Austria has deported an Afghan asylum seeker convicted of a serious crime to Kabul, marking the first deportation to Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Austrian media reported.
A Pakistani government delegation is scheduled to travel to Kabul on Tuesday, 21 October, to hold talks with Taliban officials on trade cooperation and border management, Pakistani media reported.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that the government will under no circumstances hold talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and will instead engage solely with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The German government plans to terminate its special admission programmes for Afghan refugees, citing lengthy immigration procedures and complex bureaucratic obstacles, German broadcaster MDR reported on Monday.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the primary goal of the ceasefire agreement with the Taliban is to eliminate terrorism, which has long destabilised border regions. He said both sides had committed to making “serious efforts” to curb militant activity.
A senior aide to the Taliban’s deputy prime minister has disclosed new details of a 2021 meeting between Abdul Ghani Baradar and Pakistan’s former intelligence chief, Faiz Hameed.
Pakistani authorities have demolished more than 1,200 homes belonging to Afghan refugees in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Maymar neighbourhood in less than a week, officials confirmed on Monday.
The Taliban on Sunday publicly flogged two people in the Pashtun Kot district of Faryab province after convicting them of having an extramarital relationship, the group’s Supreme Court said in a statement.
The Taliban is holding talks with Russia to explore connecting Afghanistan’s banking system to Russia’s Mir payment network, the Taliban’s ambassador to Moscow, Gul Hassan, said on Sunday.
The Taliban’s defence minister, Mullah Yaqub Mujahid, said the group does not consider armed groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to be terrorists, in contrast to Islamabad’s position.
The Taliban’s defence minister said on Sunday that the Durand Line was not discussed during the recent agreement between the Taliban and Pakistan.
The Taliban’s ambassador to Qatar said on Sunday that talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Doha concluded successfully, with both sides agreeing to a ceasefire and pledging not to support each other’s opponents.
The Chaman–Spin Boldak border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan is expected to reopen for transit within the next two days, sources told Afghanistan International on Sunday.
The Taliban said on Sunday that Pakistan and the Taliban have agreed to a “comprehensive and meaningful ceasefire,” pledging to refrain from any hostile actions against each other following talks in Qatar.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif announced that a ceasefire agreement has been reached between Pakistan and the Taliban, aimed at halting cross-border violence and restoring stability along the frontier.
Pakistan’s information minister denied reports that civilians were killed in recent airstrikes along the border with Afghanistan, calling the claims “false and misleading.”
A senior Taliban official has said that ongoing clashes with Pakistan could pave the way for Afghanistan to “reclaim” territories across the Durand Line, describing the border as an “imaginary line.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that a high-level delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has travelled to Doha for talks with senior Taliban officials from Afghanistan.
The Taliban said it has ordered its forces to refrain from launching new attacks against Pakistan out of respect for ongoing negotiations in Doha, despite what it described as continued Pakistani aggression along the border.
Taliban-controlled state TV reported that 10 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 13 others injured in Pakistani military attacks on the Urgun and Barmal districts of Paktika province.
Taliban intelligence officials have ordered the suspension of broadcasts by Shamshad TV, one of Afghanistan’s leading television networks, sources told Afghanistan International.