Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Minister of Interior Affairs, traveled to Bamyan province on Friday after visiting Panjshir and met with officials and a number of tribal elders who had come from various districts of the province.

Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, said Haqqani described Afghanistan’s current security and stability as a major national asset and said that Afghanistan is the common home of all Afghans.

According to Qani, the Interior Minister added that divisions based on ethnicity, region and language were the result of hostile foreign efforts. However, he said Afghans are now moving toward strengthening unity, brotherhood and solidarity under a single system, and that maintaining the country’s security and stability is a shared responsibility of the government and the people.

Haqqani also held a separate meeting with Bamyan’s tribal elders and influential figures, listened to their views, suggestions and requests, and issued necessary instructions to the relevant officials to follow up on and resolve the issues raised.

Bulgaria’s state news agency BTA has reported that border police in the Malko Tarnovo area arrested 35 undocumented migrants, all Afghan nationals, from a passenger vehicle.

Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said the migrants were arrested on August 18.

According to officials, the 22-year-old driver of the vehicle, who is a resident of North Macedonia, was also arrested by police.

The report said Bulgarian police operations against illegal migration have expanded in recent months.

Earlier in August, 20 undocumented migrants and their driver were also arrested in the area of the Ropotamo River, near the city of Burgas.

Previously, in mid-June, 32 migrants and a guide accompanying them were arrested in the Poda area, near Burgas.

Bulgarian border police said that under new regulations, undocumented migrants apprehended at the country’s external borders are held in special facilities for up to seven days before being transferred to migrant detention centers.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) will struggle to gain broader international legitimacy unless it reverses restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg’s The Mishal Husain Show, Karzai said he had repeatedly urged IEA’s officials to reopen schools and universities to girls and allow women to return to work.

“I’ve been repeatedly speaking to them and telling them of the importance of education for Afghanistan, of the importance of Afghan women, half the society, getting back to work,” Karzai said.

Karzai, who led Afghanistan for nearly 13 years after the fall of the first IEA’s government in 2001, said some IEA officials understand and agree with his concerns.

He argued that international recognition and legitimacy depend on meeting certain conditions, particularly restoring girls’ access to education and women’s participation in the workforce.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the IEA has barred girls from secondary schools and universities and imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s employment, movement and dress.

The restrictions have drawn repeated condemnation from the United Nations and Western governments, which have made improvements in women’s rights a key condition for normalising relations with the IEA.

According to the United Nations, about 3.8 million Afghan girls are currently out of school. The restrictions on women’s education and employment are also estimated to cost Afghanistan billions of afghanis each year.

Despite international pressure and several rounds of talks, including meetings in Oslo and Doha, the IEA has so far shown no indication of reversing the education bans.

Karzai also warned about the wider humanitarian and economic challenges facing Afghanistan. The United Nations estimates that 21.9 million people—around 45 percent of the population—will require humanitarian assistance in 2026.

The return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan has added further pressure to the country’s already fragile humanitarian situation.

The Islamic Emirate has previously said that the issue of girls’ education is an internal issue in Afghanistan and efforts are being made to resolve it.