Abdullah Mukhtar, the Taliban-appointed governor of Khost, has instructed border forces to remain prepared for any potential threat as tensions with Pakistan continue to escalate.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, on Saturday visited Wana Military College in South Waziristan, where an attack last week left at least three people dead.
Taliban Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi has travelled to Iran following the group’s decision to halt trade and transit relations with Pakistan.
The seventh Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Heads of State opened on Saturday in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, with a focus on strengthening regional cooperation. Leaders are also expected to exchange views on key regional and global developments.
The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Saturday that a high-level delegation from Tajikistan had arrived in Kabul. The group reportedly includes officials from Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry and security agencies.
A US Department of Defence official said the Pentagon had no information to provide in response to Taliban claims that American drones continue to fly in Afghan airspace.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andarabi, said Friday that Pakistan has “never refused” to engage in talks with the Taliban but made clear the country will not negotiate with any terrorist organisation.
Tajikistan’s Defence Minister, Emomali Sobirzoda, met Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir and other senior military officials during a visit to Pakistan to expand military and technical cooperation.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said US drones continue to fly over Afghanistan, claiming the aircraft have been operating in the country’s airspace since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said regional peace and stability in Central Asia depend heavily on Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development, arguing that long-term stability is unattainable without addressing Afghanistan’s challenges.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement that the attack on the Wana Military College in South Waziristan had been carried out by Afghan nationals and that US-made weapons were used in the assault.
The Taliban have signed a memorandum of understanding with Uzbekistan to export Afghan agricultural products by air, as border crossings with Pakistan remain closed amid heightened tensions.
The Taliban’s Finance Ministry said it will stop processing customs duties on medicines imported from Pakistan after the next three months, following an order from the group's deputy prime minister.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said both the suicide attacks in South Waziristan and Islamabad had been carried out by Afghan nationals. Naqvi said on Thursday that it had been confirmed the attackers had come from Afghanistan and had carried out the assaults.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the country was prepared to confront what he described as a two-front war involving India and the Afghan Taliban, following a suicide attack in Islamabad that left 12 people dead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed the establishment of a United Nations regional centre for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Kazakhstan, according to a new comprehensive strategic partnership agreement signed with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Kremlin.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Australia’s proposed amendments to its Autonomous Sanctions regulations could enable the government to impose targeted sanctions and travel bans on senior Taliban figures.
Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has urged Afghan traders and industrialists to seek alternative trade routes and reduce their reliance on Pakistan.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Beijing supports efforts to improve relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban administration and to maintain regional peace and stability.
A senior Taliban official said Pakistan’s delegation at recent talks in Istanbul asked Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada to issue a religious decree, or fatwa, declaring the ongoing conflict in Pakistan unlawful.
The United States said it stands with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism following a deadly suicide bombing in Islamabad that killed at least 12 people and wounded 27 others.
In a sign of warming relations between Tajikistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban, a Tajik delegation visited Kunduz and held talks with Taliban officials on security, intelligence and political matters.