Taliban Leader Directs Nationwide Roundup Of Mentally Ill Patients In Afghanistan

In a statement, the group said the attack took place around 8:30 p.m. in Guzara district, along the Herat–Pashtun Zarghun road, near a police training centre.

The NRF said its fighters seized two weapons and a motorcycle belonging to the Taliban during the raid. It added that those killed were members of the reconnaissance unit of the Taliban’s Al-Farooq Corps.

The group said none of its fighters were harmed in the operation.

According to the sources, Adam Boehler, the US special envoy for hostage affairs, met Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar and conveyed Trump’s position, urging him to pass it directly to Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The sources said Boehler emphasised that Washington was particularly focused on the case of Mahmoud Shah Habibi, and pressed Baradar to convince Akhundzada to reconsider his stance and ensure the swift release of Habibi and other Americans in Taliban custody.

In response, Baradar reportedly asked for time to consult Akhundzada in Kandahar before relaying Trump’s message about the seriousness of the US position.

While the Taliban’s official statements framed the meetings with Boehler and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi as focused on normalising relations, economic cooperation and sanctions relief, sources said the American delegation prioritised the issue of prisoner releases.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday, confirmed that American representatives have been engaged in talks with the Taliban for some time but provided no further details.

It remains unclear how many Americans are currently being held in Taliban prisons.

After the first US delegation visit earlier this year, Taliban sources told Afghanistan International that Boehler had warned Foreign Minister Muttaqi the group’s ministries would face retaliation if American prisoners were not freed.

In a message posted on Facebook, Khan said Ghulami had been working to coordinate resistance forces. “We expect the security institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran to seriously pursue this crime and provide a clear report on it,” he wrote.

Ghulami, a vocal opponent of the Taliban and one of Khan’s key allies, was shot dead in his office on Mofatteh Street in Mashhad on Saturday.

Sources close to Khan accused the Taliban of being behind the assassination.

Ghulami had played a leading role in battles against the Taliban in Herat during the summer of 2021. Following the city’s fall, he relocated to Mashhad with a group of military commanders.

Iranian police have not yet commented on the incident.

Geo News reported that Mohammad Sadiq Khan, Islamabad’s envoy, is expected to press Taliban officials on accusations that they are providing safe havens for the TTP inside Afghanistan.

Sadiq has made several trips to Kabul in recent months, urging the Taliban not to back the TTP, which he has described as a “terrorist” group responsible for attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad has said it has shared strong evidence with the Taliban of cooperation between the two groups.

The planned visit follows the killing of 19 Pakistani soldiers in recent days in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in attacks claimed by the TTP. Pakistan’s military said at least 45 TTP fighters were killed in subsequent operations.

The losses prompted a strong response from Islamabad. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned the Taliban to choose between siding with “terrorists” or standing with Pakistan, saying the government would not tolerate ambiguity on the issue.

Sharif also alleged that Afghan citizens had taken part in recent terrorist incidents in Pakistan and announced that undocumented Afghan migrants would soon be expelled.

Abdullah Farooqi, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Border Police, said the talks would focus on preventing border threats and facilitating movement across frontiers. He added that the delegation is led by Mawlawi Abdul Manan Hassan, the deputy chief of the Taliban Border Police.

Border security remains a pressing concern for Afghanistan’s neighbours under Taliban rule. China has repeatedly voiced unease about instability along its frontier.

During a 19 August visit to Kabul, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed drug trafficking and border security with Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, including the need for “coordination of border forces.”

Yi also urged the Taliban prime minister to take Beijing’s security concerns seriously, particularly the presence of Uyghur militants in Afghanistan.

China has long expressed deep concern over the activities of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which international reports say operates freely in Afghanistan and maintains close ties with the Taliban.