Nooruddin Azizi, Taliban’s commerce minister, called for stronger economic ties with Russia during talks with Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, warning that some groups were trying to undermine bilateral relations.
Taliban media outlets reporting on the meeting did not specify which groups Azizi was referring to or how they were allegedly attempting to damage ties.
The Taliban ministers for commerce and higher education travelled to Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan to attend the Russia–Islamic World International Economic Forum.
Russia is the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration.
Possible Deployment of Afghan Workers to Russia
Azizi said the Taliban administration is exploring the possibility of sending Afghan workers to Russia and that Moscow has also shown interest in the proposal.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the forum, he said: “Various Afghan government institutions are working on the issue of migrant workers, and efforts are continuing to achieve tangible results.”
Azizi stressed that interest in the cooperation was “mutual” and that both sides wanted progress on the matter.
According to him, the main obstacle is language. “The only existing barrier is language-related issues, but we are trying to resolve this challenge,” he said.
He added that a joint commission is working on the issue to find solutions and reach a final agreement.
Earlier, Mikhail Matveyev, Russian parliament member opposed the proposal to recruit Afghan workers, describing it as a threat to Russia’s security.
Shia cleric Hussein Dad Sharifi says Taliban morality police beat him in Kabul for registering a “temporary marriage”. He said dozens of shia clerics have recently been detained and warned against conducting such marriages.
Sharifi said officers from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice took him to Kabul’s District 18 police station on Wednesday, 6 May, after he officiated the marriage of a couple, where he was assaulted.
The cleric said morality police summoned him, threatened him and treated him violently. “They punched me and my turban was knocked off my head,” he said.
Sharifi, a Shia cleric in Kabul, said Taliban forces have recently detained dozens of Shia clerics over the registration of “temporary marriages”.
According to Sharifi, Taliban officials forced the clerics to sign written pledges promising not to register temporary marriages again, warning them they would otherwise face imprisonment.
Speaking at a mosque in Kabul, Sharifi said: “The Taliban have stripped the Shia faith of official recognition, and now they will not even allow us to practise our personal and private affairs according to our religious beliefs.”
He said Shia clerics were being treated “like criminals”, forced to sign written undertakings and threatened with prison.
Sharifi added that not only clerics but ordinary Shiite citizens were also being humiliated and insulted.
Criticising Taliban policies, he said: “If we are not allowed to practise according to our faith, they should officially announce that the Shia Isalm is banned, so we no longer consider ourselves bound by it.”
He also referred to incidents in which Taliban morality police questioned young couples in markets and demanded marriage certificates. “Where in the world do people ask couples for marriage papers in the middle of a market? This is not justice; it is an insult to the people,” he said.
Taliban morality police had previously detained a young man and woman shopping for wedding items in the Dasht-e-Barchi area on accusations of an extramarital relationship. Sharifi said he was beaten for having officiated their marriage.
He described the actions as “an insult to the Shia Islam and Shia people”, adding: “Do such actions not amount to an attempt to forcibly change people’s faith?”
Sharifi called on Taliban authorities to revise their policies towards Shias and prevent insults against Shia clerics, sect and communities.
“If such a policy exists at a higher level, it must be reconsidered,” he said. “These actions deepen divisions, wound people’s religious feelings and damage Afghanistan’s national interests.”
Earlier, the Afghanistan Shia Commission said it had raised the issue of the “insulting treatment” of Sharifi during a meeting with the head of inspections at the Taliban’s Propagation of Virtue ministry, and called for such incidents not to be repeated.
Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the Taliban chief justice, warned during a visit to northern Afghanistan that “a system built on oppression cannot survive”, urging Taliban officials to avoid abusing prisoners and detainees.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Taliban Supreme Court said Haqqani had travelled to the provinces of Kunduz, Badakhshan, Balkh, Jawzjan and Baghlan.
According to the statement, he told local Taliban officials they should be grateful because “an Islamic system rules the country and there is no foreign interference”.
Haqqani specifically addressed the treatment of prisoners and suspects, saying: “No one has the right to punish a criminal arbitrarily. Criminals and prisoners must be treated well.”
He added that “any form of oppression, abuse and inappropriate treatment of prisoners and criminals is unacceptable and must be avoided”.
Addressing Taliban forces, the senior official said: “Try not to oppress anyone, because a system that commits oppression will not endure.”
Haqqani is one of the founders of the Taliban movement and among the group’s most influential figures.
His remarks come despite widespread accusations against the Taliban administration of conducting desert courts, carrying out revenge killings, summary executions, torture and mistreatment of detainees.
Reports by international organisations, including the United Nations, have documented the killing, torture and disappearance of hundreds of former Afghan security personnel, the execution of suspected Islamic State Khorasan Province members without trial, and deaths of political detainees under torture in prison.
This is not the first time a senior Taliban official has warned about abuses committed by Taliban forces.
Previously, Sirajuddin Haqqani also said that “a system cannot survive through oppression”.
Abdul Hakim Haqqani himself is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity.
The Taliban leader and chief justice are under investigation over their alleged role in systematic persecution based on gender and policies targeting women, girls and other groups in Afghanistan.
Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of the People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, said the Taliban have stripped the Jaafari jurisprudence of official recognition and imposed widespread pressure on the religious practices of Shia Muslims.
In a post on Facebook, Mohaqiq said the measures included insults, beatings of Shia clerics and interference in matters related to personal status laws and religious affairs.
He described the actions as contributing to deeper social divisions in Afghanistan.
Mohaqiq referred to the recent detention and assault of Hussaindad Sharifi, a prominent Shia cleric and prayer leader in Kabul, who he said was beaten and humiliated by Taliban officials for officiating a temporary marriage contract for a Shia couple.
Sharifi has also said Taliban forces recently detained dozens of Shia clerics for registering temporary marriages.
According to Sharifi, Taliban officials forced the clerics to sign written pledges not to conduct such marriages again and threatened them with imprisonment if they failed to comply.
Mohaqiq added that dozens of Shia religious scholars had been summoned to Taliban police stations and ordered not to conduct marriage ceremonies according to Shia traditions.
He said clerics were warned they could face six months in prison if they violated the order.
The anti-Taliban politician also referred to a case in Daykundi in which an elderly Pashtun man reportedly claimed marriage rights over a young married Hazara woman.
According to Mohaqiq, the Taliban court pressured the couple without sufficient grounds, detained relatives of the family and forced the couple to flee the area.
He described the incidents as examples of what he called “religious and honour-based pressure” against Hazara and Shia communities.
Mohaqiq warned that, alongside military and security pressures, such actions would deepen hostility and tensions within society.
He urged the Taliban to respect the personal status laws and religious affairs of Hazara and Shia communities, saying continued interference would benefit no side.
He also called on the Taliban, “at least for their own interests”, not to further violate the private and religious affairs of Hazara and Shia citizens.
Earlier, local sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban morality police had taken Sharifi to Police District 18 in Kabul and physically assaulted him.
According to the sources, Taliban officials treated the cleric in a “humiliating and violent manner” because he had conducted the marriage ceremony of a couple before their wedding celebration.
Taliban governors, intelligence chiefs and police commanders from Afghanistan’s north-western region held a meeting in Sar-e Pol province to discuss security and coordination among Taliban institutions.
Haji Zaid, a spokesperson for Taliban's governor of Balkh province, said on X on Friday that the governors of Balkh, Sar-e Pol, Jawzjan, Samangan and Faryab provinces along with other senior officials, attended the meeting.
He said the session was chaired by the Taliban governor of Balkh.
According to Haji Zaid, participants discussed a range of security, administrative, cultural and social issues and adopted what he described as the necessary decisions.
Radio Television Afghanistan reported that discussions also covered the enforcement of laws, combating criminal activity, preventing what the Taliban described as “negative propaganda” against the group, tackling narcotics, and preventing administrative and moral corruption.
The Taliban police command in Balkh published images from the meeting on its X account.
The gathering was one of a series of periodic coordination meetings among senior Taliban officials in northern Afghanistan, which are usually held every few months.
Observers say the north-western zone, including Balkh, Sar-e Pol, Jawzjan, Faryab and Samangan, is particularly sensitive for the Taliban due to security concerns, opposition group activity, ethnic tensions, drug trafficking and local discontent.
Yue Xiaoyong, Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, held separate meetings with a Qatari deputy foreign minister and the Taliban ambassador in Doha to discuss Afghanistan and rising tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan.
According to a statement issued on Friday by Qatar’s foreign ministry, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi and the Chinese envoy reviewed recent developments in Afghanistan and ways to strengthen joint international efforts to promote security and stability in the country.
Al Khulaifi stressed the importance of resolving tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan through peaceful means and reinforcing regional peace and stability.
The Chinese envoy also said the two sides discussed efforts to peacefully resolve the tensions.
China and Qatar have played active roles in facilitating dialogue between the Taliban and Pakistan.
In April 2026, China hosted informal talks between representatives of the two sides in the city of Urumqi. The negotiations ended without a specific agreement, though Chinese officials described them as an important framework for reducing tensions.
Earlier this week, Yue visited Kabul and met Amir Khan Muttaqi, where he stressed the importance of continuing dialogue within the framework of the Urumqi process.
Writing on X, Yue said both sides viewed the process positively and were ready to work together for regional peace, security and development.
The Chinese envoy also met Suhail Shaheen, the taliban ambassador in Doha. He wrote that he was “pleased to see relations between Afghanistan and the region expanding”.
The Taliban embassy in Qatar said discussions covered bilateral relations between Afghanistan and China, the current political situation, trade and economic issues, and Chinese humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
The talks come amid rising militant attacks in Pakistan’s tribal regions, mainly by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, including a suicide bombing and shooting in Bannu on 9 May and another attack in Bajaur.
The violence has reportedly increased doubts in Islamabad about continuing the negotiations. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militant groups, an allegation the Taliban deny.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson declined on Thursday to provide further details about the future of the Urumqi talks when questioned by reporters.
Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan have remained tense since the Urumqi meeting. The Taliban summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul on 29 April, while Islamabad has repeatedly summoned Taliban representatives, including on 11 May after an attack in Bannu that killed 15 police officers.