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Hanafi meets with OIC’s special envoy for Afghanistan
Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, the administrative deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), met with Tariq Ali Bakhit, the special representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for Afghanistan, and his delegation, in Kabul on Monday.
According to the office of the deputy prime minister, the OIC’s special envoy for Afghanistan said humanitarian aid to Afghanistan was discussed during a recent meeting of foreign ministers of OIC member nations and it was stated that relief efforts would continue.
Bakhit said in addition to the continuation of humanitarian aid, support for development projects was also discussed and it was decided that a technical team should be sent to assess Afghanistan’s needs.
It is also planned that a delegation of Islamic scholars will visit Afghanistan in the near future, the deputy prime minister’s office stated.
Hanafi said at the meeting that he was “glad that the IEA has close relations with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and views it favorably” and pointed out that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation can play an important and positive role in Afghanistan.
He said the IEA “welcomes the last meeting of the foreign ministers of the member countries, in which it was decided to continue the humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, and we want more attention to increase the capacity of the human force, health and other areas.”
Hanafi also gave information about the positive actions taken since the Islamic Emirate came into power and said that overall security has been ensured, a general amnesty has been declared, administrative corruption has been eradicated, and drug trafficking and dealing, which was a great disaster for the whole world, has been banned.
He said that if the representatives of the Islamic Emirate at different levels are invited to the meetings of the OIC and listen to their ideas directly, then there will be effective results.
Hanafi also invited companies from Islamic countries to invest in Afghanistan, especially in mining, energy production, communication and other fields.
Meanwhile, the OIC released a statement and said that the meeting discussed the follow up on the implementation of the final communique of the extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee on humanitarian developments and situation in Afghanistan. The meeting was in January at the headquarters of the organization in Jeddah.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called a United Nations report on Afghan opiates “tailor-made political propaganda” saying such publications do not help combat drug trafficking in Afghanistan.
The ministry said that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, published in late October, recorded an increase in the cultivation, production and distribution of Afghan opiates for the first time since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) imposed a ban in 2022.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the report, which the IEA has already rejected as politically motivated, appears unbalanced and relies on indirect evidence, including satellite images that are open to different expert interpretations.
According to UN estimates cited in the report, the area under poppy cultivation increased from 10,200 hectares in 2025 to 43,300 hectares in 2026, while opium production rose from 300 tonnes to 1,470 tonnes.
The ministry acknowledged that Afghanistan’s drug problem still exists and said authorities in Kabul are aware of the issue. It added that Afghan security forces conduct almost daily operations in various parts of the country to destroy drug laboratories and seize narcotics.
According to the statement, more than 7.4 tonnes of various narcotics and over 4.7 tonnes of precursor chemicals were seized in Afghanistan over the past week, while two drug laboratories were dismantled.
Cooperation between the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment and the Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce has paved the way for exporting potatoes from Bamyan province to the Uzbek market.
In this regard, Sayed Karim Hashemi, President of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, and Doran Vahabov, President of the Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce, have agreed on the export of 100,000 tons of Bamyan potatoes to Uzbekistan. Work is underway to finalize the export agreement.
Meanwhile, the first shipment of potatoes, consisting of eight trucks, has departed for the Uzbek city of Termez through the Hairatan Port.
The chambers of commerce of both countries, in cooperation with local authorities in Bamyan, have facilitated connections between traders and farmers and coordinated the purchasing, marketing, and transportation of the produce. This initiative is expected to expand market opportunities for Bamyan farmers and strengthen trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan’s Prime Minister, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk in Kabul on Thursday evening, emphasizing the need to strengthen bilateral relations and expand economic cooperation between the two countries.
According to a statement from the Presidential Palace, several senior officials from both countries attended the meeting, including Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and representatives of Russia’s political and economic sectors.
Akhund described Afghanistan’s security and stability as favourable conditions for foreign investment and thanked Moscow for recognizing the Islamic Emirate and supporting Afghanistan in international forums.
Meanwhile, Overchuk praised the security situation and developments in Afghanistan, expressing Russia’s interest in investing in various sectors of the country.
He said around 70 representatives of Russia’s private sector were accompanying the delegation and were expected to hold discussions with relevant ministries and institutions of the Islamic Emirate on trade and investment agreements, as well as ways to address existing obstacles.
The Russian deputy prime minister reaffirmed his country’s support for Afghanistan in various fields.
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