Taliban Foreign Minister Mum On Shia Leaders’ Call To Include Educated Professionals

The report raising serious humanitarian concerns as thousands of vulnerable individuals particularly women and girls return to uncertain and often dire conditions in Afghanistan.

Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan, visited the Torkham border crossing and described the situation as deeply troubling. "Tens of thousands of Afghans are returning from Pakistan, many of whom have been forced to leave," he said. "They are exhausted, anxious, and unsure of what lies ahead."

According to Jamal, many of the returnees were forced to leave with only a few personal belongings, and some have never set foot in Afghanistan before. "Vulnerable groups especially women and girls are particularly distressed. They face a future devoid of access to education, livelihoods, and basic freedoms."

The UN official emphasised that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains precarious, with half the population reliant on aid. He reiterated the UNHCR’s commitment to providing emergency assistance at border crossings, including protection services and essential cash support.

However, Jamal warned that the agency is grappling with severe budget cuts. "We urgently need more support. The lives of millions of Afghans depend on this assistance," he said.

On Sunday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior reported that 100,529 Afghan nationals had been expelled since the beginning of April. The ministry noted that approximately three million Afghans currently reside in Pakistan.

He added that simultaneously Russia has been working to safeguard its interests in Afghanistan, Syria, and the broader Middle East.

Speaking to the Russian state news agency TASS, Shoigu stated: “Russia’s national interests in the global arena include such comprehensive problems as the situation in the Middle East, Syria, and Afghanistan.” He did not elaborate further but noted that Russia’s interests vary depending on the specific circumstances in each region.

Shoigu highlighted that, within the post-Soviet space, a key strategic objective remains the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with neighbouring countries through organisations such as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

His comments on Afghanistan come shortly after Russia’s Supreme Court approved a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office to suspend the Taliban’s designation as a terrorist organisation in Russia. Following this decision, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, visited Kabul and held meetings with senior Taliban officials, including Amir Khan Muttaqi, Foreign Minister, and Sirajuddin Haqqani, Interior Minister.

Moscow Security Conference Set for May

Shoigu also announced that this year’s Moscow International Security Conference will be held from 27 to 29 May. According to Shoigu, representatives from more than 150 countries are expected to attend the annual gathering.

Organised by the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the conference focuses on multilateral cooperation and regional and global security challenges. It remains unclear whether the Taliban has been invited to participate this year, although former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has attended in previous years.

Regarding the conference agenda, Shoigu stated: “We plan to discuss concrete ways of strengthening security cooperation with countries of the global majority, or, as it is said today, the global South and East.”

In addition to plenary sessions and panel discussions, the event will feature exhibitions showcasing modern Russian weaponry, military equipment, and achievements in the field of information security.

Among the most controversial is the law on the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice, which has drawn significant criticism for its sweeping restrictions on human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls. Since taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have abolished nearly all laws instituted under the previous government, including the Afghan Constitution, replacing them with decrees and directives attributed to Mullah Hibatullah, which are now treated as binding law.

In its recent statement, the Ministry of Justice also highlighted several other enacted laws, including the law on hearing complaints, the law on preventing land usurpation and returning seized lands, the law on the money exchange and financial services sector, the law on industrial zones, and the law on leasing “Emirati” lands.

While comprehensive legislation already existed in these sectors under the former administration, the Taliban have opted to overhaul or replace them entirely.

The ministry also reported that, since 2021, it has issued four procedural guidelines, one charter, and dozens of decrees, rulings, and directives from Akhundzada. A substantial number of these have directly targeted women’s rights and personal freedoms, contributing to ongoing domestic and international concern.

Legislation Rooted in Quran and Hanafi Jurisprudence

According to the ministry, over the past four years it has reviewed, researched, and finalised 119 legislative documents, including laws, charters, statutes, procedural guidelines, and regulations. An additional 196 documents have undergone jurisprudential analysis based on the Holy Quran, the traditions of the Prophet, and Hanafi jurisprudence.

These legislative documents include revisions or new drafts of the Police law, the law on the regulation of prisons, the mining law, the law on the transfer and repatriation of prisoners, the environmental law, the customs law, the labour law, and the private investment law.

By discarding the previous constitution, the Taliban have reaffirmed that their legal system is now grounded solely in Islamic texts, Hanafi legal tradition, and the decrees of their supreme leader.

Despite nearly four years in power, the Taliban government remains unrecognised by any country including Pakistan. Their rigid interpretation and enforcement of Sharia, particularly in regard to women’s freedoms, have not only isolated the regime internationally but also fuelled growing divisions within the Taliban leadership itself.

Prominent figures such as Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai have publicly opposed policies like the continued ban on education for girls and women, highlighting internal dissent within the group over the direction of its rule.

According to a statement released by the Taliban governor’s office in Herat, TAPI Project Director Abdullah Youf also confirmed that an additional 24 kilometres of the pipeline route have been levelled and prepared for construction.

The TAPI pipeline named after the participating countries of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India is a strategically significant infrastructure project designed to transport natural gas across South and Central Asia. The pipeline will extend 1814 kilometres in total, including 214 kilometres in Turkmenistan, 774 kilometres in Afghanistan, and 826 kilometres in Pakistan, before reaching Fazilka in India.

During a recent meeting with Youf, Herat’s Taliban-appointed governor, Noor Ahmad Islamjar, pledged full cooperation and facilitation to accelerate the pipeline’s construction through western Afghanistan.

The pipeline is expected to deliver up to 33 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually from the Galkynysh gas field in southern Turkmenistan. Its planned route will pass through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan, Quetta and Multan in Pakistan, and into northern India.

First launched nearly nine years ago in Herat with the participation of leaders from all four nations, the $10 billion project has faced repeated delays due to political tensions and prolonged instability—particularly within Afghanistan.

However, following renewed talks last year, the Taliban administration and Turkmen authorities agreed to resume construction inside Afghanistan. Taliban officials claim the project could generate up to $400 million in annual revenue for the country once operational.

The letter, signed by 49 organisations including Afghan women’s protest movements and advocacy groups was addressed to the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the State Department, as well as to US senators, members of Congress, and relevant federal agencies.

The signatories called for urgent action to support Afghan refugees, warning that delays in relocation efforts are putting lives at risk.

The organisations expressed serious concern over the growing backlog in processing applications under the Priority 1 (P1), Priority 2 (P2), and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programmes. These channels were specifically designed to support at-risk Afghans who had worked closely with US-funded missions and projects.

The letter emphasised that many of the applicants are women’s rights activists, journalists, human rights defenders, educators, artists, and others facing persecution under the Taliban regime. According to the signatories, these individuals clearly qualify for international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol.

The groups stressed that the United States has a legal, moral, and political obligation to uphold its commitments to these Afghans, many of whom are now stranded in third countries without access to legal protections and are enduring precarious living conditions.

The Trump administration had previously suspended key refugee and immigration pathways and deported some Afghan asylum seekers. Concerns have recently been reignited following a report by Axios, which revealed that the US Department of Homeland Security sent emails to over 200 Afghan refugees in Iowa, instructing them to leave the country immediately.

According to the advocacy group Afghan Partners in Iowa, the recipients of these notices include former soldiers who had fought alongside US forces during the war in Afghanistan.