Pakistan’s Baseless Accusations Damaging Both Sides’ Relations, Says Taliban

Mujahid stated on Saturday, June 1, in an interview with Taliban-controlled Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), that the insecurity in Pakistan has nothing to do with the group.

He mentioned that although the Taliban have tried to improve relations with Pakistan, "baseless accusations" have not been helpful.

The Taliban spokesperson stated, "We have made every effort to improve relations, but unfortunately, baseless and unjust accusations have not solved any problems."

The spokesperson for Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, attributes the insecurity in Pakistan to the "weakness of the country's security forces”.

According to him, Pakistan must ensure its own security, and "Afghanistan has nothing to do with these issues”.

These remarks by Mujahid came just two days after a Pakistani delegation led by Khurram Agha, Pakistan’s Secretary Interior, travelled to Kabul to share the results of their investigation into the attack on Chinese engineers in the Besham area of Peshawar in Pakistan with the Taliban's Ministry of Interior.

According to a press release from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Khurram Agha asked the Taliban during his visit to Kabul to arrest the perpetrators of the attack on Chinese engineers, who he claimed had fled to Afghanistan.

In the past three years, Pakistani officials have attributed attacks, particularly the recent attack on Chinese engineers, to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), saying that this attack was planned from Afghan soil.

Afghanistan’s Partition Will Have Negative Consequences For Region, Says Russian Envoy

Jun 1, 2024, 14:20 GMT+1

Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President's special envoy for Afghanistan, stated that any partition of Afghanistan would have negative consequences for the entire region.

Kabulov also mentioned that it is still too early to discuss removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist organisations.

He added that although Russia is moving towards removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups, it is still premature to talk about it.

On Saturday, during a television interview with Russia-24, Zamir Kabulov said that if the number of ISIS members during the US presence in Afghanistan was 10,000 to 12,000, this number has decreased to about 3,000 during the Taliban's rule.

He said that the Taliban cannot eradicate ISIS because the group receives foreign financial support. However, he did not provide further details about the sources of this financial support.

Earlier, Andrey Belousov, the Russian Defence Minister, described Afghanistan as a source of instability in Central Asia and said, "We are on the frontline."

On Friday, May 31, the Russian Defence Minister emphasised that the situation in Afghanistan requires strengthening the country's borders with Tajikistan and the region.

According to reports from Russian state news agencies, a proposal to remove the Taliban from the list of banned organisations in Russia was recently presented to Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President.

Kabulov said that if the Russian President accepts the proposal, "it will pave the way for recognition”.

However, he stressed that it is still too early to discuss this matter.

On May 28, while speaking to reporters in Tashkent, Putin mentioned that they are consulting with regional partners, including those in Central Asia, regarding relations with the Taliban. He mentioned that they take into account the views of each of their partners and friends and will coordinate accordingly on this matter.

20 Die After Boat Sinks in Nangarhar Province

Jun 1, 2024, 13:00 GMT+1

Local Taliban officials reported that 20 people had been killed when a boat capsized in a river in Nangarhar early Saturday morning.

The Taliban governor's office in Nangarhar stated that the bodies of five victims have been recovered so far. It was reported that the boat was carrying 25 people, including women and children.

According to Taliban officials, the boat sank around 7:30am on Saturday in the Momand Dara district.

The Taliban said that five passengers of the boat were rescued.

The statement added that emergency response teams from the Taliban's Ministry of Health and other officials have been dispatched to the scene to search for the bodies of the victims.

10,000 Hectares of Agricultural Land Affected By Recent Floods In Afghanistan

Jun 1, 2024, 11:39 GMT+1

An international network, Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS), reported that the April floods in Afghanistan affected 10,000 hectares of agricultural land.

The organisation stated that the recent floods in Afghanistan have resulted in the destruction of agricultural crops.

In a report published on Friday, examining the situation in Afghanistan, Yemen, Lebanon, and Gaza, the network mentioned that the effects of multiple shocks are increasing food insecurity across the region.

The report highlighted that following a three-year drought in Afghanistan, the food security crisis persisted in the northern, northeastern, and western parts of the country.

The report also noted that the return of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan is likely to sustain acute food insecurity in the southern and southeastern regions of Afghanistan.

FEWS reported that the World Food Programme distributed humanitarian food aid to about 7.6 million people in Afghanistan in March this year, including 665,000 migrants who returned from Iran and Pakistan.

The report further mentioned that the April floods displaced 6,000 families in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan.

Recently, the United Nations announced that after consecutive years of drought, the people of Afghanistan are vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods.

The World Food Programme stated that more than 80,000 people were affected by the floods in northern Afghanistan, and USD 14 million is needed to address the consequences of the floods.

Several Taliban Officials, Including Head of Passport Department, Arrested For Corruption

Jun 1, 2024, 10:16 GMT+1

Based on a letter from the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), several officials from the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, including the head of the group's Passport Department, have been arrested on charges of bribery and corruption.

These individuals have been accused of distributing passports to foreign citizens.

The letter, which has been obtained by Afghanistan International, states that official letters from the Taliban's Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs were sent to the General Directorate of Passports, requesting cooperation in the issuance of passports for Taliban members.

The first part of the letter mentions that the Taliban's GDI, in coordination with the office of Mullah Hibatullah, the group's leader, arrested these individuals.

The letter does not confirm the identities of any of the individuals, including Abdul Karim Hasib or who have been arrested, nor does it specify their number.

At the end of the letter, it states that the cases of these officials will be sent to the Taliban leader's office in Kandahar for further investigation.

A senior Taliban official told Abdulhaq Omari, a journalist of Afghanistan International, that according to findings from the Taliban's GDI, approximately 10,000 passports were distributed, each sold for 2,000 US dollars.

This Taliban official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that a UN delegation presented evidence to Taliban leaders indicating that these passports were distributed among Al-Qaeda members.

The letter from the Taliban's GDI does not specify to whom the passports were distributed.

Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesperson for the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, stated in a message released on Monday that Abdul Karim Hasib, the head of the group's Passport Department in Kandahar, had not been arrested.

He said, "Recently, protests regarding land in Barik Ab of Nangarhar province took place, and Hasib as well as some officials from the Ministries of Interior and Defence were summoned to the leadership office to clarify this issue."

Qani added that the work of the Passport Directorate is proceeding normally without any issues.

However, sources told Afghanistan International that the head of the Taliban's Passport Department was arrested and imprisoned on April 22, by order of Hibatullah.

NRF, AFF Wage Separate Attacks Against Taliban In Kabul

Jun 1, 2024, 09:23 GMT+1

The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) and the National Resistance Front (NRF) have reported two separate attacks against the Taliban in Kabul.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front has claimed responsibility for an explosion in the Khair Khana area of Kabul, stating that the attack resulted in the deaths of two Taliban members and injuries to three others.

Simultaneously, the National Resistance Front reported the killing of two Taliban members in Kabul's police district 5.

Local sources had earlier informed Afghanistan International about a significant explosion in Khair Khana, Kabul. The Afghanistan Freedom Front announced that on Friday evening they attacked a vehicle belonging to the Taliban's Ministry of Interior at the Panjsad Family Hill in Khair Khana, within Kabul's police district 15. AFF has released a video of this attack, showing the explosion.

Meanwhile, the National Resistance Front announced that it had killed two Taliban members and wounded another one in an attack. The Resistance Front emphasised that their attack caused no injuries to their forces or to civilians. In a statement released on Friday, the National Resistance Front reported that the attack took place at 8:25pm. They said that their forces targeted a Taliban vehicle in the Fazelbeg area.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the attacks by the AFF and NRF. The National Resistance Front has declared that it will continue its "targeted" operations against the Taliban in various parts of the country.

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