At a time when the Taliban was trying to send a message of dominance to the world through their Ulema gathering, Kabul residents have reported multiple explosions from near the Loya Jirga tent.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has sought clarification from the Taliban regarding the killing of one of its border guards near the Afghan border and asked the group to punish the perpetrators.
Reacting to the Taliban’s upcoming Ulema gathering in Kabul, National Resistance Front (NRF) Ulema Council said that the Taliban is seeking a forced pledge of allegiance through it. The NRF Ulema council called the gathering “deceptive” as the invitees are Taliban members only.
Parwiz Kawa, Afghanistan International News Editor in DC, won the East-West Center (EWC) Journalist of Courage and Impact award on Tuesday 28th June for his services to the Afghan media.
Taliban sources confirmed on Wednesday that the group's national ulema meeting, scheduled for today (June 29), has been postponed. The reason for the postponement of the meeting has not been announced. Anonymous source said that the meeting would be held on Thursday (June 30).
The Afghanistan Central Bank, controlled by the Taliban, banned online trade of foreign exchange in the country and declared it “illegal”. Saber Mohmand, the Central Bank’s spokesperson warned that violators will face prosecution.
Mullah Baradar, Taliban’s deputy prime minister visited earthquake-hit provinces of Paktika and Khost on Tuesday, a week after the disaster struck the region on June 22. Taliban’s office of first deputy PM announced that Baradar took 53 million afghanis in cash along with them.
Social media users have launched a fundraising campaign in support of 1,500 families displaced from Balkhab district to Yakawlang district of Bamyan province. The families, who are in dire economic conditions, have been displaced due to the recent clashes in Balkhab district.
The Taliban’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, during a phone conversation with Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s Foreign Minister, said that his country is committed to begin flights between Afghanistan and China.
Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has suspended over 500 employees of kindergartens of this ministry without notice, most of whom are women and the only breadwinners of their families.
The Former Director of the Afghanistan intelligence agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS), claimed on Monday, that the Taliban is in an effort to portray a man named Mullah Hamdullah as Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader.
Amnesty International in a statement on Monday said that it is "gravely concerned" about the summary executions and harm inflicted on civilians in the Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province.
According to local sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Taliban shot dead seven fighters of Mawlawi Mahdi after their surrender in Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pol province on Sunday, June 26. The cold-blood killing took place in Glorz area near Darah Suf district.
Mohsen Rezaee, member of Afghanistan’s National Taekwondo team, won a bronze medal in the 58kg weight category during the Asian Taekwondo Championship on Saturday in South Korea, after winning two of the three matches.
The Taliban-led Central Bank of Afghanistan announced that it would auction USD 12 million on Saturday by inviting eligible private banks and monetary services.
As clashes between the Taliban and forces affiliated with the group’s only Hazara commander Mawlawi Mahdi entered the third day on Saturday, Taliban fighters broke through the frontlines of the battle in Qom Kotal area on Friday night.
Hossein Amirabdollahian, the Iranian foreign minister, during a phone call with Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s foreign minister, on Friday, asked the Taliban government to respect their water rights as it would strengthen the partnership and friendship between the two countries.
The World Hazara Council in a statement on June 24 expressed concerns about the possibility of a "massacre of Hazaras by the Taliban" in Balkhab district following the group’s attack there.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has extended the travel exemption of 13 senior Taliban members, however, they have excluded Abdul Baqi Haqqani, Taliban’s minister of higher education, and deputy minister of education, Saeed Ahmad Shahid Khel, from the exemption.
While condemning Saturday's attack on the Afghan Sikh Gurudwara in Kabul, Thomas West, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, said that vulnerable minorities must be protected. In a tweet, he also expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
On Monday, the political scene in Afghanistan was buzz with reports that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, Taliban leader, has for the first time met 30 Afghan businessmen in a 4-hour-long meeting, which is in sharp contrast to his previous habit of never meeting non-Taliban people.