Russian & Taliban Foreign Ministers Meet On Sidelines of Moscow Summit

Taliban officials in Kunduz province have not yet commented on the incident.

Meanwhile, residents of Kunduz province confirmed to Afghanistan International on Saturday, October 5, that an explosion had taken place at the Imam Sahib port.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front has posted a video on the social media network X documenting the moment of the explosion in Kunduz Province.

The front said in a statement that 13 Taliban members had been killed and two others were wounded in the attack.

"The attack was carried out at 6:25pm on Friday by the forces of the National Resistance Front on the headquarters of the third Battalion of the Fourth Brigade, a special unit of the Ministry of Defence of the Taliban in the village of Mohammad Baig Khel," the statement said.

The National Resistance Front called the attack "one of the most deadly attacks by the National Resistance Front forces against the Taliban in recent months”.

On Friday evening, residents of Panjshir reported a relatively powerful explosion in Dara district to Afghanistan International. Local sources said that after the explosion, the Taliban closed the area and evacuated the victims of the explosion with ambulances.

Abdullah Farooqi, a spokesman for the Taliban's police command in Panjshir, said that a gas balloon exploded in a guesthouse, injuring six people in the incident.

The injured were rushed to medical centres and are in critical condition, he said. He wrote on the social media network X that the explosion did not cause any financial damage.

According to the report, these Afghan refugee families returned to Afghanistan from the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Pul-e-Abrisham, and Islam Qala crossings.

According to figures published by Bakhtar, 35 families entered Afghanistan through the Torkham crossing, 30 families from the Spin Boldak crossing, 77 families from the Silk Bridge crossing, and 99 families from the Islam Qala crossing.

Iran and Pakistan have sharply increased the deportation of Afghan refugees without residency documents.

These immigrants are forcibly deported in most cases.

According to local sources, the target of the attack was a flower-covered vehicle that belonged to the wedding ceremony of one of the Taliban commanders.

According to the information provided, three children were injured in the blast and were transferred to Takhar Central Hospital.

So far, no information has been released about the damage caused to the Taliban in the incident, and authorities are investigating the details of the explosion.

Zamir Kabulov said that the invitation to the BRICS summit can only be done with the agreement of all its members. The Taliban has asked Russia to be invited to the meeting.

Tass news agency reported on Friday that Zamir Kabulov told reporters after the Moscow consultative format meeting that inviting the Taliban to Kazan would depend on how BRICS members react to it.

The BRICS summit is scheduled to be held from October 22 to 24 in the Russian city of Kazan.

Two weeks ago, Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported that the Taliban had sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov asking him to attend the BRICS leaders' meeting.

The letter states that Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's deputy prime minister, is interested in attending the BRICS meeting.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko announced on Thursday, October 3, that the Taliban's request to participate in the BRICS summit has not yet been approved. Rudenko said that the BRICS countries have not yet reached a consensus for the presence of a Taliban representative in the meeting.

The main members of the BRICS group include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The group expanded with the membership of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Ethiopia at the beginning of this year.

Zabihullah Mujahid told the Taliban-controlled National Radio and Television on Wednesday, September 26, that powerful countries in the economic arena are members of the BRICS, and that is why Taliban representatives want to participate in the upcoming meeting. He added that the move could provide more opportunities for Afghanistan.