The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that the group carried out public floggings of two individuals in Kabul and Kunduz provinces. The Taliban accused them of "illicit relationships" and "murder."
In separate statements, the Taliban’s Supreme Court stated that these individuals were sentenced to one year of imprisonment and 39 lashes, administered on Sunday and Monday.
The Taliban frequently report the implementation of corporal punishment for accused individuals across various provinces of Afghanistan.
Human rights organisations and the international community have repeatedly urged the Taliban to halt such punishments.
According to human rights groups, the Taliban’s judicial system lacks proper standards, and defendants are deprived of due process, including the right to legal representation.
Amir Muqam, Pakistan’s Minister for States and Frontier Regions, has stated that negotiations with the Taliban do not fall under the authority of Pakistan’s provincial governments.
Earlier, Ali Amin Gandapur, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had announced that a delegation of "tribal elders" would soon be sent to Afghanistan for talks with the Taliban.
Gandapur had remarked that Pakistan’s federal government had been unsuccessful in establishing peace with neighbouring countries.
However, speaking with Dawn News, Muqam clarified: "Negotiations with Afghanistan are not the domain of the provincial government; it is a federal subject."
The Pakistani minister stressed that if a province wishes to engage in talks with a foreign country, it must first seek approval from the federal government. He questioned, "If the province negotiates on its own behalf, then who will implement the commitments made during the talks?"
Pakistani officials have accused the Afghan Taliban of providing refuge to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allowing them to use Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan.
The Taliban have repeatedly denied these allegations, insisting that Pakistani officials are attempting to shift blame for their own failure to ensure national security onto the Afghan Taliban.
Hidayatullah Badri, the Taliban’s Minister of Mines, has ordered the commencement of surveys and assessments for lithium and uranium mines in Helmand and Nimroz provinces during his recent visit.
The objective of these assessments is to evaluate the feasibility of mineral extraction.
However, mining experts have raised concerns over uranium extraction, warning of its serious environmental risks, particularly given Afghanistan’s lack of capacity for proper management and standard extraction procedures.
On Sunday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines announced that Badri had tasked the ministry’s engineering team with assessing lithium reserves in the Godzareh area of Chahar Burjak district in Nimroz. Additionally, he visited uranium deposits in the Khanashin and Dishu districts of Helmand, ordering evaluations of these sites.
Afghanistan’s Limited Technical Capacity for Uranium Extraction
Experts argue that the Taliban lacks the necessary expertise and infrastructure to manage mining operations effectively, warning that any attempt to extract uranium under current conditions could result in an environmental catastrophe. Even the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines has acknowledged its deficiencies, admitting a lack of technical knowledge, infrastructure, and expertise for proper extraction.
Dr. Mohammad Tanha, a nuclear technology researcher based in Germany, pointed out that past assessments of Afghanistan’s uranium and lithium reserves were conducted by Russian and American researchers, with comprehensive documentation available.
He noted that while lithium is in high global demand and Afghanistan possesses substantial reserves, the country’s uranium deposits are not significant enough to be commercially viable.
“In the global market, uranium production is dominated by just 20 countries, with 50 percent of the supply coming from only five nations. Afghanistan’s uranium reserves are unlikely to be economically competitive,” Tanha explained.
He stressed that uranium extraction is a highly complex process with severe environmental consequences. “The environmental damage could be catastrophic, contaminating the land for hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years, increasing the risk of cancer and other diseases,” he warned.
Tanha also criticised the Taliban’s opaque approach to mining, stating, “Expecting transparency from a government built on deception and plundering is utterly meaningless.”
Abdul Qadir Mutfi, a former spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines, suggested that the Taliban’s interest in mining is driven by financial desperation.
“The Taliban is facing a severe financial crisis and sees mining as a potential solution. Uranium, lithium, and other minerals are strategically valuable commodities on the global market, but the real issue is how these resources are being extracted and at what cost,” he stated.
Reflecting on the past two decades, Mutfi noted that extensive efforts had been made to map Afghanistan’s mineral wealth. However, he warned that under Taliban control, mining operations are being conducted recklessly, potentially triggering a severe environmental crisis.
“In the current situation, extracting Afghanistan’s mineral resources—whether aluminium or lithium—without a legal and national framework is pushing the country towards disaster. The negative consequences of this unregulated extraction are not yet fully apparent, but over time, they will become undeniable,” Mutfi cautioned.
Experts warn that if unregulated mining continues, Afghanistan’s environment and communities will suffer long-term and irreversible damage, making future remediation efforts increasingly difficult.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, has responded to reports of meetings between Pakistani intelligence officials and Afghan political leaders in Türkiye, warning them against becoming pawns of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Khalilzad stated that Pakistan’s security apparatus is likely attempting to use these leaders as leverage in negotiations with the Taliban to extract concessions, only to abandon them later—an experience some have faced in the past.
On Monday, Khalilzad wrote on X: "There are reports of meetings between Pakistan’s ISI officials and former Afghan leaders who now live in Turkiye. If true, this is a bad sign."
He suggested that these reports indicate Pakistan’s intention to exploit former Afghan leaders for propaganda purposes and as recruitment agents for impoverished Afghan youth, promoting violence and death in Afghanistan while the leaders themselves reside in comfort in exile.
Khalilzad further emphasised that former Afghan leaders must exercise caution to avoid becoming instruments in ISI’s strategic manoeuvres.
Earlier, sources told Afghanistan International that a high-ranking delegation from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was scheduled to meet with former Afghan officials and jihadist figures in Istanbul.
According to these sources, prominent figures such as Abdul Rashid Dostum, Salahuddin Rabbani, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, Mohammad Mohaqiq, and Karim Khalili were expected to attend these discussions.
The objective of the meeting was reportedly to increase Pakistan’s engagement with political opponents of the Taliban and to facilitate the reopening of their political offices in Islamabad.
Khalid Pashtoon, spokesperson for the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan, denied reports that the council’s leadership had met with the Pakistani intelligence delegation. However, he stated that if Pakistan were to send a delegation for peace talks and to improve the situation in Afghanistan, the council would be open to discussions.
Pashtoon remarked, "If Pakistan wants to meet with the Resistance Council, it is essentially a form of engagement, and such meetings should not be considered wrong or sinful."
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and the subsequent rise in security concerns in Pakistan, Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghan Taliban leaders of harbouring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants. However, the Taliban have denied these claims, insisting that Afghan territory will not be used against any country.
A human rights organisation, Haalvsh, has reported that Iranian military forces opened fire on a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants along the Saravan-Khash route, resulting in the death of one person and the injury of another.
The incident reportedly occurred at approximately 8:00 AM on Sunday.
According to Haalvsh, following the shooting, the driver of the vehicle abandoned the injured and deceased migrants and fled the scene.
The organisation stated that Iranian forces fired on the migrants’ vehicle on Sunday morning, leading to the fatality of one Afghan migrant.
Citing its sources, Haalvsh reported that Iranian authorities did not make any efforts to transport the injured migrant to a hospital.
A video released by the organisation depicts two individuals lying on the ground. Based on the footage, the migrant killed by Iranian forces appears to be under 18 years of age.
In the video, a man standing beside the victim’s body states, "We were coming from Khash when the checkpoint opened fire. My son was killed."
The footage also shows another individual with a leg injury lying on the ground.
Thus far, Iranian and Taliban officials have not commented on the incident.
On Sunday, 2 February, the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced that its fighters had attacked the entrance gate of the Taliban police headquarters in Takhar the previous evening.
According to the group, five Taliban members were killed, and three others were injured in the attack.
Earlier, local sources informed Afghanistan International about an explosion outside the Taliban police headquarters in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province.
According to these sources, the explosion occurred around 6:00 PM on Saturday.
The AFF stated that its attack targeted a group of Taliban members who were preparing to travel to Baharak district to arrest several religious scholars critical of Taliban policies.
Taliban local officials have yet to comment on the incident.