A Taliban delegation led by their governor for Badakhshan has travelled to Tajikistan for talks with regional authorities, marking the second such visit by a Taliban governor in recent months.
Abidullah Farooqi, spokesman for Taliban border forces, said that Ismail Ghaznawi, the Taliban governor of Badakhshan Province, led a delegation to neighboring Tajikistan, where he met with officials from Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region.
Farooqi said in a video statement that the meeting focused on expanding cross-border cooperation and fostering mutual trust between the two sides. He described the visit as “official,” and noted that Abdul Manan Hassan, the deputy commander of the Taliban’s border police, was also part of the delegation.
Farooqi added that the Taliban delegation also held discussions with other Tajik security and border officials during the visit. He said both sides pledged to address border-related issues jointly and move forward with mutual coordination.
Tajik authorities have not yet issued any public statement regarding the visit or the topics discussed.
This comes as the Taliban governor for Balkh visited Tajikistan late in October.
The trip follows a November visit to Kabul by a 14-member Tajik delegation, which included intelligence, security, and diplomatic officials. During that trip, Tajik representatives met with senior Taliban leaders. According to sources familiar with the discussions, the talks addressed a range of topics, including the exchange of prisoners, economic cooperation, and mining interests — particularly the future of a gold mine in Badakhshan Province.
Taliban officials reportedly used the occasion to reiterate their demands for formal recognition, enhanced bilateral ties, and the handover of Afghanistan’s embassy in Dushanbe to their appointed diplomats. Tajikistan, however, remains among the few Central Asian countries that have not engaged formally with the Taliban.
Tajikistan has often expressed concerns over the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan, including Daesh.
