Rail Consortium Says Connecting Kandahar To Chabahar Is Taliban’s Priority

Zhirnov stated that every country has its own motivations for relations with Afghanistan.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special envoy to Afghanistan, had said in June that the proposal to remove the Taliban from the list of banned organisations in Russia had been submitted to Vladimir Putin for a final decision.

Kabulov mentioned that there are still issues concerning the Taliban, and a decision will be made after those are resolved.

The Russian ambassador also stated that cooperation between Moscow and Kabul in supplying oil products has begun.

According to him, given that both Russia and the Taliban are under sanctions, the dollar currency has been removed from trade transactions, and traders from both countries are using rubles and afghanis.

Zhirnov also noted that Russia's exports to Afghanistan have increased, with more food and fuel being exported to Afghanistan.

Rezazadeh warned of the infiltration of terrorists into Iranian territory and emphasised that arms smuggling is ongoing at the Iranian border.

In an interview with the Iranian news agency Shafaqna, he said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran shares approximately 1,950 kilometres of border with Afghanistan and Pakistan; in other words, our provinces of South Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan, and even Hormozgan are bordering the two countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Given my understanding of these two borders, unfortunately, the authorities of Afghanistan and Pakistan do not have full control over their borders."

He emphasised that "bandits and terrorist elements" dominate the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that arms traffickers are present across these borders.

The Iranian parliament member stated that Iran's forces are making significant efforts to maintain border security and have full oversight of the borders, but according to him, the topography of the border makes human control very difficult.

Rezazadeh said that Iran needs electronic tools, cameras, and modern equipment to maintain the security of its borders.

He called on the Iranian Ministry of Interior to devise a special plan for border control.

Rezazadeh further stated that the inability to control the borders has resulted in several thousand Afghans, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis entering Iran illegally each year.

He said, "It is possible that among the illegal entrants, there are also terrorists."

These remarks come as Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's president-elect, said during his election campaign that he would close the border with Afghanistan if elected.

He said that Western countries must take responsibility for their actions in Afghanistan, which have led to the migration of millions of Afghans.

Baloch emphasised that the Afghan Taliban must take serious action against groups involved in "terrorist attacks" in Pakistan.

In her weekly press conference, she said that the Pakistani government is engaged in combating terrorist activities within the country, but the terrorist group Hafiz Gul Bahadur has been given refuge in Afghanistan.

Hafiz Gul Bahadur is one of the key commanders of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistani officials say that this militant commander opposing the Pakistani government resides in Afghanistan.

The spokesperson also acknowledged that the Pakistani government has shared its concerns about the Bannu attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Taliban officials.

Baloch added that "terrorist activities" are a major threat to the bilateral relations between the two countries, endangering Pakistan's stability. She said that terrorists using Afghan soil threaten global peace.

In recent months, the group led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur has claimed responsibility for several bloody attacks in Pakistan.

In the latest incident, the Pakistani army said that on Monday, fighters from the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group attacked a military base in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This attack resulted in the deaths of eight Pakistani soldiers.

Pakistani officials said that two of the attackers were Afghans. The Taliban have consistently denied the allegations.

In a statement released on Friday, the department stated that Amin ul-Haq was involved in numerous terrorist activities.

Dawn, Pakistani newspaper, reported that Amin ul-Haq's name is on the UN's global terrorist list.

Pakistan has described the arrest of Amin ul-Haq as a significant breakthrough in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan and globally.

The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department said that this senior Al-Qaeda leader was planning a large-scale terrorist project.

Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 during a US raid on his hideout in the Abbottabad city of Pakistan.

According to a report by Afghanistan International published in September 2021, Amin ul-Haq entered Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban seized control of Kabul. A video circulating on social media at that time showed a convoy transporting Amin ul-Haq from Pakistan to Nangarhar province.

Qaani mentioned that their common goal is to expel the United States from the Middle East.

The Afghanistan United Front led by Sami Sadat, reported that the agreement to fund Al-Qaeda's military operations was made during a meeting in October 2021, attended by the current leader of Al-Qaeda, senior Taliban representatives, and the commander of the Quds Force.

According to the report, Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force, the external branch of Iran's Islamic Republic Guards Corp (IRGC), Saif al-Adel, former global operations commander of Al-Qaeda and the current leader of the network, and senior Taliban representatives were present at the meeting in Tehran.

This was the first meeting between the IRGC commander, the leader of Al-Qaeda, and senior Taliban representatives in Tehran.

AUF’s report stated that during this meeting, Qaani congratulated the Taliban on their victory in Afghanistan and added that they accomplished a great task, and it was time to focus on expelling US forces from the Middle East.

Sami Sadat, a former Afghan army commander who went to the US after the fall of the Afghan government, later founded the Afghanistan United Front with several other Afghans.

This week, the group prepared an intelligence assessment of Al-Qaeda's activities in Afghanistan and worldwide, a copy of which was provided to Afghanistan International.

The report did not specify the sources or the organisations with which this assessment was prepared.

The Afghanistan United Front stated that senior IRGC and Al-Qaeda representatives agreed on cooperation and peace between Iran's proxy groups and Al-Qaeda branches in the Middle East and Africa. According to the report, "Peace was established between the Houthis and Al-Qaeda in the Middle East, and coordination was achieved with Hezbollah and militia groups in Iraq and Syria."

The group also claimed that the increased presence of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is a result of the agreement between the Taliban, Iran, and Al-Qaeda.

The report stated, "It was agreed that the Taliban would provide space and tools for training Al-Qaeda's combat forces in Afghanistan. The IRGC is ready to cover all of Al-Qaeda's expenses in Afghanistan and the network's overseas operations in the Middle East and Africa."

After the fall of the first Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001, Al-Qaeda fighters and part of Osama bin Laden's family, the former leader of Al-Qaeda, resided in Iran.

In February 2023, the US Department of State announced that Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian Islamist, was in Iran and had assumed leadership of Al-Qaeda after the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former leader of the group.

In the same month, the UN sanctions monitoring team reported that the overwhelming majority of the team's members believed that Saif al-Adel, who had been operating in Iran under the protection of the Islamic Republic for years, was the current leader of Al-Qaeda.

The US Department of State has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Saif al-Adel due to his role in the attacks on US embassies in Africa.

Iran has denied the presence of the Al-Qaeda leader within its borders, calling it part of the US “Iranophobia” campaign.

AUF reported that after the three parties' meeting and commitments, Al-Qaeda's recruitment and training centres have significantly increased in Afghanistan, and the terrorist group's financial capacity in the Middle East and Africa has been strengthened.

The report added, "Since early July, the IRGC has been closely cooperating with Abdul Rahman al-Maghrebi, Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, to arm and support Ibrahim al-Banna, the new Al-Qaeda leader in the Middle East, to increase attacks in the Red Sea and target Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates."

According to the report, in June 2022, the IRGC commander asked Saif al-Adel, the current leader of Al-Qaeda, to attack Israeli embassies and intelligence agencies in the UAE. Iran was supposed to provide the explosives, while Al-Qaeda would be responsible for the operational force.

Following these increased threats, Israeli diplomats and intelligence officers were forced to leave the UAE.

The Afghanistan United Front stated that Iran believed its nuclear scientists and military commanders were being targeted by Israeli intelligence based in the UAE.

According to the report, in January 2024, as the US and British navies increased pressure on the Houthis, the IRGC asked Al-Qaeda to plan attacks on US and British embassies.

The task was given to Khalid Batarfi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but he died a month later from an unknown illness. The report added that the attack has been postponed but not cancelled.