ICC Unseals Warrants for Four Taliban Leaders; Russia Hosts Delegation

Politics15 sourcesOct 6, 2026

SplitFactual rigor 52/100

The Story

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations, regional security, counter-narcotics efforts, and security cooperation.

Muttaqi is leading a Taliban delegation for the eighth round of the Moscow Format talks on Afghanistan, which concluded on Monday without a joint statement due to disagreements between the Taliban and Pakistan over language referring to Afghanistan in the context of terrorism. Russia's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, stated the Taliban objected to this wording.

Muttaqi described political relations with Russia as positive and thanked Moscow for formally recognizing the Taliban government, which Russia did in April 2025. Concurrently, the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday made public arrest warrants for two additional Taliban ministers, Afghanistan’s minister of education, Habibullah Agha, and acting minister of higher education Neda Mohammad Nadim.

These warrants were issued secretly in September 2025. The ICC had previously issued public arrest warrants in July 2025 for Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Afghanistan’s chief justice. The ICC stated that the Taliban specifically targeted girls and women, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms, including education, privacy, and movement. The UN Human Rights Council on Monday unanimously urged the Taliban to reverse its oppression of women.

What they agree on

The International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed arrest warrants on Monday for four Taliban leaders, including Education Minister Habibullah Agha and Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadim.
The warrants accuse the Taliban leaders of crimes against humanity, specifically persecution on gender and political grounds, committed from August 15, 2021, to at least January 20, 2025.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with Russian officials, including Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, in Moscow on Tuesday.
Muttaqi led a Taliban delegation to the eighth round of the Moscow Format talks on Afghanistan, which concluded on Monday.
Russia formally recognized the Taliban government in April 2025 and hosted the talks aimed at integrating the Taliban government into the region.

Where they split

Kabul Now and Breitbart News highlight the ongoing Moscow Format talks and Russia's engagement with the Taliban, with Breitbart News framing Russia's actions as an attempt to "Normalize Taliban" and praising their "allegedly successful" rule despite documentation of persecution.
Middle East Eye and Kabul Now focus on the ICC's unsealing of arrest warrants, providing specific details about the charges of gender-based persecution against girls and women, and naming the four Taliban leaders involved.
Breitbart News emphasizes Russia as the only country to fully recognize the Taliban government, while other countries like China and Iran recognize it as an "interim" government, and a third group engages it de facto.
The Associated Press and Anadolu Agency provide a more direct report on the ICC's unsealing of warrants for four Taliban leaders, without delving into the specific details of the gender-based persecution as extensively as Middle East Eye.