Taliban Calls For Equal Access To Credit Guarantee Services Across Afghanistan

Terje Watterdal, country director of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee, said at a meeting in Kabul on Sunday, 19 July, that more action was needed to support people with disabilities and that their dignity and human rights must be fully respected.

Watterdal said efforts should focus on the abilities and talents of people with disabilities rather than their limitations.

Referring to the consequences of decades of war in Afghanistan, he said serving the population, particularly people with disabilities, was a shared responsibility.

The meeting on supporting education for people with disabilities was held in Kabul on Sunday with representatives from several national and international organisations and institutions supporting people with disabilities.

Taliban officials said the meeting aimed to create educational opportunities for people with disabilities, improve the quality of technical and vocational training, explore ways to empower them and strengthen cooperation.

Mawlawi Ghulam Saeed Ehsas, deputy head of the Taliban’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority, said providing educational opportunities for all sections of society, especially people with disabilities, was one of the authority’s main priorities.

According to figures from the Taliban-run authority, the number of special education centres in Afghanistan has reached 36.

The authority says the expansion of these centres has enabled more people with disabilities to access technical and vocational training.

The Norwegian Afghanistan Committee is a non-governmental aid organisation that has worked in Afghanistan since 1980.

It operates in areas including health services, education, support for people with disabilities, rural development and humanitarian assistance. The organisation has previously said it provides services according to humanitarian principles and without political considerations.

Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest numbers of people with disabilities because of more than four decades of war.

According to UN estimates, about 1.5 million people in the country live with significant disabilities.

International organisations say remnants of war, including landmines and unexploded ordnance, along with disease, road accidents and limited access to healthcare, are among the main causes of disability in Afghanistan.

They say some students have lost hope in their career prospects and have chosen to migrate.

Akram, a pseudonym for a second-year student at the academy, told Afghanistan International that students began their winter holiday in late December 2025. When they returned on March 6, 2026, they were told the academy would remain closed “until further notice”.

He said no one was willing to explain why the academy was closed.

Mansour, another student, said classes were expected to begin on March 6, but students were denied entry when they returned.

He said some of his classmates had travelled through illegal routes to Iran and Turkiye in recent months because of uncertainty over their education and employment prospects.

Mansour added that Police Academy students received about 1,500 afghanis a month during their studies and had hoped to secure jobs after graduation. However, that hope has now faded for some of them.

Another student, who asked to be identified by the pseudonym Wayand, cited budget shortages and difficulties in meeting students’ needs as possible reasons for the suspension of classes.

However, a Taliban Interior Ministry official told Afghanistan International that the academy had not “officially closed” and that no decision had been made to end its activities.

The official, who is close to Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, confirmed the delay in reopening the academy and said classes had not started because of “certain reasons”, without providing further details.

Students have expressed concern that the prolonged suspension could harm professional police training.

The Police Academy is one of the main institutions responsible for training police officers.

During the former Afghan government, its curriculum included law, criminal investigations, crime prevention, management and policing skills.

The Taliban Interior Ministry last announced the graduation of about 900 young officers from the academy in the winter of 2025–26. Sirajuddin Haqqani attended the ceremony.

After the collapse of the former Afghan government in August 2021, the Police Academy, like many of the country’s security institutions, underwent major changes.

The Taliban have used the academy’s facilities to train their security forces, but its structure and curriculum have changed compared with the previous system.

In one of the latest changes, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada replaced the word “police” with “shurta”, an Arabic term for police.

Some users say the symbols featured in the emblem reflect Afghanistan’s history, culture and geography, particularly those of Badakhshan, rather than an ideological identity.

The logo includes symbolic elements such as the Simurgh, the sun, the Hindu Kush mountains, lapis lazuli, a sword and a star. Social media users have described these images as references to the country’s historical and mythological identity.

The Hindu Kush mountains are seen as a symbol of the group’s geographical roots, while the sword and star may represent its military and defensive character.

Abdullah Khodadad, a former Afghan diplomat, wrote on X that some of the symbols used in the Patriotic Soldiers emblem include the golden star of Bactria, the sun of Khorasan and lapis lazuli.

He added that the emblem also features the Simurgh, the wise and high-flying bird of Khorasan mythology, as well as the Hindu Kush mountains and a dagger.

Karim Kohyar, a social media user, wrote that the symbols neither suggest ideological affiliation nor links to foreign powers, but instead are rooted in the history, culture, geography and identity of Afghanistan.

According to him, the imagery connects viewers with the country’s historical past, land and collective memory.

Discussion over the group’s visual identity comes as Friday morning’s attack by Patriotic Soldiers forces on Yaftali Sufla district remains under scrutiny.

Local sources and the Taliban have confirmed that the district administration building fell out of Taliban control for several hours, although the two sides have given differing accounts of the scale and outcome of the incident.

Sepahiyan-e Mihan says its fighters temporarily seized the district headquarters, took weapons, military equipment and government vehicles, and then withdrew.

The Taliban, however, said the attackers retreated after the assault and that a search operation was continuing to identify them.

Following the incident, the Taliban launched extensive house-to-house searches in Yaftali Sufla. Local sources said several residents, including civilians and some local Taliban members, were detained during the operation.

The Taliban also confirmed arrests in connection with the attack but did not provide details about the identities of those detained.

Meanwhile, Taliban army chief Fasihuddin Fitrat travelled to Badakhshan and took charge of operations against the front.

He claimed the Taliban had known about the planned attack in advance and had prevented the assailants from achieving their objectives.

Sepahiyan-e Mihan, however, said none of its members had been detained and that videos released by the Taliban did not show fighters affiliated with the group.

Yaftali Sufla is located near Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan. Its temporary seizure by a newly formed armed front has become one of the province’s most significant recent security developments and remains the subject of political and military analysis.

In a message to a meeting on strengthening efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons in Central Asia, Lavrov stressed the cross-border nature of terrorist threats.

He said combating terrorism required unconditional unity and the rejection of double standards. He sharply criticised Western countries, saying international counterterrorism cooperation had become hostage to the destructive policies of certain Western states.

Lavrov also highlighted Moscow’s regional security efforts and reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to stability in Central Asia.

He said foreign ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization had approved a draft counterterrorism strategy through 2030 at a recent meeting in Kazan. The document is expected to be submitted to member-state leaders for final approval this autumn.

Lavrov added that Russia was among the 10 largest financial contributors to the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and had provided $7 million to the office and its technical assistance programmes in Central Asia and Africa.

Taliban Response

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Lavrov’s remarks about the presence and growing activity of Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Mujahid claimed the Taliban had contained the group’s activities and that it no longer had a physical presence in Afghanistan.

Speaking on Friday, 17 July to Taliban-controlled national television, he said Islamic State movements had been suppressed and that concerns among regional countries were unfounded.

He said the Taliban had full control over Afghanistan and assured neighbouring countries that no threat would emerge from Afghan territory.

The remarks come despite continuing Russian concerns about security threats from Afghanistan, even after Moscow recognised the Taliban and expanded diplomatic and economic relations with the group.

Russian officials have repeatedly warned about the possible movement of extremist groups and weapons from Afghanistan into Central Asian countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said Moscow could not remain indifferent to the security of Central Asian states because of threats originating from Afghan territory.

Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, has also warned of increased activity by ISIS-K and its affiliates in Afghanistan.

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov has said more than 20 radical groups with over 15,000 fighters are present in Afghanistan and could infiltrate neighbouring countries.

Fitrat travelled from Kabul to Yaftal district in Badakhshan and is leading operations against the armed attackers. He claimed that the assault had been foiled and that the attackers had failed to achieve their objectives.

The Taliban army chief said on Friday that the group had learned early that morning of a plan by armed attackers to target Yaftali Sufla district.

He said the Taliban had received information that the “enemy” planned to create unrest in Yaftal. Fitrat added that he had travelled from Kabul to Badakhshan after receiving the information and ordered Taliban forces to respond.

According to him, the Taliban prevented the attackers from reaching their objectives and disrupted their plan.

Fitrat described the attackers as corrupt and rioters and claimed that most of them had been detained. He told the media that the remaining individuals were being pursued.

However, he provided no evidence to support the claim.

Fitrat also insisted that the security situation in Badakhshan remained under Taliban control and said the group would confront any action by armed opponents.

The newly formed Sepahiyan-e Mihan (Patriotic Soldiers Front) claimed responsibility for Friday morning’s attack on Yaftali Sufla district and said its forces had controlled the district administration building for several hours.

Local sources confirmed that the district headquarters had temporarily fallen out of Taliban control.

Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban sent reinforcements from Faizabad to Yaftal after the attack and launched extensive house-to-house searches.

According to the sources, several local residents and some local Taliban members were detained during the operation.

Yaftali Sufla is located near Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan province. The temporary seizure of its district centre by armed opponents poses a serious challenge to Taliban claims of having complete control over security in the province.

In recent years, most attacks by anti-Taliban groups in Badakhshan were concentrated in mountainous and border districts, particularly the Darwaz region.

However, the latest attack on Yaftali Sufla shows that opposition activity has expanded to the outskirts of the provincial capital, potentially indicating a shift in the pattern of armed operations in Badakhshan.