According to the leaked directive, Akhundzada instructed the Taliban Ministry of Defence to arrange special facilities for several individuals identified as members of or associated with terrorist networks. The document names Sheikh Talha al-Iraqi, Sheikh Mawlavi Abdullah Mahmood, Sheikh Abdul Rahman, Sheikh Abu Ikhlas Abu Umar al-Misri, Sheikh Abdul Haq Turkistani, Sheikh Mawlavi Abdul Ghafar Naqshbandi, and Sheikh Mawlavi Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hashimi, among others .

The Directives: Beyond Sanctuary

The leaked letter reveals that the support provided by the Taliban regime extends far beyond merely providing sanctuary. According to the document, the directives include:

• Confidential air travel arrangements for the named individuals

• Intelligence cooperation between Taliban authorities and terrorist networks

• Security protection for terrorist operatives

• Specialized training for terrorist personnel

• Engagement of specialists with expertise in explosives manufacturing and drone development

These measures, if implemented, would significantly enhance the mobility, operational capabilities, technical capacity, and organizational resilience of terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan .

Verification from Multiple Sources

The authenticity of the leaked letter has been corroborated by multiple independent sources. The South Asia Times, The STRATCOM Bureau, and Khyber Chronicles have all reported on the document's contents, with detailed descriptions of the named individuals and the specific directives issued .

The letter's emergence comes amid mounting international evidence of the Taliban's support for terrorist networks. A recent UN Security Council report confirmed that the Afghan Taliban authorities continue to provide support to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), contributing to a sharp escalation in cross-border attacks against Pakistan .

UN Findings Confirm the Pattern

The 38th report from the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, covering the period from December 2025 to June 2026, found that the Taliban's continued support for the TTP has fueled rising terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The report stated that no UN Security Council member state accepted Kabul's assertion that no terrorist groups operate from Afghan soil .

The UN report also highlighted that Al-Qaeda has provided training and advisory support to the TTP, with Al-Qaeda trainers in Afghanistan training TTP fighters alongside members of the Baloch Liberation Army .

Taliban's Denials: A Pattern of Deception

The Taliban regime has attempted to dismiss the leaked letter as fake, with its affiliated media outlets claiming it is fabricated. However, this follows a documented pattern. In 2024, the Taliban similarly denied the authenticity of a letter purporting to authorize US base use, despite widespread evidence of ongoing cooperation .

The Taliban's public denials are contradicted by the UN's findings, which state that the group's support for terrorist networks continues even as it publicly denies harboring any terrorist groups .

Afghanistan: A Growing Terrorist Hub

The leaked letter confirms what Pakistan has warned for years: Afghanistan under Taliban rule has become a global terrorist hub. According to UN assessments, at least 20 terrorist groups are currently operating in Afghanistan, with an estimated 20,000 to 23,000 terrorists present in the country .

The Washington Post has reported that Al-Qaeda has established eight safe havens across Afghanistan and has regrouped in at least 14 provinces. The group is running camps where TTP militants and suicide bombers receive training, with an estimated 7,000 TTP militants present in Afghanistan .

Implications for Regional Security

The leaked letter has serious implications for regional security. The provision of confidential air travel, intelligence coordination, and specialized training to terrorist operatives demonstrates that the Taliban regime is not merely a passive host to terrorist groups but an active enabler of their operations.

For Pakistan, which has suffered thousands of casualties from cross-border terrorism, the document provides further evidence of the Taliban's complicity. The UN report confirms that TTP attacks have escalated sharply, provoking military exchanges across the border .

The international community must now confront the reality that the Taliban regime, despite its public denials, is actively supporting terrorist networks. The leaked letter is not an isolated document but part of a systematic pattern of support that has made Afghanistan the world's primary source of transnational terrorism.

The annual report benchmarked the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Pakistan scored the lowest out of the 38 lower-middle-income economies, as well as the seven South Asian countries, included in the report.

“While Pakistan remains among the lowest-ranked economies in the index, it has nonetheless narrowed its gender gap over time by 5.2 percentage points, up from 54.3pc in 2006,” the report said.

“Furthermore, the 2026 edition marks its strongest year-on-year improvement in a decade, driven primarily by substantial gains in educational attainment.”

Economic participation and opportunity

Pakistan ranked 144th in economic participation and opportunity in 2026, moving up three places from its 147th rank in the same index in 2025.

The report revealed that 81.46pc of men participated in the labour force, compared to only 28.21pc of women.

According to the report, an overwhelming 93.87pc of legislators, senior officials and managers in Pakistan’s workforce were men, compared to women making up 6.13pc. For the professional and technical workers category, the gap was lower with 30.96pc of the positions being occupied by women.

The country ranked 115th in wage equality for similar work and 140th in estimated earned income.

The report also revealed that 4.9pc of firms in Pakistan had a female majority ownership, while only 3.4pc firms had female top managers.

Educational attainment

Pakistan ranked 130th in educational attainment, marking a substantial gain in the category.

Male literacy rate in the country was reported to be at 69.14pc, while female literacy rate stood at 48.52pc.

Boys’ enrolment in primary education was at 83.01pc compared to 81.08pc among girls. In secondary education, male enrolment stood at 49.99pc, compared to 46.48pc in female enrolment.

Pakistan ranked first in the world for enrolment in tertiary education, marking high parity, as 10.71pc of women and 11.01pc of men were enrolled.

Health and survival

The country ranked 127th in the health and survival category. Within the category, Pakistan ranked first in sex ratio at birth, showing high parity between male and female births.

Male healthy life expectancy stood at 57.1pc, compared to 56.69pc for women.

Political empowerment

Pakistan ranked 107th globally in the political empowerment index. According to the report, 78.31pc of parliamentarians were men, compared to 21.69pc being women.

Further, an overwhelming 96.55pc of individuals in ministerial positions were men, compared to only 3.45pc of positions being occupied by women.

With a female head of state having ruled the country for 4.73 of the last 50 years, Pakistan ranked 39th in this subindex.

Access to finance, justice

The report also revealed that women in Pakistan didn’t enjoy equal rights regarding inheritance for widows and daughters. It added that women had “near-equal rights” when it came to access to financial services, land assets and non-land assets.

According to the report, women had “restricted rights” when it came to access to justice, while they had “equal rights” for freedom of movement.

The report also said that women in Pakistan had “unequal rights” for right to divorce.

It added that 24.9pc of women had experienced gendered violence in their lives, and that women in Pakistan had “restricted rights” regarding their reproductive autonomy.

In a post on X at 4:39pm, the PTI claimed that Raja, Latasob Satti and “others were unlawfully abducted” when they were on their way to Kotli Sattian to attend a PTI worker’s funeral. A post on Latasob’s Facebook account said his son Ikhlaq Ahmad Satti was also held.

The PTI said they were then transferred to Nilore police station in Islamabad, alleging that “abductions and arrests were ongoing to prevent people from attending the funeral”.

In a subsequent post at 5:32pm, Raja said he, Latasob, Ikhlaq and their “several friends were released after being kept in detention for four hours”.

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said party leader Shaukat Basra informed him that Raja has been “detained at police station by the police for the last two hours”.

“I strongly condemned this and called upon his immediate release. For the last few days, about 700 workers have been arrested,” he claimed, adding that arrest warrants have also been issued against MNAs and MPAs.

“This is all illegal. This must end now,” he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Raja had addressed a press conference alongside PTI leader Taimur Saleem Jhagra.

The PTI has been holding party activities to mobilise supporters for the PTI’s nationwide protest scheduled for September 27, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi touring Punjab this week.

On its part, the Punjab government has imposed a ban on gatherings across the province from September 13 to 17.

District authorities had also issued preventive detention orders against dozens of PTI workers under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order, including 31 in one Punjab notification and a further 14 in Toba Tek Singh.

The administrations of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had already begun preparations to counter the PTI’s announced march to the capital, including a request for the detention of activists, arranging containers, seeking additional personnel and procuring anti-riot gear.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited various checkpoints in Attock connecting Punjab to KP to review security arrangements.

More to follow

The measures are to be implemented with immediate effect, the Cabinet Division’s notification detailing the government’s directives said.

According to the Sept 17 notification, seen by Dawn, businesses and commercial establishments are to close at following timings:

• Shops, markets, shopping malls and bazaars, as well as departmental, grocery, general and kiryana stores are to close by 9pm
• Marriage halls, marquees and all other commercial places where festive events are held are to close by 10pm
• Restaurants, cafés, eateries, and food outlets, as well as standalone fruit and vegetable shops are to close by 11pm. Takeaway and home delivery services are exempted from the restriction
• Pharmacies, medical and medical supplies’ stores, medical laboratories, clinics, hospitals, standalone bakeries, standalone tandoors, standalone milk and dairy shops, fuel and CNG stations, electrical vehicle charging stations, gyms, sports facilities and sports/padel courts, IT companies and call centres are also exempted from any time restrictions.

Moreover, just a single dish should be served at all marriage-related functions or events, the notification said.

The Cabinet Division also detailed comprehensive instructions for government entities and officials.

These include the reduction in fuel provision by 50pc for official vehicles for three months.

Vehicles of armed forces, civil armed forces, vehicles in use of law enforcement agencies, those used for essential services and those in use of the Federal Board of Revenue are excluded from this restriction barring those of administrative or non-operational formations of these entities.

This measure is also not applicable in the case of development projects, according to the notification.

The government has also announced a 5pc reduction in the budget for non-employee related expenditures for FY2026-27, with deduction to be made on a monthly basis.

“This measure will also apply in the case of foreign missions and the officers/officials, belonging to any occupational group or service, posted in these missions; however, obligations relating to their rents, educational fees and medical care arrangements will be met,” the notification read, adding that this measure too was not applicable in case of development projects.

More to follow.