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Four districts in four provinces fall to the Taliban: Sources
Four districts in four provinces fell to the Taliban in the past 24 hours, sources told Ariana News on Sunday, adding these were in Kunduz, Farah, Ghor and Zabul provinces.
The districts are Ali Abad in Kunduz, Arghandab in Zabul, Saghar in Ghor and Lash Jawin in Farah province.
However, security officials have not confirmed this yet.
According to Atta Jan Haq Bayan, the head of the Zabul provincial council, the Arghandab district government compound has been captured and forces have retreated.
“Headquarters of the district have fallen… and the army brigade also retreated and Taliban took over the district,” said Atta Jan Haq Bayan.
Local sources said that Saghar district in Ghor and Lash Jawin in Farah fell to the Taliban in the past 24 hours.
According to the sources heavy clashes were ongoing in Posht-Road district of Farah province.
“Jawin (Lash Jawin) and Posht-Road were attacked, unfortunately, the Jawin district fell to the Taliban,” said Dadullah Qani, a member of the Farah provincial council.
“Ghor province is in a crisis, three districts have fallen to the Taliban,” said Hamidullah Mutahid, a member of Ghor provincial council.
Afghan officials, meanwhile, said that these districts had not fallen to the Taliban but that the district centers had been relocated in consultation with locals.
Kunduz provincial council members meanwhile confirmed that the Ali Abad district center and some outposts had been seized by the Taliban. Security officials have not confirmed this.
“Enemy attacked security forces in Khan Abad and Ali Abad district,” said Inhamuddin, the spokesman for Kunduz police.
Meanwhile, heavy clashes have been ongoing between Taliban and security forces in nine districts in the eastern and southeastern zones of the country in the past 24 hours.
In addition, sources said that 42 public uprising force members have surrendered to the Taliban in Gardez city, the capital of Paktia province.
Sholgara district in Balkh province has also witnessed heavy clashes between the Taliban and security officials in the past 24 hours, officials said.
“Eight districts are under threat; Sholgara district is also under threat,” said Farhad Azimi, governor of Balkh province.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) meanwhile said the Taliban have suffered heavy casualties in the past 24 hours and at least 181 Taliban members have been killed in clashes.
“We assure people that enemies who posed great threats are defeated,” said Rohullah Ahmadzai, a spokesman for the MoD.
The Presidential Palace (ARG) also said that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) can defeat the Taliban.
“The ANDSF are able to provide security and defend the country's sovereignty” said Mohammad Amiri, deputy spokesman for ARG.
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A high-level Russian delegation will soon visit Kabul: envoy
Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit
Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul that a high-level Russian delegation will visit Kabul in the near future to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation with the Islamic Emirate.
Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Muttaqi described the relations between the Islamic Emirate and Russia as important, stressing that the ties should be expanded to include economic and trade cooperation.
He said visits to Kabul by high-level officials was important, adding that during the past year, many officials of the Islamic Emirate have been invited to Russia to attend international meetings.
Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat said that his country wants to expand its relations with Afghanistan in the economic and trade sectors.
This comes on the heels of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko’s comments that the completion of legal procedures to remove the Islamic Emirate from Moscow’s terrorist list will provide positive impetus to Russian-Afghan relations.
In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, published early Sunday, Rudenko said “removing the terrorist organization’s status from the Taliban Movement (Islamic Emirate) will attribute a positive impetus to Russian-Afghan interaction in various spheres, in the economy in the first instance."
"As regards the issue of the official recognition of current Afghan authorities, it is early to talk about it thus far. Let’s act gradually, step by step, but we do not intend to artificially impede the processes," Rudenko noted.
Russia has been slowly building ties with the Islamic Emirate since it regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021 but the IEA is still officially outlawed in Russia.
In response to Russia’s comments last month, the IEA’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate “appreciates the positive remarks by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon."
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Iran appoints new ambassador to Afghanistan
Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran’s former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country’s new ambassador to Kabul
Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran's former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to Kabul, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.
The outlet added that the post of the Iranian presidential special representative in Afghanistan has been removed and, as before, the special representative for Afghanistan will act directly under the supervision of the foreign minister.
It is worth mentioning that Hassan Kazemi Qomi previously served as Iran's ambassador and presidential special representative in Afghanistan.
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Iran to Host ECO Ministerial Meeting next week
The 28th meeting of the foreign ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states will be held in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad next week.
Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said on Sunday that the upcoming meeting will be attended by the ministers and senior officials of ECO, directors of the regional specialized departments of the organization, and the secretaries general of a number of multilateral economic organizations.
The meeting will be chaired by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Iranian local media reported.
Iran is holding the rotating presidency of ECO in 2024.
The Tehran-headquartered ECO was established by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey in 1985.
The main purpose of the organization is to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states.
In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
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