Food Prices Surge In Afghanistan, Says UN
The UN says food prices in Afghanistan have risen sharply this year, with rice up 47 percent, wheat 20 percent, oil 10 percent and sugar 19 percent.
The UN says food prices in Afghanistan have risen sharply this year, with rice up 47 percent, wheat 20 percent, oil 10 percent and sugar 19 percent.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its weekly report on Friday, April 17, that supply chains are increasingly relying on western and northern corridors following shifts in trade routes.
The report added that around 60 percent of Afghanistan’s imports are currently entering through the Islam Qala crossing.
With Pakistani border crossings closed, Afghan markets have become more dependent on transit routes through Iran and Central Asian countries. This reliance has increased transport costs and delayed the delivery and distribution of imported goods.
The UN said rising imports through Islam Qala, combined with limited import routes, have placed additional pressure on key corridors.
Despite these pressures, markets remain active, but restricted routes and strain on specific corridors have contributed to rising prices.
The report noted that vegetable prices depend on harvest seasons and cross-border trade. However, potato prices have increased by 97 percent and tomatoes by 65 percent compared to last year.
The UN attributed these increases to reduced supply from Iran and a halt in imports from Pakistan.
According to the report, access to job opportunities for labourers has declined by 25 percent compared with last year. While seasonal wages have remained unchanged, people’s purchasing power has weakened due to rising prices.
The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan says resolving the country’s crisis requires an inclusive political process involving all sides under UN and international oversight, rejecting Taliban calls for exiled figures to return.
In a statement on Friday, the group said: “The Afghanistan crisis is national and comprehensive in nature, and its resolution requires a broad and national political process.” It added that inviting a few political figures is not a solution to the current challenges.
Earlier, Shahabuddin Delawar, a Taliban official and head of the commission for contact with Afghan personalities, had called on Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Fawzia Koofi and other opponents to return to the country, assuring them they would not face retaliation.
The council stressed that a sustainable solution can only come through a meaningful and inclusive political process involving all political currents, tribal elders, elites, opposition forces, civil society and other segments of society.
The statement added that if the Taliban are serious about resolving the crisis and achieving lasting stability, they should demonstrate readiness to initiate such a process.
According to the statement, key issues in an inclusive political process should include establishing a legitimate political system based on the will of the people, holding nationwide, transparent and fair elections, guaranteeing the free activity of political parties, ensuring fundamental rights, especially for women and girls, and creating an inclusive and accountable political structure.
The council also said it is ready to participate in “a meaningful and genuine negotiation process with the Taliban, under the supervision and facilitation of the United Nations and key regional and global players” to achieve lasting peace and a comprehensive political agreement.
It concluded that any sustainable solution must lead to the creation of a legitimate, accountable system accepted by the people of Afghanistan and the international community.
Following the Taliban’s return to power, most former government officials, political leaders and tribal figures left Afghanistan and sought refuge abroad. Over the past five years, the Taliban have repeatedly called on them to return, but opponents have described such invitations as demands for “allegiance” and “surrender.”
Pakistani state media say a detained member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has confessed to receiving training in Afghanistan and alleged support for the group from Afghan Taliban and Indian intelligence.
Pakistan’s state television reported on Friday, April 17, that security forces had arrested a TTP member identified as Amir Sohail, also known as Maulvi Haider.
Radio Pakistan said the detainee told police during interrogation that he had received “terrorist training” at a TTP center in Paktika province.
According to reports, he also admitted involvement in attacks on Pakistani forces in Bannu, Lakki Marwat and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He claimed TTP members in Afghanistan are “fully supported by the Afghan Taliban”.
Pakistan State television also reported that more than 20 foreign militants, including Afghan nationals, were part of his group. He said he had joined the TTP due to “misleading propaganda” against the Pakistani government.
The TTP and the Afghan Taliban have not yet commented on these claims.
According to Pakistani media, the suspect was arrested while travelling to Pakistan for medical treatment.
Pakistan has repeatedly alleged that TTP members are sheltering in Afghanistan and carrying out deadly attacks from there, a claim the Afghan Taliban have consistently denied, saying no foreign forces are present in the country.
As pressure grow on religious freedoms in Afghanistan, students at several universities say the Taliban are carrying out organised efforts to enforce religious conformity on campuses.
Students at Bamiyan and Kandahar universities told Afghanistan International that the Taliban are using seminars and coordinated campaigns to pressure students to change their religious beliefs.
Observers say these measures are part of a broader effort to eliminate religious diversity in Afghanistan.
One student at Kandahar University said Taliban officials openly declared Shiites as infidels during an official seminar on Wednesday, April 15.
According to the student, the event, rather than promoting tolerance, included insulting and divisive remarks.
He stressed that Shiites and Sunnis have lived together in Afghanistan for centuries, but current Taliban policies are increasing mistrust and deepening sectarian divisions. He called on Taliban authorities to approach religious issues with “care, fairness and responsibility” and avoid actions that fuel division.
At the same time, a Bamiyan University student shared a document with Afghanistan International showing that students were required to sign written pledges to follow Sunni Islam in order to preserve “unity”. The document emphasised adherence to the Hanafi school associated with Imam Abu Hanifa as a basis for national unity.
Another student, sharing a video, said the Taliban are requiring students at Kabul University of Education to sign written commitments to grow beards and wear caps, in line with the group’s rules.
The Taliban have reportedly distributed such documents at several universities and are requiring students to sign them.
Similar reports had earlier emerged from Balkh University, where students said the Taliban issued a 14-point document obliging them to change religious affiliation, follow specific dress codes, grow beards and comply with strict social regulations.
Clause six of the document lists adherence to the Hanafi school as a condition for “unity and cohesion”.
These measures come as the Taliban, since returning to power, have removed official recognition of the Jaafari school and abolished laws related to Shia personal status. The group follows the Hanafi school and has emphasised religious uniformity.
Noorullah Noori, the Taliban’s minister for borders and tribal affairs, said on Thursday at a meeting in Jawzjan province that it is a positive development that one religious school now prevails in Afghanistan.
Reports also indicate that the trend is not limited to universities. In Badakhshan, the Taliban council of religious scholars announced that Ismaili followers who convert would receive financial incentives and protection.
According to a recent report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan’s human rights section, at least 50 Ismailis in Badakhshan were forcibly converted to Sunni Islam between 17 January and 3 February this year.
Alongside pressure to convert, targeted attacks against Shiites have continued. In a recent incident, gunmen attacked a gathering of Shiites in Injil district of Herat province, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens.
International organisations have warned that religious freedoms in Afghanistan have been severely restricted under Taliban rule and that the situation of religious minorities is increasingly worsening.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom last year urged the US president and secretary of state to designate Afghanistan as a “country of particular concern”. Stephen Schneck, a commissioner, told Afghanistan International that such a designation could pave the way for broader sanctions against the Taliban.
He added that the Taliban’s criminal code is a matter of “deep concern”, threatening religious freedom and human rights, as it recognises only the group’s interpretation of the Hanafi school and marginalises other faiths and sects.
The Pentagon says its special review team on the Afghanistan withdrawal has completed the main phase of interviews with senior US military and civilian officials, examining 9 million documents.
Sean Parnell, head of the review panel, said the inquiry was launched on the orders of US President Donald Trump to conduct the “most comprehensive post-operation military assessment” in modern history.
The US Department of Defense said in a statement that dozens of senior commanders, including former officials responsible for operations in Afghanistan and US military leaders, were interviewed as part of the process.
According to the statement, the panel interviewed key figures involved in the withdrawal, including General David Berger, General Christopher Donahue, General Alexus Grynkewich, General Kenneth McKenzie Jr, General Austin Miller, General Mark Milley, General James Mingus and other senior officers and civilian officials.
Parnell said that, in addition to the interviews, the panel reviewed more than 9 million documents from various Pentagon departments and archives.
He added that a previous review conducted under former Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin covered only about 3,000 documents and, due to high classification levels, much key information was not publicly accessible.
According to the Pentagon, the aim of the inquiry is to produce a “transparent and unvarnished” report on the events of August 2021 and the factors behind the rapid collapse of the Afghan government.
The panel is seeking to identify weaknesses in the decision-making process to prevent a similar situation in the future.
Parnell said the work is ongoing and that the collected documents are currently being cross-checked with earlier reviews.
The final report is expected to be published in the coming months.
The review of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has gained particular importance following widespread criticism of how the operation was carried out and the fall of the former Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover.
The panel has pledged to publish its findings and recommendations with full transparency.
Donald Trump has strongly criticised the previous administration led by Joe Biden over what he called a “disgraceful withdrawal” from Afghanistan.
Trump has argued that the United States should have retained control of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence has detained Mullah Mutasim Agha Jan, a former finance minister and ex-member of the group’s leadership council, in Kandahar.
Three sources in Kandahar and Dubai confirmed the arrest, saying it was linked to his efforts to establish a structure for coordinating between religious scholars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
According to the sources, he had been working with clerics from both countries to create a platform aimed at reducing violence and promoting dialogue between Pakistan and the Taliban administration. The initiative involved prominent Afghan and Pakistani scholars, including Sheikh Nazar Mohammad Afghani, Mufti Najibullah Muneeb and Maulana Sheikh Zahid Rashidi.
In late-March, the clerics issued a statement calling for an extension of the ceasefire between the Taliban and the Pakistani government, with Mutasim Agha Jan named among the members.
Sources close to him said that alongside his business and investment activities, he had also established a private religious school. They added that he had been managing a madrassa in Kandahar prior to his arrest.
Some observers believe that Taliban leaders, particularly Hibatullah Akhundzada, are sensitive to religious and political activities conducted outside the group’s formal structure, which may have led to his detention.
Mutasim Agha Jan’s relations with the Taliban had deteriorated after he, as head of the Quetta Shura’s political committee, supported talks between the government of Hamid Karzai and the Taliban. He was wounded in an assassination attempt in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2011.
At the time, he told the American outlet The Daily Beast that the Taliban should transform into a political movement and end its war with the Afghan government. A Taliban source also told the publication that the attack was a warning to him and others not to cross the movement’s red lines.
It is reported that after the Taliban’s return to power, Mutasim Agha Jan returned from Istanbul to Afghanistan with guarantees from Mullah Yaqoob, the Taliban’s defence minister. However, harassment against him continued. In 2022, Taliban intelligence reportedly raided his home in Kabul and confiscated his personal property.