Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) has unveiled a new visa card and HesabPay mobile application as part of efforts to expand digital financial services in Afghanistan.

The new products were introduced at an event in Kabul on Thursday, where Ahmad Shahpoor Mia Khail, the bank’s deputy governor for supervision, urged Afghans to use digital cards for payments and cash withdrawals.

Mia Khail said improving public trust and providing better financial services remain among the bank’s priorities, describing the digitization of the financial system as a key step toward electronic transactions.

“Our sole objective is to enable every Afghan to make payments using a card, mobile phone or other means,” he said.

Officials from several companies said around one million active customers in Afghanistan currently use HesabPay services, adding that they are committed to expanding access to financial services.

Ahmad Khalid Wadan, the owner of one of the companies, said the initiative aims to help build “a strong, secure and reliable digital financial system” in Afghanistan.

Da Afghanistan Bank has repeatedly called for the digitization of monetary and commercial transactions, saying it can improve transparency and efficiency and help expand economic activity.

Human Rights Watch in a statement on Wednesday called for the release of two ‌UN staffers and six NGO workers in Afghanistan.

HRW said that six male staff working with the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) had been “forcibly disappeared” from the NGO’s Kabul ​office last month. The NGO has been involved in aid programmes and advocacy on women’s ​and children’s rights, HRW said.

In a separate incident, Human Rights Watch also called ⁠for the release of two Afghan staff members of the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), who were ​detained by IEA officials in the western city of Herat on Sunday.

The IEA’s spokesman, ​Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters that he was “trying to gather details” about the recent detentions, but had “not received final clarity.”

The UN confirmed the detention of two of its staffers earlier this week. “UNAMA has not been informed of the charges against them ​and has not been permitted to visit them,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said ​in a briefing on Wednesday.

Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the detentions ‌of UNAMA ⁠staff threatened the UN’s “ability to deliver lifesaving aid.”

As the UN’s political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA is involved in human rights monitoring and data gathering. Its reports have frequently been criticised by the IEA government in the past.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, has rejected a report by the United Nations Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the presence and activities of foreign groups in Afghanistan.

In a message to Ariana News, Mujahid said Afghanistan is not hosting any foreign groups and that the groups named in the report have no connection with Afghanistan.

Regarding the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Mujahid said the group operates in Pakistan, while claiming that al-Qaeda is not present in the region and “does not exist at all” in Afghanistan.

Mujahid also stressed that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement is not permitted to operate in Afghanistan and cannot conduct activities in the country.

Commenting on Daesh, the Islamic Emirate spokesperson said the group is actively fighting against the Islamic Emirate and therefore claims about its presence and activities in Afghanistan are incorrect.

Mujahid further said he believes the allegations are being made by intelligence circles seeking to destabilise the region. He also criticised the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team for relying on what he described as such information.

The reaction came after; the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team has expressed concern in its report over security threats arising from the activities of militant groups in Afghanistan and the wider region.