India Upgrades Kabul Mission To Full Embassy Status

In a statement, the group said its fighters targeted a Taliban military vehicle near the Chaman-e-Hozori gate. Local residents reported hearing a loud explosion at the time of the incident.

The AFF also released a video purportedly showing the attack, claiming the vehicle belonged to Taliban forces and that none of its members were injured. The footage includes the sound of an explosion.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the reported attack.

The man had previously been sentenced to four years in prison for sexual assault and aggravated battery. After serving his sentence, he was transferred on Tuesday, 21 October, from Vienna to Istanbul and then on to Kabul.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the government maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward individuals who lose their right to stay in the country due to criminal offences. “Anyone who does not follow our rules will have to leave,” he said.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner confirmed that more deportations are being prepared, adding that the process would continue “with determination.”

The move follows an earlier Austrian delegation visit to Kabul to assess the feasibility of deportations. In September, representatives of the Taliban travelled to Vienna to coordinate the technical details of the plan.

According to Austrian reports, around 30 more Afghan nationals are currently on the list for deportation to Afghanistan.

According to Mashriq, a Peshawar-based newspaper, the visit will focus on facilitating cross-border commerce, regulating the movement of goods and people, and implementing the “One Document Regime” aimed at streamlining trade procedures between the two countries.

Sources cited by the paper said the trip had been planned in advance and is not linked to recent clashes at the Torkham border crossing or the rising tension between Kabul and Islamabad.

However, the delegation’s agenda also includes discussions on enforcing the recently agreed ceasefire and addressing Pakistan’s demand that the Taliban curb Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups operating from Afghan territory.

Government sources said another key objective of the visit is to build mutual trust and develop a joint framework for regional stability and security between the Taliban and Islamabad.

His remarks came after both the Afghan Taliban and Imran Khan, the imprisoned leader of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party, urged Islamabad to resolve its dispute with the TTP through dialogue.

Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban reached a Qatar-mediated ceasefire agreement on Sunday to halt hostilities following a week of border clashes.

Asif said the Taliban delegation in Doha had pledged to restrain Pakistani militants, adding that the continuation of the ceasefire depended on the Taliban’s commitment to that promise. He described the talks as having taken place in a "friendly atmosphere.”

The defence minister also clarified that the draft ceasefire agreement contains only four clauses, dismissing the longer version circulating on social media as fabricated.

He added that further discussions on the ceasefire’s implementation will be held in Türkiye in the coming days, while noting that he remains cautiously optimistic about the Taliban administration’s adherence to the truce.

The revelation, featured in the latest episode of MDR’s documentary series titled “Afghanistan and the Refugees, Germany’s False Promises,” sheds light on the growing despair among Afghans who fled to Pakistan following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021. Many had hoped for resettlement in Germany but have since been living for years in uncertainty and under threat of deportation.

According to MDR, Germany’s admission programmes for at-risk Afghans have helped only a small fraction of applicants, hampered by slow processing and administrative barriers. The government now intends to cancel the initiatives entirely.

The report said around 2,000 Afghan citizens who had previously received assurances of relocation from Germany remain stranded in Pakistan awaiting visas. Many are women’s rights activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and former employees of the German military, all of whom face the risk of arrest or execution by the Taliban if forced to return to Afghanistan.

The documentary’s producers warned that such a decision could mark “the official end of Germany’s moral responsibility” toward its former Afghan partners and allies.