Russian Foreign Minister: The issue of recognizing the Taliban is not on the table

The Taliban's State Department welcomed the US Treasury Department's decision to allow government agencies, international and informal institutions and banks to send food and medicine to Afghanistan, and expressed hope that all countries and international organizations would strengthen ties with the Taliban.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news conference that the United States had "all the necessary authority" to carry out air strikes in Afghanistan to counter terrorism.

The US Treasury Department says it has issued two public licenses to the US government, NGOs and some international organizations, including the United Nations, that allow them to conduct financial transactions with the Taliban and the Haqqani network to provide essential humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

In an interview with Afghanistan International, Latif Pedram, leader of the Afghan National Congress, said that a parallel government would be formed soon and that it would be "not outside, but somewhere inside the country." He also said that Ahmad Massoud had not gone to Tajikistan and was inside Afghanistan

Noureddine Torabi, a senior Taliban member, told the Associated Press that executions and amputations would resume in Afghanistan, but that this time it might be out of sight. In the previous Taliban era, Torabi was the Minister of Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil and the Minister of Justice