Taliban Officials Discuss Border Security
Bakhtar News Agency, under the control of the Taliban, announced the holding of a meeting on border protection in the presence of Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid, the group's defence minister.
Bakhtar News Agency, under the control of the Taliban, announced the holding of a meeting on border protection in the presence of Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid, the group's defence minister.
According to the report, the meeting discussed border protection, prevention of smuggling, and protection of Afghanistan's territorial integrity.
The report, published on Wednesday, January 8, said that the protection of Afghanistan's borders was discussed during a meeting of the Central Commission for Security and Clearance Affairs, led by the Taliban's defence minister.
The details of the talks have not yet been announced, but the meeting follows Pakistan's recent airstrike on Paktika province.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had claimed that at least 46 people, including several women and children, were killed in Pakistani airstrikes in December in Barmal district of Paktika.
After these attacks, tensions on the border increased, and the Afghan Taliban attacked the border posts of Pakistani forces.
The Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AFJC) said on Tuesday that the Taliban's Office for the Promotion of Virtue in Nuristan province has officially banned taking pictures of a living person and publishing it in the province.
According to the centre, Nuristan is the sixth province to announce and implement this ban.
So far, the ban on the publication of live pictures has been officially announced in five provinces, including Kandahar, Takhar, Badghis, Helmand and Nangarhar.
The Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AFJC) has expressed serious concern over the expansion of the restriction and warned of "negative consequences on the work of the media and people's access to information".
The centre said that the Nuristan Office for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced in a statement on Monday, January 6, that the order was communicated by Din Mohammad Mostaghni, the head of Nuristan’s Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Office, in the presence of the governor and other Taliban officials.
Mostaghni said that this order was issued based on Article 17 of the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and must be strictly observed.
According to the statement of the Afghanistan Journalists Centre in Nuristan province, in addition to the provincial representative of the National Radio and Television and the state-run Bakhtar News Agency, there are three private radio stations, Elena, Soleh Sahar, and Paron Ghag.
Local sources told the centre, "The national television does not have a local programme in Nuristan, and before the ban on the publication of live images was announced, its reports were broadcast through the national television in Kabul. In addition, video reports from the provincial section of Bakhtar News Agency were also sent to Kabul."
The report of the Afghanistan Journalists Centre states that after the publication of this order, the governor's office in Nuristan has no longer published pictures of living beings on the organisation's Facebook page and instead uses pictures of office buildings.
The Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AFJC) said that although the ban has been officially announced only in Kandahar, Takhar, Badghis, Helmand, Nangarhar provinces, and recently Nuristan, the centre's findings show that the ban is spreading to other provinces and some local administrations are implementing it.
Pakistan's federal government on Tuesday told the country's Supreme Court that the validity of Afghan migrants’ Proof of Registration (PoR) cards has been extended until July 30, 2025.
The number of Afghans holding this ID card in Pakistan is about 1.3 million.
As the Constitutional Court resumes hearing of petitions against the mass deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan on Tuesday, the federal government has assured the country's Supreme Court that the validity of the PoR registration certificate cards has been extended until June 30, 2025, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.
Following the Pakistani government's decision to deport Afghan refugees en masse in October 2023, several lawsuits have been filed by the coalition of civil society activists, human rights activists, and former senators.
According to the Dawn newspaper, the federal government has assured the Supreme Court that all Afghan refugees who register themselves in Pakistan, including holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), will enjoy full legal protection and will not be detained or deported.
According to a July 22, 2024, announcement by Pakistan's Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, the deadline for Certificate of Registration or POR or ICC cards will be extended until June 30, 2025.
According to the Dawn newspaper, the total number of PoR and ACC card holders residing in Pakistan is estimated at 1.3 million and 700,000, respectively.
In recent weeks, following the escalation of tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban in Kabul, Pakistani security forces have launched extensive efforts to arrest and deport Afghan refugees, especially from the capital, Islamabad. In the past few days, many pictures have been published of house-to-house search operations in Islamabad and some other areas.
The Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced that the ministry's ombudsman had arrested three people in Kabul on charges of "moral corruption" and six others on charges of "gambling".
The ministry added that these individuals were released on bail.
The Taliban's Ministry of Promotion of Virtue reported on Tuesday, January 7, that these individuals were briefly detained in the third and fifth districts of Kabul city and released on bail.
"We are committed to preventing such acts while preserving Islamic and social values," the ministry's statement said.
The Taliban's Law for the Promotion of Virtue has given extensive powers to the group's Ministry of Virtue, whose ombudsman also has the right to arrest individuals.
Human rights organisations say that the Taliban's judicial system is not standardised and that defendants do not have access to due process, including a defence lawyer.
Michael McCaul, former chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee, warned that ISIS has been revived in Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
McCaul said that the Trump administration, which will begin its work soon, should take the growing threat of ISIS-K seriously and take action against it.
"Another issue that I'm very concerned about is the fall of Afghanistan and the catastrophe that happened there," McCaul told ABC News on Monday. We are witnessing the revival of ISIS-K in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This really worries me."
The Taliban claims to have eliminated ISIS in Afghanistan and that Afghan soil is not being used against foreign countries. However, reports by independent international organisations show that ISIS continues to recruit and expand its influence in Afghanistan. According to the UN Security Council report, ISIS has even infiltrated the Taliban's security institutions.
McCaul said in the interview that eight ISIS affiliates had recently entered the United States.
He called on US President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in less than two weeks, to confront two major threats, namely the organised threats and the media and internet activities of terrorist groups, especially ISIS.
Referring to the recent attack by an ISIS supporter in New Orleans, McCaul stressed that there is no doubt that terrorism is a growing threat to the country.
The former chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee also said that the car attack in New Orleans is a wake-up call.
"Attacking with a car is a simple method, like a killing machine, it can be easily used," he said.
Shamsuddin Jabbar, a US citizen, killed at least 14 people recently at a Christmas market in New Orleans. The FBI has said that he was inspired by ISIS. The ISIS flag was also found in the attacker's car.
Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban's army chief of staff, called on "countries that forcibly expel Afghan refugees" to stop "oppression”.
Recently, Iran and Pakistan, two of Afghanistan's neighbours, have intensified the arrest and deportation of Afghan refugees.
On Tuesday, January 7, the Taliban's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation posted a statement on its account on social media platform X, saying that while distributing land to refugees in Daman district of Kandahar province, Fitrat asked countries to allow Afghan refugees to return to the country voluntarily.
"Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, Chief of Staff of the Taliban Army, called on countries that forcibly deport Afghan refugees to stop oppressing them and allow Afghan refugees to return to their country voluntarily," the statement quoted Fitrat as saying.
Fitrat also asked the Taliban authorities to prepare the ground for the return of Afghan refugees to the country so that they can live peacefully in the country.
In recent days, Pakistani police have raided the homes of Afghan refugees in different parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, arresting migrants, including women and children, and transferring them to detention centres.
In some cases, Pakistani police have also arrested some Afghan citizens who had visas and legal residency documents in Pakistan. So far, a large number of Afghan refugees have been deported to Afghanistan after being arrested by Pakistani police.
The Taliban's embassy in Islamabad announced on Monday that Pakistani police have arrested about 800 Afghan citizens, including holders of visas, POR and immigration cards, in Islamabad.
Expressing concern over the issue, the Taliban embassy said, "The lack of clarity on the conditions for obtaining an NOC (residence permit) has caused worrying cases of arbitrary detention and deportation."