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Taliban infiltrators arrested in Kunduz: MoD
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Tuesday that a number of Taliban infiltrators were arrested in northern Kunduz province amid a sharp increase in Taliban attacks across the country.
The MoD said in a statement that the infiltrators - under the guise of tribal elders - had spoken to the Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) to hand over a security checkpoint to the Taliban without any clash.
The suspects were arrested in the Kala Gaw area of the provincial capital Kunduz city.
Earlies the Ministry of Interior (MoI) warned that the tribal elders who act as mediators to negotiate between government forces and the Taliban for handing over outposts to the militants will be arrested.
Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the MoI, stated that “indeed, the act of them (elders) is a direct cooperation with the Taliban.”
“The Afghan Security and Defense Forces (ANSDF) have already been directed to arrest anyone who [acts as mediator],” Arian tweeted last week.
This comes as the Taliban insurgents have launched coordinated attacks to capture centers of the districts across the country.
Security sources told Ariana News that the Chora district of Uruzgan; Maiwand district in Kandahar; Nahrin district and Unit 20 of Afghan forces in the Chashma-i-Shir area in Baghlan province; Chahar Dara district and Sher Khan Port in Kunduz; and the Shah Joi district of Zabul province were fallen to the Taliban in the last 24 hours.
The Afghan forces, however, have retaken the Balkh district in Balkh provinces; the Doshi district of Baghlan province; and the Aliabad district in Kunduz province in the same period.
According to reports, dozens of districts have been captured by the Taliban since the militants intensified clashes across the country.
The Afghan military said at least 234 Taliban militants have been killed and 103 others wounded in clashes in Logar, Nangarhar, Paktika, Khost, Kandahar, Zabul, Faryab, Balkh, Samangan, Helmand, Takhar, Baghlan, Parwan, Kunduz, and Kabul provinces.
The Taliban, however, has not commented in this regard so far.
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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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