The Taliban’s use of drones has evolved over five years from commercial surveillance aircraft and propaganda tools into a more ambitious program involving armed and apparent one-way attack drones.
A joint tribal jirga aimed at ending the conflict between the Taliban and Pakistan has been convened in Peshawar. Political figures, tribal elders, religious scholars and civil society representatives attended the gathering.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce says trade between Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and Russia has reached $538 million annually.
The Taliban said their forces destroyed a Pakistani army border post near the Durand Line in Dangam district of Kunar province.
The Taliban say construction of the TAPI gas pipeline inside Afghanistan has progressed by 25 kilometres, with work on a further 120 kilometres prepared to begin.
Informed sources told Afghanistan International on Monday that Taliban and Pakistani officials held a meeting in Torkham to discuss resuming movement through the crossing.
The Taliban’s disaster management authority says at least 28 people have died and 49 were injured in flooding and heavy rain over the past four days, with 567 homes destroyed across several provinces.
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said on X that Beijing supports Islamabad’s efforts to ease tensions in the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has executed two political prisoners, Akbar Daneshvar-Kar and Mohammad Taghavi, at Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front has announced it has resumed attacks against the Taliban after halting operations during Ramadan.
Russia’s trade centre in Afghanistan said the Taliban are seeking to purchase two million tonnes of fuel annually from Russia.
Local Taliban officials in Ghazni said four children were killed after a landmine exploded in a village, blaming the incident on children handling unexploded ordnance.
Local sources in Herat told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence arrested two civil activists early on Saturday after they called for girls’ schools to reopen.
Taliban-linked media reported on Saturday that an armed march against Pakistan was held in Khost, with participants carrying weapons and chanting anti-Pakistan slogans.
A joint Uzbekistan-Taliban business council has been established at Uzbekistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, aiming to expand trade and industrial cooperation between the two sides.
Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan has urged the Taliban and Pakistan to cooperate in tackling terrorism, saying the presence of militant groups in Afghanistan is a real problem.
Former Afghan foreign minister Hanif Atmar has urged the Taliban and political opposition to mobilise to defend the country following civilian casualties in a Pakistani strike on Kabul.
The Taliban Defence Ministry said its deputy army chief, Mali Khan Siddiq, visited border areas in Paktika, rejecting Pakistan’s claims of territorial control as false propaganda.
The Taliban governor’s office in Herat said on Friday that Iranian lorry drivers will no longer need visas to enter Afghanistan, in a move aimed at easing cross-border trade.
Human Rights Watch says Pakistan’s strike on a drug treatment center in Kabul, which killed civilians, was unlawful and likely a war crime, calling for an immediate, impartial investigation and accountability.
Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, said Moscow is in talks with Taliban officials about recruiting Afghan workers.
Pakistani media reported on Friday that the Torkham border crossing was once again closed to the deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants after a Pakistani border guard was wounded.