Taliban Flogs 11 Individuals Publicly In Kandahar Province

Singh refrained from providing further details or specifically commenting on the Pakistani military attacks in Afghanistan during the press conference.

US officials have consistently expressed their support for what they call Pakistan's counter-terrorism operations.

Last February, at the same time as the Pakistani military's attack on targets in Khost and Paktika, Pakistani media reported that Donald Blome, the US Ambassador to Islamabad, told Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari in a meeting that Washington supports Islamabad in its fight against terrorism.

At that time, the Pakistani military stated that it had attacked the positions of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) in these two provinces of Afghanistan, killing several militants.

Late last month, the Pakistani military also attacked TTP positions in Paktika.

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering TTP in Afghanistan. The Taliban government officials have consistently denied this claim.

He urged Biden to assert his authority as the President of the United States and ensure Corbett's immediate release.

The Taliban arrested Corbett on August 10, 2022.

The Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee said on Wednesday that Corbett is being held in solitary confinement under very poor conditions and has developed physical health issues.

McCaul stated that Corbett has been involved in humanitarian aid and providing opportunities to people in Afghanistan for over a decade. He should not be treated as a criminal.

He again called on the President to act decisively and prioritise Ryan's immediate release.

Corbett’s wife has said that his mental and physical health has significantly deteriorated in recent months.

The Taliban have not disclosed the reasons for this US citizen's arrest. However, earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior US official, that the Taliban demanded the release of Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, who has been imprisoned in Guantanamo since 2008, in exchange for Corbett's freedom.

At a meeting of the Central Bank's Supreme Council, Badri stated that the liquidity situation in banks has improved because "people's deposits in the Islamic banking sector have increased by 4% as compared to the previous quarter”.

According to the Bakhtar News Agency, Badri also spoke about the "improvement in the asset status, management, and liquidity of the banks”.

In the past two years, the value of the Pakistani rupee and the Iranian rial against the US dollar has significantly decreased. Additionally, these countries are suffering from severe inflation.

Experts say that the influx of financial aid from Western countries has helped stabilise the value of the Afghani.

These activists said that the Shia community must, if necessary, stand against the oppression of the Taliban, even through armed resistance.

This meeting, held on Saturday, June 8, was organised by Zakariya Mashkur Kabuli, a cleric and political activist, in collaboration with Shia Islamic centers in Frankfurt, Germany, to discuss the situation of Afghan Shias under Taliban rule.

The participants of the meeting said in a statement that the Taliban not only ignore the rights of Shias, but also that their policies threaten their security and lives.

The statement added, "The Shia community must stand against the oppression and tyranny of the Taliban in an organised manner and, if necessary, through armed resistance."

They also emphasised on the importance of cooperation and unity with other anti-Taliban forces.

Several Afghan Shias from Australia, Sweden, Turkey, and Iran also participated in this meeting online.

The participants stated in their joint statement that only by creating a united front they can stand against the "Taliban's aggressions" and achieve their civil rights and freedoms.

The statement added that this cooperation could include political, military, and social groups whose common goal is to confront the Taliban.

The activists in this meeting stated that trusting the Taliban is a mistake, emphasising that the Taliban consistently violate the rights of minorities and act with discrimination and repression.

The statement mentioned that the only way to preserve the rights and security of Shias is through continuous resistance and struggle against the Taliban.

They called on the international community and neighbouring countries of Afghanistan to support the Shia community's struggle against the Taliban.

He mentioned that efforts are being made to repatriate these prisoners to their home countries, provided they consent.

IRNA news agency, reported on Wednesday that the Iranian Ministry of Justice is trying to return foreign prisoners to their respective countries through extradition treaties.

Iran’s deputy justice minister for human rights told IRNA, "Currently, the highest number of foreign prisoners in Iranian prisons are from Afghanistan, and our effort is to return all of them to their country. However, due to infrastructural weaknesses in Afghanistan, this has not been possible."

Jalalian said that he is trying to negotiate with the Taliban's prisoner transfer committee to transfer Afghan prisoners, but the transfer is conditional on the prisoner's consent.

He said, "Although housing foreign prisoners imposes financial, political, and security costs on the government, the transfer of prisoners depends on their consent, and if they do not consent, the transfer will not take place."

This Iranian official's announcement of the extradition of Afghan prisoners to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan comes amid previous reports of the arrest of former Afghan security forces and members of anti-Taliban fronts in Iran.

Previously, Iran had handed over Afghan prisoners to the Taliban on several occasions.