[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS- IRAN/AFGHANISTAN BORDER ISSUES CONTINUE – Some early reports yesterday suggested the border crossing at Islam Qala had been closed. While those reports appear to be false, Taliban fighters did take action to halt the construction of a ‘wall’ by Iranian border guards. No shooting took place but the situation at the crossing is tense and there have been several cross-border firing incidents at Islam Qala through the years. Officials from both countries met in Kabul to discuss better border management cooperation on Saturday.
- 3 TAJIK AFGHANS MURDERED IN KABUL – Reports with photos of 3 dead men were circulated widely on the internet and were said to depict Taliban executions of ethnic Tajiks in Kabul’s 15th Police District on Saturday. The murders have not yet been confirmed and the only motives provided for the purported attacks were that the men were of Tajik descent and may have been speaking Persian.
- IRAN ANNOUNCES IT WILL COMMUTE DEATH SENTENCES OF 200 CONDEMNED AFGHANS – A spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced that a deal had been struck to commute death sentences for the 200 men after meetings with Iranian officials to resolve outstanding border and migrant issues on Saturday. It is thought that over 4,000 Afghan refugees are imprisoned in Iran for various offenses.
- TALIBAN ENVOY USES STAGE AT RUSSIAN CONFERENCE TO PLEAD FOR EDUCATION COOPERATION – A representative from the Ministry of Higher Education used his time at the Kazan Forum in Russia to call for international assistance in rebuilding the secondary education system in Afghanistan. The representative refused to talk about the ban on women and girls. He did say that Russia had promised to provide support to the education system but did not specify what the support might be.
NEXT 24 HOURS: No Threats Received