Will Not Forget Pakistan's Benevolence Or Its Aggression, Says Taliban’s Foreign Minister

During the meeting with Abbas Araghchi, Bekdeli outlined plans to develop relations with the Taliban.

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran wrote on social media platform X that Alireza Bekdeli, in a meeting with Abbas Araghchi, "presented a report on the scope of his mission and outlined the upcoming plans in the field of pursuing the development of relations and cooperation between the two neighbouring countries".

In a meeting between the Charge d'Affaires of the Iranian Embassy in Kabul and Interior Minister Iskandar Momeni, the importance of strengthening cooperation between the Interior Ministries of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Taliban was also emphasised.

Details of plans for developing relations with the Taliban have not been announced.

Although the Islamic Republic does not recognise the Taliban like other countries, it has close diplomatic and economic relations with the group.

Alireza Bekdeli arrived in Kabul on Saturday, November 30, for the official start of his mission. Upon his arrival in Kabul, he was welcomed by the Taliban's Foreign Ministry officials.

Alireza Bekdeli has replaced Hassan Kazemi Qomi by decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Qomi was the special representative of the Iranian president for Afghanistan affairs and introduced himself as the head of Iran's diplomatic mission in Kabul.

The Taliban said that one of the defendants was sentenced to 39 lashes and the other was given 29 lashes.

According to a statement by the Taliban's Supreme Court, the group sentenced the first defendant to five years in prison and the second defendant to two months in prison.

The Taliban has not commented on the identities of the suspects.

Despite international condemnation, the Taliban government announces the implementation of corporal punishment sentences against defendants almost daily.

Human rights organisations have repeatedly called on the Taliban to end corporal punishment of defendants.

Sargar said that the Pakistani army has no incentive to fight and that the Taliban should seize the opportunities.

"The tribes have risen up, the soldiers of Islam are fighting there, the people are suspicious of the government, and the army has no incentive to fight," Sargar wrote in a note on social media platform X.

In the note, which appears to be in response to recent attacks by Pakistani warplanes on TTP centres in Barmal district of Paktika province, the Taliban’s intelligence agency spokesman wrote, "Now is not the time for promises or expressions of feelings, strategic alliance is needed, power is needed, unity is needed."

According to the Taliban spokesman, Punjab province has been separated from other parts of Pakistan and there is a "high probability of disintegration" of Pakistan.

He described the history of the Pakistani army as full of "shame and disgrace", which he said the "Ummah of Islam" considers the Pakistani government to be the second "Zionist regime".

In his note, the Taliban's intelligence agency spokesman stressed that "we must therefore seize the opportunities”. The Taliban spokesman did not specify who he meant by "soldiers of Islam”.

However, he appears to be referring to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants who have intensified their attacks against Pakistani security forces in recent years, especially after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.

Islamabad expected that with the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan, the intensity of attacks by its allies, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Pakistan, would decrease, but on the contrary, the group increased the intensity of its attacks in the country.

Senior Pakistani officials have accused the Afghan Taliban of harbouring and training TTP fighters. Earlier, Pakistan's defence minister had threatened that Islamabad might launch an attack against TTP bases on Afghan soil.

On Tuesday evening, as Pakistan's special envoy Mohammad Sadiq visited Kabul and met with senior Taliban officials, Pakistani warplanes attacked TTP headquarters in Barmal district of Paktika in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban said that 46 civilians, including women and children, were killed in the attack.

Earlier on Wednesday, TTP spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said at least 50 people, including 27 women and children, had been killed in Pakistani airstrikes. The victims are displaced persons who fled to Afghanistan due to the Pakistani army's invasion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said.

This group, called "Hamid Qarluq's Justice Team", wrote in a statement that the health and mental condition of this social activist is not good due to torture meted out to him inside the Taliban's prison.

The group called on human rights organisations and the international community not to be indifferent to the human rights situation in Afghanistan and to defend the freedom and rights of civil and social activists.

Hamid Qarluq was arrested by the Taliban's intelligence agency in Takhar province without any specific charges.

Earlier, the Women's Solidarity Network said in a statement that the civil society activist was collecting donations from people to rebuild schools, parks and help those in need.

The ministry said on Wednesday that of a total of 400 districts, only 93 districts of the country have hospitals.

The press conference of the Taliban's Ministry of Public Health was held in Kabul on Wednesday, December 25, in the presence of a number of officials of the ministry.

Officials of the Taliban's Ministry of Health said at the meeting that health services in remote areas of Afghanistan have not been properly developed in recent decades.

The Taliban's Ministry of Health said that due to the lack of hospitals in the villages, patients are referred to health centres in the provincial capital for treatment of minor problems.

Emphasising on the expansion of services in remote areas of the country, the ministry announced that a budget has been allocated by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada for the construction of 318 hospitals in the districts, and the construction process of these hospitals will begin after the completion of the legal and administrative procedures.

According to information provided by the Taliban's Ministry of Health, there are currently 13,000 beds in the country, and with the construction of new hospitals, another 10,000 beds will be added.

The ministry also added that 27,000 professional and administrative staff are expected to be employed in the new hospitals.