The Taliban's Ministry of Refugees has announced that 307 Afghans were released from Pakistani prisons this week. The ministry said they returned to Afghanistan via the Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings.
According to the Taliban, these citizens had been imprisoned for not holding residency documents in Pakistan.
The Taliban's Ministry of Refugees said on Thursday May 21 that 268 people entered the country via the Torkham crossing and a further 39 via the Spin Boldak route.
The detention of undocumented Afghan asylum seekers in Pakistan is continuing.
The United Nations has called on Pakistan to halt the process of detaining and deporting Afghan migrants.
Taliban officials, however, despite a shortage of humanitarian resources, are calling for the process of Afghans' return to the country to be accelerated.
Following the Russian President's visit to China, Moscow and Beijing expressed concern in a joint statement over the major threat of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.
In the statement, released on Wednesday, the two countries said terrorism remained a serious threat to the security of Afghanistan, the region, and the world.
Moscow and Beijing called on countries in the region and the international community to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation with Afghanistan and to prevent the country's territory from being used to threaten the security of its neighbours.
The joint statement said that the two countries support Afghanistan's approach to eradicating terrorism and preventing its territory from being used to harm regional security.
Russia and China also announced that they are ready to increase their cooperation and coordination on Afghanistan at both the bilateral and multilateral levels. The two countries stressed the establishment of lasting order and security in Afghanistan as swiftly as possible.
In another part of the statement, Moscow and Beijing described the role of regional mechanisms as important in the political resolution of the Afghan issue. In this regard, they cited the role of the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan, the meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries, the regional quadrilateral group comprising Russia, China, Iran, and Pakistan, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Afghanistan remains one of the central security concerns for countries in the region, particularly Russia and China. Since the Taliban's return to power, concerns over the presence and activities of terrorist groups on Afghan soil have repeatedly been raised by neighbouring countries and regional powers.
Russia is particularly sensitive to the activities of the Islamic State Khorasan branch and Central Asian extremist groups in Afghanistan. Moscow has repeatedly warned that instability in Afghanistan could threaten the security of Central Asia and extend to Russia's southern borders.
Russian officials have also expressed concern over the possibility of extremist fighters being transferred from the Middle East to Afghanistan, and the country being used as a sanctuary for radical groups.
China, too, has specific security concerns regarding Afghanistan. Beijing is worried that members of Uyghur separatist groups or other extremist movements could use Afghan soil to threaten the security of the Xinjiang region. For this reason, China has consistently stressed the need to prevent the use of Afghan soil against neighbouring countries.
Despite these concerns, Russia and China have maintained their political and diplomatic relations with the Taliban and are seeking to influence developments in Afghanistan through dialogue and regional mechanisms.
Despite the Taliban's close relations with Moscow and Beijing, the two countries' security concerns persist. Russia has recognised the Taliban government, but China, despite close relations and political engagement, has not yet taken such a step.
Sources have told Afghanistan International that the Taliban have dispatched convoys of forces and military vehicles to Badakhshan province. The convoys are said to be heading towards Faizabad. The move follows heightened tensions over gold mining in the province.
At least four sources in north-eastern Afghanistan confirmed that the Taliban have deployed additional forces to Badakhshan province. Videos received by Afghanistan International show Taliban military convoys moving towards Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan.
So far, no details have been released regarding the number of these forces or their precise mission, and Taliban officials have not commented officially on the matter.
These movements come as the Taliban's leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has recently decided to deploy an additional one thousand forces to the province in order to strengthen control over Badakhshan's mines.
In recent days, Badakhshan has witnessed fresh developments and tensions, particularly in relation to gold mining. Following the rise in tensions, the Taliban administration dismissed the province's former head of mines and appointed Abdul Matin Rahimzai from Kabul as the new head of mines in Badakhshan.
Abdul Matin Rahimzai recently warned that no individual or group will be permitted to extract minerals in the province without authorisation.
Previously, the Afghanistan Freedom Front had also announced, in a video, that its forces were present in several mountainous areas of Badakhshan.
A spokesperson for the Taliban's police in Kabul has confirmed that General Shaoor Gul Pashtun, a former deputy minister of defence of Afghanistan, has been detained on charges of murdering two women.
The general of the former government had pledged allegiance to the Taliban in 2023.
Khalid Zadran, spokesperson for the Taliban's police command, announced on Wednesday that Pashtun had been detained last Thursday, May 15, from the 17th district of Kabul, and that his case would be handed over to the judicial authorities following investigation. He said the accused "has confessed to his crime".
The Taliban have given no explanation regarding the murder of the two women or the timing of the incident.
General Shaoor Gul Pashtun was, under the previous government, a deputy minister of defence and commander of the 203rd Thunder Army Corps.
In 2023, along with a number of other former military officials, he pledged allegiance to the Taliban and presented a sword to Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the then deputy prime minister of the Taliban.
Over these years, this former general has held meetings with senior Taliban officials, including the group's defence minister.
Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Representative of Afghanistan to UN, says that representation at the UN is the legitimate right of those governments that have come to power through lawful means and based on the people's will.
Responding to remarks by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban's Foreign Minister, Faiq said: “Representation at the United Nations is the legitimate right of governments that derive power and authority through legitimate means and the will of the people, uphold the rights of all citizens without gender, ethnic, or religious discrimination within the framework of law, and remain committed to their national and international obligations.”
Criticising the Taliban's record over five years, Faiq added: “After five years, the Taliban regime has failed to respond positively either to the legitimate aspirations of the people of Afghanistan or to the clear demands of the international community.”
He said that poverty, forced marriages, suicide among young people due to unemployment, targeted killings of former military personnel, the suppression of freedom of expression, the proliferation of jihadist madrasas, and the promotion of terrorism and extremism have risen to an unprecedented level in Afghanistan.
Faiq went on to ask: “On the basis of what positive actions and under what standard of legitimacy are the Taliban demanding Afghanistan’s seat at the United Nations?”
Referring to the country's current situation, he said that girls remain barred from education in schools and universities, women are denied the right to work and to participate in society, there is no legitimate and inclusive national system, widespread corruption and repression continue, and the security of Afghanistan and the region has deteriorated due to the hosting and support of international terrorist groups.
This stance comes as Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban's Foreign Minister, has called on the United Nations to hand over Afghanistan's seat to the group's administration.
Sources have told Afghanistan International that Safiullah Rasouli, a 25-year-old man, has died under torture in a Taliban prison after 21 days in detention in Herat.
His family say that, after he was accused of smuggling drugs into the prison, the Taliban tortured him to extract a confession.
The man's family, speaking to Afghanistan International on Wednesday May 20, confirmed that they had received Rasouli's body. Family members say that marks of torture, including bruising and reddening, can be seen on his neck and parts of his body.
According to sources, the young man had been detained around 21 days ago in connection with a case relating to ownership of a motorcycle. His family say that Safiullah had bought a motorcycle from his friends without official documentation, but that another person later claimed ownership of it by producing documents.
Safiullah Rasouli's family claim that, after the young man's death, Taliban officials contacted them and said that he had died of a heart attack. According to the family, one of the prisoners then contacted them and gave a different account of how he died.
The family say this prisoner stated that Safiullah had died during interrogation and torture, and that Taliban officers had then threatened the prisoners not to speak to anyone about the incident.
According to sources, the incident took place on the night of Monday May 18, and Safiullah was tortured for around three hours. Sources say he lost his life during interrogation, while his head was placed inside a plastic bag.
Safiullah's family reject the claim that the young man smuggled drugs into the prison.
The man's family, he had married around three months ago, are calling for justice and for the case to be investigated. The Taliban have not yet officially commented on the incident.