Indonesia Expresses Interest in Afghan Education & Mining Sectors

These units are tasked with carrying out special operations to ensure the Taliban leader’s security in Kandahar.

Mohammad Ali Hanafi, known as "Mullah Shirin Akhund," a close and trusted associate of Akhundzada, made the request.

On Sunday, the governor's office in Kandahar announced that a delegation led by Hamidullah Akhundzada from the Interior Ministry assessed the special units.

The delegation spent a week reviewing the units' military training, weapons, and equipment.

Previously, sources indicated that nearly seven thousand personnel are part of these special units in Kandahar, tasked with protecting Akhundzada, the Taliban leader.

These units are also responsible for ensuring the security of Kandahar during sensitive times.

These initiatives include the registration and deportation of undocumented migrants, tightening border controls, reforming visa issuance, and regulating the employment of foreign nationals.

On Saturday, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that these plans would be implemented concurrently. Mobini stated, "With optimal integrated management, we can organise foreign nationals in accordance with the policies of the Council for Policy and Coordination of Foreign Nationals and Migrants."

Following the Taliban's seizure of power on 15 August 2021, a surge of Afghan migrants crossed into Iran. Nearly three years later, the Islamic Republic of Iran has repatriated thousands of Afghan migrants back to Afghanistan.

According to Iranian authorities, 1.3 million undocumented migrants were deported from the country last year. Human rights activists have raised consistent concerns about the mistreatment of Afghan migrants by Iranian security forces, systemic discrimination against them, and their lack of access to essential services.

Majidi dismissed reports of the forced relocation of approximately 70 Ismaili families as "baseless."

According to the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, the Ismailis of Baghlan have agreed to relinquish their residential area to the Taliban.

Majidi did not disclose where these families would be relocated or whether they would receive compensation for the demolition of their homes.

Earlier, the Afghan Embassy in Italy issued a statement on Wednesday indicating that the Taliban intend to forcibly relocate about 70 Ismaili families from Pul-e-Khumri. The embassy's statement noted that the Taliban had set a deadline for these families to vacate their homes by the "third day of Eid al-Adha."

The statement further mentioned that the Taliban is exerting pressure to coerce the followers of the Shia Ismaili sect to convert to Sunni Islam.

According to information from the Afghan Embassy in Italy, these Ismaili families "have been residing in the outskirts of Pul-e-Khumri for the past 30 years." Khalid Zakaria, the Afghan Ambassador to Italy, noted that "these families are in a poor economic condition and lack the means to relocate elsewhere."

The organisation has urged the Afghan populace to vaccinate their children to protect them against this disease.

On Sunday, this organisation revealed the new polio campaign in Afghanistan on the X social platform but did not specify the campaign's duration.

According to official reports, six positive cases of polio were recorded in Afghanistan last year. Polio is a viral infection that spreads through contact with the faeces of an infected person or through sneezing, primarily affecting children under five.

Most infected individuals show no symptoms; however, common signs include high fever, sore throat, headache, stomach pain, body aches, and vomiting.

He stated that the Taliban has issued more than 560 licences to miners for the "legal extraction" of Panjshir emeralds.

The Taliban's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced in a statement on Saturday that the distribution of mining licences in Panjshir has created employment opportunities for more than 10,000 people.

Amiri has asked that the Taliban's Ministry of Mines send a technical team to survey all mineral areas in Panjshir and issue licences for the extraction of ruby mines.

The Taliban's Minister of Mines stated that the people of Panjshir should be prioritised in the issuance of licences for rubies and emeralds, as well as in the provision of job opportunities.

Over the past two years, the Taliban has repeatedly auctioned Panjshir emeralds.

Due to the economic crisis, the group has focused on extracting Afghanistan's mines, a practice that Taliban opponents consider illegal due to the Taliban's lack of legitimacy.