Former President Urges Afghans To Choose Future Over Past, Calls For National Dialogue

Karzai said Afghan children would only secure a bright future and contribute to the country’s progress if they were given the chance to gain knowledge, expertise and essential skills. In a post on X on Thursday, he said education was not only the right of every child but a necessity for society.

He added that meaningful national growth and development would only be achieved if serious attention were given to educating children and preparing them as a skilled and knowledgeable workforce for Afghanistan’s future.

Since returning to power, the Taliban have barred girls from attending schools above the sixth grade and have closed universities to female students, measures that have drawn widespread national and international condemnation.

Karzai has repeatedly called on the Taliban to lift the bans and reopen educational institutions for girls.

He also stressed the importance of resolving internal disputes and ensuring clerics and officials adhere to organisational regulations.

Hamidullah Fitrat, the Taliban’s deputy spokesperson, said on Wednesday that a two-day seminar for officials, members and clerics from Sharia councils across the country had been held in Kandahar.

According to the Taliban statement, Akhundzada told participants that responsibility for guiding the public now rested with clerics and that they were expected to lead society in accordance with Sharia principles.

He urged Taliban members to avoid internal disagreements and to prioritise resolving people’s problems. He also instructed clerics to explain religious rulings and their significance to the public.

Addressing the gathering, Akhundzada reportedly said clerics and officials were expected to serve as role models for ordinary people and to promote reform within society and government. He told them that they must first implement the decrees in their own lives so that the public could follow their example.

The agreement enables Afghan goods to be transported to international markets by sea.

Al-Emarah, one of the Taliban’s official media outlets, reported on Wednesday that the deal was concluded on the sidelines of a “trade connectivity” meeting attended by Taliban officials and representatives from Iran, Uzbekistan and India.

The agreement comes as the Taliban have severed trade and transit ties with Pakistan and are seeking alternative corridors, particularly through Iran, to sustain exports. Earlier, the Taliban’s minister of industry and commerce travelled to Iran to participate in a joint economic forum.

The Taliban are working to shift Afghanistan’s trade routes away from Pakistan’s ports, including Karachi, and towards Iran’s Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports. Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, recently urged Afghan traders to adopt alternative routes to reach regional and international markets.

Iran has welcomed the growing commercial engagement. Alireza Bikdeli, Iran’s ambassador in Kabul, said Tehran now stands with the Taliban more firmly than ever in advancing economic objectives and described Iran as a “reliable partner” with significant transit, commercial and agricultural capacity.

According to Iranian media, Momeni told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting that border security remained stable and that overall national security indicators had improved compared with last year. He said Iran was not “anti-migrant” but argued that the country’s resources were insufficient to support larger numbers.

Momeni said in September that Iran planned to deport around two million additional Afghan migrants by the end of the current solar year.

Human rights groups and accounts from local sources and eyewitnesses indicate that the Islamic Republic has expelled tens of thousands of Afghan migrants without due legal process, often using threats, beatings and forced transfers to detention camps before returning them to Afghanistan.

UN experts warn that returning migrants face severe challenges in Afghanistan, including lack of access to education, a deepening humanitarian crisis, acute food shortages and rapidly deteriorating living conditions.

In an interview with the Pakistani newspaper The News, Karoblis said the EU condemns terrorism in all forms and that Pakistan’s expectation for Afghanistan to act against TTP was grounded in legitimate security concerns. The newspaper reported that the ambassador expressed support for Islamabad’s assertion that militants operating from Afghanistan were responsible for recent attacks inside Pakistan.

The comments appeared in a report published on Wednesday in which the EU envoy also emphasised that tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban should be resolved through diplomatic channels.

Karoblis presented his credentials as the EU’s ambassador to Pakistan on 10 September. He previously served as the European Union’s ambassador to Tajikistan from 2022 to 2025.

Referring to Türkiye’s recent mediation efforts between Islamabad and the Taliban, Karoblis said the EU encourages Pakistan to keep diplomatic channels open. When asked whether the Taliban were fulfilling their Doha commitment not to allow Afghan territory to be used against neighbouring states, he said he did not have independent information to assess the matter and that it was too early to reach a firm conclusion.

Karoblis also said a high-level Pakistan–EU strategic dialogue is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, led by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Pakistan’s foreign minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar. According to information provided, the discussions will cover Afghanistan, the Russia–Ukraine war, regional security and Pakistan’s role at the United Nations.

His remarks come after the recent collapse of the third round of talks between Pakistan and the Taliban in Istanbul. Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, said the negotiations had reached a complete deadlock and that there were no plans for further talks, adding that the delegation’s return without progress suggested mediators had also lost confidence in the process.

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid later confirmed that the Istanbul talks had failed, saying they produced no results. He added that the Taliban would not allow Afghan soil to be used against any other country.