Pakistan's Afghanistan Envoy Discusses Humanitarian Crisis With UN Official

According to a statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, the annual meeting was co-chaired by Fareha Bugti, Pakistan’s Director-General for Counter-Terrorism, and Thomas Barry, Director of National Security at the UK Foreign Office.

The two countries said the activities of transnational terrorist networks operating from Afghanistan posed a threat to regional security.

They described the presence of militant groups, particularly the TTP, as a major obstacle to stability and stressed the need for a secure Afghanistan.

The UK condemned recent deadly attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad said had originated from Afghan territory and reaffirmed its support for Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen intelligence-sharing and focus on preventing extremist groups from exploiting social media platforms and emerging technologies.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday, 4 November, that resolving Afghanistan-related issues required regional coordination.

Speaking at the Eurasian Security Conference in Minsk, Lavrov stressed the importance of relying on Eurasian mechanisms and the Moscow Format. He said responsibility for managing the Afghanistan issue should be given to neighbouring and regional countries, arguing that they had the greatest motivation and capacity to address security challenges and establish lasting stability.

Russia has repeatedly called for Afghanistan-related affairs to be handled by countries in the region.

The meetings come amid repeated accusations by Islamabad that the Afghan Taliban administration is harbouring TTP commanders and fighters and allowing them to establish operational bases in Afghanistan. Pakistan has also repeatedly carried out airstrikes against Taliban positions in different parts of Afghanistan.

The Taliban administration, however, has denied the presence or activities of the TTP on Afghan territory. It has described insecurity and armed attacks in Pakistan as an internal matter, insisting that it does not allow any group to use Afghan soil to threaten neighbouring countries.

Salahuddin Rabbani, leader of Afghanistan’s Jamiat-e Islami party, welcomed the victory, describing it as a symbol of honesty and steadfastness.

Abdul El-Sayed defeated his Republican opponent in Michigan’s US Senate election on Wednesday, becoming the first Muslim senator in American history.

Reacting to the victory, Rabbani shared a post on X referring to El-Sayed’s remarks about remaining consistent in his political positions.

The post quoted the newly elected senator as saying that he expresses the same beliefs in all circumstances and before any audience, remaining steadfast in his convictions.

Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Afghanistan’s former national security adviser, also commented on the US election results, saying they would bring no significant change for Asian and African countries or oppressed peoples around the world.

Referring to the continued economic and political dominance of Western powers, Spanta stressed that Afghanistan must stop relying on others to achieve freedom and instead depend on the struggle and efforts of its own people.

He described dependence on others as a source of “humiliation and defeat” and emphasised the role of Afghan women and “men fighting for Afghanistan” in securing freedom.

Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan’s ambassador in Geneva, also reacted to El-Sayed’s victory by sharing an excerpt from his victory speech and urging anti-Taliban forces to take action towards building consensus and bringing about change in Afghanistan rather than waiting for external support.

Referring to the senator’s statement that “tonight, we can turn that inshallah into alhamdulillah”, Andisha wrote that such change could not be achieved by waiting for “magic rescue”. Instead, it required tolerance, open-mindedness and a willingness to set aside personal interests to build genuine consensus.

Afghanistan’s ambassador in Geneva added that faith without action was meaningless. Recalling the saying, “Trust in God, but tie your camel’s knee”, he stressed that faith provides direction, while action and responsibility produce results.

Andisha also called for an end to divisions among Taliban opponents.

He wrote that if the objective was to remove the curse of Taliban rule from Afghanistan, Afghans themselves must shoulder the primary responsibility rather than relying on foreign supporters.

Under the court order, the US government is prohibited from returning any Afghan nationals to Afghanistan this week.

AfghanEvac told Afghanistan International that pressure from US military veterans, Afghan rights advocates, members of Congress and citizens across the United States had contributed to the postponement of the deportation flight.

The organisation added that the federal court’s ruling had created another obstacle to the planned deportations.

In recent days, the Trump administration has targeted more than 150 Afghan nationals for mass deportation. The plan involved flying them to Pakistan before transferring them overland to Afghanistan.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that, according to court documents and statements from US officials, the deportation flight had been scheduled to depart from Alexandria, Louisiana, in mid-November.

However, a federal court temporarily halted the plan on Tuesday, 3 November. The order remains in effect until Sunday and does not constitute a permanent suspension of the deportation process.

US law prohibits deporting individuals to countries where they are likely to face persecution or torture. However, it remains unclear whether any of the Afghans affected by the plan have individual legal protections against removal.

According to court documents and statements from a US official, those facing deportation include at least one woman, a gay man and several relatives of individuals who worked with the US military.

In recent days, US federal judges have issued separate rulings blocking deportations in individual cases.

On Monday, a judge postponed the deportation of a man whose wife had worked with the US military for 14 days. On Tuesday, another judge ordered the immediate release of a gay Afghan man.

Both men said their lives would be at risk if they were returned to Afghanistan.

The Afghan woman facing deportation was detained at the southern US border in 2025 after entering the country illegally. According to court documents and statements from her lawyer, she is a Christian and previously worked as a journalist at a radio station in Afghanistan.

Her lawyers told the court that her religious identity and journalism background placed her at risk of persecution by the Taliban.

Two of her former colleagues at the radio station were killed by unidentified gunmen in 2019.

Lawyers representing some of the Afghans affected by the plan argue that transferring them to Pakistan constitutes deportation to a third country, particularly given the ongoing armed conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

They maintain that the conflict between the two countries, together with Afghanistan’s human rights situation, exposes the asylum seekers to the risk of torture and persecution and violates the United States’ international obligations.

In its defence before the court, the Trump administration argued that transferring Afghans to Pakistan before returning them to Afghanistan does not constitute third-country deportation because Pakistan would serve only as a transit route to their country of origin.

According to a memorandum issued by the US Department of Homeland Security in 2025, foreign governments must provide credible diplomatic assurances that asylum seekers deported from the United States to third countries will not face persecution or torture before accepting them.

Lawyers for the detained Afghans say there is no evidence that such assurances have been provided in their clients’ cases.

Responding to the deportation plan, Taliban officials expressed concern on social media about transferring Afghan nationals to Pakistan and proposed arrangements for their direct return to Afghanistan.

Over the past two years, the Trump administration has tightened immigration restrictions affecting Afghans who worked with US forces, deported some to African countries and pressured others staying at a former US military base in Qatar to return voluntarily to Afghanistan.

Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, warned that implementing the plan to transfer Afghans through Pakistan could establish a precedent for future deportations.

He said that once the arrangement had been successfully implemented, it would become easier to deport others through the same route.

VanDiver also referred to more than 1,000 Afghan nationals with connections to US forces who have been awaiting resettlement for years in Qatar, including many women and children.

The Afghan woman included in the planned deportation flight had personally applied for asylum after entering the United States in 2025.

In an emergency application to the court, her lawyer warned that deportation would expose her to a serious risk of persecution, torture and death.

The woman has requested anonymity because of security concerns.

Another Afghan national facing deportation, identified only as Salehi, entered the United States illegally in 2024.

In his asylum application, Salehi said he had worked with a resistance front opposing the Taliban and had been detained and tortured by the group.

An immigration judge rejected his asylum application, and he is now preparing an appeal to prevent his deportation.

Salehi has also requested that only his surname be published because of concerns for his safety.

Two years ago, Taliban officials attended the UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the first time since returning to power in 2021.

Rohullah Amin, head of the climate change department at Afghanistan's National Environmental Protection Agency, confirmed to the Associated Press that a Taliban official planned to attend the summit.

A Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of government regulations, also said the Taliban would attend the conference as observers.

The United Nations has not allowed the Taliban to take Afghanistan's seat at the UN General Assembly. The Taliban government also remains unrecognised by most UN member states.

The group's severe restrictions on women's education and freedom of movement are among the reasons for the lack of international recognition.

Since the Baku summit, the governing bodies of UN climate conferences have postponed decisions on Afghanistan's representation, effectively leaving Kabul largely excluded from negotiations.

Observer countries can attend climate meetings and discussions but do not participate in formal negotiations over the conferences' policies and objectives.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Afghanistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change worldwide.

The country faces overlapping crises of drought, water shortages, extreme heat and unpredictable flooding, which have devastated livelihoods and caused widespread displacement.

A large proportion of Afghanistan's population depends on agriculture, and successive droughts have severely reduced food production.

According to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1.6 million people across Afghanistan were forced to leave their homes because of the effects of climate change between March and December 2025.

The Taliban argues that the Afghan people should be represented at climate conferences and have access to funding to address the effects of climate change.

However, critics of the Taliban maintain that the international community should not recognise the group's government.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) told Afghanistan International on Tuesday, 3 November, that a review of employment records indicated the women were not directly employed by UNICEF and had probably been hired by partner organisations or contractors.

However, the women protesting the decision said nine of them had been employed through the HPL organisation, while at least four were directly employed by UNICEF.

UNICEF said it was facing challenging funding conditions in implementing its programmes worldwide. Its Afghanistan office confirmed that budget shortages had affected the continued employment of both male and female staff.

The UN children's agency stressed that despite funding reductions, it was working to maintain the delivery of services to Afghan children. It also reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining gender diversity among its workforce in accordance with UN obligations.

A group of Afghan women claimed that UNICEF had not renewed their contracts because of the ban on women working in UN offices. The women said there were 13 of them, most of whom had worked as kindergarten teachers, while others held reception and cleaning positions at UNICEF's main office in Pul-e Charkhi, Kabul.

In a letter to Afghanistan International, the women wrote that following the ban on women working in UN offices, they had been prevented from reporting to work for approximately a year but had continued to receive their salaries.

They claimed UNICEF had recently informed them that, because of the restrictions on women working in UN offices, their services were no longer needed.

The women said they had worked at UNICEF's main office in Pul-e Charkhi, Kabul, with some claiming to have been employed there for around 10 years.

According to the information provided, 10 of the women worked as kindergarten teachers, while four others held positions in reception, cleaning and supervision.

In September last year, Taliban officials, acting on orders from their leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, prevented Afghan women from entering UN offices. Since then, Afghan women have not been allowed to work in UN offices in Afghanistan.

In mid-April, the United Nations announced that 3,300 male and female employees had been confined to their homes as a result of Taliban restrictions.

UN officials have repeatedly emphasised that women's participation is essential for delivering life-saving assistance to millions of people in need.

The ban on women working in UN offices has also prompted criticism from Afghan activists. Several women's rights activists abroad have accused the United Nations of normalising the Taliban's gender discrimination.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on 27 October, human rights activist Zubaida Akbar questioned how much longer Afghan women must wait and what further evidence of Taliban violations of their rights they must provide before the international community takes action.

Akbar accused the United Nations of applying a selective approach to human rights and women's rights. She added that the organisation avoids including female representatives in meetings with the Taliban in order to accommodate the group's demands.