Two sources within the Taliban’s Ministry of Defence have confirmed to Afghanistan International that the formation of a new 8,000-member special force known as the “Hibati Unit” is under way.
Asad Qaiser, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has announced that a grand jirga will be held in July to discuss problems caused by the closure of border crossings with Afghanistan and ongoing trade challenges.
Sources told Afghanistan International on Monday that the Taliban arrested at least nine people in Kabul overnight for raising flags marking Muharram, one of the holiest months in the Shia Muslim calendar.
Recent Taliban changes in Badakhshan, from reshuffling local officials to deploying a 1,000-strong special force, point to a growing struggle over control of the province’s lucrative gold mines.
German media have reported that, following a confidential meeting between German officials and Taliban representatives, Berlin has agreed to accept six additional Taliban diplomats.
Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has defended the group’s enforcement of dress codes for women, saying that “every government in the world imposes restrictions on its citizens.”
Yerkin Tukumov, Kazakhstan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, says removing the Taliban from the country’s list of terrorist organisations does not amount to recognising the Taliban administration.
Serik Zhumangarin, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy, met Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund in Kabul on Saturday.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that a secure, stable and economically resilient Afghanistan is essential for the dignified return and sustainable reintegration of Afghan refugees in their homeland.
Mohammad Akbari, deputy head of Afghanistan’s Shia Ulema Council, has called for disputes between settled residents and Kuchi nomads in the Hazarajat region to be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means.
Jasurbek Choriev, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister of Transport, says the cost of the Trans-Afghan railway project has increased and could now exceed $7 billion under updated estimates. The project had previously been valued at around $4.6 billion.
At least one Taliban fighter wounded in border clashes with Pakistan has been transferred to New Delhi for medical treatment.
A Kazakh delegation led by Serik Zhumangarin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan, has arrived in Kabul.
Local sources have confirmed to Afghanistan International that Hashmatullah, a former Afghan army commander, was killed brutally in Parwan province.
Sources have told Afghanistan International that Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered the creation of a special 8,000-strong unit to oversee and secure the border with Pakistan.
The international aid organisation Caritas has reported that Afghanistan remains among the world’s seven leading countries of origin for refugees.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting says the country’s air defence detected and shot down a initial Taliban drone near Shinko in Khyber district. According to the ministry, the airspace intrusion was quickly contained and caused no casualties or damage.
Students at public and private universities in Kandahar told Afghanistan International that Taliban morality inspectors have removed dozens of students from classrooms and barred them from examinations for trimming or shaving their beards.
The Taliban’s Defence Ministry says it carried out air strikes overnight on what it described as Islamic State-linked centres in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect says the arrests in Herat took place in the context of institutionalised discrimination and repression of women and girls and could amount to crimes against humanity.
Maxime Prévot, Belgium’s foreign minister has opposed the EU’s decision to invite Taliban representatives to Brussels, saying he would not accept Belgium inviting them in its own name, Reuters reported.
Informed sources tell Afghanistan International that a vehicle which recently hit a group of girls in Kabul belongs to a Taliban official. Some sources say the driver was the son of the Taliban’s Islam Qala customs chief.