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Taliban unwavering over Islamic Emirate: sources
The Taliban is demanding a total Islamic system in Afghanistan, stating that there is no possibility of reforming the current government, sources said Wednesday.
This comes after the Afghan Republic’s talks team and the Taliban team resumed negotiations in Doha two weeks ago. However, the two sides have not made any significant progress since the start of the second round of negotiations.
But sources familiar with the ongoing peace talks told Ariana News that the Taliban are not interested in discussing an agenda with the Republic’s team, and that the group is focused instead on the following issues:
1- The Taliban is demanding the release of their remaining prisoners and the removal of the group’s leaders and members from the US Blacklist; the Afghan government has however requested the US not to give in to the Taliban’s demands.
2- The Taliban demands a pure Islamic system in Afghanistan, stating that the current government cannot be reformed.
3- Apparently, the Taliban are waiting for US President-elect Joe Biden to be inaugurated and to see what his position will be with regards to the Afghan peace process.
4- The Taliban says that the targeted killings of civilians, including the assassination of two female judges this week in Kabul, were unavoidable as they all supported a “puppet government”.
The Taliban has, however, so far, not commented on these claims.
Meanwhile, Vice President Amrullah Saleh stated that in order to move forward with the peace talks, trust needs to be built between the two sides. This, he said, will not be “achieved by killing civilians or kidnapping people from highways.”
In his daily 6:30 am meeting, Saleh threatened the Taliban that if the militant group continues to kill innocent people, members of civil society, and carry out bombings, “then not just the release of Taliban prisoners will be on the peace talks agenda but their lives will be” a point of discussion.
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UNESCO: 2.4 million Afghan girls denied education since 2021
UNESCO estimates that the ban could force around 600,000 Afghan women out of the workforce by 2066 and cause $9.6 billion in lost income. It could also increase the risk of early marriage.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Tuesday around 2.4 million Afghan girls have been denied secondary education since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) returned to power in 2021.
In a statement on Tuesday, UNESCO said Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are officially barred from secondary and higher education.
The organization warned that the restrictions could increase poverty, reduce employment opportunities and cause long-term damage to Afghanistan’s future.
UNESCO estimates that the ban could force around 600,000 Afghan women out of the workforce by 2066 and cause $9.6 billion in lost income. It could also increase the risk of early marriage.
Girls’ secondary schools were closed in March 2022, followed by a ban on women attending universities in December of the same year. The IEA initially described the restrictions as temporary, but they remain in place.
UNESCO also warned that the restrictions could worsen Afghanistan’s shortage of female teachers. It estimates the country could face a shortage of more than 11,000 qualified female teachers by 2030.
The organization said more than 90% of 10-year-old children in Afghanistan cannot read a simple text, while the national literacy rate is around 37%.
Nearly half of the country’s schools also lack adequate access to water, sanitation or heating, UNESCO said.
According to the report, around three million people returned to Afghanistan in 2025, putting further pressure on the education system. Since 2021, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters have also forced around 1,000 schools to close.
Russia’s Power Machines Company is interested in investing in the rehabilitation and modernization of Afghanistan’s power plants, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) said on Tuesday.
DABS Chief Executive Officer Abdul Haq Hamkar discussed the potential investment with technical officials from Power Machines, with talks focusing on rehabilitating existing power plants, modernizing equipment and expanding power-generation capacity.
According to DABS, Hamkar said the company would cooperate in facilitating preliminary technical assessments of Afghanistan’s power plants and in exploring investment opportunities in the sector.
Denis Rudakov, head of Power Machines’ commercial department, said the Russian company plans to conduct preliminary technical assessments of existing power plants in Afghanistan.
Based on the findings, Power Machines will prepare proposals for rehabilitating facilities, modernizing equipment and increasing electricity-generation capacity, DABS said.
Afghanistan currently has several operational power plants, while efforts are underway to increase their generation capacity and upgrade their equipment, according to DABS.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), on Tuesday denied that IEA authorities detained Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman the US claims disappeared in Kabul four years ago.
“We have no information about Mahmood Shah Habibi. He is not with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. If he were, this issue would have been resolved long ago,” Mujahid said.
His remarks came a day after the FBI marked the fourth anniversary of Habibi’s disappearance and renewed its appeal for information about his whereabouts.
According to the FBI, Habibi disappeared near his home in Kabul on August 10, 2022. At the time, he was working as a consultant for Asia Consultancy Group, a Kabul-based telecommunications company. He had previously served as Afghanistan’s director of civil aviation.
The FBI has alleged that Habibi was detained by the IEA’s General Directorate of Intelligence.
The FBI has continued its investigation and in 2025 released a missing-persons poster for Habibi. The U.S. State Department has also offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his location, recovery and return.
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