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Veteran Afghan strongmen to form new front for talks with Taliban

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A band of veteran Afghan leaders, including two regional strongmen, are angling for talks with the Taliban and plan to meet within weeks to form a new front for holding negotiations on the country’s next government, a member of a group said.

Khalid Noor, son of Atta Mohammad Noor, the once-powerful governor of northern Afghanistan’s Balkh province, said the group comprised of veteran ethnic Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum and others opposed to the Taliban’s takeover.

“We prefer to negotiate collectively, because it is not that the problem of Afghanistan will be solved just by one of us,” Noor, 27, told Reuters in an interview from an undisclosed location.

“So, it is important for the entire political community of the country to be involved, especially the traditional leaders, those with power, with public support,” Noor said.

Atta Noor and Dostum, veterans of four decades of conflict in Afghanistan, both fled the country when the northern city of Mazar-i Sharif fell to the Taliban, without a fight.

The U.S.-backed government and military folded elsewhere as the Taliban swept into Kabul on August 15.

However, the backroom discussions are a sign of the country’s traditional strongmen coming back to life after the Taliban’s stunning military campaign.

It will be a challenge for any entity to rule Afghanistan for long without consensus between the country’s patchwork of ethnicities, most analysts say.

Unlike their previous period in power before 2001, the predominantly Pashtun Taliban did seek support from Tajiks, Uzbeks and other minorities as they prepared their offensive.

Despite a commitment to negotiations, Noor said there was a “huge risk” that the talks could fail, leading the group to already prepare for an armed resistance against the Taliban, Reuters reported.

“Surrender is out of the question for us,” said Noor, the youngest member of the erstwhile Afghan government’s team that held talks with the Taliban in Qatar.

Ahmad Massoud, leader of Afghanistan’s last major outpost of anti-Taliban resistance, last week also said he hoped talks with the Taliban would lead to an inclusive government, failing which his forces were ready to fight.

It remains uncertain how much popular support is actually enjoyed by leaders like Atta Noor, widely accused of corruption, and Dostum, accused of multiple acts of torture and brutality, and described in a U.S. State Department report as a “quintessential warlord”. Both leaders deny the accusations.

The Taliban, already a formidable military force, are now in possession of an estimated 2,000 armoured vehicles and up to 40 aircraft, among other arms left behind by fleeing Afghan forces, potentially bolstering their firepower.

Still, Noor said the Taliban would not be able to hold out against a popular resistance.

“History has shown that no one in Afghanistan can rule by force, it is impossible,” the Western-educated politician said, “No matter how much support they have from international community, it will fail.”

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India sends over 63,000 vaccine doses to boost Afghanistan’s public health system

New Delhi has reiterated that it remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through sustained humanitarian and medical assistance.

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India has reinforced its support for Afghanistan’s public health sector with the delivery of a new batch of essential vaccines to Kabul.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi has supplied 63,734 doses of influenza and meningitis vaccines to Afghan health authorities as part of its ongoing humanitarian assistance program.

Afghan health officials noted that the vaccines will be integrated into national preventive healthcare efforts and will help curb seasonal illnesses while reducing the risk of meningitis outbreaks, especially during periods of heightened vulnerability.

They said the shipment arrives at a time when Afghanistan’s medical resources remain under significant strain.

India has served as a key health partner to Afghanistan in recent years, providing medical supplies, essential medicines, and several rounds of vaccines to help strengthen the country’s healthcare infrastructure.

New Delhi has reiterated that it remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through sustained humanitarian and medical assistance.

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Deputy interior minister for counter-narcotics travels to Uzbekistan

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Abdul Rahman Munir, the Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics at the Ministry of Interior, traveled to Uzbekistan this afternoon along with his accompanying delegation.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Interior, the purpose of the trip is to participate in a meeting of member countries of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Drugs (CARICC).

The statement added that the meeting will be held on December 5 of this year in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

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Imran Khan accuses Army Chief of ‘igniting’ Pakistan–Afghanistan tensions

In his post, written in Urdu, Khan said: “Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control, which grieves me deeply.”

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Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has accused Army Chief Asim Munir of deliberately “igniting tensions” with Afghanistan, calling his policies “disastrous” for Pakistan.

The 73-year-old former cricketer, who has been imprisoned since 2023, issued the remarks through his official account on the social media platform X. His statement was shared a day after his sister, Uzma Khan, met him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail following “special permission” granted by the government led by Shehbaz Sharif.

In his post, written in Urdu, Khan said: “Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control, which grieves me deeply.”

He further alleged that the army chief’s actions were motivated by a desire to please Western governments, saying Munir had “deliberately ignited tensions with Afghanistan so he could be seen internationally as a so-called ‘mujahid’.”

The founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf added that he had long opposed “drone attacks and military operations against our own people,” arguing such tactics would only worsen militancy. Khan claimed Munir first “threatened Afghans,” then oversaw the expulsion of refugees and the launching of drone strikes, the consequences of which he said were now visible in rising violence.

Khan also launched a personal attack on the army chief, calling him “mentally unstable” and accusing him of presiding over the “collapse of the Constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”

He alleged that, on Munir’s orders, he and his wife had been imprisoned on fabricated charges and subjected to “the worst form of psychological torture.”

Khan said he had been held in solitary confinement for four weeks, with no human contact and without basic entitlements provided under the jail manual. He added that despite court directions, access to political colleagues, lawyers and family members had been blocked.

Referring to an incident involving another sister, Noreen Niazi, he said she was “dragged on the road” while trying to meet him.

Khan praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for choosing “resistance over compromise” and urged him to “continue to play on the front foot.” He added that those threatening to impose governor’s rule in the province should “do it today rather than tomorrow and then watch what happens.”

An undeclared ban on meetings with Khan had fuelled speculation about his health. After visiting him, Uzma Khan said he was “perfectly fine” physically but was being subjected to “mental torture” in solitary confinement.

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