Afghan Ambassador in the Netherlands Struck Secret Deal With Taliban, Says Sources

Maariv, the Israeli newspaper, published an interview with Ahmad Massoud, the NRF leader, in which Massoud has apparently said that he welcomes the support of any country, including Israel, in the front’s war with the Taliban.

However, the National Resistance Front, in a statement on Wednesday said that "rumours in this regard are completely baseless and misleading”.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that Mariv newspaper has published an exclusive interview with Massoud in which he said that he would be willing to work with Israel in a regional peace initiative.

According to Jerusalem Post, Massoud had said, “I think we should all act together for the advancement of humanity in the face of darkness, terrorism, and ignorance.”

It is not clear where and when this interview took place, but Ahmad Massoud had recently been on a trip to France.

Ali Maisam Nazary, the head of foreign relations of the National Resistance Front, told Afghanistan International on Tuesday that Ahmad Massoud did not give an interview to this Israeli publication.

Mujahid wrote on social media platform X that Pakistan should reconsider its decision to deport Afghan refugees.

Pakistan has given a one-month notice to Afghan migrants to leave the country.

On Tuesday, the Pakistani government announced that Afghans have the right to stay in Pakistan only with a temporary residence card (PoR) and visa.

The Supreme Committee of the Government of Pakistan has warned that after November 1, all business and property of foreign nationals who reside in Pakistan illegally will be confiscated.

According to the decision, the Pakistani government will also "take legal action" against those who have helped "illegal" foreign nationals in renting houses and securing jobs.

On Wednesday, without referring to the decision of the Pakistani government, the Taliban spokesperson urged Islamabad to be patient in dealing with Afghan refugees.

On the other hand, on Monday, Pakistani news agencies reported that the country's government is deporting more than one million "illegal" immigrants.

The media outlets stressed that this decision also includes "Afghans with residence cards" of Pakistan.

In the past months, Pakistani police have arrested and deported hundreds of Afghan citizens.

The Taliban embassy in Islamabad said on Tuesday that Pakistani police have detained more than a thousand Afghan migrants in the last two weeks alone.

Mujahid said that Afghan immigrants have no role in Pakistan's recent "security issues”.

Earlier, Pakistan's interior minister said that 14 of the 24 suicide bombers who attacked the country after January 2023 have been Afghans.

Earlier, some other senior officials of Pakistan claimed that Afghan citizens are involved in the attacks by militant groups in Pakistan.

In a statement, the embassy called the purpose of communication with the Taliban as "the need to provide consular services" to Afghan citizens.

Zia Ahmad Takal, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban’s foreign ministry, has also reposted the Afghan embassy’s post on social media platform X and confirmed the engagement with the Afghan embassy in the Netherlands.

On Tuesday, the Afghan Embassy in The Hague wrote, "The confirmation letters for the consular documents have been sent to the [Taliban] Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul as usual."

The Afghan embassy in the Netherlands said that citizens can contact this embassy to receive consular services.

The Embassy of Afghanistan in the Hague is one of the diplomatic missions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which is managed by the diplomats of the previous government.

So far, no country has recognised the government of the Taliban, but some countries in the region have accepted the group’s diplomats.

On Tuesday, Stanikzai met Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Special Representative in Afghanistan, and said that the Taliban should "be given the right to attend international meetings, including those of the United Nations”.

Zia Ahmad Takal, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Taliban's Foreign Ministry, said that the meeting between the two sides focused on the counternarcotics efforts and ways to revive trade, and demining in Afghanistan.

At a time when humanitarian aid to Afghanistan is decreasing due to the Taliban’s radical policies, Stanikzai told the UN Special Representative in Kabul that "political differences" should not negatively affect international aid to Afghanistan.

Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan has decreased due to the Taliban’s continued ban on women's education and work. Donor countries have repeatedly requested the return of female workers to aid organisations, but the Taliban has rejected their demands.

Not long ago, the United Nations announced in a statement that following the Taliban's restrictions on female aid workers in Afghanistan, the organisation's aid budget from donor countries had been reduced by more than one billion dollars.

This year, the UN requested 4.6 billion dollars as the annual budget for aid to Afghanistan, of which donor countries agreed to 3.2 billion dollars only.

Niklasson said that these arrests weaken the trust needed for building domestic legitimacy and constructive dialogue.

He also joined the campaign for the release of Matiullah Wesa, Zholia Parsi, and Neda Parwani on social media platform X and called for their release.

Nabila Massrali, Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, also called on the Taliban to cease arbitrary arrests, and release human rights activists Zholia Parsi and Neda Parwani, along with their families, and demanded the release of Matiullah Wesa, an education rights activist in Afghanistan, who has been held in Taliban custody for six months.