SCO To Hold Consultative Meeting On Afghanistan In Tajikistan

Ishaq Dar told reporters in Islamabad that the understanding was reached during recent trilateral talks with Kabul and Beijing and that details of the plan are now being finalised.

Under the proposal, Afghanistan would be linked to regional transit networks, including the planned Pakistan–Afghanistan–Uzbekistan railway. Dar said the project could expand trade, improve Afghanistan’s infrastructure and enhance border and security cooperation.

He added that discussions also focused on the return of Afghan refugees and management of cross-border movement. Islamabad, he said, hopes that with China’s support, trade and transit between the two countries will become smoother.

CPEC, launched in 2015, is a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and has so far concentrated on infrastructure projects in Pakistan. If implemented, the extension would connect Afghanistan to one of Beijing’s largest regional connectivity schemes.

Ishaq Dar, speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, said his country’s ambassador in Kabul had been summoned and was reviewing details of the matter. He did not directly address whether Pakistan had carried out the strikes.

Dar downplayed the development, saying the summoning of ambassadors and the lodging of protests was a routine diplomatic practice and “nothing to worry about.”

He said that during a recent visit to Kabul alongside his Chinese counterpart, he urged Taliban officials to act against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). According to Dar, the two ministers pressed the Taliban to keep these groups away from border areas, prevent them from using Afghan soil for terrorism and hand them over to Pakistan and China.

Pakistani and Chinese foreign ministers were in Kabul this week for a trilateral meeting with the Taliban.

Sources told Afghanistan International that late Wednesday airstrikes targeted TTP and Hafiz Gul Bahadur group fighters in Khost and Nangarhar.

On Thursday, the Taliban’s foreign ministry accused Pakistan of carrying out the attacks and confirmed it had summoned Islamabad’s envoy.

Taliban officials said at least three civilians were killed and seven others wounded in the strikes.

Nurlan Yermekbayev, the SCO’s secretary-general, told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti that Afghanistan’s economy is showing signs of recovery, but humanitarian and social problems persist. He said terrorism and restrictions on women’s rights remain among the most pressing issues.

He added that SCO member states share a consensus on Afghanistan’s problems and that the organisation is closely monitoring developments.

Yermekbayev’s comments followed remarks by Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, who warned in a separate article that more than 23,000 foreign militants are currently active in Afghanistan.

Despite the challenges, Yermekbayev noted that SCO member states continue to engage bilaterally with the Taliban authorities. He cited the SCO leaders’ declaration of 4 July 2024, which stated that forming an inclusive government representing all ethnic and political groups is the only path to lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The SCO, founded in 2001, counts Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Belarus as full members. Afghanistan and Mongolia hold observer status, while dialogue partners include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Sri Lanka.

Yermekbayev’s remarks come ahead of the SCO leaders’ summit set for 31 August to 1 September in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. The Taliban are not among the invitees.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung said Switzerland resumed engagement in March after a four-year absence. The new office is part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation under the Foreign Ministry.

Swiss diplomat Eric Marclay, who heads the office, told the newspaper the move has already shown positive results and argued that the best way to support Afghans is by maintaining a presence in the country. He leads a team of five Swiss staff and 10 Afghan employees, including three women approved by the Taliban to work with the office.

Switzerland closed its mission in Kabul in 2021 after the Taliban takeover, shifting consular services to its embassy in Pakistan. Humanitarian assistance, however, continued and has since focused on emergency relief.

Swiss officials said support for women and girls remains a priority. Switzerland currently funds about 140 Afghan women’s organisations that provide services ranging from aid for victims of violence to selling handicrafts.

Marclay noted the Taliban have allowed some women-focused projects to continue despite widespread restrictions. He said the Kabul office is strictly humanitarian and separate from political engagement.

The office’s opening comes as Switzerland invited four Taliban representatives to Geneva last week to help verify the identities of 13 Afghan asylum seekers, 11 of whom had been convicted of crimes and are due for deportation. Refugee rights groups have criticised the cooperation as conferring legitimacy on the Taliban, though Swiss conservatives say it will help facilitate removals.

Marclay also warned that mass expulsions of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran could deepen the humanitarian crisis. He highlighted projects such as irrigation schemes with the Aga Khan Foundation that aim to improve livelihoods and give young Afghans reasons to remain in the country.

In a statement Tuesday, security officials said a TTP cell intended to use a car bomb on Defence Day, set for 5 September. They said an operation on the outskirts of the capital led to the arrest of a senior TTP commander, the Afghan suicide attacker and five other militants accused of planning the attack.

Officials said the Afghan bomber had received training at the “Al-Farooq Fidayee” camp in Afghanistan. The group had rented a house in Tarnol, outside Islamabad, to use as a hideout, and had conducted reconnaissance in parts of the city in July to select targets, according to authorities.

Security officials warned the planned assault could have mirrored a deadly TTP attack in March on a military zone in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when militants used a car bomb and a coordinated assault in an attempt to breach a secure compound.

The Pakistani army said Afghan nationals took part directly in that operation, which left 34 people dead, including five soldiers, 13 civilians and 16 TTP fighters, among them four suicide bombers. Another 32 people were wounded.