Rail Link Connecting Central & South Asia To Cross Afghanistan’s Balkh, Logar Provinces

Jabbar Ali Zakeri, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, announced the plan as part of Iran’s broader strategy to expand rail transport and boost regional connectivity.

“Plans have been made for the passenger train between Mashhad and Herat, and we anticipate that the first passenger train on this route will be launched within the next two weeks,” Zakeri said.

He added that increasing rail transit remains a key priority for Iran’s railway sector.

“The railway’s approach is to increase transit, and transit trains are given special priority within the rail network. The main goal of the railway is to expand transit across the country,” Zakeri said.

He did not provide additional details regarding the new service.

Previously, Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development announced that construction of the Rozanak-to-Herat rail line was under way, and that passenger train service would begin once the project was completed.

Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, is expected to brief the Council during the meeting.

Other speakers will include Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, and a senior official from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

According to the Security Council’s website, humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan will be one of the key topics on the agenda.

Ahead of the meeting, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is expected to release its quarterly report on 13 June.

In March, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution extending UNAMA’s mandate for another year, through to 17 March 2026.

In a statement issued on 2 June, the ministry said it expects the cameras to help reduce criminal activity in the province. It did not specify how many cameras had been installed.

Over the past several years, numerous reports have documented Taliban abuses and human rights violations in Panjshir. Local residents and human rights organisations have repeatedly accused Taliban fighters of violent and abusive conduct, particularly in the aftermath of military clashes in the province.

Panjshir was the only province to mount an armed resistance following the collapse of the former Afghan government in 2021, with the National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Massoud, opposing Taliban control. The province witnessed weeks of heavy fighting before the Taliban eventually seized military control.

Since then, the Taliban has launched multiple operations aimed at eliminating remaining opposition forces in the region, including airstrikes and mass arrests.

The Taliban has previously pursued similar surveillance initiatives. In 2023, the group announced plans to install 60,000 surveillance cameras across Kabul to enhance security. At the time, Amnesty International warned that such large-scale monitoring could result in a sweeping system of surveillance and repression targeting Afghan citizens.

Local sources said dissatisfaction is mounting among Taliban members from the province, with tensions further fuelled by the killing of a Taliban fighter in the provincial capital, Faizabad.

According to the sources, a Badakhshani Taliban member was shot dead by another Taliban fighter in Faizabad, inflaming divisions within the group’s local ranks.

Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s Chief of Army Staff and himself a Badakhshani, is reportedly seeking to maintain tight control of the situation to prevent new protests in the province. However, discontent among Taliban members from Badakhshan reportedly remains high.

Meanwhile, the Taliban team assigned to eradicate poppy crops has now withdrawn from Jurm district, where intense clashes between local residents and Taliban forces had erupted over the past week.

Sources said the family of a farmer killed during the clashes was paid 400,000 Afghanis in compensation, while families of those injured received 20,000 Afghanis each.

The village of Farghamanj in Jurm district has been the focal point of the unrest, with residents resisting the Taliban’s efforts to destroy poppy fields.

Amid the growing tensions, Abdul Haq Wasiq, head of the Taliban’s intelligence agency, visited Badakhshan on 27 May and held meetings with local officials in an effort to ease the situation.

Although public protests have reportedly subsided for now, local sources say dissatisfaction remains widespread and internal divisions within the Taliban persist.

Matiul Haq Khalis, head of the Taliban-run National Environmental Protection Agency, said that climate change and deteriorating environmental conditions disproportionately affect Afghan women.

“International organisations should not overlook women in their data collection and reporting,” Khalis said during a meeting in Kabul, according to Taliban-run Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) on Monday.

He also urged aid organisations not to tie their assistance to political issues.

“The people of Afghanistan are part of the global human community. The pain of this nation is the pain of all, and their problems are everyone’s problems,” Khalis said.

His remarks come despite the Taliban’s own policies, which have severely restricted women’s rights and participation in society. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has barred Afghan women from working for most domestic and international organisations, including many delivering humanitarian aid.

The United Nations has previously reported that Taliban-imposed restrictions on women’s rights have significantly reduced international financial assistance to Afghanistan.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that violence against aid workers increased in April.

On 22 May, UN sources in Kabul told Afghanistan International that Taliban-affiliated individuals had followed and threatened female UN employees with death. Male relatives of the women were also warned to prevent them from going to work or face lethal consequences.

At least three UN sources in Kabul said Taliban gunmen targeted, followed, threatened and intimidated numerous female Afghan UN staff last week.

According to OCHA, there were seven incidents in April, including the detention of around 29 aid workers by Taliban authorities, as well as two additional cases of threats and verbal harassment.

Such incidents have severely undermined the ability of humanitarian workers to safely and effectively operate in the country.