Taliban Will Appoint Deported Clerics From Pakistan As Ombudsmen

The UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) said that following the issuance of the decree, opium cultivation has decreased by 95 percent in Afghanistan.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, the country was the largest exporter of opium in the world and the main source of heroin in Europe and Asia.

In April 2022, the Taliban declared a ban on the cultivation and production of narcotics. It had a severe impact on hundreds of thousands of farmers and daily wage workers who relied on the income generated from this crop to sustain their livelihoods.

The United Nations has now confirmed the decline of opium cultivation in Afghanistan, emphasising on the urgent need for more aid to the villagers and alternative cultivation for a future without opium in the country.

Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC, welcomed the decrease in opium production in Afghanistan. At the same time, he said that it has important consequences and risks that should be considered.

Waly stressed that today the people of Afghanistan need urgent humanitarian aid instead of lost income to meet their needs.

The United Nations said that although growing wheat may reduce food insecurity to some extent in Afghanistan, it is far less profitable than opium.

According to ISNA, Ahmadian stressed on cooperation with the Taliban in various fields, including commercial and industrial affairs, transportation, agriculture, and Iran’s water rights.

According to the report, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran has appreciated the position of the Taliban towards Palestine.

Iran, like other countries, does not officially recognise the Taliban. Nevertheless, despite tensions on water rights issues, it maintains a close relationship with the Taliban.

In this meeting, Abdul Ghani Baradar asked for the development of economic and commercial cooperation, especially the activation of the transit sector, Chabahar port, and an increase in air transportation.

According to ISNA, Baradar emphasised on their commitment to implementing agreements between Afghanistan and Iran, especially in the water management issues, and considered the economic development of the border regions and joint investments for the mutual interests of both sides.

Before this meeting, Baradar had met with Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Iranian Foreign Minister, after which Abdollahian had said that Afghanistan is considered important in the foreign policy of Iran. He also discussed the issue of Afghan immigrants in Iran and the issue of Iran's water rights.

Baradar arrived in Tehran leading a delegation of 30 people on Saturday at the invitation of the Iranian government.

This is Mullah Baradar's first visit to Iran in the last two years. He had previously traveled to Tehran as the head of the political office of the Taliban in Doha.

The Taliban's foreign ministry quoted Sheng as saying that China is "ready to help" regarding the immigrant issue.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban’s foreign ministry spokesperson wrote on X social media platform that Muttaqi, in the meeting with the Chinese ambassador, discussed “forced deportation of refugees at the beginning of the cold winter, usurping their assets and other rights, and several other related issues”.

China has a close trade and political relationship with Pakistan. This is the first time that China has expressed an opinion regarding the issue of deportation of undocumented immigrants from Pakistan.

The Chinese ambassador has expressed their interest in cooperating with the Taliban in solving the issue of undocumented immigrants, which has become a big challenge for the Taliban.

The Taliban has criticised Pakistan for deporting undocumented Afghan immigrants on the eve of winter and has demanded more time for these immigrants.

Pakistan has declined the Taliban’s and Western countries' demands to extend the deadline for the deportation of immigrants.

Muttaqi has explained to the Chinese representative "about the [Taliban's] measures to welcome and resettle Afghan refugees”.

Taliban officials had previously made a commitment to assist immigrants to the best of their ability, although they did not provide specific details.

According to Safi, earlier, a family member of a Taliban cabinet member chose to host their wedding ceremony in Peshawar rather than Kabul.

In an analysis published in Jang newspaper, it has been stated that according to estimates, about five thousand members of the Taliban have Pakistani citizenship.

The memo stated that when former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in 2016, a Pakistani electronic identity card was found with him.

At that time, Mansour was targeted by a Pakistani drone attack in Baluchistan when he was coming to Pakistan from Iran.

In the analysis of Jang newspaper, it has been stated that a wide and diverse range of Afghan immigrants are currently living in Pakistan.

The newspaper has classified Afghan immigrants in Pakistan into seven different categories.

According to the analysis, the sixth and seventh categories are Afghans who have sought refuge in Pakistan in the past two years, fearing the Taliban's revenge.

This category includes former government employees, artists, civil activists, and former employees of foreign organisations in Afghanistan. Western governments have promised some of these immigrants that they will be granted visas, but as of now, these visas have not been issued.

Some others entered Pakistan with short-term health and tourist visas, but the Pakistani embassy in Kabul did not extend their visas.

In the analysis of the Jang newspaper, the government of the country has been asked to sympathise with these immigrants and provide them shelter.

Earlier, human rights organisations expressed concerns that if these Afghans are deported from Pakistan, they could be at risk of retaliation from the Taliban.

Putin said that weapons sent to Ukraine are sold to the Taliban and "can be accessed by anyone".

On Friday, in a meeting with members of the country's Civic Chamber in Moscow, the Russian president criticised the military support of the Western countries to Ukraine and the sale of these weapons in black markets.

Since February last year, when Russia invaded militarily on Ukraine, Western countries have been sending weapons worth tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine to fight the Russian forces.

Ukraine said that it has tight control over the weapons it receives, but some Western security officials have previously expressed concern about the weapons being sold on illegal markets.

The United States of America asked Ukraine to take more measures to fight corruption in the country.

Last year, the head of Interpol, Jürgen Stock, warned that some advanced weapons sent to Ukraine would end up in the hands of organised crime groups.

In March, a report on the war in Ukraine and the illegal arms trade was published by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime stating that so far, no significant number of weapons have been taken out of Ukraine.

However, the report warned that if the threats are not addressed, when the current war ends, "Ukraine’s battlefields could and will become the new arsenal of anarchy, arming everyone from insurgents in Africa to gangsters in the streets of Europe”.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy report, eight major Western donors, led by the United States of America, have pledged to Ukraine to send at least 84 billion euros in military aid to the country.