Sources told Afghanistan International that Afghanistan’s embassy in Kuwait was handed over to a Taliban diplomat this week, replacing the ambassador appointed by the former Afghan government.
Pakistani security officials say the military agreement between Russia and the Taliban does not concern Islamabad and will not prevent Pakistan from carrying out potential air strikes against militant targets inside Afghanistan.
At 4:00 am in Mazar-i-Sharif, the city is still wrapped in darkness. Sixteen-year-old Behzad wakes before dawn, performs his morning prayers, folds away his prayer mat and prepares for school.
Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with Afghanistan, criticised the possibility of inviting Taliban representatives to Brussels.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq Fayyad, one of the most senior Shia religious authorities, has died after a prolonged illness, according to a statement issued by his office in Kabul on Thursday.
The secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) warned at a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Moscow that security risks in Afghanistan are growing amid increasing regional instability.
Pakistani business newspaper Business Recorder reported that the closure of border crossings with Afghanistan in recent months has dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan’s trade, costing the country nearly $850 million in exports and transit revenues.
Cybersecurity researchers say a likely Pakistan-linked hacking group targeted the Taliban’s Finance Ministry using malware, remote-access tools and phishing emails containing compressed files written in Pashto.
Former Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi described the invitation of Taliban officials to Brussels as a slap in the face of Afghan women and a sign of the growing normalisation of repression in Afghanistan.
Spain’s foreign minister voiced support for Afghan women and girls at a conference on feminist foreign policy, saying their voices would always be heard in Spain despite Taliban efforts to silence them.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that no Afghan refugees are currently allowed to enter the United States and that those stranded at Qatar’s Camp As Sayliyah would instead be resettled in other safe countries.
At least four former Taliban detainees or their relatives told Afghanistan International that prisoners in Taliban detention centres are subjected to torture, mistreatment and forced confessions, and that such practices are continuing.
Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq Khan, met his Chinese counterpart Yue Xiaoyong to discuss regional security threats and the activities of militant groups operating from Afghan territory.
The World Food Programme says Afghanistan’s labour market remained weak in the fourth week of May, with daily wage opportunities declining and average access to work falling to fewer than two days per week.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that by last month, only $269 million, or 16% of the $1.71 billion required for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan this year, had been secured.
Syed Atif Raza, Pakistan’s diplomat at the UN, warned at a United Nations meeting that stockpiles of advanced weapons and ammunition in Afghanistan pose a security threat.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said support by the Afghan Taliban administration for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants remains unchanged, warning that contradictory messages from Taliban officials cannot be trusted.
On 21 May 2016, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the leader of the Taliban, was killed alongside his driver on the outskirts of Ahmad Wal, a town in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
Pakistan has dismissed a warning reportedly issued by the Taliban leader to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as insufficient, saying the main problem remains the lack of verifiable action by the Taliban against militant groups.
Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said the military agreement between Russia and the Taliban focuses on repairing Russian-made equipment and could pave the way for future defence contracts between the two sides.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in Islamabad that conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban has had serious humanitarian consequences and increased the risk of further instability and extremism in the region.