Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq Fayyad, one of the most senior Shia religious authorities, has died after a prolonged illness, according to a statement issued by his office in Kabul on Thursday.
Ayatollah Fayyad was one of the leading Shia clerics, and originally hailed from Ghazni province in Afghanistan. He lived in the Iraqi city of Najaf.
He began his early education in his hometown before continuing his religious studies in Mashhad, Iran, and later in Najaf, Iraq.
The secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) warned at a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Moscow that security risks in Afghanistan are growing amid increasing regional instability.
Taalatbek Masadykov, the CSTO secretary-general, said that against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical confrontation across Eurasia, the potential for conflict in Afghanistan is expanding and the activities of international terrorist and extremist organisations in the country are increasing.
The meeting was held on Wednesday, June 3, and attended by the defence ministers of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Presenting an assessment of the regional military and political situation, the CSTO secretary-general said the number of security challenges and threats facing member states is rising, reflecting growing geopolitical tensions at both regional and global levels.
He identified the expansion of NATO’s military capabilities in Europe, the continuation of armed conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the increasing conflict potential in Afghanistan and the growing activity of international terrorist and extremist groups as the main sources of these threats.
Andrei Serdyukov, chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, had previously warned that numerous international extremist and terrorist organisations are active in Afghanistan. He said their presence creates a risk of terrorism spreading into neighbouring countries.
Russia’s Security Council secretary has also previously stated that between 18,000 and 23,000 militants are currently operating in Afghanistan.
Amid these concerns, Russia and the Taliban signed a military-technical cooperation agreement in Moscow on May 27. The document was signed in the presence of Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Taliban Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid.
Pakistani business newspaper Business Recorder reported that the closure of border crossings with Afghanistan in recent months has dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan’s trade, costing the country nearly $850 million in exports and transit revenues.
The continued closure of Pakistan’s border crossings with Afghanistan, combined with rising regional tensions and the Middle East crisis, has placed growing pressure on Pakistan’s foreign trade sector. Business Recorder described the two developments as major economic shocks that have seriously challenged the country’s trade outlook and external revenues.
According to the newspaper, the combined impact of these developments could inflict losses of around $1.4 billion on Pakistan’s external trade sector.
The publication said the figures were based on an official document from Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry.
The report stated that the border closures have disrupted parts of the regional transport chain and left thousands of transit containers stranded. It also predicted that the situation could reduce Pakistan’s direct exports to Gulf Cooperation Council countries by around $600 million over the next three to six months.
Business Recorder warned that if the situation continues, it could weaken Pakistan’s domestic production stability and reduce the competitiveness of its exports in global markets. At the same time, rising energy prices are expected to increase the country’s import costs.
After tensions escalated between Kabul and Islamabad in October last year, Pakistan closed eight border crossings with Afghanistan, severely disrupting the movement of goods and trade between the two countries.
In response, the Taliban administration gave traders three months in late 2025 to settle their contracts in Pakistan and shift to alternative trade routes.
At the same time, the Taliban has sought to reduce Afghanistan’s commercial dependence on Pakistan and expand trade routes through Iran and Central Asian countries.
Earlier, Pakistan’s central bank reported that trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan had fallen by around 60% over the past seven months.
According to available figures, the value of bilateral trade declined from $2.461 billion in 2024 to $1.766 billion in 2025.
Statistics from the Taliban Commerce Ministry also show that Afghanistan’s exports to Pakistan dropped from $817 million in 2024 to $505 million in 2025.
Afghanistan’s imports from Pakistan also fell during the same period, from $1.644 billion to $1.261 billion, reflecting a significant decline in trade exchanges between the two countries.
Cybersecurity researchers say a likely Pakistan-linked hacking group targeted the Taliban’s Finance Ministry using malware, remote-access tools and phishing emails containing compressed files written in Pashto.
According to the report, the campaign begins with phishing emails containing compressed files that include a malicious shortcut file labelled in Pashto. Researchers say the use of the Pashto language suggests the attackers had detailed knowledge of the environment and structure of Taliban-controlled institutions.
The operation was not limited to the Taliban Finance Ministry and also targeted provincial financial and revenue offices, Pashto-speaking officials and local government employees.
The malware reportedly enables attackers to log keystrokes, capture screenshots, access webcams and microphones, steal data and establish covert communications.
It also maintains persistence on infected systems by disguising itself as the Microsoft Edge browser and modifying the Windows registry.
Experts believe the group, known as “SideCopy”, is linked to the larger cyber espionage network “Transparent Tribe” or “APT36”, which has previously carried out cyberattacks against targets in South Asia, particularly in India.
The report comes shortly after a similar campaign targeting Indian military infrastructure was identified.
In those attacks, malware was spread through malicious files disguised as ordinary documents or shared via messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.
In this type of cyberattack, the malware is first installed through an infected file and then connects to a server controlled by the attackers, allowing them to gain remote access to the targeted system.
Once access is established, hackers can operate almost as if they were physically sitting behind the computer, accessing files, running programmes, stealing information and monitoring user activity.
Former Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi described the invitation of Taliban officials to Brussels as a slap in the face of Afghan women and a sign of the growing normalisation of repression in Afghanistan.
In an article published by The Guardian on Wednesday, June 3, Koofi discussed the situation of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule and the continued violations of human rights and restrictive policies targeting women and girls.
The former Afghan parliamentarian wrote that after five years of Taliban rule, there has been no sign of improvement in the condition of women in Afghanistan.
Referring to Taliban restrictions on women and girls, the women’s rights activist wrote that a bird enjoys more legal protection than an Afghan woman.
Koofi also pointed to the rapid expansion of religious schools across Afghanistan, saying that while girls are barred from formal education, these institutions continue to grow without restrictions.
She stressed that Afghanistan has exposed a major gap in the international legal system because there is no effective legal framework to prosecute systematic violations of women’s rights.
Koofi warned that engaging with the Taliban without holding the group accountable risks legitimising repression and human rights abuses in Afghanistan.
She called on governments worldwide to criminalise gender apartheid and end impunity for those responsible in order to hold the Taliban accountable.
Spain’s foreign minister voiced support for Afghan women and girls at a conference on feminist foreign policy, saying their voices would always be heard in Spain despite Taliban efforts to silence them.
The two-day conference, held under the slogan “Building Peace and Democracy”, began on Tuesday, June 2, at Spain’s Foreign Ministry headquarters in Madrid. Government officials, representatives of international organisations, civil society groups and women’s rights activists from around 60 countries are attending the event.
In his remarks, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares referred to a special space at the ministry that hosts the annual “HearUs” conference attended by Afghan women and associations in exile.
He also noted that one of the halls at Spain’s Foreign Ministry has been named after Afghan women, saying the name should remain permanently so that the voices of Afghan women are never silenced.
Albares added that the voice and action of Afghan women are also present at the current conference.
France’s Minister Delegate for International Partnerships, Eléonore Caroit, also described the situation of Afghan women and girls as one of the clearest examples of women’s rights violations in the world and stressed the need for global support.
Fawzia Koofi, Afghan women’s rights activist and politician, spoke during a panel on the role of women in peacebuilding and the future of democracy. She said that the policy of appeasement adopted by some countries towards the Taliban had strengthened the group’s repression of women.
Koofi warned that European countries should not legitimise a culture of gender apartheid under the pretext of deporting migrants.
Two special sessions on Afghanistan are being held during the conference: one on gender apartheid and another on the role of women in peace and democracy. Around 140 civil society organisations and feminist groups are also participating.
The organisers stressed that sustainable peace and genuine democracy are impossible without the full participation of women, and that support for Afghan women must remain part of global commitments to human rights and gender justice.