A credible source in Kabul told Afghanistan International on Saturday that about 20 students were injured in Friday night's explosion at Kabul University. They were taken to Aliabad Hospital, and their condition is reported to be stable.
An explosion shook the Kabul University dormitory on Friday night, injuring several students.
A video received by Afghanistan International shortly after the blast shows several ambulances outside the dormitory.
In an audio message, one student said strict security measures were imposed at the dormitory following the explosion.
The Taliban has not yet provided details about the cause or nature of the explosion.
Sources told Afghanistan International that Khalid Masood, a commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was killed in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. Taliban authorities have not commented on the incident.
Sources told Afghanistan International on Saturday that the TTP commander was shot by unidentified gunmen at around midnight on Thursday as he was leaving a local TTP camp in the Waghaz district. The attackers fled the scene after the shooting.
The sources also provided Afghanistan International with photographs of the commander's body.
The killing comes a week after another TTP member was shot dead by unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle in Kandahar province.
The Taliban has not commented on either incident.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a militant group formed in 2007 through an alliance of several armed factions in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The Pakistani government designates it as a terrorist organisation, and the group has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks on security forces and civilians over the years.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary to TTP members. The Taliban has consistently denied the allegation, insisting that no terrorist groups operate in Afghanistan and describing TTP as Pakistan’s internal problem.
Hussain Yasa, spokesperson for the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan, said no meetings will take place in Tehran between leaders of anti-Taliban groups and the Taliban’s deputy prime minister or other senior Taliban officials.
Rejecting speculation over behind-the-scenes talks
As rival Afghan political figures travelled to Tehran, some sources suggested informal talks between the two sides might take place.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi are in Tehran alongside Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front, and Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of the Islamic Unity Party of the People of Afghanistan, to attend ceremonies honouring Ali Khamenei. Yasa said there were no plans for any meetings or talks between the two sides.
Speaking to Afghanistan International on Friday, Yasa said the main disagreement between the opposition and the Taliban concerned the political system. He said opposition groups were not opposed to negotiations in principle but insisted that any talks must take place within a defined framework and under agreed principles. He added that they would be prepared to negotiate with the Taliban under international mediation and stronger guarantees.
Tehran’s mediation efforts
Iran has previously sought to act as a mediator between Afghanistan’s rival political factions. In one such effort, Tehran hosted direct talks between Ahmad Massoud and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Those discussions ended without a tangible outcome because of fundamental differences between the two sides.
The Taliban’s opponents continue to call for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, while the Taliban insists its administration is already inclusive.
Observers believe the Taliban’s insistence that opponents should end the conflict and return to live under its “Islamic system”, together with the opposition’s demand for an inclusive government based on the will of the people, has left little prospect of meaningful negotiations under the current circumstances.
Local sources in Badakhshan told Afghanistan International that a Taliban delegation sent by the group's leader failed to reach an agreement with dissident Taliban commander Juma Khan Fateh. Sources said Taliban military activity has since intensified.
Sources told Afghanistan International on Friday that, following a meeting in Shighnan, the Taliban delegation decided to dismiss and disarm individuals believed to be close to Fateh.
According to the sources, Ghulamullah Ahmadi, one of Juma Khan Fateh’s local rivals, has recently been appointed deputy commander of the Badakhshan division.
They added that the intelligence chief of Shekay district and Gulbuddin Almas, commander of the Shighnan battalion, have also been removed from their posts.
Sources said the delegation warned district governors, intelligence officials and Taliban commanders in all five districts of Darwaz region that they would be dismissed if they failed to prevent the movement of armed men operating outside the official chain of command.
According to the sources, the situation in Nusay district on Thursday evening was under heavy security, with a significant increase in Taliban military movements.
Another source told Afghanistan International that a large number of Taliban forces had been deployed to the area but had not yet entered the Darwaz districts, instead remaining in neighbouring districts.
The source added that a large convoy of Taliban intelligence personnel had also been dispatched from Kabul towards the Darwaz districts.
According to the same source, the Taliban has not only begun removing figures close to Juma Khan Fateh but has also started disarming them. The group is reportedly collecting weapons previously issued to armed men, including those deployed at mining sites and other locations.
Meanwhile, a source who met Juma Khan Fateh in Nusay district on Wednesday said the commander had placed his forces on alert but instructed them: “We will not fire the first shot.”
The source said that although Fateh was prepared for confrontation, he believed the Taliban would avoid fighting him because, in his view, “Kandahar knows the situation across Badakhshan is already tense.”
Sources say the main cause of the dispute is competition over control of the province’s gold mines.
Disputes over gold mining in Takhar and Badakhshan have escalated over the past year, repeatedly leading to deadly clashes between local residents, mining companies and the Taliban. Traditional small-scale gold mining has long been the main source of income for thousands of families in the two provinces, and the previous government did not prevent them from carrying out the work.
Former Pakistani envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said Pakistan will continue striking targets inside Afghanistan as long as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants launch attacks on Pakistan from Afghan territory.
Speaking to Afghanistan International on Friday, Durrani said tensions and conflict between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan would continue until the threat posed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was eliminated.
Citing the UN Charter
The former Pakistani special representative defended Pakistan’s cross-border strikes, describing them as legitimate. He said Pakistan was acting in accordance with international law because it faced a direct terrorist threat.
He argued that the UN Charter clearly recognises the right of states to respond when threatened by terrorism.
Under Article 51 of the UN Charter, states have the inherent right of self-defence if an armed attack occurs. Pakistan has relied on this provision to justify its strikes, arguing that the Taliban has failed to prevent TTP militants from operating.
Asked whether Afghan Taliban forces could also become targets of Pakistani operations, Durrani said Pakistan’s sole objective was to target TTP militants.
Responding to questions about civilian casualties caused by Pakistani air and artillery strikes, he claimed TTP fighters do not live in isolated bases but instead operate from residential areas, making such locations unavoidable targets during military operations.
Accusing India
Durrani also accused India of playing a role in the crisis, alleging that New Delhi supports the Taliban and that, with Indian backing, the Taliban has provided sanctuary to groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Balochistan Liberation Army.
Asked why the Taliban, once regarded as a close partner of Islamabad, had become an adversary, Durrani said the group had grown more confident after returning to power in Kabul and had become a patron of TTP, a development he described as a major concern for Pakistan.
He warned that unless an effective diplomatic solution is found, Pakistan’s military operations inside Afghanistan will continue.
The hacker group Afghan Dragons says it has taken the Taliban Defence Ministry’s website offline in protest against the suppression of protesters in Afghanistan, particularly the detention of women in Herat.
The Defence Ministry’s website is currently inaccessible, and the ministry has not commented on the matter.
Afghan Dragons told Afghanistan International that it does not want to carry out cyberattacks in Afghanistan but said Taliban policies had forced it to take such a protest action.
The Taliban has repeatedly detained women in Herat over the past month. The group also suppressed a peaceful protest by Herat residents against the harassment of women, drawing widespread national and international reactions.
Last year, Afghan Dragons also launched cyberattacks that took almost all websites belonging to Taliban-run ministries offline.
In recent years, another hacker group known as TalibLeaks targeted databases of government institutions under Taliban control and published documents from dozens of ministries and other agencies online.