AFF Warns Against Russia’s Potential Removal of Taliban From Terror List

According to the sources, they had travelled from the United States to Khost to visit their families.

The sources confirmed to the Pashto section of Afghanistan International on Tuesday, that the Taliban have been holding these members of the so-called "Khost Protection Force" in prison for the past two years.

According to information received, these forces, who had gone to the United States for training, returned to Khost province after receiving their certifications.

The KPF was a group of local soldiers in Khost province, trained and equipped by the US intelligence agency, CIA. This organisation used them to fight the Taliban.

Families of some of the prisoners said that they are afraid to speak out due to fear of the Taliban.

Two residents of the Tani district of Khost, whose family members are imprisoned, said, "When these soldiers came from the United States to Khost, a few days later the Taliban intelligence agents arrested them in the district centre."

The families of these soldiers, who for security reasons refrain from revealing their names, say that members of this unit are being severely tortured in Taliban prisons.

According to sources, the Taliban members are interrogating these individuals because of their programmes and jobs in the United States.

Some families in Khost said that members of the KPF are being held at the Taliban intelligence headquarters in Khost, and the Taliban do not allow them to meet with their family members.

Some residents of Khost confirmed to Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence officials in the Khost capital and districts have also threatened some families of the KPF members with death.

A source in Khost province said, "The KPF and their families have become a source of income for the Taliban. Taliban members demand dollars in exchange for not harming their families."

One former member of the KPF in the United States said that he is in talks with US officials to help secure the release of his former comrades from Taliban prison.

So far, neither the Taliban nor US officials have officially commented on this matter.

Reports indicate that the number of KPF members reached seven thousand. This unit was solely directed by the CIA, based in Khost, and operated independently of Afghan security institutions.

The AFF claims that a Taliban commander had been killed and three other Taliban members were injured in the attack.

According to the AFF’s statement, the Taliban commander was Fazluddin Osmani. A Taliban military vehicle was also destroyed in the attack.

The AFF has also released a video purportedly showing this attack.

The Taliban's Ministry of Interior has not yet commented on the incident.

The court's statement indicated that this person was also sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.

The Taliban stated that the individual was punished based on the decision of the Taliban's court in Deh Yak district and confirmed by the group's Supreme Court.

The statement did not mention the gender of the accused. The Taliban punished this individual with 39 lashes.

Despite international condemnation of corporal punishment, the Taliban continues to carry out similar sentences.

Human rights organisations state that in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the accused have no access to any standard judicial process or fair legal mechanisms.

This train departed from Herat to Turkiye in April and was stopped in Iran for a while.

So far, Taliban and Turkish authorities have not commented on the arrival of this train in Turkiye.

The Taliban Railway Administration had announced that for the first time, 1,100 metric tonnes of minerals have been exported to the Mersin city of Turkiye.

According to ISNA, after a brief stop in Iran, this train arrived in Van, Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, on Tuesday.

Although Iranian authorities have not officially stated the reason for the train's stoppage, media outlets in the country reported, citing an Iranian official, that the transit train from Afghanistan was halted due to a lack of necessary coordination between the eastern railway and customs of Iran.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, stated that based on a decree by Mullah Hibatullah, the governors of the group in Samangan and Faryab have also been relocated.

Qalandar Ebad, the former Taliban’s Minister of Public Health, is a physician. He was appointed as the interim head of this ministry after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. However, Noor Jalal is a cleric and was introduced as the administrative deputy of the Taliban's Ministry of Interior in the summer of 2021.

The Taliban spokesperson did not provide any explanation regarding the dismissal of Ebad.

Mujahid wrote in a note on X social media platform on Tuesday, that Abdul Ahad Fazli, the former governor of the group in Samangan, has been appointed as the new governor of the Taliban in Faryab.

According to a decree by Hibatullah Akhundzada, Mohammad Shoaib Resalat, the former governor of the Taliban in Faryab, has been appointed as the governor of the group in Samangan.

Mujahid also wrote that Rahmatullah Najib, the former administrative deputy of the Taliban intelligence, has been appointed as the administrative deputy of the Ministry of Interior of the group.

As per the Taliban’s leader’s decree, Mohammad Sadiq Inqilabi, the former district governor of the Taliban in the Grishk district of Helmand province, has been appointed as the deputy governor of the group in Kandahar, and Hayatullah Mubarak, the former deputy governor of the Taliban in Kandahar, has been dismissed and assigned as the governor of Grishk district, Helmand province.

Hibatullah has been appointing most members of the group to key government positions.

The lack of professionalism among Taliban members has also been repeatedly criticised.