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Khalilzad says Stanikzai’s call for policy change is a ‘promising development’
On Monday, Khalilzad welcomed his stance and said Stanikzai is an important IEA official, who played a key role in the Doha negotiations.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special envoy for Afghanistan, said Monday that the deputy foreign minister Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai’s remarks on the violation of women’s rights was a “promising development”.
On Saturday, Stanikzai criticized the ban on education of women and girls and appealed to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) leader to scrap the ban on education for women.
“We call on the leadership again to open the doors of education,” he said.
He called the exclusion of girls from education an “injustice” on the part of the Islamic Emirate against 20 million of the 40 million people in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at a religious school in Khost, Stanikzai said that the Islamic Emirate’s stance was not in accordance with Sharia.
He said: “Today we are doing injustice to 20 million of the 40 million people. Will we not rise on the Day of Judgment paralyzed and having denied all rights? The right of inheritance is not given to girls. The right to choose a husband is not given.
“We get girls married in Baad practice. We don’t allow education. We don’t allow them to go to the mosque. The doors of the universities and schools are closed. We don’t even let them go to madrassa. Are we acting in accordance with the Sharia?”
“Another issue is that the whole world has a problem with us on this issue. They criticize us about it. But the path we have taken is a matter of our own liking, not the Sharia,” he said.
It is not the first time he has said that women and girls deserve to have an education. He made similar remarks in September 2022, a year after schools closed for girls and months and before the introduction of a university ban.
But the latest comments marked his first call for a change in policy and a direct appeal to the Islamic Emirate’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Stanikzai is a senior member of the IEA and headed up peace talks in Doha, Qatar, prior to the collapse of the former government.
As special envoy for Afghanistan, Khalilzad was lead negotiator during these talks.
On Monday, Khalilzad welcomed his stance and said Stanikzai is an important IEA official, who played a key role in the Doha negotiations.
He asked other Afghan religious scholars and leaders of the Islamic Emirate who privately oppose the ban on girls’ education to make their opposition public.
He also emphasized that schools and universities should be reopened by the beginning of the new solar year, in late March.
Khalilzad also welcomed the positions of Muslim scholars at the recent Islamabad International Conference which focused on girls education in Muslim societies.
It was at this conference that scholars said a ban on women’s education was against the teaching of Islam.
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Pakistan urges global community to block arms flow to militant groups in Afghanistan

A Pakistani diplomat on Saturday called on the international community to block the flow of modern and sophisticated weapons to militant groups in Afghanistan.
“Terrorist armed groups are in possession of billions worth of illicit arms abandoned in Afghanistan,” Syed Atif Raza, a counsellor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, told an Arria-Formua meeting of the UN Security Council, convened by Sierra Leone.
“We call upon our international partners to recover the vast stockpile of abandoned weapons, prevent their access to armed terrorist groups and take measures to close this thriving black market of illicit arms,” he said.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that attacks in the country are planned in Afghanistan and that militants use weapons left behind by foreign forces.
The Islamic Emirate, however, has denied the claim, saying Afghanistan is not responsible for Pakistan’s “security failure”.
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Gandapur says no Afghan refugee will be ‘forcefully’ expelled from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Amid rising tensions over Pakistan’s repatriation plans for illegal Afghan nationals, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapour said on Friday that no refugees will be forcibly deported from the province.
“We will not allow any Afghan refugee to be expelled by force from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We stand firmly against such inhumane deportations,” Gandapur said at a press conference.
The remarks came as the Pakistani government ramps up efforts to repatriate undocumented Afghan refugees and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, following the expiration of the voluntary return deadline on March 31, 2025.
“The past situation, where Afghan refugees, including women and children, were stranded at the border, tarnished Pakistan’s image,” Gandapur said, reaffirming the provincial government’s commitment to a dignified repatriation process.
“We are setting up camps for voluntary repatriation, and anyone wishing to return will be helped. However, we will not forcibly expel any Afghan refugee,” he stated.
Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) — issued by Pakistan authorities and held by 800,000 people, according to the United Nations — face deportation to Afghanistan after the deadline.
More than 1.3 million Afghans who hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, are also to be moved outside the capital Islamabad and neighbouring city Rawalpindi.
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IEA has 46 township plans for returnees, minister tells visiting Iranian official

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has 46 township plans for returning refugees, Acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Mawlawi Abdul Kabir told a visiting Iranian diplomat in Kabul, calling on Tehran to give refugees time to return.
According to a statement issued by the ministry on Saturday, Abdul Kabir said during the meeting that Afghanistan and Iran are friendly neighbors that have many commonalities.
He stressed the need to further develop and strengthen relations between the two countries and said that the frequent visits of high-ranking Iranian officials show that Tehran wants positive and friendly relations with Afghanistan.
Abdul Kabir thanked Iran for its assistance and hosting of Afghan refugees, saying that Iran and Pakistan have been hosting Afghan refugees for the past few decades. He called for more leniency in the treatment of migrants.
He said that the Islamic Emirate is preparing a mechanism to provide legal documents for those migrants whose legal residence in Iran has expired.
In the meeting, Mohammad Reza Bahrami, Iran’s new Assistant Minister and Director General for South Asian Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, invited Abdul Kabir to visit Tehran, and called for repatriation plan to be shared before the trip.
He stressed on the humane treatment of Afghan refugees and appreciated the Islamic Emirate’s initiative to build 46 townships, calling it an important step forward for the return of refugees.
Bahrami noted that there are currently eight million Afghan reguees living in Iran, of whom four million are undocumented or have their residence expired.
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