Salang Pass Reopens After Heavy Snowfall
The Taliban’s Ministry of Public Works says the Salang Pass, which had been closed due to storms and heavy snowfall, has reopened.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Public Works says the Salang Pass, which had been closed due to storms and heavy snowfall, has reopened.
The ministry said passenger vehicles are currently able to travel through the pass.
In a statement, citizens were urged to observe traffic regulations, carry snow chains for their vehicles and follow guidance at the pass to prevent accidents.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Public Works had announced on Sunday morning, December 21, that the Salang highway had been closed to traffic because of heavy snowfall.
The Salang highway connects at least nine northern provinces of Afghanistan to Kabul, the capital. It is one of the country’s busiest routes and, due to its location in the high Hindu Kush mountains, is frequently affected by heavy snowfall and closures during winter.
Taliban courts have publicly flogged at least 11 people in Kabul on drug-related charges, sentencing them to between 10 and 39 lashes and prison terms ranging from seven months to three years.
In a statement issued on Monday, December 22, the Taliban Supreme Court said the Kabul Primary Court for the Prevention of Narcotics punished the individuals for selling and trafficking tablet K, methamphetamine, cannabis and alcoholic beverages.
According to figures compiled by Afghanistan International, the Taliban have flogged at least 106 people, including 13 women, across Afghanistan over the past 10 days.
The Taliban describe corporal punishment imposed by courts under their control as the enforcement of Islamic sharia. Despite repeated criticism from international organisations over public floggings and the torture of detainees, the group has continued to carry out such punishments, often in public.
A recent report by the United Nations said the Taliban flogged at least 215 people, 44 women and 171 men, in several provinces between August 1 and October 31.
Opposition parties in Pakistan have voiced concern over deteriorating relations between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban and called for disputes to be resolved through dialogue.
Following a two-day meeting in Islamabad, the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan coalition said in a statement that it supports reopening border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan and resuming bilateral trade.
The opposition also urged the government to take immediate steps to improve security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has seen a rise in violence in recent months.
The statement criticised actions by Pakistani authorities against opposition groups, including a crackdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led by Imran Khan. It alleged the party has faced unlawful measures such as fabricated cases and humiliating treatment.
Opposition leaders called for the release of all political prisoners, including Imran Khan and his wife.
The meeting of opposition parties, held on Saturday and Sunday under the banner of the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan coalition, concluded with a 12-point declaration outlining their political and security demands.
Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, has warned the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that no threat to Pakistan’s security and sovereignty will be tolerated, claiming that about 70 percent of the group’s fighters are Afghans.
Munir described the TTP as a direct challenge to the Pakistani state and said restoring the writ of the government is the exclusive responsibility of the state. He stressed that the declaration of jihad lies solely with the government, not with individuals or armed groups.
He also renewed a warning to the Afghan Taliban, saying they must choose between Pakistan and the TTP.
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban to prevent militants from using Afghan territory to carry out attacks inside Pakistan. While the Taliban deny the presence of Pakistani Taliban fighters on Afghan soil, international reports have documented that the group operates from within Afghanistan.
Earlier, Afghanistan International reported, citing documents it obtained, that a number of Afghan Taliban fighters had joined a faction of the Pakistani Taliban led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan.
In addition, findings published by Afghanistan International’s investigative unit in November said most senior TTP commanders including Noor Wali Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Azmatullah Mehsud, Akhtar Mohammad Khalil and Mufti Sadiq Noor Dawar frequently travel between Kabul, the provinces of Kunar, Khost, Paktia and Paktika, and Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Munir also addressed military preparedness, saying Pakistan faces multidimensional threats along both its eastern and western borders, requiring the modernisation of defensive capabilities. He said the Pakistan Army and law enforcement agencies are fully prepared to counter both conventional and unconventional threats.
The army chief made the remarks at a National Ulema Conference in Islamabad on December 10. Details of the speech were published by Pakistani media on Sunday, December 21.
The World Food Programme says malnutrition among women and children in Afghanistan is increasing, with growing numbers seeking treatment at health centres each day.
The agency said it has provided nutritional assistance to thousands of malnourished women and children across the country in cooperation with partner organisations.
In a post on X on Sunday, the World Food Programme thanked donors for their support, saying continued assistance is vital to ensuring a healthy future for Afghan mothers and children.
The WFP has previously warned that Afghanistan ranks fourth globally for acute child malnutrition. It estimates that about five million mothers and children are currently affected, with the crisis continuing to worsen.
The agency has also cautioned that more than 17 million Afghans face severe food insecurity as winter approaches, a situation closely linked to rising levels of acute malnutrition.
According to WFP data, hunger has increased compared with last year, with an additional three million Afghans now at risk of acute hunger.
The malnutrition crisis has been compounded by a sharp drop in funding, with the agency’s deputy director saying WFP support has fallen by about 80 percent this year.
Iranian authorities say security forces have rescued more than 2,000 Afghan migrants who were stranded by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures in border areas between Iran and Afghanistan.
Hojat Sediqi, the prosecutor of Taybad county in northeastern Iran, said Iranian forces rescued 2,106 Afghans who had entered the country “illegally.” He said the migrants were later handed over to the Taliban.
Sediqi said the migrants were trapped in remote border areas during severe snowfall and sub-zero temperatures and were identified by Iranian armed forces stationed in the region before they moved further into the country.
Iran’s Mehr News Agency quoted Sediqi as saying the migrants received medical treatment and welfare assistance after suffering from cold exposure and frostbite.
The announcement comes amid reports of Afghan migrant deaths along the same route. On December 19, sources in Herat told Afghanistan International that a group of Afghan migrants travelling to Iran had died on Iranian soil during a severe cold wave. According to the sources, the bodies of at least 15 people were transferred to the districts of Kohsan and Adraskan in Herat province, with some reports suggesting the death toll could be much higher.
Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Herat, confirmed the deaths of three Afghans at the Kohsan border, saying they died from exposure to cold weather.
Iranian authorities have not commented publicly on reports of Afghan deaths along the route.
Sources told Afghanistan International that as temperatures dropped, hundreds of Afghans attempted to cross into Iran from the districts of Ghorian and Kohsan in Herat. During periods of heavy snowfall, reduced border surveillance often leads some migrants to attempt irregular crossings, the sources said.
International organisations say rising poverty, unemployment and worsening food insecurity in Afghanistan driven by drought and a sharp decline in international aid are key factors pushing Afghans to migrate irregularly to neighbouring countries.