The Torkham Highway, a key trade route between Pakistan and Afghanistan, has reopened following an hourslong blockade by protesters demanding the release of a tribal leader, Malik Nasir Ahmad Kokikhel.
Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, Mohammad Atabak, has expressed Tehran’s willingness to expand economic collaboration with the Taliban through the transfer of technical expertise and the establishment of joint industrial zones in Afghanistan.
Senior clerics and influential religious figures in Afghanistan appear to be withholding support from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, despite direct appeals from the ministry’s leadership.
The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Tuesday that a total of 808 Afghan families have returned from Iran and Pakistan within the past 24 hours.
The Taliban has prohibited the video recording of Friday sermons in the northern province of Balkh, following a public outcry against the group and a fiery sermon by a prominent cleric condemning ethnic discrimination within the regime.
The fourth European Union Humanitarian Forum commenced on Monday in Brussels, with a sharp focus on the escalating humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and its broader regional implications.
Maulawi Abdul Qahir, a prominent cleric in Balkh, delivered a fiery sermon on Friday, 16 May, at the Rawza Sharif Mosque, where he condemned the Taliban for promoting tribalism and ethnic discrimination.
Sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that Salahuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan’s former Foreign Minister and leader of a faction of the Jamiat-e Islami party, arrived in Tehran on Monday, 19 May.
The Taliban-controlled Ministry of Finance announced on Monday, 19 May, that the World Bank office in Kabul has reopened and started repaying its outstanding debts owed to Afghan logistics and construction companies.
Hedayatullah Badri, the Taliban’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum, travelled to Iran on Monday, 19 May, leading a delegation to attend an international conference of mineral experts and researchers.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, and Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, have arrived in Beijing to attend the sixth trilateral meeting with China and the Taliban.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation has announced that the Government of India has provided humanitarian assistance to thousands of Afghan families expelled from Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi are traveling to Beijing to attend a trilateral meeting with Chinese officials, according to Pakistani media reports citing official sources.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, has emphasised the group’s commitment to delivering water to Iran, describing it not only as a political obligation but as a “religious and Islamic duty.”
The Taliban have publicly flogged five individuals, including one woman, in Ghazni Province following rulings by primary courts in the Jaghori and Ab Band districts, the group’s Supreme Court announced on Sunday.
The Tehran Dialogue Forum has opened in the Iranian capital with the participation of senior officials from Iran and several regional countries, including the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi.
The Iran Human Rights Organisation has reported that authorities at Zabol Prison in Sistan and Baluchestan province have executed two prisoners, one of whom was an Afghan national.
Russia is set to commence oil extraction operations in Afghanistan after signing a series of agreements with the Taliban government, officials from both sides have confirmed.
The Taliban’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, met in Tehran on Saturday to discuss security co-operation, water-resource management, migration and broader bilateral ties.
General Qadam Shah Shahim, Chief of Staff of the National Resistance Front (NRF), has confirmed that the group’s military forces are present in various regions across Afghanistan.
The National Resistance Front (NRF) has claimed responsibility for a targeted attack that killed 13 Taliban fighters and wounded four others in Panjshir province’s Dara district.
Indian officials have signalled a willingness to deepen engagement with the Taliban, stating they will “do whatever is necessary” to strengthen relations with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers, according to a report by The Hindu newspaper.