3 Taliban Members Killed in Kabul & Ghor Provinces
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) announced on Tuesday that during their operations in Kabul and Ghor provinces, three Taliban members had been killed, and four others were injured.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) announced on Tuesday that during their operations in Kabul and Ghor provinces, three Taliban members had been killed, and four others were injured.
These attacks, according to the NRF, occurred in the Khairkhana area of Kabul and Shahrak district of Ghor province. The Taliban has not yet commented on these attacks.
In a statement, the NRF reported that around 7am on Tuesday, their forces eliminated a Taliban member who was on a motorcycle in the village of Jorya in Shahrak district. They seized two AK-47 rifles and the motorcycle from the scene.
Additionally, the NRF stated that the second attack targeted a Taliban checkpoint in the Sare Kotal area of Khairkhana, located in the 17th police district of Kabul city. Two Taliban members had been killed and four got injured in this attack.
The NRF emphasised that their forces did not suffer any casualties in these operations.
The Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Foreign Minister of the group, met with Muhammad Khurram, Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of Commerce.
During this meeting, Muttaqi called for the resolution of trade and transit issues between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He also emphasised on the strengthening of economic relations between the two countries.
Zia Ahmad, the Taliban’s foreign ministry deputy spokesperson, wrote on X social media network that during the Tuesday meeting, both sides discussed enhancing trade, transit, and economic relations.
According to him, Khurram promised to find a solution to the transit problems as soon as possible.
This Pakistani delegation traveled to Kabul at the invitation of the Taliban following Pakistan's airstrikes on two eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
About a week ago, Pakistan announced that it had targeted members of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, one of the leaders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Pakistan also accused the Taliban of supporting terrorism and the Pakistani Taliban.
In response, the Taliban stated that they retaliated to these attacks with artillery attacks on several Pakistani military border posts. The group added that the casualties of the Pakistani airstrikes were civilians.
Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General responded to recent statements by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, regarding the implementation of "Sharia-based punishments in Afghanistan”.
Haq stressed that the UN would continue its efforts to ensure equal rights for women in Afghanistan.
On Monday, during a press conference in New York, he expressed "disappointment" over the newly released speech attributed to Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The UN official stated, "We’ve… as you know, we’ve been expressing our concerns consistently about the mistreatment of women under many of the rulings by the Taliban, and we’ve called for those edicts to be revoked."
The Deputy Spokesperson for the United Nations emphasised that the organisation would persist in its efforts to lift restrictions against women in Afghanistan.
The recent statements by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, about the implementation of "Sharia-based punishments in Afghanistan" have sparked significant reactions.
The Taliban leader recently said, "We will stone women in public." Hibatullah Akhundzada added that the Taliban's work did not end with their takeover of Kabul, but it has only just begun.
The Supreme Court of the Taliban announced that the group has publicly flogged two individuals in Baghlan and Farah provinces.
According to a statement from the court, a man in Baghlan was lashed 39 times for having an "illicit relationship" and another man in Farah was lashed 30 times for "sodomy”.
The Supreme Court of the Taliban, without mentioning the identity of the first individual, wrote that he was publicly lashed in the Deh Salah district of Baghlan province. The statement added that this individual has also been sentenced to five years of imprisonment.
Additionally, the court mentioned that another man accused of "sodomy" was punished in Farah province and received 30 lashes. The Taliban stated that the group's primary court in the Khak-e-Safid district of Farah sentenced the accused to six months of imprisonment.
Human rights organisations and the international community have repeatedly called on the Taliban to stop punishing Afghan citizens with flogging, amputation, and execution.
Nevertheless, the Taliban have stated they are implementing Islamic Sharia and have urged countries and international organisations not to interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs.
Recently, a message attributed to the leader of the Taliban has been circulated, emphasising on the enforcement of Sharia and the corporal punishment and stoning of women.
Amid growing concerns about ISIS’ activities in the region, Lindsey Graham a US senator has called for strikes against this group's positions in Afghanistan.
Graham stated that the US must firmly hit ISIS-Khorasan targets in Afghanistan and disrupt their operations before it's too late.
Despite the Taliban's claims of suppressing ISIS in Afghanistan, the group continues its attacks against civilians and Taliban forces.
In the latest attack, ISIS claimed responsibility for an explosion in front of Kabul Bank in the city of Kandahar, which left at least 21 dead and 50 injured.
Central Asian countries have also consistently expressed concerns about the rise in ISIS activities in Afghanistan and its infiltration into other regional countries.
The United Nations Security Council assessed in February that ISIS remains a threat to Afghanistan and the region.
According to the report, ISIS targets in Afghanistan primarily include Shiites, followed by the Taliban, and then civilians.
The Security Council noted that there is a difference of opinion among the Taliban leadership regarding how to deal with ISIS and the "Salafists".
After ISIS-Khorasan claimed responsibility for a recent attack on a concert hall in Moscow, concerns about the group's increasing activities in the region have escalated.
Several political opponents of the Taliban have responded to the attack by stating that Afghanistan under Taliban control poses a threat to the region and serves as a haven for terrorist groups.
Al-Mirsaad, a media outlet attributed to the Taliban’s intelligence agency, has accused Tajikistan of intelligence cooperation with the West and "exporting ISIS terrorism to the region”.
Al-Miraaad argued that ISIS only attacks countries opposed to the West.
On Monday, the publication published an article claiming that the ISIS Khorasan fighters who carried out attacks in Afghanistan and Russia were Tajik citizens.
Tajikistan has denied the involvement of its citizens in the Moscow attack, and its president, in a conversation with the Russian president, stated, "Terrorists do not belong to any specific country or religion."
Four suspects of the attack appeared in a Russian court on Sunday with injuries, identifying themselves as Tajik nationals.
The Taliban condemned the "terrorist attack" by ISIS in Russia, suggesting the group operates under "intelligence organisations" for "defaming Islam and creating threats in the region”.
The Taliban-linked intelligence media outlet continued, stating, "Tajikistan's intelligence acts as an intelligence unit of a Western country, aiming to export ISIS terrorism in Tajik packages to the region."
Al-Mirsaad highlighted that ISIS aims to harm the Eastern bloc, citing ISIS attacks on the Russian embassy and Chinese citizens in Kabul and a missile attack on Uzbekistan as evidence.
Russia and Iran often accuse the United States of supporting ISIS to create instability in the Middle East and Central Asia, a view the Taliban seems to share.
Citizens of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have joined ISIS more than those from other regional countries. ISIS threats against Bashar al-Assad's regime drew Iran and Russia into the conflict in Syria, linking their heavy military and economic presence there to ISIS attacks.
After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian and Central Asian officials repeatedly expressed concerns about the presence of foreign militant groups in Afghanistan. Some of these terrorist organisations maintain close relations with the Taliban, which has refused to expel foreign militants from Afghanistan.
A senior military official of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, comprising Russia and several Central Asian countries, had said in February that the presence of ISIS fighters and the Pakistani Taliban near the Tajik-Afghan border has increased.
Al-Mirsaad, citing Taliban security agencies' information, claims that "Tajikistan's intelligence has transferred some Afghans to Tajikistan and uses them for other purposes in the region."
ISIS attacks in Afghanistan and Russia have raised global concerns. Two prominent US senators have warned of the expansion of ISIS attacks as a danger signal for America and Europe.
Following recent ISIS attacks, some European countries, including Italy and France, have sought to elevate their security measures to the highest level. While Western and regional countries express concern about the ISIS threat in Afghanistan, the Taliban has repeatedly responded by claiming that ISIS has been suppressed in Afghanistan and poses no threat to the security of regional and Western countries.
