Taliban Seeks Release of Its Members From Guantanamo Bay In Exchange Of US Citizens

Earlier this year, Wardak was detained at Mumbai International Airport with gold worth USD 2.2 million.

According to the Times of India, Rafiullah Kaliwal, an Afghan consulate employee in Mumbai, is also implicated in the case.

The investigation by the Indian Revenue Service revealed that Wardak met one of these jewellers in January 2024 to introduce Kaliwal to facilitate the cash sale of 200 kilograms of gold.

The agency disclosed that one of the detainees confessed to selling 300 kilograms of smuggled gold from January to April to clients referred by him.

Wardak's attempt to smuggle 25 kilograms of gold from Dubai to India was scheduled for April 25.

Following reports of her involvement in gold smuggling, Wardak resigned as Afghan Consul General in Mumbai.

Indian authorities clarified that Wardak was not arrested due to her diplomatic immunity. She was appointed during Ashraf Ghani's government and became the first Afghan female diplomat to serve under the Taliban.

Indian intelligence officials confirmed ongoing investigations, with efforts to apprehend key figures in the jewellery smuggling network underway.

According to Indian Revenue Service officials, their inquiries indicate that 300 kilograms of foreign-marked gold was smuggled into India in the first four months of this year.

Officials from the agency also suggested that Wardak might have smuggled gold bars into the country previously, selling them to jewellers.

Local residents told Afghanistan International that Taliban fighters fired at the protestors, injuring four people.

So far, Taliban officials have not commented on the incident.

Videos sent by locals to Afghanistan International show protestors chanting slogans against the Taliban leader.

Protestors claimed that the Taliban responded to local protests with gunfire. In the videos received, gunfire can be heard.

They said that the Taliban entered the area with considerable force.

This is not the first time residents of Darayim have protested. Previously, clashes between the Taliban and farmers in Darayim and Argo district of Badakhshan, resulted in several protestors being killed.

The protests by these residents prompted the Taliban to send a delegation led by Fasihuddin Fitrat, the group's Chief of Staff of army, to Badakhshan to prevent the protests from spreading.

However, locals stated they would not stop protesting until non-native Taliban members left Badakhshan.

Previously, local residents had accused the Taliban of entering people's homes and harassing them.

Previously, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said that girls' education is a domestic matter.

On Tuesday, at a press conference concluding the third Doha meeting on Afghanistan, DiCarlo clarified this in response to a question.

She explained that the issue is not solely domestic, as Afghanistan has signed several international treaties, conventions, and agreements focusing on human and civil rights.

She noted that it does not matter if the government changes, as the country has committed to these agreements as a nation. DiCarlo emphasised that the matter is not internal, and the UN has made this clear.

She also highlighted that the ban on women's employment under Taliban control is detrimental to the country's economy, as it sidelines 50 percent of the population.

She added that discussions on the private sector cannot proceed without the inclusion of women. Furthermore, in matters of drug production and consumption, women's issues must be addressed since they are involved in both areas.

DiCarlo underscored these points at the end of the Doha meeting, noting that due to Taliban opposition, she could not invite women's rights advocates and civil activists to the main talks.

Although the UN invited several women to participate in the meeting's side discussions, some, including former Afghan Women's Affairs Minister Habiba Sarabi, declined the invitation.

Afghan civil and women's rights activists boycotted the meeting altogether. However, DiCarlo mentioned that she spoke with eight civil and women's rights activists on the sidelines, though their names were not disclosed.

The Taliban have banned women's employment and girls' education beyond the sixth grade, ignoring both domestic and international protests on this issue.

Taliban officials have repeatedly emphasised that girls' education and women's employment are domestic matters and that the group will address these issues in their own way and within the framework of their interpretation of Sharia.

On Monday, the Russian ambassador stated at the United Nations that Moscow discussed issues concerning Afghan women and girls with the Taliban, but the group has its own views about women and girls, which he does not agree with.

Nebenzya said that the reality is that they are dealing with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and that the group justifies its policies towards women and girls based on Islamic norms that are actually not Islamic.

The Russian ambassador said that the Taliban do not listen to the leaders and heads of Islamic countries who want to explain to them the rights of women and girls in Islam. He said, "That is the point. That is the problem."

The Taliban have asked world countries to refrain from commenting on women's education and employment in Afghanistan, as they consider it interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs.

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban’s spokesperson, warned countries at the third Doha meeting that reopening girls' schools would create a crisis in the country again. However, he did not explain his point.

According to statistics from the previous government's Ministry of Education, before the government's collapse, at least 36 percent of the millions of students in Afghanistan were girls.

DiCarlo told Afghanistan International that while this topic was discussed at the Doha meeting, no decision was made.

In an interview with Maryam Rahmati, Afghanistan International's reporter in Qatar, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs stated that there was no agreement to lift sanctions against the Taliban.

She explained that lifting sanctions is not within the UN's authority but is a decision made by individual countries.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson and head of the group's delegation at the Doha meeting, had written on the X social media platform that there was a "commitment to remove economic and banking restrictions”. However, DiCarlo clarified, "We only discussed sanctions. The Taliban expressed their concerns about the impact of sanctions on the private sector and the issue of narcotics."

Status of Women "Not a Domestic Issue"

The Taliban refuse to discuss women's rights and freedoms, including the right to education and work, and the inclusivity of the government, claiming these are internal issues and part of "Afghan culture”.

DiCarlo stressed that "these are not domestic issues. Afghanistan has signed international conventions over the years and must adhere to them”.

Regarding the inclusion of women in future meetings, DiCarlo noted that the decision is not within her authority. She urged the Taliban to go beyond the issue of drug control and address women's and girls' participation and ethnic group equality.

DiCarlo refrained from commenting on "gender apartheid," stating that the topic was not discussed at the Doha meeting as it is a legal issue. However, various other issues, including girls' education and Afghanistan's social diversity, were raised.

Narcotics and Alternative Cultivation

DiCarlo described the Taliban's statements at the session as "convincing," noting that the group has made significant progress in fighting drug trafficking. Yet, she acknowledged that there are challenges in providing alternative crops and treating addiction.

The Taliban expects help from the international community and the UN to introduce alternatives to poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

The Doha meeting took place on June 30 and July 1, with representatives from regional and global countries, as well as a Taliban delegation, in attendance.

The UN has faced significant criticism for excluding women and civil society activists from the meeting and ignoring Afghanistan's political factions.