Iran Reports Threefold Increase In Afghan Pilgrims Travelling To Iraq

In a statement issued Thursday, the court said the group’s drug control court in Kabul had sentenced seven individuals for trafficking and selling alcohol, hashish. The defendants received between 10 and 39 lashes, along with prison sentences ranging from one to three years.

In a separate announcement, the court reported that seven others including one woman were punished in the Shah Joy district of Zabul province for offences including theft, “illicit sexual relations,” and same-sex relations. Each was publicly flogged with between 20 and 30 lashes.

The punishments were carried out by local Taliban court officials in the presence of residents, military personnel, and court authorities.

Just one day earlier, the Taliban had publicly flogged 10 individuals in Kabul and Maidan Wardak provinces on charges related to theft and drug offences.

Despite repeated condemnation from international human rights organisations, which classify corporal punishment as torture and a violation of international law, the Taliban continue to carry out public floggings. The group maintains that such punishments are in accordance with “Islamic Sharia law.”

According to reports from The Hindu and Hindustan Times, Doval is likely to raise concerns over Moscow’s decision last month to formally recognise the Taliban administration, the first country to do so. The Indian government has yet to issue an official statement on the matter.

Doval’s visit, which Russian state news agency TASS confirmed began on Tuesday, comes amid a period of deepening ties between Russia and the Taliban, as well as increasing engagement between India and the group in recent months.

Indian media also report that Doval will discuss a broad range of strategic and economic issues with Russian officials. These include continued oil purchases from Russia, rising regional tensions, and ongoing defence and security cooperation.

The visit is also expected to include talks on a potential visit to India by Russian President Vladimir Putin, possibly later this year.

Although Doval’s visit was reportedly scheduled in advance, it coincides with heightened diplomatic tensions between India and the United States. On Wednesday, the White House announced that US President Donald Trump had signed an executive order imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods, bringing the total US tariff rate on Indian imports to 50 percent.

The move is widely viewed as retaliation for India’s continued imports of Russian oil, despite Western pressure to scale back economic ties with Moscow.

Speaking during a meeting with the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kabul on Wednesday, Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi said the group is capable of managing the influx of returnees.

According to a statement issued by the Taliban, IOM Director General António Vitorino reiterated the organisation’s commitment to supporting returnees through education and employment initiatives. He also said the IOM is prepared to help address their humanitarian needs.

Hanafi acknowledged the mounting challenges but said the Taliban administration is working to provide job opportunities and basic services for those returning. He also urged host countries and international organisations to honour their obligations to Afghan migrants and step up support.

The meeting came a day after Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, held talks with the IOM’s chief of mission in Afghanistan. Kabir warned of the harsh conditions returnees may face during the approaching winter and appealed for urgent international assistance, particularly in providing shelter.

However, humanitarian agencies and rights groups have repeatedly criticised the Taliban for failing to adequately protect and support returnees. Critics argue the root causes of mass migration, including widespread unemployment, political repression, and severe restrictions on women’s rights, remain unresolved, making safe and voluntary return unfeasible.

Human Rights Watch has described Afghanistan as facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The situation has been exacerbated by the suspension of most international aid and the forced return of over 1.9 million migrants from Iran and Pakistan since the beginning of the year, according to recent UN data.

In a report released this week, the FAO said Afghanistan is facing a severe and multi-layered drought crisis that poses a serious threat to the livelihoods of farming and herding communities. The findings are based on field assessments and satellite imagery.

According to the report, successive droughts have led to reduced soil moisture, a shortage of pasture, and the weakening of rural economies. Climate-driven environmental degradation has further eroded the resilience of already vulnerable communities.

The FAO said it urgently requires $34.5 million to assist 1.04 million people across 16 provinces, including Bamyan, Ghor, Herat, Balkh, Faryab, Jawzjan, Samangan, Sar-e Pul, Daikundi, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Zabul, Ghazni, Nangarhar, Paktika and Panjshir.

The report also highlighted a growing outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among livestock. It added that rain-fed agriculture has largely failed in many areas, while irrigated farming faces increasing pressure from declining groundwater levels and widespread water shortages.

The FAO warned that the crisis could have serious repercussions beyond food production, affecting access to clean water, public health, displacement, environmental protection, and the reintegration of returnees.

In a post written in Pashto regarding the arrest of six university students on blasphemy charges, Saif-ul-Islam Khyber inserted slashes between letters in the ministry’s name, rendering it as: “Am/robelm/a/roof aw nah/yi an el/m/unkar aw shikayatoon awreedlo wezarat” — a distorted version of “Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and Listening to Complaints.”

This marks the first known instance in which the ministry’s spokesperson has avoided using the ministry’s full name on X. It suggests that the platform may be actively monitoring or restricting content that includes direct references to Taliban institutions.

Previously, Facebook and other platforms introduced similar restrictions on accounts using the Taliban’s name following the group’s return to power in 2021. In response, many users adopted tactics such as altered spellings, inserted punctuation, and spacing to bypass algorithmic detection.

The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has been widely criticised for enforcing decrees that have severely restricted civil liberties, particularly the rights of women and girls, across Afghanistan. International human rights groups have consistently condemned the ministry’s role in implementing orders issued by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Under the group’s Promotion of Virtue law, the ministry’s so-called morality police are empowered to monitor citizens’ dress, behaviour, and beliefs. They routinely detain individuals accused of violating the group’s interpretation of Islamic conduct.