Taliban Army Chief Visits Badakhshan For Talks With Dissident Commander, Say Sources

Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday, July 9, that a meeting of the provincial Apex Committee of the National Action Plan was held in Balochistan under the chairmanship of Shehbaz Sharif.

During the meeting, Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to confronting what he described as India-backed terrorism operating from Afghan soil.

The meeting followed three major militant attacks in Balochistan over the past four days, in which Pakistani officials said 42 security personnel were killed.

Pakistani authorities also said security forces killed 54 militants during subsequent operations.

Sharif also said the current war against terrorism will continue until the last terrorist in Pakistan is eliminated.

He again accused India of supporting terrorist attacks and claimed militants were using Afghan territory to launch attacks against Pakistan.

The Pakistani prime minister also stressed the enemy has failed to tolerate Pakistan’s diplomatic achievements.

His remarks came a day after Pakistan military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry reaffirmed that security operations against all terrorists and their facilitators would continue.

Chaudhry accused the Afghan Taliban of providing safe havens and financial support to armed groups fighting Pakistan.

He also said operations to pursue and eliminate all terrorists and their supporters would continue.

The military spokesperson said four attackers took part in one of the recent assaults, three of whom were Afghan nationals.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of supporting insurgent groups, allegations the Taliban have consistently denied.

She stressed that supporting US citizens and protecting United States’ national interests remain key priorities in Washington’s policy towards Afghanistan.

Elizabeth Stickney, a US State Department spokesperson, accused the Taliban in an exclusive interview with Afghanistan International of continuing a “hostage-taking policy” and called for the release of all Americans she said were being “wrongfully detained”.

She said on Thursday that the Taliban continued to pursue a policy of hostage-taking and called for the release of all wrongfully detained American citizens.

Stickney said protecting American citizens and safeguarding US national interests were priorities for the administration of President Donald Trump.

The State Department spokesperson also said counterterrorism remained one of Washington’s most important national interests in Afghanistan.

She described the human rights situation of Afghan women and girls as horrific and called on the Taliban to end violations of their rights.

Asked whether the United States had a plan to change the situation in Afghanistan, Stickney said Washington was actively engaged but declined to provide further details about its actions.

Relations between the Taliban and the United States have remained tense since the group returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Washington does not recognise the Taliban government and has repeatedly expressed concern over the human rights situation, particularly the sweeping restrictions imposed on women and girls.

In recent years, the detention of foreign nationals, including several US citizens, has become a major source of dispute between the Taliban and the United States.

US officials have repeatedly called for the release of their citizens and described the detention of Americans as unlawful.

The exact number of US citizens detained and imprisoned by the Taliban remains unclear.

At the same time, the United States says countering terrorist groups in Afghanistan remains one of its security priorities.

The Taliban has consistently rejected allegations of human rights abuses and arbitrary detention, saying its actions comply with domestic laws and Islamic values.

The State Department spokesperson’s latest comments come as international pressure continues over the Taliban’s restrictions on Afghan women and girls.

With the discovery of the bodies, the death toll from the insurgent attack on a Pakistani military convoy along the Karachi–Quetta highway has risen to 30.

According to a list released by Quetta Civil Hospital, 14 of the victims were from Ziarat district, three from Sanjavi, one from Musakhel, one from Loralai, one from Qila Abdullah and one from Sargodha district in Punjab province.

On Wednesday, July 8, militants blocked the highway and reportedly extorted money from travellers and local residents.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Sources told Afghanistan International that the fighting began after an improvised explosive device (IED) struck a military convoy, triggering clashes between security forces and militants.

The incident came one day after nine police officers were killed in clashes with militants in the Ziarat area of Balochistan.

The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility for that attack.

Pakistan military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said at a press briefing on Thursday that security forces had also killed 15 militants during operations in Ziarat district.

Meanwhile, a protest sit-in in Quetta over the recent militant attacks has entered its fifth day. Protesters say they will continue demonstrating until their demands are met.

The demonstrators are calling for direct talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country's army chief.

Rich in mineral resources and home to key routes of the multibillion-dollar China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Balochistan has faced years of separatist violence and armed attacks.

The newspaper said its information was obtained from refugee councils in several German states.

Interior ministries across Germany’s federal states have declined to provide precise figures on the number of Afghans in this situation.

After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Germany suspended deportations to Afghanistan because of the humanitarian situation and human rights concerns. Deportations resumed in autumn 2024 but were limited to convicted criminals and individuals considered security threats.

The current government has so far maintained the same policy. However, its coalition agreement envisages extending deportations in future to include people with no criminal convictions or security-related concerns.

In recent weeks, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt reached an agreement with the Taliban on the deportation of Afghan nationals and, in return, agreed to increase the number of Taliban diplomats in Germany.

According to Taz, four of the five Afghans currently awaiting deportation are being held in Bavaria, while one is detained in Hesse. Another Afghan national who had been held at a deportation detention centre in Lower Saxony was released on Tuesday.

The Lower Saxony Refugee Council said he was released because the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had made an error in serving an official decision.

The newspaper reported that the cases share notable similarities, with all of the individuals coming under the attention of the federal police after returning to Germany from trips abroad. Taz also reported a recent change in the federal police’s approach towards Afghan nationals, although Germany’s Interior Ministry denied the claim.

Meanwhile, the German government on Wednesday responded to parliamentary questions from Clara Bünger regarding cooperation with the Taliban. However, Taz reported that the government did not provide clear answers to many of the questions and, in some cases, declined to comment, citing “state interests”.

Bünger also said information concerning cooperation between German authorities and the Taliban was being classified or withheld from the public.

The German government also said it had deported 87 Afghan nationals between 1 January and 19 June 2026. Of those, 77 were returned on three charter flights and 10 on scheduled commercial flights. The three charter flights cost more than €1.06 million.

Kazakhstan Today reported that Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin met Mohammad Ismail Ghazanfar, chairman of Afghanistan’s Ghazanfar Bank, on Wednesday to discuss expanding banking and trade cooperation.

During the meeting, Zhumangarin said reliable banking infrastructure is essential to increasing bilateral trade and ensuring regular, uninterrupted payments between companies in both countries.

According to the report, two Kazakh banks currently maintain correspondent banking relationships with Afghan banks.

Cross-border payments between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan reached nearly $300 million in 2025, marking a 26 per cent increase compared with the previous year. Payments for goods and services also increased fivefold over the same period.

Trade between the two countries reached $342.4 million during the first four months of 2026, 2.3 times higher than in the same period last year. Of that amount, $338.5 million consisted of Kazakhstan’s exports to Afghanistan.

Higher exports of wheat, flour, sunflower oil and other goods were among the main factors driving the growth in bilateral trade.