Category: Afghanistan

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US warns of military strikes on terrorist camps

US State Department’s Urdu spokesperson Zed Tarar said that the Biden administration is willing to take immediate action if any terrorist training camps were found in the future….reports Asian Lite News

The United States military would strike if terrorist camps were found in Afghanistan after military drawdown from the war-torn country, The News International reported citing a State Department spokesperson.

State Department’s Urdu spokesperson Zed Tarar said that the Biden administration is willing to take immediate action if any terrorist training camps were found in the future.

In recent weeks, large-scale violence has gripped Afghanistan as the Taliban stepped up its offensive after foreign troops began withdrawing from the war-torn country. Over 24,000 Taliban have been killed and wounded in battles with the Afghan security forces over the past four months.

The Taliban launched 22,000 attacks in various parts of the country during the period running from April to July, Tolo News reported.

“The influx of more than 10,000 terrorists from outside Afghanistan in order to increase the violence shows that there are also foreign hands behind the war in Afghanistan,” said Sayed Abdullah Hashemi, an official of the State Ministry for Peace Affairs.

Speaking over Pakistan’s role in regional peace, State Department Zed spokesperson stated Afghan neighbours have a duty not to support “militants” for the sake of keeping peace in the region.

On US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s India visit, the spokesperson said both countries have a significant partnership in various fields.

He also said that partnership with India is also very important for peace in Afghanistan. “US was not only in contact with India but also with other neighbouring countries of Afghanistan for the betterment of the region.”

Zed said the US and its allies would not allow Afghanistan to return to the status quo of 2001 while warning that the Taliban must stop human rights violations immediately.

Bloodiest day

Amid the ongoing violence in Afghanistan, the country witnessed the bloodiest day in a month as security forces repelled mass Taliban attacks on the capital cities of Herat, Helmand, Takhar, and Kandahar provinces, according to media reports.

Besides being the bloodiest, Friday was also one of the busiest days for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the past one month.

The media reports said the Taliban entered Herat province and launched attacks on Afghan government forces’ outposts inside the namesake capital city.

The city’s airport and the UN’s main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire

“So-called ‘anti-Government elements’ targeted entrances of the clearly marked UN facility with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire just hours after Taliban fighters penetrated Herat city and clashed with Afghan security forces near UNAMA’s provincial headquarters,” the world body said.

In this attack, an Afghan security guard was killed.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said that the ANDSF launched operations during which the militans were pushed back and the district of Guzara recaptured.

The media reports also said that US Army also conducted airstrikes in support of the Afghan government forces in Herat.

On Friday, 226 Taliban insurgents were killed during the security operations.

The Ministry of Defence said the deaths were reported in Kunar, Paktia, Maidan Wardak, Kandahar, Herat, Jawzjan, Helmand, Baghlan and Kabul.

During the incidents, another 130 Taliban were wounded and a large number of their weapons were destroyed. (ANI/IANS)

ALSO READ: Troika Plus on Afghanistan to meet in Doha


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Troika Plus on Afghanistan to meet in Doha

The ‘Troika Plus” meeting in Doha holds great importance as Afghan Talibans continue to make major inroads and take control of parts of Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News

Amid escalating bloodbath in neighbouring Afghanistan — Pakistan, China, Russia and the US will be meeting in Doha on August 11, to discuss the security situation there and ponder on ways to prohibit the Himalayan South Asian nation from plunging into yet another civil war.

The ‘Troika Plus” meeting in Doha holds great importance as Afghan Talibans continue to make major inroads and take control of parts of Afghanistan, since the start of the US and NATO forces’ withdrawal.

Since the foreign forces have started exiting Afghanistan, the Asrhaf Ghani government is facing stiff resistance from the Afghan Taliban, who have been claiming control of many districts and provinces of the country.

The Taliban offensive has also put the all important intra-Afghan dialogue on the back burner as no major headway has been witnessed in the process.

Afghan security force members take part in a military operation against Taliban in Khwaja Khar district of Takhar province, Afghanistan

The Troika Plus meeting is also important as the US is keen to have China and Russia on board on the situation in Afghanistan, despite having serious concerns against China.

It is pertinent to mention that both Russia and China, have strongly criticized the US for opting to a hasty withdrawal, blaming the American for failing to bring peace in Afghanistan. Moreover, Pakistan has also made it clear that it will neither be providing its ground bases or airspace to the US forces to operate in Afghanistan. Islamabad has also asserted that the country will not be part of any future conflict in Afghanistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the country is ready to have good relations with any one, who forms the government in Afghanistan.

“We will do everything short of a military option to ensure that Afghanistan situation comes to normalcy and an all inclusive government is formed. We will not be part of any conflict anymore,” said Imran Khan.

Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Jowzjan province, Afghanistan. (Xinhua_Mohammad jan Aria_IANS)



Khan has also been critical of the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, stating that the US has messed it up. And the US was now trying to achieve a solution by wanting to sit in neighbouring countries, and plan to achieve that it has failed to achieve while sitting in Afghanistan for 20 years.

In the recent meeting, China and Pakistan had told the Afghan Taliban to take action against East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), one seeking independent state for Chinese Muslims in Xinxiang and other being the outlawed proscribed terror outfit in Pakistan.

“Pakistan looks forward to the Troika Plus meeting in Doha. The meeting will review the current situation in Afghanistan,” said Spokesperson to Pakistan foreign office Zahid Hafiz Chaudhri.

While countries are putting their head together to find a solution to what seems like an re-emergence of a conflict in Afghanistan; Taliban claim to have gained control of at least 85 per cent of the country’s territory, which includes important border regions with Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajkistan and Turkmenistan.

ALSO READ: PROXY WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: Pakistan in a fix as GCC, West flex muscles

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US evacuates 200 allies who helped during Afghan war

The very first of such evacuation flights landed early in the morning at Washington’s Dulles International Airport…reports Asian Lite News

The United States on Friday flew 200 Afghans, allies who aided the Americans during the Afghanistan war, to their new home away from the Taliban’s direct threat. The very first of such evacuation flights landed early in the morning at Washington’s Dulles International Airport, reported the Associated Press, citing an internal US government document and a commercial flight-tracking service. The airliner carried 221 Afghans in all, including 57 children and 15 babies, according to the document.

Meanwhile, the US Congress is taking steps to expedite visas for the Afghans to help them settle into their new lives in America. The federal government passed emergency legislation earlier on Thursday afternoon that would, among other things, increase the number of visas for allies who worked alongside Americans in the Afghanistan war.

The $2.1 billion bill provides for revamped security at the Capitol building in Washington, a measure deemed much-needed after the violent January 6 violence, and also allocates additional funds for the translators and others who worked closely with US government troops and civilians in Afghanistan.

Afghan security force members take part in a military operation against Taliban in Khwaja Khar district of Takhar province, Afghanistan

The US evacuations are meant to resettle former translators and others who fear retaliation from Afghanistan’s Taliban for having worked with American service members and civilians. Just one week ago, the Taliban beheaded a translator, Sohail Pardis, right near his home in capital Kabul. Pardis worked as a translator for the United States army for 16 months during the conflict that spanned over two decades.

The evacuation flights highlight American uncertainty about how Afghanistan’s government and military will fare after the last US combat forces leave that country in coming weeks, the Associated Press noted.

The interpreters and other allies of the US who are being flown in American flights are also accompanied by their families. They were expected to stay at Fort Lee, Virginia for several days, US officials said earlier this month. Subsequent flights are due to bring more of the applicants who are farthest along in the process of getting visas, having already won approval and cleared security screening.

ALSO READ: PROXY WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: Pakistan in a fix as GCC, West flex muscles

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-Top News Afghanistan Africa News

Afghan void could lead to new terror axis in Africa

Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Jowzjan province, Afghanistan. (Xinhua_Mohammad jan Aria_IANS)

Experts said that the political vacuum in Afghanistan which has led to a rapid comeback of the Taliban will only bolster these terror groups in Africa…reports Mahua Venkatesh

 Just about a week ago, Ghanas Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that terror activities in West Africa could increase. Nkrumah even said that the terror outfits are recruiting in Ghana.

“I am sad to say that our security situation in West Africa is getting precarious. Terrorism and piracy are our biggest threats in West Africa,” he told Asaase radio according to Ghana Web.

Experts said that the political vacuum in Afghanistan which has led to a rapid comeback of the Taliban will only bolster these terror groups in Africa.

“There is a power vacuum in Afghanistan, created by the US. We are already seeing how the Taliban is making a comeback. This is a fertile time for terrorism to bloom once again and especially in Africa since it is economically weak,” BK Singh, former joint commissioner of Delhi Police, told India Narrative.

“In fact the Taliban may invite splinter groups to join them � a move that would help in creating a pan Islamic impression,” Singh added.

Afghan security force members take part in a military operation in Chahar Dara district of Kunduz province, Afghanistan, Jan. 16, 2018. The Kunduz province, as well as neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces, have been the hotbeds of heavy clashes over the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to attack the government forces in the once relatively peaceful region. (Xinhua/Ajmal Kakar/IANS)

If immediate action is not taken, the new hub for terror outfits will only give them a platform to carry out activities across the world.

Terror activities have increased all over Africa. In March, Palma in Mozambique was ripped by a massive terror attack, which forced French energy giant Total SE to pull out of the $24.1 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the country.

India’s state owned ONGC Videsh which also has a stake in the project has adopted a wait and watch mode.

A recent United Nations report noted that Africa has been hit the most by terror related activities in the first half of 2021. Along with the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, which has facilitated the comeback of the Taliban, the French military mission, present in West Africa has also started to pull out.

BBC, last month in a report noted that “both the Islamic State group and its rivals in al-Qaeda have taken a strategic decision to make Africa their new priority.”

Pic credit ANI

“If chaos, violent extremism and insecurity become the norm in Sahel nations like Mali then we are likely to see two things emerge: firstly, a new geographic base from which jihadists can plot attacks around the world and secondly, an increased flow of migrants and refugees making the perilous journey north to Europe to escape from their own countries,” Frank Gardner, BBC’s security correspondent wrote.

“The African countries and the leaders are aware of the challenges that terrorism bring about. They are ready to do the needful and deal with the problem but they do not have the required resources to fight this alone. Countries across the globe must come together to support Africa in dealing with this challenge,” Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International told India Narrative.

Increased terror activities in Africa have raised concerns for the locals as well as countries including China outside the continent. China, which has been caught in a storm over gross human rights violations in relation to the Uighur Muslims, has made huge investments in Africa. Recently, nine Chinese nationals were killed in a bus blast � a handiwork of terror outfits– in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: PROXY WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: Pakistan in a fix as GCC, West flex muscles

ALSO READ: Drug abuse on the rise in Kashmir as Pak facilitates supply from Afghanistan

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PROXY WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: Pakistan in a fix as GCC, West flex muscles

Ex-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif with Afghan NSA Hamdullah Mohib

Although there is an unstated broad consensus among Pakistan’s political parties on having a ‘friendly’ government in Kabul, apprehensions that the conflict escalation will lead to greater inflow of drugs, arms and refugees, damage the fragile social fabric and worsen a bad economy, is bound to cause differences among them, adding to existing friction between the Khan Government and its political opponents … writes Dr Sakariya Kareem

Pakistan’s poorly-concealed efforts, both diplomatic and military, to push the Taliban towards Kabul, have impacted its domestic politics. They have also upset the Western powers worried about an escalated civil war in the region, should the Ghani Government fall without a political resolution.

Although seemingly unconnected, the two developments converged on a meeting in London between exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and senior ministers and officials of the Kabul regime. This has angered Islamabad no end, but it cannot protest beyond calling names to Nawaz that, to its dismay, has fired-up the domestic political scene.

An unnamed ‘friendly’ Arab nation facilitated the London meeting, according to The News International (July 25, 2021). This further reinforces the concerns, even among the Muslim nations, at the Taliban advance across the Afghan countryside.

“The News has learnt from the credible source that a diplomat from the Middle Eastern Arab country spoke to Nawaz Sharif and floated the idea of meeting the Afghan NSA during his London visit to meet the UK’s political and military leadership besides meeting with politicians and ambassadors from several countries,” the newspaper said, quoting “a trusted source.”

The London meeting came even as the Taliban demanded the removal of the Ghani Government as a precondition to ceasefire, which US President Joe Biden rejected by reiterating support to Ghani.

It is clear that besides the Western powers, even the Chinese, the Russians and the Central Asians have been opposed to a violent seizure of power leading to regime change. Keen to control the initiative in Afghanistan that is driven by the Taliban and going out of their control, even China and Pakistan are apprehensive.  Out of diplomatic necessity and/or in view of the worsening ground situation, the foreign ministers of the two on July 24 called on all Afghan stakeholders to “agree on a comprehensive ceasefire and work together to achieve a broad-based, inclusive and negotiated political settlement.”

Ostensibly, the London meeting and behind-the-door moves that might follow, are aimed at blocking Pakistan’s efforts and slow Taliban’s advance. World powers, diplomatic sources say, realise the urgent need to work right now, since they realise that sanctioning the Taliban after they have seized power in Kabul at some stage would be worthless.  

The meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Afghan NSA Hamdullah Mohib was pre-planned, according to The News International and was arranged by Sharif’s former finance minister, Ishaq Dar, who is also living in exile.

Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib

Dawn newspaper (July 25) confirmed, after the meeting, that the Afghan NSA had contacted Ishaq Dar in London “months earlier”, with a request to meet Nawaz on the direction of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

There was nothing unofficial about the meeting taking place amidst the Afghans conferring with the British Government. Mohib was accompanied in all meetings by the State Minister for Peace Sayed Sadat Naderi and the Afghan Ambassador to London, Tayeb Jawad. Following the meeting, Kabul went official with photographs and details and a surprised Islamabad reacted with anger.

The Pakistan Government demanded transcripts of discussion, while PML-Nawaz, the main opposition party sought to make political capital. Dar said in London that the meeting was “damage control for PTI’s failed foreign policy’.

An added reason for Islamabad’s anger is that Sharif met the very Afghan officials with whom it has been engaged in daily slanging matches. It has stopped talking to Mohib after he called Pakistan a ‘brothel’. Pakistani NSA Yusuf Moeed has called officials in the Kabul Government ‘idiotic.’ Islamabad has painted Sharif in dark colours for meeting ‘hostile’ Afghan officials.

While the Imran Khan Government is fuming, the PML-N has scored a political and diplomatic brownie point with the Nawaz-Mohib meeting. Sharif’s daughter and party vice president Maryam Nawaz posted on social media: “It is the very essence of diplomacy to talk to everyone, listen to their point of view and convey one’s own message across: something this government doesn’t comprehend and hence is a complete failure on the international front.”

She also tweeted a photo collage of Nawaz’s meeting with Mohib alongside an earlier meeting of the Afghan NSA with Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, with the remarks, “Both pictures nice, no?”

Although there is an unstated broad consensus among Pakistan’s political parties on having a ‘friendly’ government in Kabul, apprehensions that the conflict escalation will lead to greater inflow of drugs, arms and refugees, damage the fragile social fabric and worsen a bad economy, is bound to cause differences among them, adding to existing friction between the Khan Government and its political opponents.

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Drug abuse on the rise in Kashmir as Pak facilitates supply from Afghanistan

Huge-quantity-of-heroin-was-recovered-after-a-Pakistani-sponsored-terror-module-was-busted-by-Jammu-and-Kashmir-police-in-North-Kashmirs-Kupwara-district-

According to the statistics maintained at the Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and other drug de-addiction centres, heroin smuggled in from Afghanistan has become the main drug of abuse. Around 95% of the patients treated or under treatment at different de-addiction centres have been found abusing this deleterious psychotropic drug, a report by Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

Drug abuse is on the rise in Kashmir, with supplies routed through the infamous AfPak region-the combination of Afghanistan and Pakistan, known as the ground-zero for drugs, violence and terrorism. The Jammu and Kashmir Police in collaboration with the Department of Health and Medical Education have set up drug de-addiction centres and treated thousands of patients at all the district headquarters in the Kashmir valley but it has not been able to stop smuggling of psychotropic substances from Afghanistan via Pakistan.

According to the statistics maintained at the Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and other drug de-addiction centres, heroin smuggled in from Afghanistan has become the main drug of abuse. Around 95% of the patients treated or under treatment at different de-addiction centres have been found abusing this deleterious psychotropic drug.

At the Srinagar GMC’s de-addiction centre, among those under treatment are a couple married as late as in 2019. The 29-year-old husband with his 28-year-old wife has been found taking heroin through an intravenous route. They occasionally cross paths in the hospital’s corridors outside their contiguous wards.

According to one of the four doctors attending the patients at the de-addiction centre, a large number of the families had admitted two or two members simultaneously for consuming heroin through IV or other routes. “Many of them come in from affluent families who fall in the wrong company and spend a lot of money to acquire this high-priced drug”, says a psychiatrist at the GMC Srinagar.

ALSO READ: Kashmir’s Descent Into Drugs & Criminalisation

“We have noticed a remarkable increase in the heroin abuse in the last two years but we have no means to determine a political reason behind it. It can or cannot be coincidence that the drug abuse has assumed menacing proportions during a combination of political and medical lockdown. Since March 2020, the Covid pandemic has kept everybody indoors. There have been familial implosions. Marriages have broken and students have forgotten about their school cultures. Smuggling and circulation of psychotropic substances has multiplied during the same period”, said a doctor at the Police Control Room in Srinagar.

According to a senior Police officer, 35 kg of heroin, 5 kg of marijuana and 3 kg of brown sugar valued at Rs 182 crore in the Indian drug markets have been seized by Police in the Kupwara Police district-half of the Kupwara revenue district-in the first six months of the current year. The recoveries made by the security forces, particularly the Army, are equally voluminous.

Drugs from Afghanistan via Pakistan have been flowing in through Kupwara and Baramulla districts on the LoC in Kashmir as also through Poonch and Rajouri districts on the LoC and Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on the International Border in Jammu. “Over 90% of the quantities are smuggled in through conventional routes and methods but at least 10% of the quantities are now believed to be entering through tunnels and drones”, said a senior Police officer in Jammu.

“Until recently, we used to say Udta Punjab. But now we say Udta Jammu and Kashmir ”, said the officer. According to him, 60% of the drugs, particularly heroin, was going all the way to Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi and Mumbai and about 40% was believed to be in the local consumption. Some of the officers, not authorised to speak to the media, put it at Rs 1,000 crore a year business.

Those admitted and treated at GMC’s DDC recently include two members of a family, in their mid-40s and the family head’s 10-year-old grandson. The boy is on Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST), a treatment regimen that induces abandonment of heroin and other opium derivatives-highly addictive and with life-threatening consequences. The doctors treating the boy detected that he had been infected with Hepatitis-C virus, a common infection among IV drug abusers. If ignored, Hepatitis-C can lead to liver cirrhosis and prove to be fatal.

The 10-year-old is now under treatment of Hepatitis-C and supervision of a composite team of doctors and psychiatrists including a couple of professors from GMC’s Department of Gastroenterology.

ALSO READ: Drug trafficking to intensify in Pakistan due to Afghanistan violence

Consumption of heroin by syringe for a 10-year-old could be fatal, says a doctor. “But we are optimistic of good results as he has been admitted at an appropriate time. We don’t know how many of such boys and girls have been destroyed in Kashmir or would be still taking these dangerous drugs”.

The boy had seen his father and uncle take heroin through syringes. Out of his curiosity after falling in the company of some drug addicts, he too began consuming heroin and ended up with an infection of Hepatitis-C.

According to a doctor, the age of experimenting with drugs had come down and the number of addicts spiralled in the last five or six years. “We have noticed a remarkable increase in the number of addiction cases particularly in the last two years. Lockdowns and deterioration of the value systems due to the internet and social media have made the ground fertile for the drug menace in Kashmir”, he asserted. An early intervention and counselling, according to him, could save many lives and families.

According to the official statistics, 6,234 patients have been examined and treated for drug addiction at the DDCs in Kashmir since the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020. Of these, 4,830 had been found taking heroin intravenously. Additionally, 1,054 were those taking heroin through other routes. With this combination of 5,884 patients, 95% of the drug addicts were found consuming heroin. 70% of them were taking it by syringe.

The Jammu and Kashmir Government had introduced a drug de-addiction policy in the President’s rule in January 2019. It provided for the staff of 15 departments to work in coordination to uproot the menace of drug addiction. While Police, Narcotics and Excise are required to reduce availability of drugs through various measures including crackdown on the supply chain, the departments of Education, Information & Broadcasting and Social Welfare are supposed to lessen the demand. But around the scheduled date of its implementation in February 2020, Covid-19 engulfed the entire country.

There has been no movement forward in the last over 17 months.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: India against military takeover of Afghanistan: Jaishankar tells RS

ALSO READ: Afghanistan sees surge in atrocities, rights abuses as Taliban capture new areas

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23 militants killed as Afghan forces storm Taliban hideouts in Faryab

Taliban

In the operations launched on Wednesday afternoon, a large number of arms and ammunitions as well as four motorbikes were also destroyed…reports Asian Lite News

A total of 23 militants were killed and three others injured as Afghan government forces stormed Taliban hideouts in Pashtunkot and Almar districts of Faryab province, an army spokesman said on Thursday.

In the operations launched on Wednesday afternoon, a large number of arms and ammunitions as well as four motorbikes were also destroyed, the official said.

According to the official, the government forces will continue to pursue the militants elsewhere in the restive province, Xinhua news agency reported.

Taliban militants are reportedly in control of major parts of Faryab province and have been fighting to overrun the provincial capital Maimana city.

In a similar development, at least 10 Taliban militants were killed as fighting flared up in Taluqan city, capital of Takhar province, on Thursday, a local police spokesman said.

The clash, according to the official, erupted after the Taliban fighters attacked security checkpoints in the city’s Sarai Sang area, triggering a gun battle.

Three security personnel have also been killed in the fighting. Five more militants and two security personnel have been injured, the official further said.

Afghan security force members take part in a military operation against Taliban in Khwaja Khar district of Takhar province, Afghanistan

Taliban attempt to capture Herat

Fighting in Afghanistan has further intensified as Taliban militants have started attacking to gain more ground in Herat province and tighten the noose around the provincial capital Herat city.

The militants have launched an offensive against security checkpoints in the tourist destination of Pul-e-Malan area, Karakh and Gazara districts on Wednesday afternoon while the attacks have been repulsed, a provincial government official told Xinhua news agency on Thursday.

“Taliban had military activities last night but their attempts have been beaten back and about 40 militants were killed in Gazara and Karakh districts. Unfortunately, four security personnel sustained injuries in Pul-e-Malan area,” the official added.

Farhad also confirmed that sporadic fighting is still going on in parts of the said areas.

Taliban militants, who have captured the dry port Islam Qala and Torghundi in Herat province, have been fighting to overrun Herat city.

The Islam Qala Customs department, which connects Afghanistan to Iran as the main trade crossing point, is yet to be recaptured by Afghanistan forces.

The armed group has also ruled Torghundi dry port along the border with Turkmenistan since its fall to the Taliban last month.

Taliban militants have overrun some 200 districts since the US-led forces started to pull out from Afghanistan in early May.

It will be regarded as a big achievement for the Taliban if the group captures Herat city, local observers said.

Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammad said that government forces would soon launch counter-offensives to recapture all the districts from the Taliban outfit.

More than 200 militants, according to security officials, have been killed elsewhere in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours.

The claim was rejected by the Taliban as baseless.

ALSO READ: Taliban Targets Pakistan’s Dirty Bomb Assets

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Int’l community will not accept Taliban if atrocities persist: UN envoy

Afghan national army soldiers take part in an operation against Taliban militants in Kunduz city, Afghanistan. (Photo by Ajmal Kakar_Xinhua_IANS)

Lyons said at the JCMB meet in Kabul that the world has now recognised that the Taliban must be a partner in Afghanistan’s transition to self-reliance….reports Asian Lite News

If there is no movement at the negotiating table, and instead, human rights abuses and worse still atrocities occur in districts they control, the Taliban will not be seen as a viable partner for the international community, UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said.

Lyons said at the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) meet in Kabul that the world has now recognised that the Taliban must be a partner in Afghanistan’s transition to self-reliance. International donors have signaled their willingness to continue to support Afghanistan after a peace agreement is reached.

“But no major donor will finance the repression of women, let me say that again, no major donor will finance the repression of women, nor any major donor will finance the discrimination of minorities, the denying of education to girls, or the decrees of an authoritarian government. They cannot do so, not only because these are against the norms of the United Nations and international community, but because a society built on these restrictions cannot and will not function for its citizens,” she said.

An Afghan special force member attends a military operation against Taliban fighters in Kandak Anayat village of Kunduz city, Afghanistan, July 23, 2021. (Photo by Ajmal Kakar/Xinhua)

Lyons added that whatever the government of the day, Afghanistan is, and will remain part of the international community, and so, bound by the existing international human rights obligations of the treaties that it has ratified.

She said of particular concern in terms of the present relevance of the Afghan Partnership Framework is the loss of control by the government of border posts. The border posts that are currently under Taliban control last year yielded substantial income in government revenue, amounting to about a third of the revenue raised by the government in Afghanistan.

“Assuming that the Taliban remain in control of these posts, this means, first, that the percentage of international funding as a share of total government revenue increases, setting back what had previously been indeed a major achievement by the state and the Government of Afghanistan. But more importantly, the total revenues available to the government declines, which will surely impact service delivery as well as add to the economic losses that were already significant as a result of Covid,” Lyons said.

The loss of control of border areas also calls into doubt Afghanistan’s ambitions to quite rightly transform itself by becoming a regional node of connectivity, she added.

ALSO READ: Afghanistan sees surge in atrocities, rights abuses as Taliban capture new areas

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Afghanistan sees surge in atrocities, rights abuses as Taliban capture new areas

Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Jowzjan province, Afghanistan. (Xinhua_Mohammad jan Aria_IANS)

Since US President Joe Biden announced on May 1 the withdrawal of its troops, the Taliban has captured more than 150 districts, including the northern parts of the country, which was considered as a stronghold of democratically elected and US-supported Afghanistan government, reports Asian Lite News

Within a week after the US forces left Afghanistan, the atrocities and human rights violations by the Taliban witnessed a surge. A few days ago, two Afghan government officials were executed after being tortured. Also, 22 commanders of Afghan security forces were shot dead even when they tried to surrender. There have been numerous killings of civilians on suspicion of being supporters of the US or the Afghan government. Videos of such brutalities have been going viral. It has raised concerns over Afghanistan returning to the dark age, with the renewed Taliban regime curtailing women rights, basic human rights and even banning music and arts while awarding cruel punishments like stoning to death for disobeying.

In June 2021, there were news reports that the Taliban had accepted the changing realities after the two decades of US presence in the country and had stopped brutalities against women and minorities like Shias and Hazaras. It was said the Taliban had changed and it did not carry out the massacre and destruct homes like Islamic State. However, it is turning out to be propaganda by the Taliban. The militant organisation has not changed as it has restored the horrific activities of atrocity soon after the US forces left Afghanistan.

Farkhondeh Akbari, a Hazara university student, knew the arrival of Taliban rule would mean disaster for human rights and freedom achieved by women in the past two decades. “I am afraid of the future,” Akbari had said in June. Her words turned true soon. “America is leaving Afghanistan in chaos, in bloodshed, amid the operation of some twenty terrorist organizations and an emboldened Taliban that are not compromising an inch for power-sharing, for human rights and for the international call to reduce violence,” Akbari said.

Since US President Joe Biden announced on May 1 the withdrawal of its troops, the Taliban has captured more than 150 districts, including the northern parts of the country, which was considered as a stronghold of democratically elected and US-supported Afghanistan government. Meanwhile the Taliban claimed it controls 85 percent of the country. Around 47,600 civilians lost their lives in the crossfire between the US forces and the Taliban in the past two decades. Now, more civilians are likely to be killed by the Taliban as revenge over the allegations of being pro-US. Afghanistan is not new to the acts of revenge. “Cycles of revenge have fueled atrocity killings in the past, particularly in northern Afghanistan,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Now, the US forces have left the scene, Taliban has started distributing pamphlets, asking Afghan people to follow strict rules that are similar to those that were in place during Taliban rule between 1996-2001. They include restrictions on the movement of women and what they wear.

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Now they will not be able to leave the house without a male companion and covering themselves from head to foot with hijab. “They want to impose the restrictions that were imposed on women under their rule,” said Nahida, a 34-year woman from Balkh district. Similarly, men are ordered not to shave or trim beards. Another Balkh resident said “It is possible that they impose more restrictions. In some of the mosques, during the Friday sermons, Mullahs say that the Sharia law should be implemented.” Sojod from Jowzjan said “We are in the brutal era of the Taliban again. Those who claim the Taliban have changed, I invite them to come and see in Jowzjan and other parts of the country where they are restricting women from work and going outside. We are in the dark age again.”

Taliban has refused that it has resorted to violent activities. Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said the reports of brutalities were wrong. “Our opponents are producing fake propaganda against us,” he said. However, the videos that are being circulated show otherwise. There have been atrocities and horrific war crimes in the area that have been captured by the Taliban recently. People are being beaten, tortured and even beheaded.

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Also, Afghani people are being shamed and punished publicly, which include whipping women for violating “modesty” laws. “Whilst, the Taliban have orchestrated to portray that they have changed after attending peace negotiations, a number of videos clearly unveil the Taliban’s true intent, behaviour, and the world they are determined to make for the citizens,” said Afghan Embassy in Australia.

Taliban has wedged direct attacks on young women and girls exercising their rights to education, civil society, academics, health workers, human rights defenders, media workers, civil servants, said UN-official and human rights expert Fionnuala Ni Aolain. “Today, the violence in Afghanistan has reached new heights of egregious human rights violations, demonstrating the escalating and devastating tactics of directly targeting civilian populations by terrorist groups,” she said.

William Maley, emeritus professor at The Australian National University, the atrocities to go on abetted since the Taliban was hunting for total power. “They are not squeamish about the means used to intimidate each and every component of the Afghan population to achieve that objective,” he said.

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Chinese Foreign Minister hosts Taliban delegation

pic credits @MFA_China

In a series of tweets, the Taliban assured China that Afghan territory would not be used against the security of any country….reports Asian Lite News

A Taliban delegation led by its chief negotiator Abdul Ghani Baradar on Wednesday met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussed the current Afghan situation.

The current situation in Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed during the meeting, said Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem.

In a series of tweets, the Taliban assured China that Afghan territory would not be used against the security of any country.

Meanwhile, China pledged to continue and expand its cooperation with the Afghan people, saying that they would not interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs, but would help solve problems and build peace.

This comes as Taliban-led violence has increased in Afghanistan as foreign troops are withdrawing from the war-torn country.

pic credits @MFA_China

Taliban has escalated its offensive against security forces and civilians. They are rapidly gaining territory in Afghanistan.

‘Moreover, they are imposing archaic rules on the captured territories and being a Sunni outfit, the Shias fear sectarian violence against them.

Beijing has been closely watching the progress of US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and sought to play a bigger role in the country.

At a meeting with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts in June, Wang vowed to “bring the Taliban back into the political mainstream” and offered to host intra-Afghan peace talks.

“China’s position is that this should be resolved within Afghanistan. And the situation in Afghanistan should not threaten China’s security,” a source said, naming security in Xinjiang and Chinese investments in the region as some of Beijing’s top concerns.

China previously hosted the Taliban in 2019, when a nine-member delegation travelled to Beijing and met Deng Xijun, then special representative for Afghanistan.

Taliban are normal civilians: Imran

The Taliban are not some military outfits but normal civilians, said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, asking how the country is supposed to hunt them down when it has three million Afghan refugees at the border.

In an interview with PBS NewsHour aired Tuesday night, Khan stressed that Pakistan hosts three million Aghan refugees of which the majority are Pashtuns, the same ethnic group as the Taliban fighters.

“Now, there are camps of 500,000 people; there are camps of 100,000 people. And Taliban are not some military outfits, they are normal civilians. And if there are some civilians in these camps, how is Pakistan supposed to hunt these people down? How can you call them sanctuaries?” he argued.

When asked about alleged Taliban safe havens in Pakistan, the Prime Minister responded: “Where are these safe-havens? There are three million refugees in Pakistan who are the same ethnic group as the Taliban…”

pic credits @MFA_China

Pakistan has been long accused of helping the Taliban militarily, financially and with intelligence inputs in their fight against the Afghanistan government, but Imran Khan dismissed these accusations as “extremely unfair”.

He said that thousands of Pakistanis lost their lives in the aftermath of the US war in Afghanistan when “Pakistan had nothing to do with what happened” on September 11, 2001, in New York.

According to a report prepared for the UN Security Council, about 6,000 terrorists of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are operating on the Afghan side of the border. While the TTP has “distinctive anti-Pakistan objectives”, it also supports the Afghan Taliban militants inside Afghanistan against Afghan Forces, the report by the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said.

UN monitors note that TTP “has distinctive anti-Pakistan objectives but also supports the Afghan Taliban militarily inside Afghanistan against Afghan government forces”. (ANI)

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