EU Commission Clarifies Talks With Taliban Representatives In Brussels

In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry confirmed the detention of Mansoor Niazi and Imran Danish but did not specify the reasons for their arrest.

TOLOnews had officially confirmed the detention of its journalists on Sunday, May 10. The network said Taliban officials told them further details would be released after “legal procedures” were completed.

The Taliban ministry stressed that no court affiliated with the group had yet issued a ruling on the two journalists and claimed reports circulating in the media about them were inaccurate.

Earlier, sources told Afghanistan International that Mansoor Niazi was detained on May 7, in Karte Char, Kabul, and transferred to an undisclosed location. Imran Danish, head of TOLOnews’ political section, was detained late on Saturday, May 9, near the network’s office in Wazir Akbar Khan.

Afghanistan International had also reported that after news of the arrests was published on the outlet’s social media accounts, the Moby Group office was surrounded by Taliban intelligence forces for more than six hours. The Committee to Protect Journalists also confirmed the incident.

Another journalist, Jawid Niazi, was detained on May 6, after being summoned to a Taliban intelligence office in Kabul, and no information about his whereabouts has since emerged.

The arrests have drawn strong reactions from media support organisations and press freedom advocates.

Afghanistan ranks 175th out of 180 countries on the global press freedom index. The Taliban also removed the word “freedom” from World Press Freedom Day observances, and no female journalists attended this year’s ceremony organised by the group.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Taliban spokesperson said: “Afghan soil is not used against any country, and no one will be allowed to carry out activities that harm regional security and stability.”

An explosion in the Fateh Khel area of Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday night killed 15 police officers and wounded four others, including one civilian.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry later said the attack had been planned by militants based in Afghanistan, citing investigations, evidence and technical intelligence.

Following the attack, Pakistan summoned Sardar Ahmad Shakib, Afghanistan ambassador to Pakistan, and handed him an official protest letter over the incident.

Pakistan’s defence minister also warned that the country could carry out decisive operations against the Afghan Taliban in response to the militant attack on the police post in Bannu.

UNAMA said former government officials and members of the former Afghan National Defence and Security Forces were being forcibly deported to Afghanistan and faced rights abuses upon their return.

Media Freedom

In its latest quarterly report, UNAMA said media freedom in Afghanistan faced growing restrictions and pressure on journalists and media activists continued.

According to the report, the Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture revoked the licences of all media-support organisations except three in January 2026.

The report referred to the case of Mahdi Ansari, who was released in March 2026 after serving an 18-month prison sentence on charges of spreading propaganda against the Taliban. Three other media workers arrested in July 2025 remain in detention.

UNAMA also reported that two local media outlets were suspended by Taliban order during the reporting period.

The television channel Rah-e-Farda TV was suspended after its founder criticised Taliban military policies towards Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the private Khushal Radio in Ghazni was temporarily suspended after female students phoned a male presenter during a live broadcast.

Religious Freedom

UNAMA said Taliban authorities in at least eight provinces ordered Shia communities to observe Eid according to dates announced by the Taliban rather than the Shia calendar.

According to the report, several Shia clerics in one province were arrested for refusing to celebrate Eid on the Taliban-declared date.

UNAMA also reported that Taliban morality officials in Kabul prevented women from entering a shrine during Nowruz celebrations. In Herat, a Shia mosque was ordered to stop women from attending evening prayers.

The report further referred to Decree Number 12 issued by Hibatullah Akhundzada, stating that the new regulations describe Sunni Islam as the “dominant religious doctrine” while labelling other religious beliefs as “heretical.”

In a report released on Tuesday, UNAMA said it had documented 95 incidents during the first three months of the year, attributing 94 per cent of them to Pakistan and one incident to the Taliban administration.

Pakistani air strikes accounted for 64 percent of civilian casualties, while another 35 per cent resulted from indirect fire along the border, the report said.

According to UNAMA, the casualties included 72 women, 48 girls, 95 boys and 554 men killed or injured.

The deadliest incident during the reporting period was a Pakistani air strike on the Omid drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul in March 2026. UNAMA confirmed at least 269 deaths and 122 injuries in the attack, most of them male patients.

The report said Kabul recorded the highest number of civilian casualties, followed by the border provinces of Kunar and Paktika.

UNAMA also referred to Pakistani attacks on residential and border areas in Kunar and Paktika provinces, including air strikes in the Sarkany and Barmal districts and artillery shelling in border regions of Khost and Nangarhar.

Other incidents causing casualties were reported in Khost, Nangarhar, Paktia, Kandahar and Nuristan provinces.

UNAMA urged both the Pakistani government and the Taliban administration to respect international humanitarian law and refrain from using schools and hospitals for military purposes.

According to the report, a letter will shortly be sent to Kabul to arrange the timing of the meeting. The talks are being organised in coordination with Sweden, and two European delegations are expected to visit Afghanistan beforehand.

A European Commission spokesperson said EU officials are working on holding a technical meeting in Brussels with Taliban representatives, although no date has yet been announced.

The move comes as around 20 EU member states seek ways to return Afghan migrants, particularly those convicted of crimes. Several European countries had previously urged the EU in a joint letter to find diplomatic and practical solutions to advance the process.

The plan has drawn criticism from human rights organisations and migrant advocacy groups. Critics argue that returning Afghans to a country facing severe human rights, humanitarian and economic crises could put many lives at risk.

According to EU figures, around one million Afghans applied for asylum in European countries between 2013 and 2024. Afghans also remained the largest group of asylum seekers in Europe in 2025.

Some countries, including Germany, have already begun deporting Afghan migrants.