Iran’s Largest Steelmaker Eyes Afghanistan’s Mines

According to the sources, the Taliban plans to establish additional drone operations centres across Badakhshan.

Local sources in Badakhshan told Afghanistan International that the second centre had recently begun operating on Kala Minar hill, around two months after the Taliban established its first drone operations centre beside Badakhshan airport and installed a control tower there.

Afghanistan International first published images and details of the control tower at the Taliban’s first drone management centre in Badakhshan in mid-September.

The main purpose of the new centre is said to be protecting the governor’s office and Taliban institutions in the old city of Faizabad, the provincial capital.

Taliban offices, including the governor’s compound, have repeatedly been targeted in recent months by anti-Taliban fronts, with some attacks causing casualties.

A Taliban source told Afghanistan International that the new centre had begun operating to reduce threats against the governor’s office and that additional sites would soon be established in vulnerable areas.

The source said it had been difficult to cover all vulnerable areas simultaneously from the main site, prompting plans for additional centres.

The source, a member of the Taliban’s 219 Omar-e-Sales Division in Badakhshan, said personnel and equipment at the drone management centre beside the airport had recently been strengthened and that drone operations facilities would also be expanded.

Another source confirmed the establishment of the Taliban’s second drone operations centre in Faizabad and said the group’s security concerns were increasing by the day.

The source added that the Taliban was placing particular emphasis on investment in drone warfare capabilities.

On Saturday, 10 October, the Taliban also issued a notice telling residents of Badakhshan that its drones would be flown by the Ministry of Urban Development for topographical surveys and urban planning, and that residents should not be concerned.

However, local sources said that in the days after the notice was issued, groups of drones were seen flying outside Faizabad along the road towards Baharak district, near the area where the new drone centre has now reportedly been established.

According to the sources, the people operating the drones were wearing military uniforms.

Local sources in Badakhshan say that, contrary to the Taliban’s official statement, the purpose of the drone flights and aerial filming over Faizabad is military and security-related.

Attacks on the Taliban Governor’s Office

Several security incidents took place in Faizabad in August this year.

Anti-Taliban resistance fronts claimed responsibility for several attacks on the Taliban governor’s office and nearby checkpoints.

The Taliban-appointed mayor was also killed in an explosive attack claimed by the National Resistance Front.

Following these incidents and the establishment of the drone operations centre in Faizabad, Taliban drones have continuously flown over the city, conducting patrols and aerial surveillance.

Residents of the old city of Faizabad who live around the governor’s office have complained about strict Taliban security measures.

They say Taliban drones fly at very low altitudes over their homes and film residential courtyards, making it difficult for women to leave their homes or carry out daily activities in their yards during the day.

Residents also raised these concerns during a meeting with the Taliban governor, but said their complaints had so far produced no results.

Fighting Intensifies in Badakhshan

In recent months, Taliban forces have repeatedly engaged in direct clashes with Afghanistan Freedom Front fighters in Zebak district.

The front also claims that its forces are present in parts of the district.

In recent days, a video was released showing dozens of Afghanistan Freedom Front fighters in parts of Zebak.

In addition, armed groups opposed to the Taliban have been carrying out guerrilla-style operations against the group.

Sources say these forces have an active and widespread presence in Yaftal, Argo, Ragh districts, Darwaz districts, Faizabad city, Kishm, Tagab, Baharak and other parts of Badakhshan.

Four Explosions in Two Weeks

Four explosions have occurred in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, in less than 20 days.

According to sources, senior Taliban security and intelligence officials and other high-ranking members of the group were among the intended targets.

The first explosion occurred on 28 September in the Jalghar area.

The second took place on 29 September in Dasht-e Wakilabad, near the university and within the jurisdiction of the city’s second security district.

A third explosion occurred on 5 October, followed by a fourth on 7 October near the Taliban police headquarters.

Several explosions also took place in the city the previous month, two of which targeted religious and jihadist schools.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front, the National Resistance Front and Amrullah Saleh’s Green Unit have claimed responsibility for the explosions.

The repeated blasts and worsening insecurity in Faizabad have increased Taliban security concerns.

At the same time, the Taliban has carried out widespread arrests in the city.

According to reports, the abducted officers were travelling from Kalat towards Nushki and were seized along the Sarband route, a shorter road between the two districts.

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Saturday, 17 October, that the officers were from Washuk, Chagai, Kharan and Nushki districts in the Rakhshan region and had been undergoing training at the police training centre in Kalat.

The official said the officers were travelling on leave in a private passenger vehicle when armed men abducted them within Kalat district and later moved them towards Mastung district.

The attackers released the driver and two or three other passengers along the way, but took the police officers to an unknown location.

Officials said efforts had begun to secure the release of the abducted officers. No group has so far claimed responsibility.

In a separate incident, unidentified armed men destroyed an empty police post in the Pankai area of Qila Abdullah district.

A police officer in Quetta said police and security forces launched an operation against the attackers after receiving reports of the incident. The gunmen later fled towards the Panjpai area.

Rising Insecurity and Kidnappings in Balochistan

The incidents come as Balochistan has seen a rise in armed attacks, kidnappings of government officials and assaults on security forces in recent years.

Baloch separatist groups, particularly the Balochistan Liberation Army, are among the main groups involved in the armed insurgency against the Pakistani state.

These groups seek independence for Balochistan and have targeted security forces, government facilities and some economic projects.

In one of the most significant recent incidents, armed men linked to the Balochistan Liberation Army stopped the Jaffar Express passenger train, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, on 11 March 2025 and took hundreds of passengers hostage.

Pakistani security forces launched an operation to free the hostages, and dozens of people, including passengers and attackers, were killed.

The attack was one of the most prominent examples in recent years of the growing operational capacity of Baloch separatist groups.

Despite its extensive natural resources, Balochistan remains one of Pakistan’s less developed regions.

Long-standing grievances over local communities’ share of natural resources, political demands and reports of enforced disappearances of Baloch activists are among the factors that have contributed to the continuation of the insurgency in the province.

Alongside Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province also faces frequent attacks by armed groups, particularly Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The two provinces remain among the main centres of insecurity in Pakistan.

Speaking at a protest rally on Friday, 16 October, against the imposition of a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Achakzai accused Pakistan authorities of contributing to the spread of militancy.

He said Pakistan authorities, rather than the Pashtun population, were responsible for spreading terrorism in the country.

Achakzai alleged that during the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan, Pakistan had brought militants from around the world into the region, trained them, taught them how to make bombs and provided them with facilities and support.

The Pashtun nationalist leader called for an end to violence and said Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policies should be determined by elected representatives in the National Assembly, Senate and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, rather than by military generals.

He also urged the military, civilian administration and judiciary to operate within their constitutional responsibilities.

Achakzai warned that Pashtuns would resist any attempt to seize control of their land and natural resources, including water and minerals, by force.

He added that if Pakistan’s courts failed to address their grievances and protect their rights, they would seek justice through international courts.

Fazlur Rehman Criticises Pakistan’s Economic Policies

Meanwhile, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, criticised Pakistan’s economic policies, arguing that the prolonged closure of trade routes with Afghanistan and restrictions on border trade with India had damaged the country’s economy.

He said trade routes with Afghanistan had remained closed for nearly a year, undermining economic activity.

Fazlur Rehman contrasted Pakistan’s economic situation with developments in Afghanistan, saying that despite decades of war and destruction, foreign investment in Afghanistan was increasing and agreements were being signed with international businesspeople.

By contrast, he said, investors showed little willingness to invest in Pakistan.

He also alleged that the state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was intended to facilitate access to the province’s valuable mineral resources.

According to Fazlur Rehman, efforts were under way to transfer control of mineral deposits to the United States, and agreements concerning the resources had already been reached with Washington. He provided no evidence for the allegation in the remarks reported.

He further claimed that moves by Pakistan’s government to facilitate the presence of foreign forces had raised concerns in Russia and China.

Gul Hassan Hassan, the Taliban’s ambassador in Moscow, said the Taliban authorities wanted to expand relations with Central Asian countries, the wider region and the international community.

Speaking at a meeting on Central Asian and Afghan security in Moscow, Hassan claimed that security had been established inside Afghanistan over the past five years and that Taliban security agencies had dismantled Islamic State centres and eliminated the group’s leadership presence in the country.

Hassan said the Taliban’s security institutions and Defence Ministry had cooperated with agencies in other countries over the past five years to control armed groups and secure Afghanistan’s borders.

According to him, the Taliban Defence Ministry held 19 meetings with Tajik officials, 16 with Turkmenistan, nine with Iran and six with Uzbekistan on border security during this period.

The Taliban ambassador said that at present, the threat to the security and stability of our region originates from Pakistan.

He accused Pakistan of harbouring armed Taliban opponents and providing conditions for drug trafficking and Islamic State activities on its territory.

To support the allegation, Hassan referred to the arrest of several key members of Islamic State Khorasan Province in Pakistan’s Balochistan province and cited remarks by Balochistan Assembly member Fazal Qadir Mandokhail about the presence of Islamic State fighters and former Afghan government forces in the province.

He also claimed that reports based on international research and satellite imagery indicated an increase in poppy cultivation in Pakistan.

The Taliban ambassador further alleged that, in addition to enabling the activities, recruitment and fundraising of these groups, Pakistan attempted on 24 July to move hundreds of armed fighters through Chitral into Afghanistan’s Zebak district.

In another part of his remarks, Hassan said the Taliban Interior Ministry had carried out 25,116 counternarcotics operations in 2026.

According to him, poppy and cannabis crops covering more than 40,000 hectares were destroyed during the operations, along with 318 drug-production laboratories.

The Taliban ambassador in Moscow said drugs, chemicals and precursor substances were also seized and 10,026 people suspected of involvement in drug trafficking were detained and referred to judicial authorities.

Speaking at a joint meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Lebedev said international terrorist groups remained active in Afghanistan and aimed to spread instability and extremist ideologies to neighbouring Central Asian countries.

The meeting was held in Moscow on Friday, 16 October.

Lebedev described drug trafficking and cross-border crime as the second major threat. He said that despite restrictions imposed by the Taliban authorities, the underground production of synthetic drugs and opiates, as well as trafficking routes, remained active.

According to him, proceeds from these activities help finance terrorist cells.

The CIS secretary-general said the organisation’s approach towards Afghanistan had been consistent and pragmatic.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Islamic State Khorasan Province intends to use Afghanistan as a base from which to expand its terrorist activities into Central Asia and Russia.

Lavrov said terrorist groups had established a significant number of training camps in areas of Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Lebedev added that CIS member states maintain regular dialogue with the Taliban authorities and said both sides had concluded that building a sustainable economic foundation could help Afghans determine their own future and reduce factors that contributed to previous crises.

He said CIS countries were pursuing projects aimed at increasing Afghanistan’s economic capacity.

Lebedev added that Afghanistan’s participation in regional infrastructure and energy projects, along with expanded trade with Central Asian countries, could help create conditions for peaceful coexistence with neighbouring states.

At the same time, the CIS secretary-general stressed that the security of the organisation’s southern borders remained a priority.

He said member states, in cooperation with the CSTO, were focused on continuous monitoring of the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border and providing technical assistance to strengthen the defence capabilities of Central Asian countries.

Lebedev warned that any attempt at armed provocation or cross-border incursion would face a strong response.

He described cooperation with the Taliban authorities as an important condition for ensuring the security of Russia and Central Asia, saying the CSTO, CIS and SCO had the necessary tools and capacity to cooperate on Afghanistan’s stability.

According to him, the first priority should be Afghanistan’s sustainable economic development.

Lebedev said expanding trade cooperation among the three organisations, developing transport routes and incorporating trans-Afghan corridors into these projects could create a more sustainable social and economic foundation.

He also said Central Asia and Afghanistan face the effects of climate change, extreme weather and natural disasters, with the Afghan population particularly vulnerable to these challenges.

The CIS secretary-general called for continued humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and support for developing the country’s national system for preventing and responding to natural disasters.

He also said Afghanistan’s economic growth required the development of its human capital and professional expertise.