Khalilzad Urged Taliban To Appoint Tajik Figures To Gain Legitimacy

The report raises serious concerns about the safety of Afghans whose information may now be in the hands of Taliban intelligence, which has been accused of targeting critics and their relatives inside Afghanistan.

According to Tagesschau, the German government was aware of potential risks but, despite warnings from Afghan diplomats and human rights advocates, did not prevent the handover of the consulate to Taliban representatives.

In early October, Taliban-appointed diplomat Said Mustafa and several others reportedly entered the consulate building. At the time, Hamid Nangialay Kabiri, the former consul general, and 22 staff members resigned in protest against Germany’s decision to recognise Taliban representatives in a functional capacity.

Kabiri said the consulate had maintained its independence since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover and had refused to share Afghan citizens’ records with what he called the “illegitimate Taliban group.” He added that all documents and assets had been handed over to Germany’s Foreign Ministry before his departure.

The Tagesschau report said Mustafa’s role extends beyond standard consular duties and includes efforts to align the Bonn consulate’s operations with Taliban policies.

Experts cited by the outlet said the consulate had served as a key data hub for Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions across Europe, Canada and Australia that refused to recognise the Taliban after the collapse of the former Afghan Republic. Its servers reportedly hold a vast digital archive containing passport information, birth and marriage certificates, and official correspondence concerning millions of Afghans abroad.

The report warned that if the Taliban now control these archives, the personal information of dissidents, civil activists and asylum seekers could be exposed to Taliban intelligence networks.

Documents obtained by Germany’s ARD network revealed that Afghan diplomats had warned Berlin in two confidential letters dated February and July 2025 that handing over the Bonn consulate could have “catastrophic consequences” for the safety of Afghan migrants in Europe. The letters highlighted that millions of confidential records would fall under Taliban control if the transfer proceeded.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry has not commented directly on the allegations, saying only that it remains in contact with Afghanistan’s representation and expects it to continue operating under the name and emblem of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the pre-Taliban government.

Tagesschau further reported that after taking control, the Taliban launched a new website for the Bonn consulate that mirrors the design of the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry portal in Kabul. The site no longer references the “Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” signalling what the outlet described as “new political realities” emerging on German soil, despite Berlin’s official non-recognition of the Taliban government.

Sources told Tagesschau that Taliban-linked representatives, including Asif Abdullah from Afghanistan’s embassy in Berlin, entered the Bonn consulate during the German Unity Day holiday.

The report also said Germany recently allowed two Taliban-appointed diplomats to assume roles in Afghanistan’s missions in Bonn and Berlin in exchange for the Taliban’s cooperation in deporting Afghan asylum seekers from Germany.

During their meeting in Kabul, the two sides discussed bilateral relations and ongoing tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan. The ministry quoted Wardak as saying that while the Taliban remains committed to resolving disputes through dialogue, Pakistan’s actions over the past four years have forced Kabul to “respond in kind.”

The Taliban statement said Yue Xiaoyong told Wardak that Beijing seeks to play a constructive role in easing disputes between the Taliban and Pakistan. The Chinese envoy also praised Qatar and Türkiye’s mediation efforts, which helped the two neighbours reach a recent ceasefire agreement.

Wardak thanked China for its continued cooperation and support, citing “long-standing ties and shared interests” between the two countries. He reaffirmed that the Taliban administration seeks engagement with all nations on the basis of mutual respect, and reiterated that Afghan territory would not be used to threaten any other country.

According to the ministry, Yue Xiaoyong said China aims to build long-term relations with the Taliban administration grounded in respect and constructive engagement.

Over the past four years, China has deepened its ties with the Taliban, officially handing over the Afghan embassy in Beijing to the group’s representatives and maintaining regular diplomatic contact. At the same time, Beijing remains a strategic ally of Pakistan, a factor that has placed it in a delicate position amid escalating border tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.

Analysts say Beijing views the current rift between Pakistan and the Taliban as harmful to its broader regional interests, particularly its plans to expand trade and transit routes across South Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative.

In a report released Thursday, the rights organisation said that since the Taliban’s return to power four years ago, Afghan journalists have faced severe repression and intimidation, with authorities monitoring all media content. Even minor criticism of Taliban officials can lead to arrest or physical abuse, the report said.

Fereshta Abbasi, Human Rights Watch’s Afghanistan researcher, said: “Taliban officials increasingly compel Afghan journalists to produce ‘safe,’ pre-approved stories, and they punish those who step out of line with arbitrary detention and torture. While all Afghan journalists have been affected and many have fled the country, women journalists have been among the hardest hit.”

Torture and Prosecution

According to the report, most arrests carried out by Taliban intelligence are based on accusations of espionage, contact with opposition groups or exiled media, or coverage of ISIS-K or internal Taliban disputes.

The Taliban’s intelligence service and morality police frequently raid media offices and journalists’ homes, confiscate phones and computers, and search contact lists. Some reporters have been detained merely for speaking to foreign media outlets.

Several journalists told HRW that Taliban agents used violence during interrogations. Some said they were beaten so severely that their teeth or facial bones were broken. Others were released only after signing pledges not to work as journalists again. One former detainee said: “Those who were released are still struggling with trauma.”

Forced Self-Censorship

Human Rights Watch said that fear of arrest has led many journalists inside Afghanistan to restrict their reporting to official events such as government projects or diplomatic meetings.

A Kabul-based journalist told the group he had been detained twice for disregarding Taliban orders. The report also said the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice regularly inspects media offices and has banned filming or photographing people, claiming that depictions of living beings are forbidden under Islam.

A journalist in Herat said that after a cultural event, “we were only allowed to publish a photo of the empty hall. No faces could be shown.”

The Taliban have also ordered media outlets to refer to them as the “Islamic Emirate” rather than “the Taliban,” and to publish most reports in Pashto.

Uneven Restrictions

The report noted that censorship levels vary across provinces. Monitoring is strictest in Kandahar, while central and northern regions face differing degrees of pressure.

A reporter told HRW: “You can go to Panjshir, but they’ll follow you. You need to coordinate with local authorities beforehand. If you don’t get permission, you can’t report.”

Coverage of Afghanistan’s borders with Iran or Pakistan also requires direct permission and supervision from Taliban officials, the report said.

Ethnic minority journalists, particularly Hazaras, face harsher treatment. One Hazara journalist recounted being insulted and threatened while in Taliban custody: “A Hazara kid dared to speak against us? We won the war with the Americans, who do you think you are? We can kill you whenever we want.”

HRW said Taliban intelligence agents are especially active in Hazara-majority regions and that Shia religious programming has been banned. One journalist preparing a report on a Shia cleric said Taliban officials threatened he would “die under torture” if the story was published.

Journalists in Exile

The rights group warned that dozens of Afghan journalists living in Pakistan and Türkiye face the risk of deportation. Many have no legal status and fear arrest or forced return to Afghanistan. In Türkiye, most exiled journalists lack work or residence permits and live in precarious conditions.

HRW said returning Afghan journalists would violate the principle of non-refoulement, as they face detention, torture, or death if sent back.

Warning to the International Community

Human Rights Watch warned that without urgent international action, Afghanistan risks becoming what it called a “silent nation.”

The group urged regional and global powers to honor their pledges to protect Afghan journalists, halt all deportations, and press the Taliban to end censorship, arbitrary arrests, and violence against the media.

The report was based on 18 remote interviews with journalists inside Afghanistan and 13 in-person interviews with Afghan journalists and refugee organisations in Türkiye.

The agreement, brokered by Qatar and Türkiye, followed several days of deadly cross-border clashes between Pakistani forces and Taliban fighters along the frontier.

Aside from the killing of a young man in Quetta, claimed by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), there have been no reports of militant assaults or armed confrontations between Pakistani security forces and insurgent groups over the past three days.

After the ceasefire was signed, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the “series of terrorism from Afghanistan to Pakistan will immediately come to an end,” adding that both countries had agreed to respect each other’s territorial integrity.

In a statement released by the Taliban’s Ministry of Defence, the group outlined the main provisions of the Doha agreement, including a ceasefire, mutual respect, restraint from attacks on security forces, civilians, and infrastructure, and a commitment not to support cross-border assaults. Both sides pledged to avoid any hostile actions.

The accord, reached on 19 October through Qatari and Turkish mediation, appears to have temporarily curbed attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The relative calm suggests the truce has so far been effective, though analysts caution it may prove short-lived.

Pakistan’s defence minister has warned that the ceasefire’s durability depends on the Afghan Taliban’s ability and willingness to restrain militants operating from Afghan territory.

Islamabad continues to accuse the Taliban of harbouring TTP leaders and fighters who use Afghanistan as a base for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation the Taliban has repeatedly denied.

The ministry said the deal includes a ceasefire, mutual respect, a pledge to avoid attacks on security forces, civilians and infrastructure, and a commitment not to support assaults against each other.

In a statement issued Friday, the ministry said Taliban Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid had already explained the full details during a press conference following the signing ceremony in Doha, adding that “any remarks beyond these points are invalid.”

The agreement was signed in Doha between Mujahid and Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. Following the signing, Asif told Pakistani media that the details of the ceasefire accord with what he described as the “Taliban regime” were confidential and that he could not comment on them.

Asif later said the agreement focuses on three main issues: the return of Afghan refugees, the Taliban's pledge not to support Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Neither side has released the full text of the agreement. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, which mediated the talks, confirmed that both parties had agreed to an immediate ceasefire and said the next round of discussions would take place in Istanbul.

The Taliban has faced criticism for not publishing the agreement’s full text, with opponents accusing it of a lack of transparency. Speaking from Doha in an online press conference, Yaqoob Mujahid said both sides had committed not to back opposition groups or engage in any “hostile actions” against each other, and to prevent their territories from being used for attacks.

Mujahid described the talks as “successful” and announced what he called a “comprehensive and lasting ceasefire” between Afghanistan and Pakistan. To monitor the deal’s implementation and strengthen political and economic ties, a technical committee supervised by Qatar and Türkiye will be formed to develop mechanisms for reducing tensions and resolving disputes.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry expressed hope that the agreement would ease tensions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier and lay the groundwork for lasting regional peace. However, the use of the term “border” in Qatar’s initial statement sparked controversy, with Taliban critics accusing the group of implicitly recognising the Durand Line as an international boundary.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry later removed the word “border” from its statement on its website without explanation. During the Doha press conference, Mujahid stressed that the agreement did not include any discussion on the Durand Line, which he referred to as an “imaginary line.”