Senior Officials Sent To China For Talks With Taliban, Says Pakistan

The negotiations, held on Wednesday, focused on reducing tensions, establishing a ceasefire and reopening border crossings.

Delegations from Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban met in Urumqi under China’s auspices following deadly clashes between the two sides. A source told Dawn newspaper the meeting produced no breakthrough.

The source said China would continue engaging with both sides, with initial discussions centred on a ceasefire and reopening crossings for trade and movement.

The meeting marked the first since heavy fighting in recent months and Pakistan’s “Ghazab lil Haq” operation against the Taliban. Pakistan had previously ruled out direct negotiations with the Taliban, although a Pakistani official said the meeting was not specifically intended as a mediation effort.

According to Dawn, the talks focused on exchanging views on recent tensions, with no major outcome expected. China appeared to prioritise confidence-building measures and reopening trade routes.

Pakistani sources said Islamabad again raised concerns about the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. Taliban representatives expressed willingness to address the concerns but maintained that TTP activities inside Pakistan were not their responsibility.

Pakistan is said to have indicated readiness to reopen trade routes and expand economic cooperation. A Pakistani official told Dawn the effort was aimed at managing tensions and exploring economic opportunities, despite ongoing core security disagreements.

The official added that China also has concerns about the presence of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in Afghanistan.

Sources said the Taliban delegation showed greater willingness this time to act on commitments and agreed to consider a verifiable mechanism to address key demands from Pakistan and China regarding TTP and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.

Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harbouring anti-Pakistan militants, an allegation the Taliban deny, describing it as an internal matter for Pakistan.

Reuters, citing four Taliban sources, reported that the delegations in Urumqi were at a mid-level and, unlike previous meetings in Turkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, did not include decision-makers.

Previous rounds of talks mediated by Qatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia had failed to yield results.

In separate statements issued on Wednesday, the court said the punishments were carried out by local courts in Farah and Paktika after receiving approval from the Supreme Court.

In Paktika, two people were sentenced to two years in prison and 35 lashes on charges described as extramarital relations. In Bala Buluk district of Farah province, five people were flogged with between 20 and 39 lashes on charges of theft and extramarital relations.

The Taliban also reported that 17 people were flogged in Nimruz province on charges including assaulting a parent, extramarital relations and theft. Those individuals were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five months to eight years, along with 15 to 39 lashes.

In Nangarhar province, six people were sentenced to two months in prison and 20 lashes on charges of not fasting during Ramadan.

On Tuesday, the Taliban also announced the public flogging of two women and four men in Samangan and Balkh. According to the Supreme Court, at least 57 people have been flogged on various charges over the past week.

The United Nations has previously reported that punishments such as executions and public floggings continue in Afghanistan, describing such practices as serious human rights violations.

He said the UK joined UN experts in condemning restrictions on women’s access to these spaces. Writing on X on Wednesday, Lindsay added that without women, the ability to support vulnerable communities and individuals would be severely limited.

He shared a report by UN experts, stressing that the rights of Afghan women must be upheld.

United Nations experts said on Tuesday they were deeply concerned about increasing Taliban restrictions on working women, describing them as a direct attack on women’s rights, particularly the right to work.

They said the ban on women working in UN offices in Afghanistan had no religious, cultural or administrative justification and called for sustained diplomatic pressure on the Taliban to reverse the policy.

The Taliban banned female staff from entering UN offices in Afghanistan in September last year, a move UN experts say has worsened the social and economic conditions of women.

Yousuf Hammad, spokesperson for the Taliban’s disaster management authority, said on Wednesday, April 1, in a video that heavy rainfall over the past day caused flooding in Kabul, Parwan, Baghlan, Logar, Panjshir, Kapisa, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Maidan Wardak, Zabul, Uruzgan, Ghor, Laghman, Badghis, Samangan, Kunar and Faryab.

He said 139 homes were completely destroyed, 349 partially damaged, 13 shops affected and 10 kilometres of road destroyed.

Hammad added that more than 1,000 families had been displaced overall and more than 1,100 jeribs of agricultural land damaged.

He said emergency aid had been provided to some flood-affected people in Logar.

In recent days, heavy rain and flooding have affected large parts of the country, impacting at least 25 provinces.

Figures from Taliban authorities show that the death toll from recent floods across Afghanistan has risen to at least 48.

The Taliban’s meteorological department had warned a day earlier possibility of the heavy rainfall in 32 provinces across the country.

Speaking at the Harvard Law School Negotiation Programme, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said the situation for women and girls has worsened under renewed Taliban rule, leaving them deprived of their basic rights. She added that the presence of women and girls at the negotiating table must be guaranteed.

“You cannot determine the future of a country when half of the population is held back.,” she said. Yousafzai added that Taliban restrictions on women are often framed as cultural but argued that the group’s mindset has no connection to Islam.

Referring to the visit of Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India, she said when countries ignore the issue of women’s rights, they effectively contribute to it.

Yousafzai, who met Guhan Subramanian, chair of the Harvard Law School Negotiation Programme, and other officials, also criticised the Taliban’s ban on girls’ and women’s education and the absence of a fair judicial system.

The programme was held in late March 2026, during which the documentary “Bread and Roses”, depicting the struggle of some Afghan women in the early weeks after the Taliban’s return to power, was screened.