Trump Aide Urges Taliban to Release American Hostages

Andrey Serdyukov, chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, said at a press conference on Thursday that the presence and activities of such groups in Afghanistan threaten regional security and could lead to the spread of terrorism to neighbouring countries.

He described the situation as a serious concern for Central Asian states.

At the same time, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, described the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border as a key security hotspot for CSTO member states.

Expressing concern about rising threats along the organisation’s western and southern borders, Shoigu said the southern frontier, particularly developments linked to Afghanistan, remains a central focus of the bloc’s security agenda. He added that the situation along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border is among the organisation’s top security priorities.

The remarks come after reports of 17 armed clashes along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border last year.

All 15 members of the Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution to continue sanctions under the 1988 regime against the Taliban. Travel-ban exemptions for several Taliban leaders were not renewed.

The draft resolution was prepared by the United States.

The Taliban has repeatedly called on countries to lift international sanctions. However, concerns about the continued presence of militant groups in Afghanistan, restrictions on women’s rights and the absence of an inclusive government led the Security Council to maintain the sanctions regime.

In its latest assessment, the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said the Taliban supports the activities of militant groups including al-Qaida, the TTP and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement inside Afghanistan.

In the six-month report on global terrorist threats, the monitoring team said al-Qaida continues to benefit from Taliban support and operates in Afghanistan as a provider of training and advisory services, particularly to the TTP.

According to the report, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent remains active in south-eastern Afghanistan. It said the group’s leader, Osama Mahmoud, and his deputy, Yahya Ghauri, are based in Kabul, while its media team operates from Herat.

Speaking at a weekly briefing on Thursday, February 12, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the report shows the TTP receives “preferential treatment” under Taliban rule and could pose a threat beyond the region.

Andrabi said Islamabad would raise the issue with members of the UN Security Council, adding that the findings reinforce concerns Pakistan has repeatedly shared with the international community.

Pakistan has long argued that militant activity in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan threatens regional stability. The Taliban, however, have consistently rejected such allegations as baseless.

In a statement issued Thursday, the ministry said the decision followed internal consultations on resuming the commission’s activities. The first meeting of Afghan members of the commission has already been held.

According to the ministry, the meeting was attended by the Taliban’s deputy finance minister for policy, representatives of relevant government institutions and members of the private sector.

Participants discussed ways to expand economic cooperation between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, including the exchange of expertise and information, trade facilitation and the prioritisation of joint projects. Taliban representatives also reviewed the history of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Earlier this month, the Taliban’s Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs announced the formation of a separate joint economic commission involving Afghanistan, China and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and its embassy in Kabul have not yet commented on the reported reactivation of the Afghanistan–Saudi joint commission.

The first meeting of the Afghanistan–Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission was held in 2018 in Riyadh, bringing together officials from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan’s former government to strengthen economic and trade relations.

He argued that the country had previously been divided along political, ethnic, regional and linguistic lines.

Baradar made the remarks on Thursday during a ceremony marking the start of construction on the Kabul–Bagram road. He described Afghanistan’s political, ethnic and linguistic diversity as “meaningless divisions” and a “problem,” saying the Taliban is seeking to eliminate such differences.

International organisations, however, have accused the Taliban of establishing a largely mono-ethnic and male-dominated government. The United Nations, the European Union and several countries have repeatedly urged the Taliban to form an inclusive administration representing Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic groups and social segments, while respecting human rights.

Baradar said the Taliban had taken a “fundamental step” towards what he called a unified Islamic and national vision by standardising the school curriculum for madrassas and public schools up to sixth grade.

In one of his final reports of 2025, Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said the Taliban’s failure to address grievances risked increasing tensions with ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has also reported that the Taliban cabinet is composed almost entirely of members of a single ethnic group.

The Taliban have also faced accusations of imposing “gender apartheid” by excluding women from public life.

Call for Engagement

Baradar urged Afghans to “stop blindly imitating others” and not to be influenced by external narratives, according to a statement from his office, though he did not elaborate.

“We have not prevented anyone, nor is the capacity of the Islamic Emirate so limited that it would treat every individual and minor issue as serious,” Baradar said. “Afghanistan is the home of Afghans, and every individual can live here in peace and return to the country.”

Addressing regional and global countries, Baradar emphasised the importance of constructive engagement with Afghanistan. The international community has set conditions for engagement with the Taliban, including respect for human rights and international law, the formation of an inclusive government and action against terrorism.

He said countries are interdependent in areas such as geography, airspace, labour, raw materials, exports and imports, adding that these needs can be met when states “have the courage to engage within the framework of official relations, which is in everyone’s interest.”

Kabul–Bagram Road Project

Baradar also inaugurated construction work on the Kabul–Bagram road on Thursday. According to his office, the road will be 6.2 kilometres long and about 50 metres wide, with an estimated cost of 455 million afghanis funded by the Taliban administration.

He said the project would improve connectivity between Kabul, Parwan province and other northern provinces.