the near future.
Iranian officials stressed that they expect the Taliban to start the construction of the border railway route in Milak port of Nimroz province.

Rasoul Mousavi, Iran’s assistant foreign minister, reacted to Amir Khan Muttaqi’s implicit criticism of Iran’s desire to establish an inclusive government in Afghanistan.
Mousavi posted on social media platform X and stated, "You cannot escape international responsibilities by making the issue bilateral and personal.”
On Wednesday, Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, while responding to those countries which are pressurising the Taliban to form an inclusive government, said that the group has fewer prisoners than executions carried out in such countries.
Addressing the Taliban’s Ulema gathering in Kabul on Wednesday, Muttaqi sarcastically questioned those countries and asked, “Do you have an inclusive government?”
“Thousands of people have disappeared in your country, but no one dares to ask about it," he continued.
The foreign minister of the Taliban did not name any country in his speech, but the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the countries which has been accused of cracking down on its opponents and executing them and has repeatedly asked the Taliban to form an inclusive government.
Reposting the video clip of Muttaqi’s address on social media platform X, Mousavi said, "An inclusive government in Afghanistan guarantees peace, stability, security and sustainable development."
He added that the formation of an inclusive government was sought in the UN Security Council’s Resolutions 2513 and 2593 and the statement of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries including Iran, Pakistan, China, and Turkmenistan called for the same.
This Iranian official reacted to the statements of the Taliban even though last week a delegation from the Iranian parliament had visited Afghanistan and met with the foreign minister and other senior officials of the group.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has had close relations with the Taliban over the past two years, but issues such as the water rights from Helmand River have escalated tensions between the two sides.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iranian ambassador in Kabul, stressed that history has proved that a single movement has never been able to survive in Afghanistan.
Qomi said that a government which only represents one segment of the society has not been able to address all the crises.
Qomi, who also works as the special representative of Tehran for Afghanistan affairs, in an interview with Al-Alam TV channel, said, "Today Afghanistan is facing a crisis built over several decades, so a government which is made up of only one part of the society will not be capable of solving all the problems.”
Qomi stated that "security and development in Afghanistan depend on political stability”.
Despite relatively close relations with the Taliban, Iran has not officially recognised the group. Iran has also repeatedly called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan; a demand which the Taliban consider as interference in their internal affairs.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Foreign Minister of the Taliban, indirectly addressed the Iranian government on Wednesday, during a gathering of pro-Taliban clerics in Kabul, and sarcastically questioned them, “Do you have an inclusive government? Thousands of people have disappeared in your country, but no one dares to ask about it," he continued.
However, Kazemi Qomi said, "We are a country that is affected by the developments in Afghanistan. So, if the Islamic Republic of Iran says something about benevolence, it is within the framework of the interests of the Afghan people and their political system, as well as the security of the region and our national security, and it is not interference at all.”
Qomi also stressed that there are no Shias in the Taliban government.
He explained, "The point is that the presence of Shias and other ethnic groups in the government is still not desirable for them."
He expressed hope to see a government with the representatives of all the people of Afghanistan.
