UN Report: 65 Civilians Killed in Afghanistan in Three Months

He labelled the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan a "catastrophic mistake."

Bolton, who served under former President Donald Trump, criticised both Trump's and Joe Biden's administrations for their approaches to the negotiations with the Taliban.

Bolton pointed out that the US withdrawal has opened opportunities for regional powers like Iran, China, and Russia to assert influence in Afghanistan. He termed Trump’s negotiations with the Taliban a "mistake," one which Biden repeated.

Bolton also mentioned Trump's recent statement about negotiation with the Taliban and breaking a deal to takeover Bagram airbase once he gets elected as the next president of the United States and stressed that Trump acknowledges that he made a mistake in negotiating with the Taliban and is concerned about it.

He advocated for a complete overhaul of the Taliban regime and the establishment of a responsible political system in Afghanistan.

Citing the Taliban as a danger, Bolton warned against trusting them. He argued that their harbouring of international terrorists poses a threat to the US and its allies and emphasised the group's extremist agenda. Bolton said that he hopes the US will refrain from recognising the Taliban, citing their breach of commitments to Afghanistan and the US.

Regarding the possibility of the US troops returning to Afghanistan, Bolton said that he hopes that the Republican party, having a responsible candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, will reject the agreement with the Taliban and recognise the resistance against the group in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's foreign ministry announced that Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s foreign minister, also went to Torghundi port in western Afghanistan to welcome Meredow.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan has not yet announced the primary objectives of this trip. However, the Taliban stated that the purpose of the trip was “assessing the progress of joint projects between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan”.

The Taliban stated that the objective of Meredow’s visit and his accompanying delegation is to observe and enhance the progress of economic, transit, electricity, railway, and energy projects in both Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

In a statement on Saturday, the Taliban's Foreign Ministry wrote that the officials of Turkmenistan and the Taliban also visited the Torghundi railway route in Herat.

Turkmenistan provides a major part of Herat's electricity supply. The country is also a partner of the TAPI regional project and an exporter of fuel to Afghanistan.

So far, more details of the conversation between Asim Munir and Antonio Guterres in New York have not been published.

Militant attacks on the country's security forces have increased in recent months, and Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Taliban fighters. However, the Afghan Taliban rejected the claim and said that Pakistan blames Afghanistan for the inability of its security forces to ensure its internal security.

He also expressed concerns regarding the recent decision of the Supreme Court of India on the merger of Kashmir and asked the United Nations to provide the grounds for a plebiscite so the “Kashmiris decide their future”.

The Pakistan Army announced the arrival of Asim Munir and Nadeem Anjam, Directorate General of Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan, to the United States on Friday. It stated that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met these two senior Pakistani officials at the ministry's headquarters.

These two high-ranking Pakistani generals are set to meet General Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defence, and General Charles Q Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army.

Pakistan's military officials hope to gain more support from the US in what Islamabad calls the fight against terrorism.

Nabil's statement came in response to a recent Jaish ul-Adl attack on an Iranian police centre in Sistan and Balochistan province, which resulted in the death of at least 12 policemen.

In a post on social platform X, Nabil stated, "In 2021, Jaish-ul-Adl fought in several provinces of Afghanistan to support the Afghan Taliban against the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's security forces and overthrew the first province of Afghanistan in Nimroz." He also indirectly referenced the Islamic Republic of Iran's alleged support for the Taliban.

On 7 August 2021, just a week before Kabul's fall, Nabil had noted that despite ideological differences between Jaish al-Adl and the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency had dispatched around 600 Jaish-ul-Adl fighters with military equipment to aid the Taliban in various Afghan provinces.

Officials from the previous Afghan government have accused Iran of supporting the Taliban, alleging training, weaponry, and financial assistance for the group.

The attack on the police headquarters in Rask city of Sistan and Baluchistan by Jaish ul-Adl has heightened tensions, with Iranian officials asserting that the group operates from bases in Pakistan.

China's Xinhua news agency quoted Shuang as saying that the international community must resolutely prevent Afghanistan from becoming a hub for terrorist organisations.

This request comes while the UN Security Council recently renewed the mandate of monitoring team sanctions against the Taliban.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council unanimously approved the resolution of the 15-member body to continue the 1988 sanctions against the Taliban. The Taliban will remain under UN sanctions for another year. However, the exemption of several Taliban leaders from the travel ban has not been extended.

China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations has said that as stated in the preamble of the resolution, the Security Council must ensure that the sanctions effectively promote peace and stability in Afghanistan.

However, he added that considering the current situation, China believes that the Security Council should facilitate pragmatic engagement between the international community and Taliban by making timely adjustments to the sanctions and to avoid negative impact on the livelihood of the Afghan people and the development of this country.

According to him, in the first step, the Security Council should consider exemptions from sanctions regarding the travel of some Taliban officials as soon as possible.

“China has always maintained that the travel exemptions are a necessary tool that facilitates dialogue and engagement and that they should not be taken as a bargaining chip for pressure,” said Shuang.