Taliban

Detailing the Taliban attacks in Afghanistan in recent months and their links to terrorist outfits, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar said the terrorist organisations included Ansarullah, Jundallah, Al-Qaeda, East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

US President Joe Biden's declaration to pull out all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, has led to the difficult search for viable solutions which can possibly be achieved only through compromise evolving around common security challenges and an effective resolution of the ongoing Afghan war.

Though the Afghan government did not confirm civilian people being hit, sources in the provincial capital said that eight members of a family, including children, were killed in the strikes. The sources added that the fighters had attacked the central prison in Lashkargah city which was driven back by the strikes. The US army has recently intensified its airstrikes on the Taliban to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.

The International Criminal Court is currently investigating allegations of war crimes and serious human rights abuses by all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, including the Taliban. Taliban commanders who knew or should have known about abuses by forces under their control and took no action to prevent or stop them are culpable as a matter of command responsibility, Human Rights Watch said.

"Acting on a tip-off, the fighter planes struck a convoy of Taliban rebels in Dasht-e-Lili area and Murghab village on Saturday, killing 37 insurgents and injuring 14 others," the official told Xinhua news agency. A number of arms and ammunition as well as 13 motorbikes and some vehicles of the militant group were also destroyed in the sorties, the official said.

In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Khan had vehemently denied that Pakistani soldiers and other "fighters" have crossed the Durand line into Afghanistan in support of the Taliban. "Absolutely nonsense" the former cricketer asserted when quizzed on whether Islamabad had provided boots on the ground in support of the Taliban inside Pakistan. Recently the Afghan security forces say that they have killed many Pakistani soldiers.

Disturbing videos and photos circulating on social media show the Taliban torturing and killing people in Afghanistan as the extremist group has been seizing territories after international troops began withdrawing from the country in May 2021. In one of the video clips on Twitter, several men are seen gathered around a man, picking up stones and repeatedly throwing them at him as he tries to save himself.

Besides being the bloodiest, Friday was also one of the busiest days for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the past one month. The media reports said the Taliban entered Herat province and launched attacks on Afghan government forces' outposts inside the namesake capital city. The city's airport and the UN's main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire.

As the Taliban engaged in fierce clashes with Afghan security forces in Herat on Friday, the UN's main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Responding to the attack, the UN chief "expressed his condolences to the bereaved family and wishes those injured a speedy recovery", Guterres' deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

As per media reports, Wafayezada was reacting to a recent tweet by Pakistan Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who called for a ceasefire in Afghanistan. "Pakistan's Foreign Minister tweeted the other day, calling for a ceasefire in Afghanistan. The tweet comes after the international community returned attention and support for the people and government of Afghanistan, following a campaign of bloodshed, violence and killings," Wafayezada said.