AFGHANISTAN WEEKLY UPDATE (3rd Feb - 9th Feb)

3 February 2025

A shooting at a United Nations compound in Kabul resulted in one fatality and left another person injured, according to a statement from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Monday. The incident involved Taliban guards. An investigation is underway.
On Monday, February 3, the Taliban once again arrested their former commander, Abdul Hamid Khorasani.
The Taliban expressed condolences to the Hamas leadership over the killing of Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military wing, and many other leaders of the movement.
The Washington Post reported that the construction of the Wakhan Road in Badakhshan to China has been halted by the Taliban for seven months.
Local sources in Badakhshan say that Juma Khan Fateh, the Taliban district governor for Nasi Darwaz district, has forced at least 50 Ismaili residents in the province to convert.
According to a Reuters report, one person was killed and another was injured following a shooting at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) building.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has welcomed South Korea’s $3 million aid to Afghanistan, saying that this aid will support tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has claimed to have killed three Taliban fighters in Kunduz province.
Iran and Iraq have reaffirmed their joint commitment to supporting the Resistance Front and strengthening regional stability. The announcement came during a press conference in Tehran, where Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf hosted his Iraqi counterpart, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, on Monday.
Amir Maqam, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Provincial and Frontier Regions Affairs, announced that negotiations with the Taliban are not within the authority of Pakistan’s provincial governments.
The police commander of Babol City in Mazandaran province announced that the Islamic Republic forces had arrested 365 asylum seekers without residence documents. Ali Dadashtabar added that the arrested asylum seekers have been deported from Iran.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in response to the US President’s statements about taking back the Bagram base and the country’s remaining weapons in Afghanistan, called the demand a “dream.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed on Monday that, based on “intelligence information,” former jihadi leaders in Turkey had met with representatives of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

4 February 2025

Amnesty International has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Afghan journalist Mehdi Ansari from Taliban prison. The international organisation has expressed concern about the physical and mental health of the journalist, citing torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in Taliban detention centres.
More than three years after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the country’s new leaders insist they have improved people’s lives, but for years, the Taliban has ruled with an iron fist — aided by abandoned U.S. military hardware. According to a 2022 Department of Defense report, 78 aircraft, 40,000 military vehicles, and more than 300,000 weapons were among some of what was left behind.
Two days after a Taliban member opened fire at the UNAMA office in Kabul, injuring a foreign staffer, the deputy head of the office went to see Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar. Mullah Baradar’s office has been silent on what either side has to say about the incident.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Tuesday that five ISIS members were killed in “precise” airstrikes led by Iraqi security forces near Kirkuk, north of Baghdad.
The Taliban have warned that the military weapons left behind by the United States in Afghanistan now belong to them as “spoils of war” and will be utilised to defend against any attempts to reclaim them.
The United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee has issued an exemption from the travel ban for Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Interior.
Local sources reported the arrest of an employee of the former government’s National Directorate of Security by the Taliban in Kabul city.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has announced the return of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group’s Minister of Interior Affairs, to Kabul.
The Afghan Journalists Protection Organization has condemned the Taliban’s suspension of Radio Begum’s broadcasts.
Local sources in Kunduz say that two Taliban fighters were killed, and another member of the group was wounded in an explosion in the province.

5 February 2025

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for last night’s explosion in Kunduz and claimed to have killed three Taliban fighters.
Seven Black Hawk helicopters previously belonging to the former Afghan army and stationed in Uzbekistan have been transferred to the United States, according to Uzbek media reports.
In an unprecedented incident, an unknown group cyber-attacked the Taliban government’s database and published documents from 21 ministries and independent departments of the group on the Internet.
The Taliban Foreign Ministry has considered the recent statements of the US President regarding the displaced Palestinians and their resettlement in other countries as a clear violation of international law.
Local sources have reported an armed clash between Taliban fighters and Afghan National Resistance Front forces in Parwan province.
Following the suspension of US financial assistance, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that more than nine million people in Afghanistan will be deprived of health services.
Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees and Returnees, says that neighbouring countries must stop the process of forced deportation of Afghan refugees.
A health centre in Laghman has been established and started operating for 17 million Afghanis by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Activists’ Unity Movement strongly condemned the travel exemption granted by the United Nations to Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group’s Interior Minister, and called it a flagrant violation of international resolutions and basic human rights principles.
Local sources in Helmand say that the Taliban have ordered residents of several areas bordering Pakistan in the province to leave their neighbourhoods.
According to an official Taliban letter, in 1403, about 8,192 individuals and officials from the former government were banned from leaving the country. In this letter, the Directorate of Supervision and Execution of Orders (former Attorney General’s Office) states that these individuals do not have the right to leave the country due to “related files, each containing dozens of volumes.”
In an unprecedented incident, an unknown group cyber-attacked the Taliban government’s database and published documents from 21 ministries and independent departments of the group on the Internet.
Special representatives of the European Union and Central Asian countries discussed the situation in Afghanistan on Wednesday in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

6 February 2025

Pakistan reported Thursday that one soldier and 12 insurgents were killed in intense pre-dawn clashes in a volatile northwestern district bordering Afghanistan.
Ali Amin Gandapur, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in consultation with the Pakistani government, is sending a delegation to Kabul to talk with the Taliban.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has claimed that it killed one Taliban fighter and wounded another in an attack on the group in Kapisa province.
Zakir Jalali, the third political director of the Taliban Foreign Ministry, says that the group’s diplomats at the Afghan embassy in Ankara will provide services to citizens transparently.
According to information leaked from the Taliban administration, Mullah Haibatullah, the group’s leader, has issued a decree banning the “public and physical” presence of intelligence agency employees in all government institutions, especially the ministries of defence and interior.
Documents released by an unknown hacking group from the Taliban government’s database show that the group’s Amr-e-Maruf Directorate in Laghman Province has 85 employees, and most of these employees receive a salary of around 20,000 Afghanis.
According to documents published on the Internet by an anonymous group of Taliban databases, the Taliban imprisoned at least 352 Afghan women and arrested another 1,081 Afghan women in 1402. According to this information, dozens of foreign citizens, including six women, were also detained by the group.
According to documents leaked by a hacker group from the Taliban’s data bank, the Taliban’s Ministry of Agriculture has created an independent department to collect tithes and zakat from the public. The leaked documents show that the department has 1,200 employees.
Ali Al-Qasi, the head of the Tehran Justice Department, announced that 82 per cent of the affected children in the province are from Afghanistan. Ali Al-Qasi said that nearly 3,700 affected children have been identified in Tehran, 82 per cent of whom are “foreign nationals.”
The Taliban Supreme Court announced that the group’s local courts in Kapisa, Uruzgan, and Kabul have flogged 13 people, including a woman, on charges of running away from home, having sex outside of marriage, and stealing.
Five Democratic senators wrote to the U.S. Department of Defense, State Department, and Homeland Security in support of continuing the process of transferring eligible Afghan refugees to the United States.
According to documents reviewed by Afghanistan International, Taliban elements have cooperated in the judicial case to arrest Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the group’s chief judge.
The Taliban Ministry of Justice announced that it had secured 3,828 acres of land in the centre and districts of Balkh and Sholgara in Balkh province for the “Emirati”. The ministry added that the file of these lands has been sent to the Land Usurpation Prevention Commission for final review.
The Afghan Embassy in Ankara announced that all diplomats from the republican era have ended their missions following Taliban pressure on the Turkish government and the decision of the country’s Foreign Ministry.

7 February 2025

A court in the Russian city of Irkutsk sentenced a 20-year-old student to nine years in prison on charges of financing terrorism and planning to join terrorists in Afghanistan.
Eskandar Momeni, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic, says that employing “foreign nationals” without residency documents deprives Iranians of job opportunities.
The second meeting of the “National Dialogue Process” on a political plan to overcome the current situation will be held in Istanbul. The National Dialogue Forum will host the meeting on Saturday and Sunday.
John Sopko, former US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, says that a significant amount of Washington’s financial aid has reached the Taliban.
Pakistani diplomatic sources tell Afghanistan International that some currents are trying to portray Pakistan in a negative light.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced that the payment of the salaries of government employees for the month of Jeddah will begin gradually starting Saturday, February 10.
Leaked documents and raw materials from Taliban offices, published by an anonymous hacking group, show that the hacking group was able to access the email accounts of Taliban offices and employees.
The United Nations has urged Afghan refugees not to participate in the march following the announcement by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to mark the first anniversary of Pakistan’s general elections.
The US President said in a meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan at the White House that he has rebuilt his country during his first term and aims to have the strongest military in the world.
Local sources in Nimroz announced the completion of the construction of a 100-bed provincial hospital in the province at the personal expense of a Qatari sheikh.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni says that Afghan refugees have been handed over to the Taliban through legal means after a meeting of the International Organization for Migration.
Taliban sources in Nimroz claim that the group’s fighters have clashed with “armed robbers” in the province.
John Sopko, former US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, says that a large portion of the money provided by US taxpayers and transferred to United Nations institutions in Afghanistan has ended up in the hands of the Taliban.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has claimed to have killed two Taliban fighters in Kunduz province.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says that the process of distributing the salaries of the holy month of Jeddah to government employees under the group’s administration will begin on Saturday.

8 February 2025

The United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting on the threats posed by the Khorasan branch of ISIS in Afghanistan and the region. According to the press release, the meeting will review the six-month report of UN Secretary-General Anthony Guterres.
The Pakistani army has claimed to have killed a resident of Khost province on charges of involvement in a terrorist operation in Waziristan. The Pakistani army has claimed to have killed a resident of Khost province on charges of involvement in a terrorist operation in Waziristan.
Imanguli Tasmagambetov, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), has once again called Afghanistan under Taliban rule a centre of terrorism and drugs.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett announced that the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan will be reviewed to hold those responsible accountable. He told Pentagon staff that he would review the withdrawal to understand what went wrong and why there was no accountability.
The Pakistani army announced in a press release on Saturday, February 10, that an Afghan named Luqman Khan Nusrat was killed during a counter-terrorism operation in North Waziristan. The Pakistani army press release stated that “these incidents indicate the role of Afghans in terrorist activities in Pakistan.”
The UN Security Council meeting on the threat posed by ISIS from Afghanistan and the region will be held on Monday, February 12. The meeting is scheduled to review the report of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the threat posed by ISIS.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees said in a statement on Saturday, February 10, that 42 Afghan refugees who were imprisoned in Pakistan had been released. According to the statement, these refugees had been arrested and imprisoned in Islamabad and Peshawar for not having residency documents.
Turkmenistan President Berdimuhamedow has ordered the acceleration of construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. Mr Berdimuhamedow stressed at a cabinet meeting that the project should be completed quickly by 2025.
Farshad Marmarchi, head of the Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Department of Pardis County, Tehran, announced that at least 19 trade unions have been fined for employing undocumented Afghan immigrants.
The Taliban Defense Ministry called the transfer of former Afghan army helicopters from Uzbekistan to the United States “unacceptable.” In a statement on Saturday, the ministry called on the United States not to create obstacles to the return of these helicopters to Afghanistan.
Mohammad Issa Sani, the acting Minister of Public Works of the Taliban, announced in a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador in Kabul that the process of studying the Wakhan Corridor has been completed and that work on its design is underway.
Leaked documents from the Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) show that telecommunications companies pay billions of Afghanis to the Taliban administration annually. In one case alone, MTN paid the Taliban an amount equivalent to 4 billion, 730 million, 375 thousand, and 546 Afghanis in 2023.
Local sources reported on Saturday evening that an explosion occurred near the Taliban’s Department of Agriculture in Taloqan City, the capital of Takhar province. Sources say that a Taliban ranger was targeted by the explosion.
US House of Representatives member Tim Burchett says that despite the suspension of foreign aid, more than $40 million in American taxpayer money is still being sent to the Taliban every week.
Drop Site News, an American media outlet, reported, citing sources, that the country’s military is considering a large-scale military operation against ISIS-affiliated groups in Afghanistan.

9 February 2025

Russian Ambassador to Islamabad Albert Khorov announced Moscow’s concern over the increase in terrorist activities in Pakistan. He said: “Russia is concerned about the increase in terrorist activities in Pakistan and supports the country in confronting the threats.”
Despite the Taliban Ministry of Publicity’s ban on filming living beings, the group’s Ministry of Interior announced the production of a propaganda film about Taliban special forces.
The Afghan Freedom Front announced in a video that its forces had killed two members of the group and wounded two others in an attack on a Taliban checkpoint in Herat.
Informed sources told Afghanistan International that Mahmud Shah Habibi, the former head of the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority, is being held in one of the Haibatullah Akhundzada prisons in Kandahar city.
Diplomatic sources from the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi told Afghanistan International that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs is in discussions to accept Taliban diplomats in the mission.
The deputy director of commerce for the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways announced that the amount of freight transported on the Herat-Khaf railway route will increase from 10,000 tons per month to 100,000 tons.
The Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman said on Sunday, in response to the statement of the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, that there is no threat from Afghanistan to other countries.
Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says the Taliban are interfering in UN contracts, and in this situation, the American people do not want their money distributed through this channel.
The Economist magazine reported that the Taliban had ignored Pakistan’s repeated requests to prevent attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), effectively “showing the middle finger” to them.
The representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan has announced that in January of this year, 213 children suffering from malnutrition were treated in the country.
The Afghan Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s explosion in Takhar province. According to the Freedom Front, three Taliban fighters were killed, and two others were wounded in the attack.

Alireza Ahmadi, Iran’s Consul General in Balkh, says that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s religious leader, has emphasised Tehran’s maximum engagement with the Taliban.