Qatar’s Embassy in Kabul has announced that it hosted a meeting on Afghanistan’s relations with the international community, bringing together representatives of UNAMA and the Taliban.
European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said talks with the Taliban in Brussels are focused on the return of Afghans convicted of serious crimes or considered security threats to European countries.
Tamadon TV in Afghanistan announced that Taliban forces shut down the network's broadcasts after raiding its headquarters in Kabul. Earlier, Tamadon TV reported that Taliban forces had stormed its offices and warned that its transmissions could soon be shut down..
The Afghanistan Freedom Front said it targeted a vehicle carrying Taliban Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice personnel in Kabul on Monday evening.
A cross-party group of European and former Afghan lawmakers urged the European Union and its member states Tuesday not to host Taliban representatives for migration or deportation talks. They warned that official meetings would help legitimize the group’s rule in Afghanistan.
Belgium has announced that it has issued one-day visas to a five-member Taliban delegation to attend a European Union meeting on migration in Brussels.
Two sources within the Taliban’s Ministry of Defence have confirmed to Afghanistan International that the formation of a new 8,000-member special force known as the “Hibati Unit” is under way.
Asad Qaiser, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has announced that a grand jirga will be held in July to discuss problems caused by the closure of border crossings with Afghanistan and ongoing trade challenges.
Sources told Afghanistan International on Monday that the Taliban arrested at least nine people in Kabul overnight for raising flags marking Muharram, one of the holiest months in the Shia Muslim calendar.
Recent Taliban changes in Badakhshan, from reshuffling local officials to deploying a 1,000-strong special force, point to a growing struggle over control of the province’s lucrative gold mines.
German media have reported that, following a confidential meeting between German officials and Taliban representatives, Berlin has agreed to accept six additional Taliban diplomats.
Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has defended the group’s enforcement of dress codes for women, saying that “every government in the world imposes restrictions on its citizens.”
Yerkin Tukumov, Kazakhstan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, says removing the Taliban from the country’s list of terrorist organisations does not amount to recognising the Taliban administration.
Serik Zhumangarin, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy, met Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund in Kabul on Saturday.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that a secure, stable and economically resilient Afghanistan is essential for the dignified return and sustainable reintegration of Afghan refugees in their homeland.
Local sources in Daikundi have confirmed that unidentified gunmen shot dead Yaser Behzad Hosseini, a former officer in Afghanistan’s previous army, in the centre of Shahristan district.
Mohammad Akbari, deputy head of Afghanistan’s Shia Ulema Council, has called for disputes between settled residents and Kuchi nomads in the Hazarajat region to be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means.
Jasurbek Choriev, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister of Transport, says the cost of the Trans-Afghan railway project has increased and could now exceed $7 billion under updated estimates. The project had previously been valued at around $4.6 billion.
At least one Taliban fighter wounded in border clashes with Pakistan has been transferred to New Delhi for medical treatment.
A Kazakh delegation led by Serik Zhumangarin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan, has arrived in Kabul.
Local sources have confirmed to Afghanistan International that Hashmatullah, a former Afghan army commander, was killed brutally in Parwan province.