Uzbek & Afghan Private Sectors Sign 10 Trade Agreements
The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment say Afghan and Uzbek private sectors signed 10 trade agreements worth more than $65 million at a meeting in Fergana.
The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment say Afghan and Uzbek private sectors signed 10 trade agreements worth more than $65 million at a meeting in Fergana.
The chamber described the agreements as an important step in strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries.
The deals come as trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan reached $1.7 billion in 2025.
Previously, Afghan and Uzbek private sectors also signed 25 trade agreements in Kabul, valued at more than $500 million.
Ahmad Massoud has called on opponents of the Taliban to unite beyond ethnic and linguistic differences, emphasising that Afghanistan needs shared understanding and collective resolve now more than ever.
Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, wrote on X on Sunday that Afghans are experiencing unprecedented levels of division, distrust and pressure. He added: “Those who share a path, ideals and pain must stand together.”
He criticised what he called “malicious and divisive efforts” and expressed support for Afghan political figure Fawzia Koofi.
Koofi faced strong criticism after attending two meetings on Afghanistan in Islamabad and London. Reports suggest a gathering of Taliban opponents was organised by a Pakistani entity in cooperation with her.
Following the meeting, Essa Mohammadi, an adviser to the National Resistance Front, shared a manipulated image of Koofi on social media and used gendered language to criticise her.
The move drew widespread reactions across social media and political circles.
Massoud said Afghanistan has endured years of deep wounds and suffering, much of which stems not only from external enemies but also from internal divisions.
He stressed that achieving a free Afghanistan, free from oppression and injustice, requires unity among people of all ethnicities, languages and religions, urging vigilance against division.
The Taliban Supreme Court says eight people, including one woman, were publicly flogged in Sar-e Pol and Zabul provinces on charges including extramarital relations and theft.
In a statement on Sunday, April 5, the court said two people in Shahjoy district of Zabul province were sentenced to prison and received between 30 and 39 lashes each.
It added that in Kohistanat district of Sar-e Pol province, six people, including a woman, were convicted on similar charges and given between 29 and 35 lashes. They were also sentenced to two to three years in prison.
Despite opposition from international organisations to torture and corporal punishment, the Taliban have continued to carry out public floggings. The group describes such punishments as the implementation of “Islamic Sharia”.
The Rawadari human rights organisation said in a report on March 25, that the Taliban had imposed cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments over the past year, including issuing law of retribution (Qisas) sentences for six people, stoning one woman and flogging 857 individuals.
The report also said that during the same period, 611 people, including 48 women and 35 children, were deliberately and mysteriously killed or injured by the Taliban and unidentified individuals.
According to the report, the victims were mainly former government employees, protesters, civil society and human rights activists, community elders and people accused by the Taliban of cooperating with opposition groups.
Taliban-affiliated media said on Sunday evening that the group’s forces attacked a Pakistani border post near Khost province, claiming several Pakistani soldiers were killed in the exchange of fire.
Local sources in Khost told Afghanistan International the clash occurred around 8pm on Sunday in the border area of Tani district, with gunfire reportedly continuing between the two sides.
Abdul Haq Fida, spokesperson for the Taliban’s 203rd Corps in south-eastern Afghanistan, claimed a Pakistani military post was destroyed. He added that the body of a Pakistani soldier had come into Taliban possession.
Officials from the corps released a video showing the body of a Pakistani soldier and claimed that at least four Pakistani troops had been killed so far.
The Taliban have not provided details about their own casualties.
Pakistani authorities have not yet commented on the incident or any reported losses.
The Taliban’s Public Works Ministry says heavy rain, flooding and landslides over recent days have temporarily blocked several highways and roads across Afghanistan.
According to the ministry, in Ghor province the Ghor-Kabul route in Badghah and Dawlat Yar, the Dara Kargosh route in Charsada district and the Ghor–Herat Road in Kamanj, Shahrak district, have been closed.
It added that roads in six districts in the southern zone and the route between the provincial center and Murghab district have also been temporarily blocked.
The Kabul–Jalalabad highway has also been closed in the Tang-e Gharu area due to landslides.
The ministry said provincial teams have begun clearance work to reopen the routes. Some roads have already been reopened, while efforts to restore access to others are ongoing.
According to the statement, the Parwan–Bamiyan route in Siahgard and Shinwari, and the Bamiyan–Maidan Wardak Road in the Hajigak and Unai passes, which had previously been blocked, have now been reopened.
The ministry urged people to avoid travelling on blocked routes until full reopening is officially announced.
The Taliban’s commission on migrant affairs says Pakistan deported at least 2,990 Afghan migrants on Friday, returning them through the Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings.
In a statement, the commission said at least 169 returnees were transferred from Kabul to various provinces on that day.
Pakistan has recently stepped up the arrest and deportation of Afghan migrants. It has reopened the Torkham crossing specifically for the expulsion of undocumented migrants.
The crossing had previously been closed to passenger traffic following tensions and clashes between the Taliban and Pakistan.
Pakistan had shut the Torkham crossing to trade and transit since October amid border clashes.
Officials said the crossing has now been reopened on a one-way basis solely for the return of Afghan migrants.
This comes despite repeated warnings from international organisations that returning many Afghan migrants, including women, journalists, former government officials and soldiers, to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is unsafe.
