Senior Iranian Delegation Arrives In Kabul For Trade Talks

Abdul Manan Shahidzada, head of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Daikundi province, told state radio that the initiative had already begun there. He said the decree, issued on 29 August, tasked provincial offices of the ministry with identifying and collecting patients.

According to Shahidzada, the order aims to “maintain social order, prevent urban problems and address the condition of mentally ill patients.” He said those collected would be handed over to the Taliban-controlled Red Crescent and other organisations.

The announcement has raised concerns, given the Taliban’s previous treatment of vulnerable people. Last October, Taliban members shot dead a 22-year-old mentally ill man who had blocked them from entering his home. Witnesses said the fighters had attempted to forcibly take him to their checkpoint.

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.