The Taliban’s ambassador in Moscow held separate talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk and Chamber of Commerce President Sergei Katyrin on expanding economic and trade ties.
The Taliban embassy in Moscow said the meetings took place on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The 29th edition of the forum was held over three days from June 3 - 5.
Hasan Gul Hasan, Taliban’s ambassador in Moscow, and Ahmadullah Wasiq, head of the Taliban’s Olympic, Physical Education and Sports Directorate, attended the event.
According to the Taliban embassy, discussions focused on expanding bilateral economic and commercial relations, increasing opportunities for Afghan traders and supporting Afghan students studying in Russia.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is Russia’s leading annual economic conference and has been held since 1997. This year’s gathering brought together representatives from more than 130 countries.
Russia remains the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration.
The interior ministers of Pakistan and Tajikistan have expressed deep concern over the presence of militant safe havens and the growth of narcotics production in Afghanistan during a meeting on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathering in Bishkek.
The two officials warned on Friday that around 25 militant groups are currently operating in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, posing a threat to stability across the wider region.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Tajikistan’s Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda said that terrorist training centres and drug-trafficking networks in Afghanistan remain major regional security concerns.
Unlike some other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, both Pakistan and Tajikistan maintain relatively strained relations with the Taliban and have repeatedly accused the group of allowing militant organisations to operate from Afghan territory.
Islamabad has frequently accused the Taliban of providing safe havens for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters. Pakistani officials argue that terrorist attacks in the country have risen sharply since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. They accuse the Taliban of supporting militants and facilitating attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban rejects these allegations and insists that Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal matter.
Tajikistan, meanwhile, has been among the Taliban’s most vocal regional critics since the group’s return to power. Dushanbe has consistently expressed concern about the activities of Jamaat Ansarullah, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and cross-border narcotics trafficking.
Tajik authorities remain particularly concerned about the presence of Jamaat Ansarullah in northern Afghanistan near the Tajik border. The group is believed to seek the overthrow of President Emomali Rahmon’s secular government.
At the same time, concerns persist over ISKP’s activities and its ability to recruit Tajik nationals for regional terrorist operations. Tajikistan has also repeatedly raised alarm over armed drug-trafficking networks crossing the Amu Darya border river and the ongoing clashes between Tajik border guards and smuggling groups operating in the area.
Euractiv, a European outlet focused on EU policy, has criticised the Taliban's invitation to Brussels, reminding members that the Taliban Education Minister Habibullah Agha was sanctioned in 2023 for barring girls from schooling beyond grade six.
The minister was placed under EU sanctions both for denying girls access to education above grade six and for human rights violations. The European Union is due to host a Taliban delegation in Brussels before the end of the summer.
According to the report, the Brussels talks will be held at a technical level and will centre on facilitating the deportation of Afghan nationals who are deemed a security threat or who have been convicted of criminal offences.
Euractiv noted that the invitation comes only months after the EU's External Action Service condemned the Taliban's systematic violation of the rights of women and girls. The outlet recalled that the European Union had previously warned that these abuses against women in Afghanistan may amount to gender persecution.
The outlet spoke to an Afghan citizen who runs a network of two thousand people teaching Afghan girls in secret, in person, across thirty locations in Afghanistan. He told Euractiv that the EU's decision to formally receive a Taliban delegation was deeply disheartening to him.
At the same time, Hannah Neumann, a Greens member of the European Parliament, criticised the invitation in an interview with Euractiv, saying that countries which sacrifice the principles of their foreign policy for deportation deals lose both their credibility and their security. She said the decision had been taken while millions of Afghan girls remained barred from education, yet Taliban representatives were able to travel to Europe.
Neumann warned that the consequences of the decision would not be confined to Afghanistan. In her view, if Europe showed that it could be easily pressured, authoritarian governments would draw their own conclusions from it.
Local sources in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, say prolonged border closures and passport requirements for travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan have fuelled a rise in people smuggling across the frontier.
Sources in Spin Boldak district and people who have travelled to Pakistan through unofficial routes told Afghanistan International that they were forced to turn to people smuggling networks and pay large sums of money to cross the border.
One person who travelled this route said: “I paid a smuggler 130,000 Pakistani rupees to take me to Chaman. The money does not go to just one person; it is distributed among various individuals along the route, including Taliban members.”
He claimed that smuggling networks could not operate without the cooperation of some local officials and influential figures on both sides of the border.
Neither the Taliban nor Pakistani authorities have commented on allegations of people smuggling along the Afghanistan-Pakistan route.
The Taliban officially opposes people smuggling and occasionally returns people from border areas, but unofficial crossings continue.
Another source said: “Ordinary travellers face strict restrictions, but smugglers have their own channels. By paying money, people can even be moved through regular routes and no one is held accountable.”
The continued closure of border crossings and other restrictions have directly affected the lives of thousands of families. Many residents of Spin Boldak, Chaman and surrounding areas maintain business, medical and family ties across the border.
Local residents say restrictions on legal travel have left thousands of workers unemployed and separated many families.
One tribal elder said: “Ordinary people are suffering the most from this situation. Now both the Taliban and the Pakistani side are benefiting from people smuggling.”
Following border clashes between Taliban and Pakistani forces, Islamabad closed the Torkham and Chaman border crossings on 12 October 2025.
The United Nations office in Afghanistan confirmed on Friday, June 5, the death of Freshta Emady, an employee of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kabul.
In response to a query from Afghanistan International, the organisation expressed its sorrow but declined to provide further details about the circumstances of her death.
Reports claiming that the UN staff member had been killed had circulated on social media in recent days.
In a statement issued in Kabul, the United Nations said: “UN in Afghanistan mourns the passing of Ms. Freshta Emady, a valued member of the UNFPA family. She will be greatly missed.”
The organisation also extended its heartfelt condolences and called for respect for the privacy of Ms Emady’s family.
The Taliban has not commented on the case, and no additional information has been released regarding the circumstances of her death.
More than half of Afghanistan’s population is facing the devastating effects of drought and severe water shortages, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on World Environment Day.
The UN body warned that water scarcity remains one of the country’s most widespread threats.
According to a UNAMA report published on Friday, June 5, the environmental crisis is posing a serious threat to livelihoods, food security and stability across Afghanistan.
The report said that a sharp decline in rainfall and excessive groundwater extraction in southern provinces, including Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Zabul and Uruzgan, have pushed traditional irrigation systems to the brink of collapse and forced many communities to dig deeper wells.
UNAMA said climate change has created different patterns of environmental stress across Afghanistan. In eastern provinces such as Nangarhar, farmers are facing repeated crop losses and growing disputes over water and land resources. Meanwhile, western provinces including Ghor and Farah continue to struggle with prolonged drought, while other areas have experienced heavy rainfall and flash floods that have destroyed homes, infrastructure and agricultural land.
In addition to drought and flooding, severe dust storms in southern Afghanistan have contributed to respiratory illnesses, while deforestation in Kunar, Nuristan and Logar provinces has removed natural barriers against landslides and floods. In major cities such as Kabul, the use of low-quality fuels and poor waste management during winter have turned air pollution into a major public health concern.
The organisation also noted that growing tourism in Panjshir, Kapisa and Maidan Wardak have led to increased waste accumulation in rivers and valleys, highlighting the need for stronger environmental management measures.
