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Deputy leader of Taliban faction sustains ‘serious’ injuries in skirmish
Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, deputy head of the Taliban splinter group in the western part of the country, was badly injured in a skirmish in Herat province, sources said.
Provincial officials told Ariana News that Niazi was wounded in a skirmish with Taliban militants in the Guzara district of the province.
The sources stated that Niazi, who reportedly is a pro-Taliban commander, is currently hospitalized in Herat’s public hospital.
According to the sources, three of Niazi’s bodyguards were killed in the skirmish.
The Taliban has not commented in this regard.
Niazi was believed to have been Mullah Mohammad Rasool’s deputy - the head of the faction that split from the Taliban in November 2015, following the announcement in July that year that the Taliban's longtime leader Mullah Omar was dead.
The dissident faction's announcement was at the time believed to be the first public and official split of the Afghan Taliban since the group formed in the 1990s.
Omar's deputy at the time was Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, who claimed power — sparking a battle over the group's leadership.
Rasool and Niazi were among several Taliban commanders who challenged Mansoor's appointment as leader. Mansoor was leader of the group from 29 July 2015 to 21 May 2016 but was killed in a drone strike by the United States in Pakistan.
Niazi was born 1968 in Pashtoon Zarghoon district, in Herat province and served as governor of Kabul Province under the Taliban regime.
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Beijing lodges diplomatic discontent after Chinese national killed in Afghanistan
China said Thursday it had lodged “solemn representations” with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) over the killing of a Chinese mine worker in an attack.
“The Chinese side urgently lodged solemn representations with the Afghan side, demanding that (they) thoroughly investigate and punish the perpetrators,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, AFP reported.
“China is deeply shocked by the attack, strongly condemns it and expresses condolences to the victims,” Mao said.
Takhar police said Wednesday a Chinese national was killed by unknown gunmen in Takhar Province on Tuesday night.
Provincial police spokesman, Mohammad Akbar Haqqani, said that the man was travelling without informing security officials.
Haqqani said Wednesday that police had launched an investigation.
Daesh has since claimed responsibility for the shooting.
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Afghan national arrested after stabbing attack in German park
A 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested following a knife attack on Wednesday in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg in which two people were killed, including a toddler, police and the state health minister said.
The suspect deliberately attacked a kindergarten group in the park with a kitchen knife, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said, Reuters reported.
A 41-year old passerby, a German man, and a two-year old boy of Moroccan descent were fatally injured, while a Syrian two-year old girl was injured, he said.
The suspect was detained at the scene in Schoental park, an English-style garden in the city, where the attack took place on Wednesday morning.
Three other people were also wounded, including a 61-year-old man, a child and a teacher, Bavarian Health Minister Judith Gerlach said.
The suspect, who had a history of violent behaviour, was undergoing psychiatric treatment. He had had his asylum process closed and said he would voluntarily leave Germany in December, but had not left and remained under treatment, Herrmann said.
The stabbings add to a string of violent attacks in Germany that have raised concerns over security and migration ahead of parliamentary elections on Feb. 23.
"An initial search of his accommodation in the asylum shelter did not reveal any signs of radical Islamist tendencies but only medications consistent with his psychiatric treatment," Hermann added.
Police said there was no indication there might be further suspects involved in the incident.
On Dec. 20, six people were killed and around 200 hurt when a Saudi doctor rammed a car into people strolling at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg.
In August, Germany said it resumed flying convicted criminals of Afghan nationality to their home country.
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Iranian foreign minister Araghchi to visit Kabul
Iran's Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi will soon visit Kabul, its embassy announced on Thursday.
The embassy did not provide further details about the visit.
A foreign ministry official in Kabul said however that the visit could take bilateral relations to a new level.
Zakir Jalali, director of the third political department of the Foreign Ministry, said on X that the common political, economic and security interests between Afghanistan and Iran are an opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
“The upcoming visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi to Kabul is a constructive step towards strengthening these relations and can take relations between the two countries to a new level."
This comes after acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met Wednesday with Iran’s new ambassador to Kabul where discussions focused on strengthening bilateral ties.
Ali Reza Bigdeli took over as ambassador early last month. He succeeded Hassan Kazemi Qomi.
In addition, Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq and Iran's Special Envoy for Kabul and director general for South Asia, Hashem Ashjazade, met on Monday in Islamabad for talks.
Sadiq is also expected to travel to Russia and China to discuss Afghanistan with officials from those countries.
The Islamic Emirate has said repeatedly that Kabul seeks good relations with all neighboring countries and the region, and aims to strengthen its ties with various countries by following an economy-focused policy.
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