Taliban Military Convoy Targeted in Faizabad City Attack

The Front posted on the X social media network that the attack took place near one of the group's bases in the Sarai Shamali area of the city.

On Tuesday night, some Kabul residents informed Afghanistan International that they heard an explosion in the Khairkhana area.

According to the Front, the Taliban wanted to "transfer some detained citizens from the Khairkhana area to the center of the city”.

The Taliban has not yet commented on this matter.

Previously, the Pakistani police had been instructed to start the second phase of deportation of Afghan migrants.

However, according to an official letter from the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions of Pakistan on Monday, migrants with UNHCR registration cards will be allowed to stay in Pakistan for less than two additional months.

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations of Taliban reported on Monday that 913 individuals had been forcibly expelled from Pakistan.

According to reports from Pakistani media, since the approval of the bill to deport Afghan migrants in November last year, roughly half a million migrants have been repatriated to Afghanistan.

In the upcoming second phase of deportations, Pakistani media estimate that nearly one million Afghan migrants will be expelled from Pakistan.

UNHCR statistics indicate that approximately 2.18 million Afghan migrants reside in Pakistan, including 1.3 million registered refugees holding UNHCR cards.

Furthermore, an additional 880,000 refugees obtained temporary residence permits after registering in 2017.

The refugees say that their asylum pleas have been disregarded for years.

They have warned that their protests will persist until they receive a response from the organisation.

The refugees accuse the Indonesian police of resorting to violent measures against protesters. They allege that following their demonstrations, the local police have detained an Afghan woman.

The protesters called for attention to their immigration cases and for relocation and resettlement to other countries. According to official figures, nearly 12,000 refugees reside in Indonesia, with the majority being Afghan nationals.

Over the past year, Afghan protesters in Indonesia have staged multiple demonstrations in front of the United Nations office, yet their cases remain unaddressed.

The ministry's announcement on Monday detailed that the returnees included 308 families, as reported by border officials at Islam Qala.

However, the specifics of how many migrants returned forcibly versus voluntarily had not been disclosed.

Included among the returnees were 21 orphaned children, who have been identified and referred to the International Organisation for Migration for further assistance and family tracing efforts.

In a related statement, Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi declared that Iran expelled 1.3 million "illegal" migrants last year and emphasised that Iran is not accepting new citizens, insisting that all "unauthorised" nationals must exit the country.

Two of the individuals received 30 lashes each, while a third was sentenced to 20 lashes, although the specifics of the offences were not disclosed.

This decision was handed down on Monday by the primary court in the Ahmad Aba district of Paktia province.

In addition to corporal punishment, the court also imposed prison sentences, with two of the accused receiving one year each, and the third person being sentenced to eighteen months.

Critics have consistently argued that since their return to power, the Taliban have leveraged accusations such as these to suppress dissent, leading to arrests and trials on a range of charges.

In a similar vein last month, the Taliban court in Kandahar sentenced three individuals to extended prison terms and lashes for their involvement in political activities, illustrating the ongoing use of severe measures, including public lashings, as punishment across Afghanistan.