Kabul’s Dashte Barche Targeted Again As Bomb Explosion Kills 7 & Injures 20

The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Tuesday that the extracted coal is being sold to the traders.

As per the report, the Taliban has officially registered 31 government-owned coal mines and 128 non-government mines in the northern provinces.

Last year, the Taliban had announced that by increasing the extraction and export of coal, the group would provide for 10 percent of Pakistan's daily coal demands.

Afghanistan's coal is considered one of the cheapest ways of supplying fossil energy to Pakistan.

Critics have condemned the unprofessional and indiscriminate extraction of coal in the central and northern regions of Afghanistan and its cheap export to Pakistan as a kind of "looting" of Afghanistan's underground reserves.

During a meeting in Tashkent on Tuesday, Sysoev called Afghanistan a source of "one of the special concerns".

The 9th International Scientific and Practical Conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure was held in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

According to TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies, in this meeting, Sysoev considered the ethnic and religious prejudices and the "Pashtunisation of the political elites" of Afghanistan as one of the current challenges of the country.

He also said that although the Taliban has declared a fight against terrorism, it cannot cope with the increasing influence and capabilities of the Khorasan branch of ISIS.

Sysoev stated that there are approximately 6,000 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan, emphasising that all of them pose a direct threat to Central Asian countries.

Baradar told Mehrabian that the technical delegation of Iran, which recently visited the Helmand River, confirmed the decline in the water level of the river.

On Tuesday, the Taliban’s Prime Minister's office posted on X social media platform that Mullah Baradar had mentioned that Afghanistan possesses abundant resources for hydro, wind, solar, and coal energy production.

In the statement, the group also stated that Mullah Baradar had a conversation with Mehrabian regarding water management, drought, and Iran's technical cooperation in electricity production in Afghanistan and the use of irrigation systems.

Mullah Baradar said that in many areas of Afghanistan, people were forced to be displaced due to the drought and lack of water.

In the last two years, the Iranian government and the Taliban have had tensions over Iran's water right from the Helmand River.

Following these tensions, Iran's foreign minister told the Taliban that the practical release of Helmand River’s water and supply of water to Iran is a serious demand of the country and has an impact on the relations between Afghanistan and Iran.

The Taliban, stressing on its commitment to the water treaty between the two countries, said that the water level of the river has decreased due to drought. Recently, a delegation from Iran visited the Helmand River to assess the situation.

In a letter from the ministry, authenticated by a reliable source to Afghanistan International, the Taliban announced the appointment of Faizullah as the first secretary of the Afghan embassy in Tajikistan.

Based on the letter, the Taliban has promised to pay the overdue six months’ salaries of the Afghan embassy staff in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan maintains a close relationship with the Taliban's opposition groups, and the former Afghan government's ambassador at the embassy in Tajikistan has consistently opposed the Taliban. However, the Taliban, despite not being officially recognised by Tajikistan, intends to establish its presence in the country by appointing a diplomat.

In the letter, the Taliban's foreign ministry has asked the Afghan embassy to inform the Tajik government about the appointment of a new diplomat.

Nonetheless, it remains uncertain whether the Tajik government will accept the Taliban's diplomats if the Afghan embassy in Dushanbe chooses to cooperate, like countries such as Turkey and Uzbekistan.

No country has recognised the Taliban in the last two years, and most of the Afghan embassies are in the control of ambassadors and employees of the previous government. However, the Taliban is trying to change the situation by appointing new diplomats at these embassies.

Asila Wardak, an Afghan women's rights activist, who attended the meeting, told Afghanistan International that Guterres emphasised that the Taliban will not be recognised without ensuring women's right to education and work.

According to Wardak, the UN Secretary-General said that issues related to Afghanistan are on the agenda and a priority for the United Nations.

Guterres added that he intends to engage and support more on the issues related to Afghanistan.

Habiba Sarabi, a member of the peace negotiations team of the previous Afghan government with the Taliban, and Shahrzad Akbar, the former chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, were also present in this meeting.

It has been said that this is the first meeting of the Secretary General of the United Nations with Afghan women activists after the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.

In the past two years, the Taliban has imposed extensive restrictions on the lives of Afghan women.

Despite international pressure, the Taliban has not reversed its restrictive measures, especially regarding Afghan women's right to work and education.