Abdullah Khenjani, spokesman for Afghanistan's National Resistance Front (NRF), said he had met several UN Security Council members in New York. He claimed an overwhelming majority of countries had decided that Afghanistan's UN seat would never be handed over to the Taliban. afintl.com/en/202610273188

Local sources told Afghanistan International on Tuesday that Taliban and Pakistani forces had clashed in the Angoor Adda area of Barmal district in Paktika province. They said Pakistani forces attacked Taliban fighters attempting to return to former border posts. afintl.com/en/202610270007

The Taliban's Interior Ministry says satellite imagery has identified 26,800 hectares of land used for drug cultivation across Afghanistan in 2026, with the crops subsequently destroyed. afintl.com/en/202610279173

The Taliban's Interior Ministry spokesperson said most narcotics, including traditional and synthetic drugs, were being smuggled into Afghanistan from Pakistan across the border. afintl.com/en/202610271461

The Taliban's Justice Ministry said its leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, had ordered the transfer of juvenile rehabilitation centres across Afghanistan from the prison administration to the ministry. The process of transferring responsibility has begun. afintl.com/en/202610275571

Elisenda Calvet, a judge at the People's Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan, has warned that European governments' diplomatic engagement with the Taliban could legitimise the group. afintl.com/en/202610278290

UN Women Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda expressed concern over restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan during a meeting on women, peace and security, warning that the country faces the world's worst women's rights crisis. afintl.com/en/202610277077

The founder of an Italian aid organisation said she established a secret school for girls in Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power, only to discover two years later that daughters of some Taliban members were among its pupils. afintl.com/en/202610272905

Several sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban has recently begun reshuffling civilian and military officials across Badakhshan province. The changes have so far affected police commanders, district governors and intelligence chiefs. afintl.com/en/202610261656

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye, members of the "Mecca Pact", arrived in Tehran on Monday, 26 October, for talks amid growing concerns over the spread of conflict in the Middle East and ongoing diplomatic efforts to ease tensions. afintl.com/en/202610269463

Pakistan has urged the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for failing to meet counterterrorism commitments. On Monday, 26 October, its Foreign Ministry rejected Taliban claims of civilian casualties in Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan. afintl.com/en/202610263401

A recently circulated video shows a man identifying himself as a member of the Pakistani Taliban approaching Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister, and whispering something in his ear. afintl.com/en/202610267970

The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) said on Monday, 26 October, that its forces had attacked a vehicle carrying Taliban members on the Kabul-North highway in Qarabagh district. afintl.com/en/202610260802

Sediqullah Khalid, deputy governor of Afghanistan's Taliban-controlled central bank, announced that all restrictions on bank accounts would be lifted by the end of the current Afghan solar year. Account holders reportedly continue to face withdrawal limits. afintl.com/en/202610267211

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, members of the "Mecca Pact", are expected to visit Iran on Monday, 26 October, two sources told Reuters. The officials are reportedly due to discuss regional coordination in Tehran. afintl.com/en/202610269710

A video released by Taliban members on Saturday shows Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group's interior minister, meeting a group of men in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province, including a young man who identifies himself as being associated with two figures linked to the Pakistani Taliban. The 48-second video shows Haqqani greeting several men. Some kiss his hands and face, while the Taliban minister takes money from his pocket and gives it to them. At around the 26-second mark, a young man wearing a green scarf approaches Haqqani and introduces himself in Pashto, speaking with a Waziristani accent. “I have something to tell you ... Jalalim and I wanted to come with District Governor Mujahid. I am Zabihullah, from Kotkai and the Mehsud tribe, from [the followers of] Qari Hussain and Hakimullah Mehsud,” he says. After hearing the two names, Haqqani appears to gesture with his hand for the man to move away, directing him towards one of his aides, who approaches the young man. Hakimullah Mehsud, a former leader of the TTP, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2013. Qari Hussain was a prominent figure in the group, known for training and recruiting suicide bombers. Previous reports have linked suicide bombers used by the Haqqani network in its fight against Afghanistan's former government and foreign forces to training facilities run by Qari Hussain. Haqqani travelled to Khost on Saturday to inaugurate a new police command building and delivered a speech at the ceremony.

The Taliban's Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, called on the United States to return $7 billion in frozen Afghan assets to the country's central bank. afintl.com/en/202610266916

Pakistan's Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, said Islamabad would act to end what he called terrorism originating from Afghanistan and reserved the right to take any necessary action if Afghan territory was used against Pakistan. afintl.com/en/202610262801

Afghanistan's National Resistance Front (NRF) said its forces killed two Taliban members in a targeted operation in Herat's Injil district. The group also claimed to have seized two firearms and a radio communication device. afintl.com/en/202610248438

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday, 24 October, rejected allegations that it was arming Afghans to fight the Taliban or anti-Pakistan militant groups, describing the claims as "baseless and misleading". afintl.com/en/202610246887