ISLAMABAD: The Taliban on Sunday voiced their support for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, Afghan media reported on Monday, months after the group formed an interim government in the war-torn country.
The statement by the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, came during the visit of Turkmenistan foreign minister Rashid Meredov to Kabul.
The multibillion-dollar gas pipeline project aims to supply gas from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan and Pakistan up to Pakistan’s border with India.
“Important issues such as TAPI, railroads and electricity were discussed. We discussed how to strengthen the projects that had already started,” Afghanistan’s TOLO news channel quoted Muttaqi as saying at a joint press conference with Meredov.
“Also, the projects that were started by Turkmenistan, such as TAPI — its practical implementation will start soon in Afghanistan.”
The TAPI gas pipeline is expected to carry 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas each year along a route stretching 1,814 kilometers (1,125 miles) from Galkynysh, the world’s second-biggest gas field, to the Indian city of Fazilka, close to the Pakistan border, according to the report.
Work on the project began in Afghanistan in February 2018, with at least 816km stretch of the pipeline passing through the land-locked country to Pakistan and India. However, its construction has faced delays in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past years.
Meredov said the Turkmen delegation and Afghan officials held constructive talks on economic and political issues.
During the visit, the Turkmen foreign minister met with the Taliban’s deputy prime minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and discussed economic affairs — especially the TAPI project — and railroads, and “made important decisions,” the report quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying.
Meredov also invited the acting Afghan foreign minister to visit Turkmenistan.
Taliban back gas pipeline project connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
https://arab.news/rxdmf
Taliban back gas pipeline project connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
- Development came during Turkmen foreign minister Rashid Meredov’s visit to Kabul
- Meredov said he held constructive talks with Taliban officials on economic, political issues
Pakistan reports first wild polio case of 2026 despite vaccination campaigns
- Four-year-old girl infected in Sindh’s Sujawal district as virus persists in high-risk areas
- Pakistan conducted last nationwide campaign in January, vaccinating over 45 million children
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported its first wild poliovirus case of the year, health authorities said on Thursday, underscoring the persistence of the disease in high-risk areas despite ongoing vaccination campaigns.
The latest infection was confirmed in a four-year-old girl in Sujawal district of the southern Sindh province, according to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.
Polio is a highly contagious viral disease that can cause permanent paralysis, mainly in children under the age of five. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the disease remains endemic.
“The case was reported through the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad,” the statement said.
“The Polio Eradication Initiative is already analyzing the best response to tackle and prevent further transmission.”
In 2026, Pakistan conducted a nationwide polio campaign in January that vaccinated more than 45 million children, while the next national campaign is planned for April.
Since 1994, Pakistan has cut polio cases by 99.8 percent through vaccination efforts, reducing infections from an estimated 20,000 in the early 1990s to 31 in 2025.
Pakistan reported 31 polio cases in 2025. Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounted for more than half of the country’s polio cases in 2025, with 17 of the 31 infections reported from the region.
According to health authorities, 74 cases were reported in 2024.
More than 200 polio workers and police officers assigned to protect polio teams have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to health and security officials.
Militants often falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.
The vaccination campaigns are also undermined by parental refusals in remote regions.
