Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said that ISIS cannot pose a threat in Afghanistan. He dismissed concerns about the ISIS threat and called it "propaganda and exaggeration”.
Recently, Frank McKenzie, former CENTCOM commander stated that with the US forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, ISIS has strengthened in Afghanistan.
Mujahid told Radio and Television Afghanistan, under Taliban control, on Wednesday that ISIS is not a phenomenon that can cause trouble in Afghanistan. He labeled foreign concerns about the ISIS threat as an exaggeration.
Earlier, Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister, had stated that ISIS does not have a presence in Afghanistan.
Earlier, McKenzie warned of ISIS' strong desire to attack the United States and other foreign powers. He stated that the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan paved the way for the growth of ISIS' Khorasan branch in the country.
Mark Milley, former US Joint Chief of Staff, also recently warned of ISIS' intention to attack the United States, stating that the country remains ISIS' number one target.
While Taliban officials deny the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan, ISIS Khorasan recently claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Kandahar. Over 40 people, mostly Taliban members, had been killed in this attack.
Footage obtained by Afghanistan International shows that Dr Bashir, the former head of Taliban’s intelligence in Nangarhar province, accused the Taliban's purification commission of unjustly dismissing Taliban members from their positions.
Bashir, a prominent Taliban commander in the eastern zone, during the inaugural ceremony of the investigation of the Taliban purification commission, criticised the commission for dismissing a significant number of Taliban members. He stated that this issue has caused dissatisfaction among the Taliban in the province.
This Taliban commander mentioned that in the current system, not only does the Taliban have rights, but also the families who have fallen victim to the ISIS and lost their family members, should be accommodated within the ranks of the Taliban.
Many Salafis were killed or detained during Bashir's tenure as head of intelligence in Nangarhar, allegedly on suspicion of affiliating with ISIS, and he was the main accused.
Following the Taliban's defence minister Yaqoob Mujahid's directive, the purification of the group’s ranks has begun with new conditions, and after Maidan Wardak province, now it is being implemented in Nangarhar.
Reports emerged that on Tuesday afternoon, unmanned drones hovered for several hours over the office of Mullah Hibatullah, the Taliban's leader in Kandahar, setting off alarms within the group.
This aerial surveillance led to the decision to move their leader to a safer location in the Panjwai district.
According to sources of Afghanistan International, the prolonged drone presence over Mullah Hibatullah's Kandahar office was interpreted by Mawlawi Abdul Ahad Taleb, the commander of the Taliban leader's special security forces, as a direct and immediate threat to Hibatullah Akhundzada's safety, prompting a swift relocation.
The Taliban subsequently transferred their leader to the "Tolakan military base," located in Kandahar's Panjwai district.
Drone patrols have not been uncommon in the region, with Kandahar residents previously noting similar occurrences. Additionally, in recent days, individuals from Badakhshan, Panjshir, Kunar, and Laghman provinces reported drone sightings to Afghanistan International, pointing to a broader pattern of aerial surveillance.
In reaction to these incidents, the Taliban's spokesperson has pointed fingers at the United States, accusing it of infringing upon Afghanistan's sovereignty by violating its airspace.
Zabihullah Mujahid, in statements to the local press, has made it clear that these aircraft are unmistakably American, accusing them of entering Afghan airspace from neighbouring countries. He called for all involved parties to acknowledge their roles in this breach and to cease their invasive actions immediately.
Following their departure from Afghanistan, US officials have affirmed their commitment to keeping a watchful eye on terrorist activities within the country.
The assertion of Afghanistan's airspace still being under "occupation" by the United States has been a point of contention, voiced by several members of the Taliban leadership, including the group’s Defence Minister and the army's chief of staff.
A senior official from the Taliban's Ministry of Finance informed Afghanistan International that even after three and a half months, the budget for the new year has not yet been approved.
This source said that according to the financial affairs of Afghanistan's budget units and according to financial laws, the budget for the new year should have been approved three months ago.
However, as per the source, the budget has not yet been set.
The source, who preferred not to be named, added that the amount of the national budget and the share of ministries is still unclear.
The Taliban's Ministry of Finance recently sent a written document to the office of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, a copy of which has reached Afghanistan International.
In this document, it has been stated that the budget has not yet been approved, and this ministry wants to pay the employee’s salaries under a special allocation this month.
Sources in Paktia informed Afghanistan International that several doctors at the regional hospital have initiated a strike in protest against the behaviour of Mullah Khair Mohammad Mansoor, the Taliban's head of public health in the province.
The doctors are also protesting against the lack of salary as well as employment of relatives of this Taliban official.
They allege that Mansoor, without the permission of the Ministry of Public Health, has arbitrarily dismissed specialised hospital staff and hired his unqualified relatives.
They also indicated that this Taliban official has delayed doctors' salaries for months, causing frustration among hospital staff.
A list of doctors who have resigned due to these actions by Mullah Mansoor has reached to Afghanistan International.
According to sources, the strike has led to serious issues for patients in the hospital.
Additionally, following the resignation of female doctors, male doctors have taken over duties in the maternity ward. According to sources, all doctors at the regional hospital of Paktia are considering resigning, but some of them have been prevented and threatened by Mullah Mansoor.
Afghanistan International has learned that Mullah Mansoor lacks medical education and is currently a twelfth-grade student at Paktia Night School.
Sources within the Taliban's public health office in Paktia have provided Afghanistan International with a list indicating that during Mansoor's tenure, no positions have been publicly announced, and Mansoor's relatives with high salaries have been appointed to vacant positions.
Additionally, Ali Gul, who serves as the head of Zazai Aryub Hospital in Paktia province, is also the brother of Mullah Mansoor. He has appointed his niece and nephew to medical positions under his control within the hospital.
According to information available with Afghanistan International, Mullah Mansoor’s brothers have been appointed as hospital vaccinators and COVID sample transporters, receiving high salaries.
Some medical institutions in Paktia, which financially support medical personnel under Taliban oversight, express frustration with Khair Mohammad Mansoor's appointments. They declined to be named in the report due to security concerns.
Public health officials have confirmed the doctors' strike to Afghanistan International and stated that a delegation from the Taliban's Ministry of Public Health has traveled to the province to negotiate with the doctors.
The regional hospital of Paktia is one of the main healthcare facilities in the southeastern region of Afghanistan, catering to patients from Khost, Paktia, and Paktika provinces. Established with modern equipment during the previous government's tenure, the hospital currently employs approximately 300 healthcare workers.
Afghanistan International has learned that Taliban officials have seized the personal assets of several leaders and officials of the former Afghan government.
According to sources, Taliban officials have plundered the assets of Mir Rahman Rahmani, Atta Mohammad Noor, and other former officials.
With the rapid fall of the previous government and the Taliban's return to Afghan cities in the summer of 2021, many Afghan politicians abandoned their assets and left Afghanistan; a significant number of political leaders did not wish to live under Taliban control due to their staunch stance against the group.
Abdul Rashid Dostum, Karim Khalili, Yunus Qanooni, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Salahuddin Rabbani, Rahmatullah Nabil, Atta Mohammad Noor, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, and Mohammad Ismail Khan are among the leaders who left Afghanistan following the fall of the previous government.
According to information received by Afghanistan International, Taliban officials have seized the assets and homes of several of these politicians.
Afghanistan International has obtained information indicating that Manan Omari, one of the founders of the Taliban group, has "seized" the house and vehicles of Mir Rahman Rahmani, the former Speaker of the Afghan Lower House of Parliament.
Meanwhile, Idris Anwar, the Taliban's deputy governor in Parwan, has taken over the house and assets of Amanullah Guzar, a jihadi commander, and his brothers.
Information indicates that the houses of Ghulam Bahauddin Jailani, the former Minister of State for Disaster Management, have been seized by Qari Sadiq, the Taliban's intelligence chief in Parwan.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the guesthouse of Atta Mohammad Noor, a leader of one of the factions of Jamiat e Islami, has been seized by the Taliban governor in Balkh, and his garden has been taken over by the Taliban's security chief in the province.
Information shows that the Taliban in Parwan have converted the house of Jan Ahmad Haqjo, a former commander, into the headquarters of the Second Security District of the province.
The Taliban's mayor in Mazar-e Sharif has plundered the house and garden of Fazluddin Ayar, the former governor of Parwan.
However, the Taliban had previously stated that they would return the properties and assets of former government officials to their owners.
Contrary to this claim, however, the group has, since gaining power, seized the houses and assets of several political figures and former officials, converting them into military bases for their personnel.
This group had previously seized the house and vehicles of Ismail Khan, a former jihadi leader in Herat city.
According to our information, Sufi Gardizi, a Taliban member, is living in Mohammad Mohaqiq's house. Some sources said that the Taliban had also seized the house of General Murad Ali Murad.
Reports indicate that two months after gaining control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban destroyed the house of Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghan National Security, in Maidan Wardak province.
Photos of Nabil's house have been circulated, showing it reduced to ruins.
Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, brother of former President Ashraf Ghani, said in 2022 that Ibrahim Haqqani, a senior member of the Haqqani network, had "seized" Ashraf Ghani's house.
Fazl Ahmad Manawi, the former Minister of Justice of Afghanistan, also announced in 2022 that the Taliban had burned down his house and library in Panjshir province. Manawi told Afghanistan International: "There were many old and valuable books there."
Recently, the Taliban evicted Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hizb-e-Islami, from his residence and office in Kabul. The Taliban claimed that Hekmatyar was living on government land. They accused him of seizing government land, but Hekmatyar argued he was residing there based on an agreement with the previous government.
While the Taliban continues to seize land and assets of former officials, the group has established a commission to prevent land grabbing.
The exact number of houses and assets of political leaders and former government officials that have fallen into the hands of the Taliban is not currently known.