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Afghan NSA warns of possible influx of Taliban recruits from Pakistan
Afghan National Security Advisor (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib said Friday that as many as 15,000 militants could enter Afghanistan from Pakistan to fight the Afghan Security and Defense Forces (ANSDF).
Speaking in an interview with Sky News on Friday, Mohib stated that Pakistan has been a safe haven for the Taliban and that the group has been using Pakistani Madrasas, religious schools, to recruit fighters.
“The Taliban have had safe havens in Pakistan throughout this period they enjoyed their leaders living there at peace and in Pakistan; Their injured were treated in Pakistani hospitals, they had military and emotional support and financial support from elements within the Pakistani military establishment and it continues to be the case,” Mohib stated.
“Every year the Taliban were defeated in Afghanistan but they had an opportunity to recuperate to re-recruit people from Madrasas in Pakistan and bring them back the next year.”
“This year, we estimate that ten thousand fighters have come in from Pakistani madrasas to fight in Afghanistan this fighting season and their intelligence shows that they could be as many as 15 000 more new recruits coming towards Afghanistan.
Referring to the fall of districts to the Taliban, Mohib stated that it was difficult for the Afghan forces to supply remote outposts and districts.
“Indeed, the vacuum created by the withdrawal of foreign air power made it very difficult for us to supply some of those remote outposts and districts by air so it had a cascading effect but none of the territories the Taliban has taken is permanent the Afghan people themselves are rising against the Taliban in their own villages and districts,” he said,
“So much of this progress that the Taliban are celebrating is very temporary,” Mohib noted.
Meanwhile, the negotiation teams of the Afghan government and the Taliban last week agreed to continue the stalled talks in Doha, Qatar.
Mohib, however, reiterated that the Taliban has no intention of bringing peace to Afghanistan.
“We haven’t yet seen the Taliban negotiate in earnest; they’re sticking to a very rigid point and want to use the negotiating as a point to further their military agenda and lobby for their military purposes. So far there hasn’t been any movement from the Taliban that could be classified as genuine efforts for peace,” Mohib said.
Mohib added that the Taliban, so far, has not broken ties with the “terrorist groups”, a claim that has been constantly rejected by the group.
“It would be impossible for them to separate themselves from these groups…while their management may be different their management structures they all rely on those very basic fundamental, fundamentalistic ideologies that give them the base of operations and they cooperate very closely as an example the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is an affiliate of the Taliban but it has pledged allegiance to Daesh yet they collaborate very closely so it’s a collaboration of these three groups in destabilizing Afghanistan and creating a ground for uh terrorism to flourish.”
“We cannot really separate them and put them in separate categories and for the Taliban to say that they have severed ties with any group has been proven wrong by the Afghan government several times by arresting Al-Qaeda members and operating against Al-Qaeda elements in Taliban controlled areas,” Mohib said.
Roza Otunbayeva, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), recently visited the city of Maimana in northern Afghanistan, where she met with local officials, entrepreneurs, and UN staff.
UNAMA wrote on its Facebook page on Sunday, that during the visit, entrepreneurs — including women — met with Otunbayeva, and requested support to facilitate access to new markets, particularly in Uzbekistan.
UNAMA further stated that among these entrepreneurs was a group of women who, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had established a tailoring workshop.
They expressed their appreciation for the support received and spoke about the significant growth and development of their business.
UNAMA added that the organization remains committed to promoting economic opportunities and empowering Afghan communities, especially women.
Anand Prakash, head of the Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, met with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul for talks on various issues.
According to a press release issued Sunday by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, bilateral political relations, trade, transit and recent political developments in the region were discussed in the meeting.
Muttaqi stressed the need for the expansion of diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries and explained that Afghanistan currently offers favorable opportunities for investment. He said Indian investors should take advantage of these opportunities.
He also said that facilities should be created for the movement of people between Afghanistan and India and the issuance of visas for medical purposes, students and businessmen should return to normal.
Meanwhile, Prakash said that relations with Afghanistan are important for India and he hopes that these relations will expand further in various fields.
He stressed that India will continue its cooperation with Afghanistan and wants to invest in some infrastructure projects and restart projects that were paused for some time.
The two sides also emphasized the expansion of relations, the exchange of delegations, visa facilitation and bilateral cooperation.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has said in a phone call with his Uzbek counterpart that Afghanistan is fully prepared for the implementation of the Trans-Afghan railway project.
During the call, the two sides discussed strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations, as well as expanding political, economic and transit cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul said in a statement on Sunday.
Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov noted that Afghanistan’s exports to Uzbekistan have tripled in the first four months of 2025 compared to last year. He vowed to create more facilities in the field of trade and transit between the two countries, especially in issuing visas to Afghan citizens.
Meanwhile, Amir Khan Muttaqi said that Afghanistan is fully prepared for the implementation of major economic projects such as the Trans-Afghan railway project and for the strengthening of political, trade and transit cooperation with Uzbekistan. He said that the existing opportunities should be utilized for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
The two sides also discussed the holding of a trilateral meeting between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan at the level of foreign ministers and agreed to coordinate through diplomatic channels to determine the exact date and place of the meeting.
The three neighboring countries signed an agreement in February 2021 to construct a 573-kilometer railway line through Afghanistan, connecting landlocked Central Asia to Pakistan seaports, with an estimated cost of $4.8 billion to enhance regional economic connectivity.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Uzbek foreign minister last Thursday to discuss the Trans-Afghan railway project.
Dar expressed hope that the three countries would soon sign a framework agreement on this important regional project.
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