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The Taliban’s Interior Ministry says its forces seized more than 700 kilograms of opium in Badakhshan province and arrested two people in connection with trafficking the drugs.

The Taliban’s Justice Ministry said on Tuesday, 21 July, that more than 7,400 acres of land in Yusuf Khel district of Paktika province had been officially classified as state-owned property.

A girl due to enter seventh grade in 2022 is now about 17 or 18. Had things continued normally, she would have finished school and be preparing for the university entrance exam.

Sources in Kandahar told Afghanistan International that the Taliban leader’s office rejected a request by representatives of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other global organisations to meet Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The Taliban’s disaster management authority says flash floods in Parun, the capital of Nuristan province, have killed at least 20 people, injured 80 and left about 100 missing.

A day after unidentified attackers fired rockets at a Taliban border battalion in Badakhshan’s Khwahan district, a Taliban Defence Ministry official met Tajikistan’s ambassador in Kabul to discuss border issues.

The Taliban governor’s spokesman in Khost, Mustaghfir Gurbaz, has confirmed the killing of Nangyalai, a former member of the Khost Protection Force, saying he was killed over a “personal dispute”.

Three days after Yaftal district was briefly seized, the Taliban made sweeping changes to district leadership, police commands and intelligence offices across several districts of Badakhshan.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says 4.9 million mothers and children in Afghanistan need food assistance, warning that timely action could save millions of lives.

The Taliban-run central bank has urged the Afghanistan Credit Guarantee Foundation to provide its services equally across the country without discrimination.

The Norwegian Afghanistan Committee says it will continue humanitarian work in Afghanistan regardless of political considerations, while urging greater focus on the abilities and talents of people with disabilities.

Taliban officials in Helmand say they burned 6,882kg of smuggled medicines seized at the province’s customs facilities over the past three weeks and warned traders against importing contraband goods.

Local sources told Afghanistan International that a former intelligence officer was killed in Daikundi and a tribal elder was murdered in Ghazni’s Qarabagh district in separate incidents.

Students at the Taliban-run Police Academy in Kabul say classes have not resumed nearly four months after the winter break, with no explanation given for the delay.

As reactions continue to the newly formed Sepahiyan-e Mihan Front’s attack in Badakhshan, the group’s logo has become a subject of debate on social media.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that Islamic State Khorasan is the main threat to Central Asia, saying it seeks to use Afghanistan as a base for expansion and the creation of a caliphate.

Alexandre Zouev, acting head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, says al-Qaeda remains present in Afghanistan and maintains ties with Taliban officials.

Following an unprecedented attack in Badakhshan, the Taliban sent army chief Fasihuddin Fitrat to Yaftal to lead operations against the newly formed opposition group.

The Taliban police command in Badakhshan has confirmed the fall of Yaftal district, saying district officials were on leave when irresponsible individuals attacked the headquarters overnight.

The newly formed armed group Sepahiyan-e Mihan briefly seized Yaftali Sufla district in Badakhshan, disarmed Taliban forces and used the attack to announce its existence publicly.

The United Nations Development Programme says Turhan Saleh began work as its new representative in Afghanistan on 15 July. He previously served as a senior adviser at UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Arab States.