Afghanistan

It is reported that acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund is unwell and until he recovers, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir will serve as the head of the Taliban government, TOLO News reported. Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund has served as the Prime Minister of the Taliban government since the group's return to power in 2021.

"It is requested that Pakistan and TTP sit together for dialogue," the Afghan minister said while addressing an event in Islamabad, The News reported. The Taliban-led administration's representative is currently on a four-day visit to Pakistan to attend bilateral and trilateral dialogues.

Between January 1 and March 31, 2023, the most common nationality arriving via small boat was Afghans (909, 24 per cent) followed by Indians (675, 18 per cent), the new data revealed. A total of 3,793 people were detected arriving in small boats in the same period, a Home Office statement said, adding that the "crossings are generally higher in better weather."

After a meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan that he convened in Doha, Guterres said that the participants were worried about the stability of that country and expressed serious concerns about "the persistent presence of terrorist organisations -- a risk for the country, the region, and further afield". Drug trafficking is another area of serious concern about Afghanistan, he said.

The Council resolution adopted on Thursday also expressed "deep concern at the increasing erosion of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls" and demanded that the Taliban "swiftly reverse" the restrictions placed on them. Special representatives for Afghanistan from several countries are scheduled.

Experts say Akhundzada's decision to relocate the offices of two Taliban spokesmen to Kandahar is part of efforts to tighten his grip on power. The move comes amid growing reports of infighting between key Taliban ministers based in Kabul and a powerful group of clerics led by Akhundzada in Kandahar.

The officer revealed that 51 Afghan militants were killed in targeted intelligence-based operations carried out by the military, police and the Counter-Terrorism Department over the last three months. "Even in the attack on the police station in Karachi, two of the terrorists involved were Afghan citizens," he disclosed.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a quadrilateral meeting with Chinese, Russian, and Pakistani representatives on the sidelines of the foreign ministers' meeting among the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website on Thursday. Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a quadrilateral meeting with Chinese, Russian, and Pakistani representatives on the sidelines of the foreign ministers' meeting among the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website on Thursday.

We definitely are in touch with the authorities there and we've benefited from donations in 2022 and definitely the people of Afghanistan will continue to benefit from this donation," Alakbarov, who is the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, said on Wednesday in a video conference from Kabul.

Observers say the influx of US weapons has boosted the military capabilities of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group and ethnic Baluch separatist groups that are waging insurgencies against the government in Pakistan, which has witnessed a surge in violence over the past two years, RFE/RL reported.