8am: Sources say that employees of the Herat Provincial Environmental Protection Directorate, under Taliban control, are deeply concerned about pressure from Abdulali Muttaqi, the Taliban’s newly appointed head of the department. According to the sources, this Taliban official exerts pressure on staff under various pretexts to force them to resign so that he can replace them with his own affiliates. The sources also refer to one employee who, on Muttaqi’s orders, has been barred from attending the office, with instructions given to his guards not to allow the employee to enter the department again. According to the sources, several others have also been dismissed from their duties under different pretexts. Meanwhile, sources say that he is also involved in administrative corruption and the misappropriation of funds. According to the sources, around 100,000 Afghanis in cash had been collected from companies in the Herat Industrial Park, but it remains unclear where the money has been spent, and its fate is still shrouded in ambiguity. Click here to read more (external link).