- Sputnik International, 1920, 07.09.2021
Afghanistan
The Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorist activities) stormed to power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, as US-led forces withdrew from the country after 20 years of occupation.

Iran Slams 'Foreign Intervention' in Afghanistan Amid Concerns Over Pakistan-Taliban Cooperation

© REUTERS / STRINGERTaliban forces walk in front of Afghan demonstrators as they shout slogans during an anti-Pakistan protest, near the Pakistan embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
Taliban forces walk in front of Afghan demonstrators as they shout slogans during an anti-Pakistan protest, near the Pakistan embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer - Sputnik International, 1920, 09.09.2021
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Both the Taliban and Pakistan have denied allegations that Pakistani drones and ground personnel have been providing military assistance to the Islamist group in the Panjshir Province. Pakistan's military spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar has dismissed these claims as "completely false and irrational propaganda".
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has urged the participants of a Pakistan-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan to refrain from using "military force", against the backdrop of reports that Islamabad has been providing air and ground support to the Taliban* against the National Resistance Front (NRF) forces in the Panjshir Province.
The virtual meeting about Afghanistan was also attended by the foreign ministers of China (Wang Yi), Uzbekistan (Abdulaziz Kamilov), Turkmenistan (Rashid Meredov) and Tajikistan (Sirojiddin Muhriddin).
According to Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesman at Iran's Foreign Ministry, Amir-Abdollahian also expressed concern about the prospects of “foreign intervention” in Afghanistan, as he railed against the 20-year US occupation of the south Asian nation.
Several Afghan officials have reportedly claimed that NRF positions in Panjshir, the north-western province which the Taliban has yet fully to capture, came under attack from Pakistani drones this week. The Taliban fighters have launched a massive offensive to take over the opposition stronghold, but the NRF has claimed that it has been able to repel the Islamist militant group and it still controls “strategic positions” in the Panjshir Valley.
NRF leader Ahmad Massoud also decried the use of “foreign mercenaries” by the Taliban in Panjshir in a statement released on 6 September, a day after two of the movement’s top leaders were killed during fighting.
At the time, Tehran said it would investigate claims of “foreign intervention”.
“Everyone should know that the history of Afghanistan has proved that foreign meddling will result in nothing but failure,” Khatibzadeh said on 6 September.
 In this 16 August 2021 file photo, hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane along the perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. - Sputnik International, 1920, 04.09.2021
World
Pakistan's Spy Chief Visits Kabul Amid Claims of Factionalism in Taliban Over Formation of New Gov't
The allegations that Pakistan is providing military support to the Taliban surfaced only days after Lieutenant-General Faiz Hameed, the chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, made his first public visit to Afghanistan after Kabul was taken over by the Taliban on 15 August.

Iran Calls for an ‘Inclusive’ Gov’t

At Wednesday’s meeting, Iran’s top diplomat also called for forming an “inclusive government reflecting diversity and the will of the Afghan people” and backed an “intra-Afghan dialogue”.
The meeting was organised barely a day after the Taliban announced its 33-member all-male, interim cabinet in Afghanistan, which many observers across the world say includes Islamist hardliners in key positions.
The new cabinet has at least six ministers sanctioned by the United Nations for their alleged terrorist ties. The newly appointed Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani heads the US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) Haqqani Network and has a $10 million bounty on his head.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks to reporters at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 1, 2020 - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.09.2021
Afghanistan
Pakistan Calls for ‘Discarding Old Lenses’ in Afghanistan as Taliban’s New Cabinet Draws Flak
Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi called for “discarding old lenses, developing new insights” and proceeding with a pragmatic approach in dealing with the new developments in Afghanistan, while addressing the meeting.
*The Taliban is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.
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