Afghanistan’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Ataullah Omari, has travelled to India at the head of an official delegation to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the agriculture and livestock sectors.

According to the ministry, the visit is aimed at expanding collaboration in agriculture, irrigation and livestock, while increasing agricultural trade and promoting the exchange of expertise. Afghan officials also hope to benefit from India’s experience and technological advances in modern farming and livestock development.

During the visit, Omari is expected to hold talks with representatives from India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, senior government officials and private sector stakeholders. Discussions will focus on enhancing agricultural cooperation, introducing modern farming technologies, strengthening the livestock sector and boosting the export and import of agricultural products between the two countries.

The delegation is also scheduled to tour several agricultural institutions and development projects across India to gain first-hand insight into the country’s successful farming practices, irrigation systems and advances in livestock production.

The death of an Afghan man who fought alongside US Special Forces before resettling in the United States has been ruled an accident after he suffered a fatal allergic reaction while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

According to a death certificate, 41-year-old Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal died on March 14 after experiencing an adverse reaction to an unidentified substance that triggered anaphylaxis and aggravated his asthma. He died at a hospital in Dallas, Texas, one day after being detained by ICE as part of deportation proceedings.

The ruling has intensified calls for greater transparency surrounding Paktiawal’s death, with advocacy organizations, lawmakers and family members demanding the release of the full autopsy report.

Paktiawal had served alongside U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan for around a decade before being evacuated to the United States during the 2021 withdrawal of American troops. He entered the country legally and had an asylum application pending when ICE officers arrested him at his Texas home on March 13.

According to ICE, Paktiawal underwent a medical screening after arriving at a detention facility and did not report any medical conditions or allergies. Hours later, he complained of chest pain and difficulty breathing before being transferred to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Hospital staff later observed swelling of his tongue while he was eating breakfast and administered epinephrine, the standard emergency treatment for severe allergic reactions. Despite efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead approximately 40 minutes later.

The death certificate lists the cause of death as “anaphylaxis complicating acute asthma exacerbation.” It also identifies methamphetamine toxicity, heart disease and cigarette smoking as contributing factors.

However, Paktiawal’s relatives dispute suggestions that he used methamphetamine. His family commissioned an independent autopsy, but experts were reportedly unable to determine whether the drug was present because no blood samples remained for further testing.

His wife has also said Paktiawal suffered from asthma and relied on an inhaler, claiming ICE officers refused to allow her to hand him the medication when he was taken into custody.

The circumstances surrounding his death have prompted criticism from Afghan refugee advocates and members of the U.S. Congress.

Shawn VanDiver, president of the advocacy group AfghanEvac, questioned what substance caused the fatal allergic reaction and called for authorities to release the complete autopsy findings.

“This family has a right to know what happened,” VanDiver said.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal also urged the Department of Homeland Security to make the autopsy public, saying there were serious unanswered questions surrounding the case.

Dallas County officials have so far declined to release the report, arguing that disclosure could interfere with an ongoing federal criminal investigation. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is reviewing the request to withhold the document under the state’s public records law.

ICE has defended its decision to detain Paktiawal, citing previous arrests on food stamp fraud and theft allegations. However, he had not been convicted in either case.

Paktiawal’s death has resonated widely within the Afghan-American community, where many remember him as a soldier who risked his life supporting U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan before rebuilding his life in America as a truck driver and father of six.

His case is the first death in ICE custody during President Donald Trump’s second term to be officially classified as an accident. Most other deaths recorded during the period have been attributed to natural causes or suicide.

Afghanistan on Monday bid farewell to its first and only cosmonaut, Abdul Ahad Momand, whose body was returned from Germany and laid to rest in Kabul with full state honors.

Momand died on June 21 in Stuttgart, Germany, following a battle with cancer. He was 67 years old.

Funeral prayers were held at Kabul’s historic Eidgah Mosque, attended by his family, members of the public and senior officials of the Islamic Emirate.

Following the prayers, his body was taken to Maranjan Hill, where he was buried during an official ceremony honoring one of Afghanistan’s most celebrated national figures.

Officials paid tribute to Momand as a pioneering scientist and national hero, describing his achievements as a source of pride for Afghanistan and encouraging young Afghans to follow his example in the fields of science, education and exploration.

Momand made history on August 29, 1988, when he became the first – and to date the only – Afghan to travel into space. Selected from hundreds of candidates, the former Afghan Air Force pilot joined the then Soviet Intercosmos programme and launched aboard the Soyuz TM-6 spacecraft to the Mir space station alongside Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Polyakov.

During the mission, Momand spent nearly nine days in orbit, conducting scientific experiments and Earth observation activities.

He also made history by speaking in Pashto from space during a live conversation with Afghanistan’s then-president, Mohammad Najibullah, becoming the first Afghan – and one of the first people – to use the language beyond Earth.

The mission nearly ended in tragedy when a malfunction delayed the Soyuz spacecraft’s return to Earth, leaving the crew stranded in orbit for an extra day while engineers worked to restore the landing system. The spacecraft eventually landed safely in Kazakhstan, and Momand returned to Kabul to a hero’s welcome.

Following his spaceflight, he served as Afghanistan’s deputy minister of civil aviation. However, after the collapse of the Soviet-backed government in 1992 and the outbreak of civil war, Momand left the country and eventually settled in Germany, where he lived with his family for more than three decades.

Although he built a new life abroad, Momand continued to express hope for Afghanistan’s future and remained an enduring symbol of what Afghans could achieve in science and technology.

His death has also renewed discussion about Afghanistan’s dormant space ambitions. Despite producing the country’s only cosmonaut, Afghanistan’s national space institute has remained largely inactive for years, with many observers calling for renewed investment in science, education and technological development to build on Momand’s historic legacy.

For many Afghans, Abdul Ahad Momand’s journey from a young boy fascinated by the skies to the nation’s first cosmonaut remains one of the country’s greatest scientific achievements and a lasting source of national pride.