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UNHCR Chief Urges Swift Resolution of Afghanistan-Pakistan Tensions

July 8, 2026
Mitra Majeedy
Journalist
Tolo News
8 July 2026

Speaking to Sky News, he warned that extremist and armed groups could exploit the current situation, potentially fueling instability in the region and beyond.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Saleh, said at the conclusion of his visit to Afghanistan that tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan should be resolved as soon as possible, urging both neighboring countries to work toward de-escalation and restoring stability.

Speaking to Sky News, he warned that extremist and armed groups could exploit the current situation, potentially fueling instability in the region and beyond.

Barham Saleh, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “Regarding the security situation, we must closely monitor developments in this country and remain alert to the possibility that extremist groups may exploit the current circumstances. My appeal is that these tensions be resolved as quickly as possible. They should not be allowed to continue.”

He also stated that existing mechanisms for addressing the situation of Afghan refugees—including the trilateral framework involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, as well as the Swiss-facilitated Doha Process—should be reactivated and strengthened.

Barham Saleh added: “There is also the Doha Process and the Swiss-supported initiative aimed at finding strategic solutions for Afghan refugees. We need to reactivate and mobilize these frameworks to ensure that at least some of these challenges are addressed.”

Meanwhile, following visits to several provinces, the UN official, together with Alexander De Croo, head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), held separate meetings with senior officials of the Islamic Emirate, including the Deputy Administrative Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and the Minister of Refugees and Repatriation. During the meetings, both sides emphasized support for returnees and strengthening Afghanistan’s economy.

Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, said: “Since the Islamic Emirate came to power, millions of Afghan refugees have returned to the country. Unfortunately, most of them have been forcibly deported, and this process is still continuing from Pakistan.”

The visit by the two senior UN officials comes as, according to United Nations figures, more than six million Afghan migrants and refugees have returned to the country. Their successful reintegration into Afghanistan’s economy will require stronger international cooperation and support.

UNHCR Chief Urges Swift Resolution of Afghanistan-Pakistan Tensions
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UN chief to appoint Rabab Fatima as SRSG for Afghanistan: Two sources in New York

July 8, 2026

by 

AMU News

July 9, 2026

UN chief António Guterres has decided to appoint Bangladeshi diplomat Rabab Fatima as the next UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, two diplomatic sources in New York tell Amu TV. The appointment becomes final if no Security Council member objects within 48 hours.

Fatima would take over leadership of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, at a critical point for the mission, as the Security Council has extended its mandate for another year while ordering a strategic review of its work and future priorities.

She would succeed Roza Otunbayeva, the former president and foreign minister of Kyrgyzstan, whose tenure as the secretary-general’s special representative and head of UNAMA ended in September 2025. Since then, the mission has been led on an acting basis by Georgette Gagnon, the deputy special representative for political affairs.

Fatima is currently a United Nations under-secretary-general and the high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states. She has more than 30 years of experience in national and international public service, including diplomacy, policymaking, advocacy and program implementation.

Before taking up her current UN role, Fatima served as Bangladesh’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York from 2019 to 2022. During that period, she served as president of the executive boards of UNICEF in 2020 and UN Women in 2022, and as vice president of the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS executive board in 2021. She became the first woman elected to chair the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission in 2022 and also served as a vice president of the 77th session of the General Assembly.

A career diplomat, Fatima previously served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Japan and as a director-general in the country’s Foreign Ministry. Her diplomatic career also included postings in New York, Geneva, Beijing and Kolkata.

Her expected appointment comes as UNAMA enters a period of reassessment.

The Security Council unanimously voted on June 15 to extend UNAMA’s mandate until June 17, 2027. The resolution also called for a strategic review of the mission, with a report expected by March 2027. The review is intended to assess UNAMA’s role, priorities and ability to carry out its mandate under current conditions in Afghanistan.

The one-year extension followed a shorter, three-month renewal in March. During negotiations earlier this year, council members debated whether UNAMA’s mandate remained realistic and fully implementable under current conditions, and whether its priorities should be streamlined or adjusted to developments on the ground.

UNAMA’s work includes political engagement, human rights monitoring, advocacy for women and girls, and coordination with international and Afghan stakeholders. The mission has faced growing challenges under Taliban rule, particularly as restrictions on women and girls have expanded and female Afghan UN staff have faced restrictions on entering their workplaces.

The appointment of a new special representative would restore permanent leadership to the UN mission after months under an acting head and place Fatima at the center of international engagement with the Taliban at a time when the Security Council is reconsidering the mission’s future direction.

UN chief to appoint Rabab Fatima as SRSG for Afghanistan: Two sources in New York
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UN officials urge Western nations to engage with Afghanistan to prevent it sliding into instability

July 8, 2026

By ELENA BECATOROS

Associated Press

July 8, 2026

It is crucial for Western nations to engage with Afghanistan to prevent the country from sliding back into instability that could have repercussions far beyond its borders, two top United Nations officials said.

“The lesson of (the) recent past is that ignoring Afghanistan is not a good thing to do,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih, told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday alongside the head of the United Nations Development Program, Alexander De Croo, during a joint visit to the country.

Although many challenges and difficulties remain, “it’s wiser to engage, to support and promote the right type of policies to making sure that Afghanistan remains safe and secure,” Salih said, speaking via video link. “Without it, I think we may well risk instability, with all the implications of that instability,” whether that is drugs, extremism, criminal activity or the movement of refugees, he said.

Afghanistan hit by multiple crises

After four decades of conflict, the impoverished, aid-dependent country is now buffeted by multiple crises, from natural disasters and climate change to the largest influx of returning refugees the world has seen in decades.

“In Afghanistan, there is never a crisis just on its own. It’s always crisis on top of crisis,” De Croo told the AP. “And that you see here.”

Nearly 6 million people have returned to Afghanistan since 2023, the vast majority from neighboring Pakistan and Iran since those countries began a crackdown on migrants living there. Another roughly 2 million people are expected to return this year, the U.N. officials said.

The returnees have strained local communities, many of which already have scant resources in a country where poverty is rife and malnutrition stalks the most vulnerable.

This has been compounded by massive cuts in international aid and a Taliban government that has sidelined half of Afghanistan’s population, denying women and girls education beyond primary school and banning them from the vast majority of jobs.

The country is also internationally isolated. No Western nation has formally recognized Afghanistan’s government since the Taliban seized power in the wake of a chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops in August 2021. Russia was the first country to officially do so, in 2025.

Last month, a delegation from the Taliban government traveled to Brussels to meet European Union staff for talks on diplomatic services and the return of Afghans from European countries. The meeting symbolized a small crack in Afghanistan’s diplomatic isolation.

Progress seen in some areas

Yet despite the significant challenges, Afghanistan has nonetheless shown improvement in some areas, notably in security and combating corruption and drug production, the U.N. officials said.

“I wouldn’t close my eyes to the fact that there is progress, and maybe progress that no one would have expected five years ago,” De Croo told the AP. He said drug production was down by 95% in a country that was one of the world’s major producers of opium and heroin.

“If now the international community turns its back to Afghanistan, the consequences will not only be in Afghanistan. The consequences will be much, much broader,” De Croo said.

“The message to Western countries is: if you want to have a stable and peaceful society, you are not only achieving that with domestic policy. If you want to live in peace and stability, your neighborhood also needs to be at peace and stability,” he added.

Draconian restrictions on women and girls remain

The harsh government-imposed restrictions on women and girls remain one of the greatest points of contention between the Afghan government and the international community. De Croo and Salih said they had discussed the issue in their meetings with Afghan officials during their visit to the country. Both said they believed the key to progress was engagement.

“We hope that constructive engagement will show the way forward in that regard,” Salih said. “It’s important that there is progress, there is tangible reforms that will allow for an inclusive system in this country.”

Aid cuts could have lasting repercussions

The international aid cuts have had “a very tangible impact” on the country, De Croo said, noting that 422 medical centers shut down in Afghanistan due to lack of funding in the space of a year. “Closed because the funding just disappeared. That is more than 3 million people that are impacted, that just lose their access to basic medical services,” he said.

Earlier this year, the World Food Program said funding cuts had forced it to turn away three out of four acutely malnourished children seeking help because it no longer had the funds to feed them.

The Afghan government launched a campaign to eradicate poppy cultivation soon after it seized power. But the dramatic cut in drug production was also due in part to farmers being given alternative crops to the cultivation of opium poppies, De Croo said, noting that funding for such programs had been severely curtailed.

“If we cannot continue working together with farmers in giving them an alternative for producing drugs,” then drug cultivation could return, he said.

Although international attention has shifted away from Afghanistan, Salih said that while challenges remain, there is now an opportunity for the rest of the world to engage with the country.

“It is vital to remind the world that the price of inaction far outweighs action,” Salih said. “You cannot ignore Afghanistan, and what happens in Afghanistan does not necessarily stay in Afghanistan.”

 

UN officials urge Western nations to engage with Afghanistan to prevent it sliding into instability
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Afghan Refugee Applicants Urge U.S. to Resume Processing Cases

July 6, 2026
Hadia Ziaei
Tolo News
5 July 2026

The participants urged the U.S. government to work with Pakistan to halt deportations and speed up the processing of P-1 and P-2 refugee cases.

A group of Afghan applicants for U.S. immigration and refugee programs in Pakistan, who say they remain in limbo, held a peaceful gathering at an indoor venue.

The participants called on the U.S. government and the State Department to urgently engage with Pakistan to halt deportations and resume and expedite the processing of P-1 and P-2 refugee cases.

Noor Hayat Stanikzai, a U.S. refugee applicant, said: “Afghans living in Pakistan are facing forced deportation from July 10. That is why those with P-1 and P-2 cases gathered here today to make their voices heard by the U.S. government.”

Fazal Rahman Khushhal, another applicant, said: “I urge international organizations to take our problems seriously and find a solution.”

Fahima, also awaiting U.S. resettlement, said: “We have lived in uncertainty in this country for five years. Ninety percent of our case had been completed and we were waiting for our tickets, but the program has been suspended for the past two years, leaving us completely without a future.”

Some analysts say the U.S. government’s failure to fulfill its commitments to Afghans could damage its credibility and argue that Washington should provide greater support for Afghans stranded in third countries.

Abdul Raziq Adil, a migrant rights activist, said: “Washington must urgently engage with Islamabad to stop forced deportations, speed up the processing of refugee cases, and ensure applicants have access to basic living and security needs until they are resettled.”

After returning to office for a second term on January 20, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The order, which took effect on January 28, halted the processing of many refugee applications, including those of thousands of Afghans.

Afghan Refugee Applicants Urge U.S. to Resume Processing Cases
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Historic Sites in Badakhshan Face Risk of Destruction

July 6, 2026
Nazim Qasimi
Tolo News
5 July 2026

Among the sites most at risk are the Pul-e Kheshti of Faizabad and the Ras-ul-Mulk Mausoleum in Wak

A number of cultural activists in Badakhshan have expressed concern that several historic monuments in the province are at risk of being destroyed.

They say years of neglect by previous governments, along with seasonal rains, have left a number of historical sites across Badakhshan vulnerable to damage. They have called on the Islamic Emirate to prioritize the restoration and protection of these monuments.

Ahmad Nabil Qazizada, a cultural activist in Badakhshan, said: “We ask the Islamic Emirate to protect and restore the historic monuments in Badakhshan and prevent anyone from destroying them.”

Local journalist Baik Mohammad Ahmadi said: “With the passage of time and natural disasters, these historic monuments could disappear completely. The government should restore them before they are destroyed.”

Among the sites most at risk are the Pul-e Kheshti of Faizabad and the Ras-ul-Mulk Mausoleum in Wakhan district.

The Badakhshan Department of Information and Culture acknowledges these concerns, saying that many of the province’s registered historical monuments are at risk of deterioration. However, the department says efforts are underway to secure their restoration.

Mohammad Mohaqiq, Director of Historical Monuments at the department, said: “We have repeatedly sent official requests to the Ministry of Information and Culture for the restoration of Badakhshan’s historical monuments, and we hope the restoration work will begin soon.”

According to the Badakhshan Department of Information and Culture, 29 historical monuments are currently registered with the Ministry of Information and Culture across the province, and most of them require restoration and rehabilitation.

Historic Sites in Badakhshan Face Risk of Destruction
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The Afghan women farmers keeping their village alive

July 6, 2026

By Isabelle WESSELINGH and Qubad WALI

AFP
Japan Times
Jul 6, 2026
Eshtiwi, Afghanistan – In a remote province of northeastern Afghanistan, women farmers are playing a vital role in their community’s survival among the snow-capped mountains.

The fields of Eshtiwi show only the first faint signs of growth in June, with small green sprouts emerging around the village.

Habiba, who spoke while busy weeding, is proud to have been farming in the Nuristan province for decades.

“Since I was 8 years old, I’ve been going to the field with my mother,” said the 46-year-old, who only has one name.

“When we harvest wheat, beans, potatoes and corn in the fields in autumn and bring them back home, we feel happy,” she added.

In Afghanistan, women are generally allowed to farm despite being banned by the Taliban government from most employment.

Mohammad Yahya Faizi, a 34-year-old agriculture graduate, said he respects the women’s work.

“We would not have food anymore in the middle of the winter” without their work, he said.

Eshtiwi in summertime is only reachable by a dirt track, and it had been years since international media had reached the village.

Faizi said “tasks have been divided between men and women” for generations in the Parun Valley, where residents speak their own dialect.

“Women are busy with agriculture, planting, watering and cooking at home,” said Faizi, a village farmer who volunteers with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Men help with animal-drawn ploughs, handle livestock, and gather firewood for winter, when snow cuts the village off from the outside world for almost six months.

Habiba’s day starts at around 4:00 a.m., when she gets up to pray before preparing breakfast with her daughters on a wood-fired stove.

She makes bread using flour from her wheat, together with red beans from her fields, to eat alongside butter and dried yoghurt made by her husband.

The room, which doubles as a kitchen and bedroom, was decorated with flowers drawn by Habiba’s 11-year-old daughter, Nahida, who was practicing English that she had learned at the village school.

While her mother never had the chance to go to school, Nahida’s education will soon stop as girls nationwide are banned from education beyond the age of 12.

‘Unrecognized’

FAO has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer, with the agency highlighting how “unrecognized” their vital role is in supporting food security.

This is particularly true in Afghanistan, where almost a third of the population needs emergency food aid, according to the U.N.

Bibi Jan, a 70-year-old who grows beans and potatoes, said farming can be grueling.

“We have to work hard, our hands peel … but there are children to feed,” she said.

Habiba dreams of having a tractor, but it is too expensive; there is only one in the village that a family rents out to those who can afford it.

“I’m not that strong; my back and my legs hurt,” she said.

Najia, who requested her surname not be used for privacy reasons, agreed local farmers need more tools as well as opportunities to trade.

“Farming is a great profession; it’s not just for men,” said the 28-year-old, who went to university in Pakistan.

The farmers often have surplus crops, she said, but “there is no structured market to sell our produce.”

Being in such a remote area makes it impossible to sell direct to customers, and there are only limited options to meet traders who pass through.

“I sell my potatoes for 70 afghanis ($1.10) for seven kilos, but I would need 150 afghanis” to earn a decent income, Najia said.

‘Help each other’

Storage units have been financed by the U.N. to allow harvests to be kept and sold when the market improves, and some of the women have received better seeds.

FAO has also introduced agroforestry — the combination of trees and crops on the same plot — to diversify their income.

Faizi said that the village, which once produced only apples and walnuts, now has cherry, pear, and peach trees, among others.

But climate change is a big concern, with less predictable snow and rain, or bringing floods that destroy the crops.

The U.N. Development Program has found that Afghanistan is among a group of countries that “have contributed the least to global warming yet bear its heaviest costs.”

For Najia, the weather was a further challenge: “We can’t predict it; it just hits us.”

But despite the difficulties, she said women love working outdoors together.

“We can help each other,” she said, while also providing the village with nutritious food.

“What we grow with our own hands is very healthy.”

The Afghan women farmers keeping their village alive
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Pakistani military vows to continue actions against alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan

July 6, 2026

Waseem Abbasi

Arab News
Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, Chief of Army Staff & Chief of Defence Forces, presided over the 276th Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) at General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on July 6, 2026. (ISPR)
Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, Chief of Army Staff & Chief of Defence Forces, presided over the 276th Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) at General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on July 6, 2026. (ISPR)

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military on Monday vowed to continue intelligence-based operations against alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan, expressing concerns over alleged use of Afghan territory by militant groups for attacks inside Pakistan.

Islamabad has frequently accused India of backing militant groups and Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil for attacks in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan. New Delhi and Kabul deny this.

Pakistan’s top army brass on Monday held a meeting, presided over by Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, to review the prevailing security environment in the country, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.

The forum affirmed that lasting peace and stability in the region is contingent upon “preventing use of Afghan Taliban controlled territory by Indian terrorist proxies for which Afghan Taliban regime is directly responsible.”

“Pakistan has unequivocal right to defend its people from terrorism and the Armed Forces shall continue Intelligence Based Operations against terrorism emanating from Afghan Taliban controlled territory,” the ISPR said.

There was no immediate response from New Delhi and Kabul to the statement, which came a week after Islamabad conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan’s border regions.

Pakistan’s information minister said the strikes killed over 20 militants, some of whom belonged to a Pakistani Taliban faction that claimed an earlier attack in Karachi, killing three Pakistani paramilitary troops. Giving a higher death toll, Kabul said the strikes killed Afghan civilians.

Both countries have been locked in a conflict since Feb., when Afghanistan launched cross-border artillery strikes into Pakistan in retaliation for earlier Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas that Islamabad said targeted alleged militant camps.

The fighting in Feb. upended a Qatari-mediated ceasefire in October that halted earlier clashes between the two sides, which had killed dozens of civilians, security forces and militants.

Regional mediators, including China, Russia, Qatar and Turkiye, have previously attempted to facilitate negotiations between Islamabad and Kabul, but cross-border clashes have continued though at a lower intensity.

Pakistani military vows to continue actions against alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan
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EU Warns of Worsening Maternal Health Crisis in Afghanistan

July 3, 2026
Khaama Press
Afghanistan’s maternal health crisis is worsening as restrictions on women’s education and limited access to health care put mothers and newborns at greater risk, the European Union’s humanitarian aid office said on Friday.

In a post on the social media platform X, the EU office responsible for humanitarian operations in Asia and the Pacific said Afghanistan continues to face a severe maternal health crisis. It warned that barriers to women’s education and restricted access to health services are further undermining the health of mothers and newborns.

The office, part of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, known as ECHO, said it continues to support the delivery of maternal and newborn health services across the country through its humanitarian programs. It did not give details on the scale of that assistance.

Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, according to the World Health Organization and United Nations agencies. Humanitarian groups have repeatedly warned that years of conflict, economic hardship, a shortage of health workers, and limited access to medical care have left pregnant women and newborns at heightened risk.

The situation has grown more difficult since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. The Taliban administration has imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on secondary and higher education for girls, limits on women’s employment across many sectors, and measures affecting their participation in public life.

In December 2024, the Taliban’s supreme leader ordered women barred from studying nursing and midwifery, closing one of the last remaining paths to higher education for women. Aid agencies say the measure, which UN monitors report is still in force, has cut off the training pipeline for future female health workers, deepening a shortage that is especially serious because many Afghan women are typically treated only by female staff.

The World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, and other organizations have called for greater investment in maternal health. They have warned that continued funding shortfalls, together with restrictions on women working in the sector, could increase preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and that fewer female providers make women less likely to seek care.

At the same time, the de facto authorities have generally continued to allow female midwives and doctors to treat women, and UN agencies have been permitted to run women-for-women maternal services. Aid groups say those services remain constrained by funding shortages and by wider restrictions on women’s movement and education.

The warning comes as Afghanistan remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. The United Nations has estimated that around 21.9 million people, close to half the population, will need humanitarian assistance in 2026. Aid officials say the strain has been compounded by the return of large numbers of Afghans from Iran and Pakistan, which has added pressure on already stretched health services.

The EU is among the largest donors of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and says it channels its assistance through partner organizations, including UN agencies and non-governmental groups. It has not detailed how much of that funding is directed specifically to maternal and newborn care.

The EU humanitarian office said it remains committed to supporting health services in Afghanistan and called for continued assistance to protect vulnerable mothers and children.

EU Warns of Worsening Maternal Health Crisis in Afghanistan
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US Backs Pakistan’s Right to Self-Defense After Deadly Strikes in Afghanistan

July 3, 2026
Khaama Press

The United States has reaffirmed its support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorism, days after cross-border airstrikes that the United Nations says killed at least 28 civilians in Afghanistan and amid rising tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul.

The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington “supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks,” according to Reuters. “The Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists,” the department said.

The statement, as reported by Reuters, did not directly address the reported civilian casualties or comment on the specific strikes inside Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s military carried out the airstrikes on Sunday, June 28, in the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar. Islamabad said the operation targeted hideouts belonging to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, groups it accuses of staging attacks on Pakistani soil. Pakistani officials said 25 members of the groups were killed, though some Pakistani accounts put the figure higher.

The United Nations gave a different account. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA, said at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 others wounded in the strikes, with women and children among the casualties. It described the figures as preliminary and said they could rise. Taliban officials initially put the toll higher, at 36 killed, a figure the UN has not confirmed.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban administration of allowing TTP fighters to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks across the border. The Taliban have rejected the allegations, saying Afghan soil is not used to threaten neighboring countries and that Pakistan is deflecting blame for its own security problems.

Days after the strikes, the Taliban said their forces had carried out attacks inside Pakistan, targeting what they described as centers used by Islamic State and other hostile groups in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan regions. Pakistan said it intercepted and shot down four drones over Balochistan.

The latest strikes were the second Pakistani cross-border air operation inside Afghanistan in June. UNAMA said an earlier round on June 11, in Khost, Kunar, and Paktika, killed 13 civilians, despite Pakistan’s assertion that it had hit militant positions.

Relations between Pakistan and the Kabul administration have deteriorated sharply over border security and militant violence, with both sides exchanging accusations over responsibility for cross-border attacks. The United States continues to designate the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist group and regards Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally, ties that shape Washington’s response to the escalation.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Monday for an immediate halt to the fighting and urged both sides to protect civilians and resolve their differences through diplomacy. Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul to protest the strikes.

The US statement comes as concern grows over regional security and the humanitarian consequences of continued military operations along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

US Backs Pakistan’s Right to Self-Defense After Deadly Strikes in Afghanistan
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Mujahid: Global Stance Biggest Obstacle to Recognition of Islamic Emirate

July 3, 2026
Bibi Amina Hakimi
TOLOnews’ Reporter
3 July 2026

Despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations, contacts between Kabul and Washington have not been completely severed.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, told TOLOnews that the biggest obstacle to the international recognition of the current government is the position of countries around the world.

According to Mujahid, the government seeks positive and constructive relations with all countries, including those that previously had a military presence in Afghanistan.

Mujahid said: “We want good and positive relations with all countries of the world, even those that had a military presence in Afghanistan and were involved in the war. We want relations with them to become normal. The fact that they have not yet been prepared to normalize relations with Afghanistan is their own responsibility.”

Despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations, contacts between Kabul and Washington have not been completely severed.

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesperson said that communication with the United States continues, with some of these interactions taking place through Afghanistan’s embassy in Qatar.

He added: “From time to time, we have contacts with the United States. Sometimes these contacts are direct, and sometimes they take place through other countries. Afghanistan’s embassy in Qatar is also in contact with countries that do not have embassies in Afghanistan.”

Meanwhile, a number of analysts say that expanding the Islamic Emirate’s engagement with regional and international countries, particularly the United States, is important for improving and strengthening political and diplomatic relations.

Najib-ur-Rahman Shamal, an international relations analyst, said: “Given Afghanistan’s current situation, the country needs to expand and deepen its relations with the international community, regional countries, and other nations around the world. The Afghan government also needs to make appropriate changes to its governing structure and its policy toward the international community in order to build international trust and create the conditions for expanding relations with other countries, including the United States.”

Since the Islamic Emirate returned to power in Afghanistan, it has maintained political, economic, and diplomatic relations with a number of countries. However, Russia remains the only country to have formally recognized the Islamic Emirate.

Mujahid: Global Stance Biggest Obstacle to Recognition of Islamic Emirate
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