Taliban security meeting in northern Afghanistan approves checkpoint upgrades and reform seminars

The Taliban-run Interior Ministry has said officials from the administration in five northern provinces decided at a security meeting in Faryab to take measures including strengthening and “standardising” military checkpoints on highways and inside cities.

According to the ministry’s statement, the meeting was attended by the governors, police chiefs and intelligence officials of Balkh, Faryab, Jawzjan, Sar-e Pol and Samangan provinces, as well as the deputy commander of the 209 Al-Fath Corps and representatives of Taliban military courts in the northern zone.

The meeting was chaired by Mohammad Yousuf Wafa, the Taliban governor in Balkh. The Interior Ministry said he stressed “strengthening coordination among government departments, ensuring security and exchanging information among officials.”

The Taliban-run Interior Ministry says participants discussed “the security situation, criminal incidents, strengthening coordination among border districts, reforming government departments, public awareness programmes and creating job opportunities for people.”

According to the statement, Taliban civil and military officials in the north decided to hold one-day “reform seminars” for the group’s officials in each province, and to organise consultative meetings with 200 religious scholars in northern Afghanistan.