Regional Cooperation Key To Stability In Afghanistan, Says Uzbek President

According to the report, published on Friday the attackers underwent professional training and demonstrated advanced weapons skills. The information was confirmed to TASS by a source at the Second Western District Military Court.

A person involved in the judicial proceedings said all of the defendants had received training and possessed professional-level proficiency in the use of firearms. The source said one of the accused, Shamsidin Fariduni, displayed a high level of marksmanship during questioning in court.

The source also suggested that two separate operational groups had been prepared for the attack and later merged. The defendants have denied this claim.

According to the TASS report, Fariduni had initially been expected to travel via mountainous routes from a base in Türkiye to Afghanistan to join Islamic State Khorasan Province. However, because those routes were closed during the winter, he was allegedly instructed instead to take part in the Crocus City Hall attack.

Based on court information cited in the report, Fariduni was tasked with recruiting accomplices inside Russia, conducting reconnaissance at the Crocus City Hall, purchasing a vehicle to transport the attackers and obtaining weapons. During initial interrogations, he reportedly said the group did not intend to kill children, though Russian judicial authorities said the evidence does not support that assertion.

The report added that the organisers of the attack promised the perpetrators a payment of one million roubles. After carrying out the assault, the attackers reportedly headed toward Ukraine, where the money was to be paid.

The attack took place on March 22, 2024, in the Moscow suburbs. Four armed assailants opened fire on the crowd shortly before a concert began and then set the venue on fire. At least 149 people were killed and more than 600 others wounded in what was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Russia in recent decades.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. Court proceedings against the suspects began in the summer, with the four main defendants appearing in court after being arrested shortly after the assault.

Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Herat, said three Afghan nationals died near the Kahsan border area while attempting what he described as “illegal migration to Iran.” He told the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency on Friday that investigations are under way and that local authorities and emergency teams have been deployed to assist those affected.

Earlier, local sources in Herat told Afghanistan International that a group of Afghan migrants had died inside Iranian territory after being exposed to severe cold while travelling toward Iran. According to those sources, the bodies of at least 15 people were transferred to Kahsan and Adraskan districts in Herat province.

However, Afghanistan International also spoke with an Afghan migrant who had visited the morgues at the Shuhada Cemetery and Taybad Hospital in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province. That individual said the number of Afghan migrants who died could exceed 40.

Sources further reported that several Afghan migrants have gone missing along the Iran border. In recent days, hundreds of Afghans are said to have headed toward the border in an attempt to reach Iran, but encountered extreme cold weather en route.

According to these accounts, the migrants were trying to enter Iran through unofficial and smuggling routes from Islam Qala toward Taybad. Weather conditions in the border areas have been reported as snowy, rainy and extremely cold. Families of the victims are reportedly searching for the bodies of their relatives.

The exact number of casualties remains unclear.

In recent months, the Taliban have reported the arrest of hundreds of Afghans accused of attempting to migrate illegally to Iran. Following mass deportations of Afghan migrants from Iran and tighter visa restrictions, many Afghans have resorted to dangerous and irregular routes in an effort to return to Iran.

According to the sources, the bodies of at least 15 migrants have been transferred to the Kohsan and Adraskan districts of Herat. Some sources said the death toll could be in the dozens, though the figures have not been officially confirmed.

Afghanistan International spoke with an Afghan migrant who visited morgues at the Shuhada Cemetery and at Taybad Hospital in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province. He said more than 40 Afghan migrants had died.

Many Afghan migrants are also reported missing along the Iran–Afghanistan border, the sources said.

In recent days, hundreds of migrants are believed to have set out for Iran and encountered a wave of extreme cold along the route. The severe weather is continuing.

Sources said the migrants were attempting to enter Iran via an unofficial route from Islam Qala towards Taybad. Weather conditions along the border were described as snowy, rainy and extremely cold.

Families of the migrants are reported to be searching for the bodies of their relatives.

Iranian authorities and the Taliban have so far made no public comment on the incident.

This is a developing story.

In a letter addressed to the US secretaries of state and homeland security, the lawmakers said the administration had used a shooting by a former Afghan soldier against National Guard personnel to justify sweeping measures targeting Afghan migrants and asylum-seekers.

The lawmakers said policies such as refusing entry to Afghan migrants and denying asylum to former US military partners in Afghanistan were a mistake and risked portraying the United States as an unreliable ally.

“Exploiting this tragedy to sow division and inflame fear will not make America safer,” Democratic members of Congress wrote in the letter.

They said that following the shooting involving National Guard troops in Washington, the Trump administration not only halted the processing of Afghan asylum cases but also began re-examining cases of Afghans who had already been admitted to the United States.

According to the lawmakers, the administration has also barred the entry of Afghans holding Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) who worked with the US government and military in Afghanistan, removing them from exemptions to the president’s travel ban.

The Trump administration recently placed Afghanistan and 14 other countries on a full travel ban list, effectively preventing their citizens from travelling to the United States or applying for asylum. Under President Donald Trump’s latest order, SIV holders were no longer exempt from the ban.

Members of Congress described the policy as a form of collective punishment against Afghan migrants and citizens. They warned that the measures endanger the lives of innocent, law-abiding people, including those who assisted US forces during the war in Afghanistan.

“The horrific actions of one individual should not be used to vilify every individual from Afghanistan who legally seeks to live in the United States,” the lawmakers wrote.

The administration’s actions have heightened fear among Afghan migrants already living in the United States. Immigration lawyers and refugee advocates in the Sacramento area of California, home to the largest Afghan immigrant population, have reported an increase in detentions of Afghans by immigration authorities and the cancellation of asylum-related interviews.

The Associated Press reported that since November 26, at least 24 Afghan migrants mostly in Northern California have been detained. In the past week alone, at least nine Afghan men were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they appeared for routine case status checks.

Hashemi’s family reported in June that she had gone missing. Her husband, Sayed Mohsen Hashemi, told Afghanistan International at the time that she had left home to visit friends and had not returned, adding that her phones were switched off. He later stopped commenting publicly on her situation.

On Wednesday, Hashemi contacted singer and women’s rights activist Ariana Saeed and informed her that she had left the country. According to Hashemi, the decision to leave Afghanistan was personal and was not facilitated by any specific individual or institution.

She did not refer to her reported disappearance and declined to provide details about her circumstances while in Afghanistan.

In an interview with the BBC, Hashemi said she had faced many difficulties over the past six years and had been waiting for an opportunity to leave the country so she could “raise her voice.” She did not elaborate further.

Previously, Ariana Saeed said in a video message that Hashemi had fled her home because of domestic violence and said her husband had spread false information to the media by claiming she had been abducted. Saeed alleged that Hashemi’s husband was attempting to trace her whereabouts through media reports and social media.

Following reports of Hashemi’s disappearance, Taliban officials said they had detained several of her relatives.

Hashemi rose to prominence after reaching the final round of the Afghan Star singing competition, broadcast by the private Tolo TV, where she competed against dozens of male singers.