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Deputy RS chief visits Afghan officers training academy
Deputy Commander of the NATO Mission in Afghanistan Resolute Support (RS) Italian Army Corps General Nicola Zanelli on Sunday visited the Afghan National Army Officers Academy (ANAOA) on the occasion of the final exercise of the eighteenth Officers Cadets of Commissioning Course.
ANAOA is an academic institution that has achieved full independence after benefiting in the past from the support of the military advisors of the United Kingdom (leading nation), Austria, Denmark, New Zealand and Turkey engaged in RS mission.
Founded in 2012 as a bilateral project between the UK and Afghanistan, it has trained over 5,000 cadets to date.
Accompanied by British Army Brigadier General Jonathan Timmis , RS Chief Mentor for ANAOA, General Zanelli met the Commander of the Unified Training Doctrine Education Command (UTDEC) General Mohammed Nazim Peyenda , the Commander of the “Marshal Fahim” National Defense University General Esanullah Hazim Sapi , and ANAOA Commander Colonel Mohammed Essa Ehsan .
Addressing cadets at the end of the exercise, Zanelli expressed his admiration for the skills and professionalism shown.
“Proper command action,” he said, “constitutes a solid foundation for a credible and effective institution like the ANA, the backbone of the country.”
He added that investing in training and leadership is essential to improve the functionality and self-sustaining capacity of the Afghan security forces.
The drill saw 316 ANA cadets, including 16 women, engaged in a simulated attack conducted by three company-level units. Next April, the cadets will be promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant and assigned to the operational departments of the ANA.
Students are selected from among military graduates from the ANA, based on an assessment of their leadership ability, ethnicity (to ensure that all are represented) and region of origin.
Their training process lasts one year and is divided into three modules (junior, intermediate, senior) lasting 16 weeks each, on the model of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (UK).
The Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) have achieved independence in conducting ground operations and 95% of air operations.
Approximately 9,500 NATO military personnel are involved in training, advising and assisting the ANDSF within the RS mission.
The Italian Armed Forces contribute to the mission with over 800 men and women, employed in Herat, driving the Train, Advise and Assist Command West, and Kabul.
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Tajik foreign minister urges international community to help Afghanistan address its challenges
Tajikistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sirodjiddin Mukhriddin, has called on the international community to step up assistance for Afghanistan as the country continues to face challenges.
Speaking at a press conference, Mukhriddin said Tajikistan and Afghanistan maintain active coordination between their law enforcement agencies to prevent security incidents along their shared border. He noted that this cooperation remains essential, as the frequency of armed attacks and criminal activity in border regions has increased in recent months.
He said that Afghan authorities had assured Tajikistan they would take necessary measures to stop further incidents and would conduct thorough investigations into any violations.
Mukhriddin emphasized that Tajikistan supports constructive international engagement aimed at improving Afghanistan’s socio-economic conditions. He highlighted that Tajikistan has provided more than 6,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, including food and essential supplies delivered in 2025 to assist communities affected by devastating earthquakes.
The minister also pointed to growing economic cooperation between the two neighbors. Tajikistan has reopened border markets and continues to supply electricity to Afghanistan.
Tajikistan and Afghanistan share a border of more than 1,300 kilometers—over 1,100 km of which consists of waterways and about 190 km of land boundaries.
Meanwhile, Zafar Samad Director of the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, has said that last year, 17 incidents of clashes happened with drug smugglers along the border with Afghanistan. As a result, two Tajik forces and 10 Afghan nationals have been killed, he added.
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Baradar: Afghanistan is not an easy target, but a ‘bitter tree’
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, warned during a graduation ceremony for soldiers of the Ministry of National Defense that the Islamic Emirate will respond decisively to anyone with ill intentions toward Afghanistan.
He said the country is “not an easy target, but a bitter tree that has made the throats of empires bitter and newborns can never digest.”
Baradar also announced that in the coming days, the Islamic Emirate will introduce tax exemptions of one to five years for domestic and foreign investors, based on the level of investment in new sectors. He also said that the process of distribution of land to manufacturers will be accelerated.
Baradar called on countries to engage in political and economic relations according to the values and principles of the Islamic Emirate, emphasizing that energy and resources spent on conflict would be better used to support one another and strengthen common interests.
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Fourteen former Afghan government forces killed in last three months of 2025: UNAMA
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its latest report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, stated that 14 members of the former Afghan government forces were killed in the last three months of 2025.
The report noted that during this period, there were 28 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, and at least seven cases of torture and ill-treatment targeting officials and personnel of the former Afghan government.
According to the report, some of the officials and forces who had recently returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan were among those subjected to extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and detentions.
The report also highlighted restrictions on women’s work and movement, executions and flogging of individuals, and disruptions to internet and telecommunications services.
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