IS-Khorasan Commander Killed in Pakistani Police Raid
Pakistani media reported that security forces have killed a senior commander of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Karak district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistani media reported that security forces have killed a senior commander of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Karak district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to Dawn newspaper, Nisar Hakim described as a “key commander” of ISKP was killed during a police raid on his hideout in the village of Ambari, Karak.
Police launched the operation after receiving intelligence, the report said. A clash broke out during the raid, resulting in Hakim’s death.
Citing its sources, Dawn reported that the firefight lasted four hours and left four police officers wounded.
Hakim was reportedly the main planner behind the failed assassination attempt on Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), according to the report.
Taliban forces barred women including female doctors from entering Herat Regional Hospital on Wednesday. The ban order was issued because they were not wearing the Taliban-mandated blue burqa, local sources told Afghanistan International. Witnesses said several women were beaten.
According to sources, dozens of women including patients, healthcare workers and visitors were turned away at the hospital gates for failing to comply with the requirement. Videos obtained by Afghanistan International show large groups of women standing outside the entrance, many already wearing full-body coverings; however, only those in the traditional blue burqa were allowed to enter.
A female doctor at the hospital wrote to Afghanistan International: “We are women who have stepped forward to serve humanity, not to hide behind coercion.”
She added that although she works to heal others, she herself is “wounded every day by the pain of being unseen.”
Another source said Taliban officials at the Herat Civil Registration Office also blocked women without burqas from entering on the same day.
The doctor said: “We have been forced to wear the burqa not out of choice or belief, but out of command and compulsion.”
Since returning to power more than four years ago, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on Afghan women, including banning girls’ education above the sixth grade, limiting women’s movement without a male guardian and barring them from most public spaces and workplaces. The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has declared women’s voices “awrah” forbidden to be heard and ordered the segregation of men and women in hospitals and workplaces.
The latest ban on entry for women without a burqa marks a further escalation in the Taliban’s systematic crackdown on women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Iran has announced the start of Russian fuel exports to Afghanistan via its northern railway network, marking the first time Russian diesel is being transported to the country through Iran.
Rahman Masoomi, director general of Iran’s Northern Railway, said on Wednesday that a transit shipment of 5,000 tonnes of Russian diesel is being routed through Iran.
According to Iranian state media, Masoomi told officials that the operation involves moving Russian diesel to Amirabad Port in northern Iran before transporting it by rail onward to Afghanistan.
He said the first shipment 5,000 tonnes of diesel departed Amirabad Port this week en route to Afghanistan.
The development comes one week after the first freight train carrying Iranian-exported diesel arrived at Roznak station in Herat province via the Khaf–Herat railway line.
On 27 October, Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Works, said that 1,120 tonnes of diesel had entered Afghanistan through the Khaf–Herat rail link for the first time.
Iran and Afghanistan have expanded rail-based trade in recent months, with diesel emerging as a key component of the growing cross-border transit network.
The Taliban has finalised its delegation for the third round of talks with Pakistan in Istanbul, with intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasiq set to lead the six-member team, informed sources told Afghanistan International on Wednesday.
According to the sources, the delegation includes Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s representative in Qatar; Rahmatullah Najib, deputy interior minister; Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry; Zakir Jalali, head of the ministry’s second political division; and senior Taliban figure Anas Haqqani.
The Pakistani delegation will be led by Asim Malik, head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid earlier confirmed on Taliban-controlled national television that Wasiq and his team would depart for Istanbul on Wednesday.
The meeting, scheduled for Thursday, comes as both sides attempt to ease escalating tensions after the previous Istanbul talks ended without progress. Türkiye and Qatar, acting as mediators, have pushed both sides to remain engaged until concrete results are reached.
Analysts say Türkiye is representing Pakistan’s interests in the process, while Qatar serves as a guarantor for the Taliban. The second round concluded with a joint statement from the mediators announcing an agreement to maintain the existing ceasefire.
The first round of talks between the Taliban and Pakistani foreign ministers was held in Qatar and produced a bilateral agreement. Pakistani officials later claimed the deal contained confidential annexes, while the Taliban denied this, saying the agreement had not yet been finalised.
After last week’s failed round in Istanbul, Taliban-controlled national television claimed that certain factions within Pakistan’s military were obstructing the negotiations, adding that the administration “cannot prevent attacks in Pakistan.”
Islamabad has accused the Taliban of harbouring militant groups including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and says deadly attacks inside Pakistan are being planned from Afghan territory. The Taliban deny the presence of any foreign militants in Afghanistan and reject Pakistan’s demands for written guarantees to curb TTP activity.
The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry has denied Pakistan’s assertion that its foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, held six phone conversations in a single day with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Taliban described Dar’s remarks as “far from reality.”
Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban Foreign Ministry, wrote on X that the first phone call between the two ministers took place within the framework of routine coordination and mutual understanding. He said Dar indicated during that call that he was not fully informed about the situation and would call back after gathering more details, which led to a second conversation.
Takal added that Dar attempted to make contact again the following day, but the call did not go through for unspecified reasons.
On Tuesday, Dar told Pakistan’s Senate that he had spoken to Muttaqi six times on Monday, 3 November. He said he had stressed that Islamabad’s only demand from the Taliban is to prevent militant attacks on Pakistani soil, an allegation the Taliban has repeatedly rejected as baseless.
Takal said Dar’s “false remarks” contradict the principles of mutual respect and diplomatic engagement between the Taliban and Pakistan. He expressed hope that Pakistani officials would accurately reflect the facts in future statements.
Informed sources in Kabul told Afghanistan International that a Taliban delegation led by Abdul Haq Wasiq, head of the group’s intelligence agency, will travel to Istanbul on Wednesday, 5 November, for the third round of talks with Pakistan.
According to the reports, Asim Malik, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), will lead the Pakistani delegation.
The third round of negotiations, aimed at easing tensions between the two sides, is scheduled for Thursday, 6 November, in Istanbul and will be mediated by Türkiye and Qatar.
The first round of talks between the Taliban and Pakistan was held in Qatar, while the second round took place in Istanbul and ended without progress due to disagreements.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, confirmed to the Taliban-controlled National Television that a delegation led by Abdul Haq Wasiq will depart for Istanbul on Wednesday.
The second round concluded with an agreement to extend the ceasefire, but the sides failed to agree on key issues including Pakistan’s demand that the Taliban provide written guarantees preventing terrorist groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks against Pakistan.
Pakistani officials allege that militant groups, particularly Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), operate from Afghan soil. They have sought written assurances from the Taliban to curb TTP activities. The Taliban deny the presence of any foreign militants in Afghanistan and refuse to issue such guarantees.