UK Envoy Meets Taliban Officials In Kabul, Calls for Inclusive Dialogue

Fitrat emphasised that the aircraft belong to Afghanistan and that the Taliban will not relinquish them.

During a presentation of the Taliban Ministry of Defence’s annual achievements on Tuesday in Kabul, Fitrat again raised the issue of the aircraft currently held in Uzbekistan.

On 15 August 2021, Uzbek authorities reported that 22 Afghan military planes and 24 helicopters had entered Uzbekistan’s airspace and declared that the aircraft would not be handed over to the Taliban. Uzbekistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, stated that the aircraft are the property of the United States and will remain in Uzbekistan with Washington’s consent.

The Taliban leadership has repeatedly maintained that the aircraft belong to the Afghan people and have demanded their return. Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid has warned that the Taliban will not allow the aircraft to be seized or utilised by Afghanistan’s northern neighbours.

Fitrat reaffirmed that efforts have continued over the past four years and, despite a lack of progress, the Taliban remains committed to reclaiming the aircraft.

Taliban’s 150,000 Army and Downsizing

Fitrat confirmed that the Taliban maintains a military force of 150,000 personnel but noted that the Ministry of Defence reduced its staffing by 20 percent over the past year.

Earlier this year, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada directed that 20 percent of staff from the security institutions including the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, and General Directorate of Intelligence be transitioned to “active reserve” status.

Taliban and the Durand Line

Fitrat also addressed the situation along the Durand Line, stating that the Taliban had established 15 brigades, three battalions, and 765 border outposts over the past year.

According to Fitrat, 340 kilometres of road have been constructed in border regions to connect security outposts, and at least 13 coordination centres with neighbouring countries have been planned, of which seven are operational.

As with previous Afghan administrations, the Taliban does not formally recognise the Durand Line and has frequently engaged in border clashes with Pakistani forces, particularly over the construction of military outposts along the frontier.

Berlin recently approved the presence of two Taliban-appointed consular officers in Berlin and Bonn. German officials said the move is intended to streamline the deportation of Afghan nationals with criminal records. Last week, Germany deported 81 Afghan citizens described as criminal offenders, a process the Taliban confirmed was coordinated with them.

Spanta argued that issuing diplomatic visas, providing official identification documents, and hosting Taliban representatives in diplomatic missions equates to legitimising the group under international law. He said such engagement not only damages Germany’s credibility but also disregards core values, including women’s rights and human rights.

He urged German citizens to scrutinize their government’s actions, accusing Berlin of betraying the Afghan people, particularly women, who have lost basic rights under Taliban rule. Spanta also criticised Germany’s role during the fall of Kabul in August 2021, saying German nationals were left behind and only evacuated with assistance from British forces.

German Member of the European Parliament Hannah Neumann also condemned the move. In a social media post, she claimed the Christian Democratic Union backed engagement with the Taliban to enable deportations, while thousands of Afghan asylum seekers with valid documentation remain stranded in Pakistan. She described the arrangement as a “disgraceful deal” and said Germany’s migration policy has become irrational and harmful.

Previously, Germany had coordinated deportations through Qatar and other third countries. However, recent statements from German officials suggest a shift toward direct engagement with the Taliban, reportedly in exchange for the group’s cooperation on deportation logistics and control over Afghan diplomatic missions in Germany.

In a statement released Tuesday, the AFF said the operation was carried out Monday night against the office of Mullah Najib Ghafori, the local head of the Taliban’s morality police. The group stated the attack resulted in the deaths of two Taliban personnel and left one wounded. The fate of Mullah Ghafori remains unclear.

The AFF said the assault was in retaliation for what it described as arbitrary arrests, the abduction of women, and widespread harassment of civilians by the Taliban’s morality enforcement agency. The group warned that similar operations would continue.

The Taliban has not publicly commented on the incident.

The AFF previously declared that officials and offices of the Taliban’s morality police would be considered legitimate military targets.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, were detained by the Taliban’s Interior Ministry on February 1. Despite initial assurances by Taliban officials that the arrest was a misunderstanding and that the couple would be released soon, they remain in custody more than five months later.

According to the experts, the couple was initially held in a maximum-security facility before being transferred to underground cells without access to sunlight. They were recently moved to another detention site at the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence in Kabul.

The UN experts said both detainees are in poor physical and mental health. Peter Reynolds, who requires heart medication, has reportedly suffered eye infections and tremors and recently experienced fainting. Barbie Reynolds has reportedly shown signs of physical weakness and numbness in her legs and is believed to suffer from anaemia.

The experts said the couple has not had access to effective legal representation or sufficient medical care. Contact with their family has also been extremely limited.

The UN experts said the prolonged detention without charge or due process amounts to inhumane treatment. They added that the psychological impact of indefinite confinement is severe and has raised concerns under international human rights standards.

UN officials said they have raised the case with both the Taliban and the British government and will continue to monitor developments.

Government spokesperson Stefan Cornelius confirmed that Sayed Mustafa Hashemi and Nabrasul Haq Aziz have been designated as second secretaries to serve at the Afghan Embassy in Berlin and the consulate in Bonn. The decision comes in the wake of a recent deportation flight that returned 81 Afghans to Kabul.

The move aims to streamline logistical and documentation processes for future repatriation flights. According to officials, the primary focus remains on deporting individuals identified as security threats or convicted of criminal offenses.

Despite this arrangement, the German government reiterated that it does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate governing authority of Afghanistan under international law. Contacts with the group remain at a strictly technical level.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said diplomatic ties with Afghanistan have not been fully severed, but formal recognition of the Taliban administration is not under consideration.