UK Special Envoy Holds Talks With Taliban Rep In Islamabad

Speaking at a White House press conference on Tuesday, Trump described the withdrawal and the killing of 13 US service members in the Kabul airport bombing as “the lowest point” in American history.

Referring to his previous term in office, Trump said he had also been in the process of withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan but would have done so “with dignity and strength”. He added: “We were the boss. They wouldn’t do a thing against us.”

Trump said the United States should not have abandoned Bagram Air Base, which he described as a major military installation spanning hundreds of acres.

He also said Washington handed over large amounts of military equipment to the Taliban, calling the outcome a “disaster”. Trump said it was shameful to see the Taliban parading annually through streets with American military equipment.

At the same time, Trump said that during his previous presidency he rebuilt the US military, and that the equipment left behind in Afghanistan represented only a small fraction of that effort. He added that he continues to rebuild the US armed forces.

Trump has repeatedly criticised the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, both before and after returning to the White House.

Following the US withdrawal, large quantities of advanced American military equipment were left behind and fell into Taliban hands. According to a US Department of Defense assessment, the value of the equipment is estimated at more than $7 billion and includes military vehicles, advanced weapons, biometric devices and other technologies.

The Taliban have since repaired and reused some of the damaged US military equipment.

Ministers and senior officials from ECO member states, along with representatives of regional and international partner organisations, are attending the gathering.

The Taliban have not commented publicly on their absence. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, which is hosting the meeting, has also not explained why no Taliban representative is present.

Images released from the meeting show Afghanistan’s seat left empty among the participants, with the country’s national flag placed in front of it. At the same time, some media outlets and social media users close to the Taliban reported on X that the group did not attend the Islamabad meeting.

The Economic Cooperation Organization is a regional body aimed at promoting economic, trade, cultural and technical cooperation among its member states.

Ahead of the meeting, organisers had said delegations from all ECO members including Pakistan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan were expected to take part.

At a previous ECO meeting held in Azerbaijan, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, attended and called on member states to take positive and practical steps towards recognising the Taliban, following Russia’s decision to do so.

Speaking on Tuesday, Sharif said the fight against terrorism is a collective national decision and vowed that his government would continue its campaign until terrorism is completely eradicated. He said militant groups continue to operate from Afghanistan despite repeated assurances from the Taliban authorities.

Trade Suspended Over Security Concerns

The prime minister said Islamabad had been forced to suspend all trade with Afghanistan because of what he described as Kabul’s inaction against terrorist groups. He said the closure of the Pakistan–Afghanistan border to trade was an unwanted but unavoidable step.

Trade across the border has been suspended since mid-October 2025 following clashes along the frontier. Several rounds of talks on counterterrorism mechanisms, including mediation efforts by Türkiye and Qatar, have failed to yield concrete results.

Sharif said the 2020 Doha agreement clearly stipulates that Afghan territory must not be used to threaten other countries. He added that despite numerous meetings between officials from both sides, Pakistan’s proposals to curb militancy have not been implemented.

He also said Islamabad had expected the Taliban administration to take decisive action against militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, but said no such commitment has been demonstrated in practice.

Traders on both sides of the border, particularly in Pakistan, have repeatedly protested the prolonged closure and the suspension of cross-border trade, warning of mounting economic losses.

In a statement issued on Monday, China’s embassy in Kabul said Chinese nationals already in Afghanistan should strengthen security measures and avoid crowded places such as hotels, religious sites and large markets. The embassy also urged citizens to closely monitor local security conditions and enhance safety precautions at their residences and while travelling.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Beijing had lodged its concerns with the Taliban and urged them to take more effective steps to protect Chinese citizens, projects and institutions in Afghanistan. He also called on the Taliban to swiftly clarify the circumstances of the attack and punish those responsible.

The warning followed an explosion in Kabul’s Shahr-e Naw area on Monday that killed at least seven people and wounded 13 others, according to Taliban officials. At least one of the dead was a Chinese national. The attack was claimed by Islamic State Khorasan Province.

According to Taliban officials, a suicide bomber entered a Chinese restaurant in Shahr-e Naw and detonated explosives among Chinese citizens and their guards. ISIS’s Amaq News Agency claimed that 25 people, including Chinese nationals, Taliban members and Afghan civilians, were killed, a figure that could not be independently verified.

In its statement, ISIS-K said Chinese citizens were targeted over what it described as China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims. Taliban authorities said the Chinese national killed in the attack was a Muslim from China’s Xinjiang region, identified as Abdul Rahman.

Afghanistan International earlier reported, citing eyewitnesses and video footage, that a suicide bomber targeted Chinese nationals at the China Lanzhou Beef Noodle restaurant in Shahr-e Naw.

Chinese Presence in Afghanistan

Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, China has expanded cooperation with the group, particularly in the extraction of Afghanistan’s mineral resources. Chinese companies have signed major contracts in the copper, oil, gold and coal sectors, and dozens of Chinese firms and hundreds of businesspeople have entered the country.

No official figures have been released on the number of Chinese workers and investors currently in Afghanistan. Last year, Pakistan’s Center for Research and Security Studies reported that about 100 Chinese companies had registered with the Taliban Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, and nearly 500 Chinese businesspeople had entered Afghanistan to explore investment opportunities, mainly in mining.

Mining activities have drawn criticism from Afghans over a lack of transparency, environmental damage and failure to meet international standards.

Attacks on Chinese Nationals

Over the past four and a half years, several attacks have targeted Chinese citizens in Afghanistan and nearby border regions, most of them claimed by ISIS-K and often linked to China’s policies toward Uyghur Muslims.

January 2026: Suicide attack on a Chinese restaurant in central Kabul killed at least one Chinese national.

January 2026: China urged citizens to leave Afghanistan–Tajikistan border areas after clashes near the border.

December 2025: Five Chinese nationals killed and five wounded in two attacks near the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border.

January 2025: A Chinese national identified as Li was killed in Takhar province.

November 2024: One Chinese national killed and four wounded in an attack on Chinese workers at a gold mine near the Tajikistan border.

December 2022: Gunmen attacked a hotel in Kabul’s Shahr-e Naw district, killing at least three people and wounding 18 others, including five Chinese nationals. ISIS-K claimed responsibility.

China has repeatedly urged the Taliban to improve security for foreign nationals, particularly Chinese citizens working on economic and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the court said 16 people in Nangarhar were punished on charges described as “illicit relations, running away from home, and the buying, selling and use of narcotics.” Those individuals received between 10 and 39 lashes.

The statement added that three people in Balkh were also publicly flogged, each receiving 39 lashes.

The Taliban Supreme Court said the corporal punishments were carried out under rulings issued by local courts in both provinces.

Mohammad Wali Haqqani, head of the primary urban court in Balkh, described the floggings as the “implementation and enforcement of Islamic Sharia,” saying the punishments were intended to “eliminate corruption and social disorder.”

The Taliban Supreme Court has previously said that in 2025 the group executed at least six people and flogged 1,118 others.

Public corporal punishment has become a routine practice under Taliban rule. International human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned such punishments as violations of human dignity and called for them to stop. The Taliban, however, continue to defend the measures as part of their interpretation of Islamic law.