Iran Advances Plan for Free Trade Zone With Afghanistan & China

Head of the Economy Department of South Khorasan Morteza Zakerian said on Sunday at a meeting on investment opportunities in South Khorasan, attended by a Chinese economic delegation, that the administrative process was under way, taking into account the three countries’ geographical, economic and transit potential.

According to Zakerian, the proposal was first presented by the governor of South Khorasan to Iran’s president in December last year. Its aim is to expand economic cooperation through private-sector investment, particularly from Chinese investors.

He said Iran could provide infrastructure, labour and industrial capacity under the plan, while China could contribute investment, financing and technology transfer. Afghanistan, meanwhile, could offer its mineral resources, rare-earth reserves and transit position.

Referring to regional and international developments, Zakerian said the Iran-Afghanistan-China route could serve as a safe, alternative and sustainable corridor for expanding economic relations.

Mojtaba Shariatifar, deputy governor of South Khorasan for economic affairs, said the plan was presented during talks with the Chinese delegation and was welcomed by the Chinese side.

He said the proposal would be pursued through the Chinese embassy and government, and that cooperation agreements were expected to be signed during the Chinese ambassador’s next visit to South Khorasan.

The proposal comes as China has increased its economic presence in Afghanistan in recent years, particularly in the mining sector. Iran is also seeking to use its border with Afghanistan to expand regional trade and attract foreign investment.

Following the suspension of trade relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan because of border and political tensions between the Taliban and Islamabad, Iran has become Afghanistan’s largest trading partner.

One Taliban Member Killed In Kuran Wa Munjan of Badakhshan, Says NRF

Jul 27, 2026, 11:57 GMT+1

عکس از آرشیف

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan says its forces attacked a Taliban post in Kuran Wa Munjan district of Badakhshan on Sunday night, killing one Taliban fighter and wounding two others.

Local sources also confirmed the attack on Taliban positions in Kuran Wa Munjan to Afghanistan International.

In a statement on Monday, the National Resistance Front said the operation was carried out at around 1am in the Shahran area of Munjan.

Local Taliban officials have not yet commented on the attack or the reported casualties.

The attack comes amid increased military activity by anti-Taliban groups in Badakhshan in recent days.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front previously reported advances in Zebak district, the downing of Taliban drones and the capture of Taliban posts. The Taliban military, however, claimed it had repelled the opposition attack.

At Least 10 People Still Missing After Nuristan Floods, Says Taliban

Jul 27, 2026, 10:48 GMT+1

Faisal Mukhtar, the Taliban’s deputy governor in Nuristan, says the death toll from last week’s devastating floods has exceeded 30, with the bodies of 20 victims recovered so far.

He added that at least 10 others remain missing and that search operations are continuing.

The deadly floods struck parts of Nuristan on Monday, 20 July, following heavy rainfall, killing residents and affecting hundreds of families.

According to the Taliban deputy governor, the floods caused extensive damage to infrastructure.

He said around 10 markets containing more than 90 shops were destroyed in the provincial capital, while seven houses were completely demolished and another 82 were damaged.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had earlier said the floods affected thousands of people and created urgent needs for shelter, food, drinking water, healthcare and sanitation.

The United Nations also warned that flood-affected communities in Nuristan faced severe shortages of medical services, medicines, safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.

Nuristan is a mountainous and difficult-to-reach province. Aid officials say limited access to many affected areas has hampered search operations, emergency assistance and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Afghanistan is among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

In recent years, flash floods, droughts and extreme weather events have become more frequent across the country, repeatedly causing deaths and extensive economic damage.

Two More Taliban Outposts Captured In Badakhshan, Says AFF

Jul 27, 2026, 09:49 GMT+1

Sources from the Afghanistan Freedom Front told Afghanistan International on Sunday afternoon, 26 July, that the group’s forces had advanced in Zebak district of Badakhshan after seizing at least two more Taliban outposts.

One source said the front’s fighters had captured elevated positions after obtaining heavy weapons and equipment.

Afghanistan International could not independently verify the claim.

The Taliban has not commented on the latest reports. A day earlier, Taliban army chief Fasihuddin Fitrat said Taliban forces remained deployed in the border areas where they had been stationed from the outset and that there was “no problem”.

Videos from the front line received by Afghanistan International appear to show Freedom Front fighters near the Tupkhana reservoir.

The footage shows fighters firing sporadically towards Taliban positions. One fighter can be heard saying, “The enemy has fled.”

Fighting between the Afghanistan Freedom Front and the Taliban in Zebak entered its fourth day on Sunday.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front has claimed in recent days that it captured strategic positions in the highlands of Zebak and shot down two Taliban drones.

The Taliban army, however, has said its forces repelled the opposition attack.

Juma Khan Fateh Returns To Badakhshan Amid Fighting With Opposition Forces

Jul 25, 2026, 16:27 GMT+1

Local sources in Badakhshan say Juma Khan Fateh, a Taliban commander in Nusay who had been at odds with the group’s leadership, has returned home after spending some time in Kabul.

Fateh had been summoned to Kabul amid rising tensions and internal disputes within the Taliban in Badakhshan.

He has returned as Taliban forces have been fighting the Afghanistan Freedom Front in Zebak district since Thursday.

Fateh travelled to Kabul following mediation by Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban army chief of staff, and Din Mohammad Hanif, the Taliban’s economy minister.

Fateh had previously been dissatisfied with the Taliban leadership and resigned as deputy governor of Zabul province.

After travelling to Kabul, however, he dismissed reports of his dispute with the Taliban leadership as “media propaganda”. This came despite earlier tensions between him and some Taliban factions in Badakhshan that had brought the two sides close to a large-scale armed confrontation.

Badakhshan has also witnessed several other security developments in recent weeks.

The Sepah-e Mihan Front previously seized Yaftal district for several hours, further heightening concerns over the province’s security situation.

Fateh’s return to Nusay comes as armed clashes continue between the Afghanistan Freedom Front and Taliban forces in Zebak district.

Observers say the simultaneous fighting in Zebak, developments in Yaftali Sufla and growing internal Taliban divisions point to an increasingly complex security situation in Badakhshan.

The province has in recent months become one of the main centres of security challenges and internal tensions within the Taliban.

Recent developments in Nusay, Zebak and Yaftali Sufla suggest that the deployment of forces and the political and security situation in north-eastern Afghanistan are changing rapidly.

Fighters Shot Down Two Taliban Drones In Badakhshan, Says AFF

Jul 25, 2026, 14:33 GMT+1

Sources from the Afghanistan Freedom Front told Afghanistan International that its fighters shot down two Taliban drones in Zebak district of Badakhshan around midday on Saturday.

Afghanistan International has seen images from the incident showing pieces of the downed drones in a mountainous area.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front, which has been fighting Taliban forces in Zebak for the past three days, has not yet officially commented on the reported downing of the drones.

According to reports, clashes between armed opposition fighters and Taliban forces have continued in Zebak district of Badakhshan for three days.

On Friday, the second day of the fighting, the Afghanistan Freedom Front said it had killed at least 21 Taliban fighters, including several commanders, in attacks on Taliban positions in Zebak. The front said another 37 Taliban members were wounded.

The front said it had seized Taliban bases and positions in the highlands surrounding the Zebak border battalion and forced Taliban forces to retreat.

Officials from the Taliban’s 219 Omar-e-Salis Division confirmed the opposition attack in Zebak district on Friday night.

In a statement, the division said five opposition fighters had been killed and several others wounded in clashes with troops from the Taliban’s 15th Border Brigade. The Taliban has not officially disclosed casualties among its own forces.

Informed sources told Afghanistan International on the first day of the fighting, Thursday, 23 July, that the Taliban had deployed commandos to the area by helicopter and sent additional reinforcements overland.

According to the sources, some wounded Taliban fighters were also flown by helicopter to Faizabad city.

The fighting in Zebak comes days after the newly established Sepah-e Mihan Front attacked Yaftali Sufla district in Badakhshan.

On 17 July, the front’s fighters briefly took control of the district administration building, police headquarters and Taliban intelligence office in Yaftal, and raised their flag over the district building.

Following the intense clashes between Taliban and opposition forces in Zebak, Daoud Naji, head of the Afghanistan Freedom Front’s political committee, said the fight against the Taliban had entered a new phase.

Naji confirmed that the front had launched attacks against Taliban forces in Zebak district of Badakhshan.

Writing on X on Friday, Naji said the decisive battle for liberation has entered a new phase. A battle whose end will be freedom, with the people of Afghanistan as the true winners.

•