Category: Afghanistan

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Afghanistan does not need US-led intervention: Iran

Iranian FM noted that the role of “the Western countries’ mafia network” is quite conspicuous in the expansion of the illegal drug trade in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that Afghanistan is in need of regional cooperation to solve its current challenges rather than the US-led intervention that had pushed the country toward poverty and instability.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a quadrilateral meeting with Chinese, Russian, and Pakistani representatives on the sidelines of the foreign ministers’ meeting among the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website on Thursday.

He said Iran is concerned about the spread of terrorism and extremism in Afghanistan and the continuation of the wrong US policies in the country, adding that today, Afghanistan is more in need of regional cooperation and solutions, rather than the intervention by the US and the West that have pushed the Asian country toward poverty and instability.

He stressed that the US and its allies should be held to account as the occupiers of Afghanistan that had oppressed the country for two decades, and as UN members to be answerable for the current situation in the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the wake of the terror attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, the US launched the so-called war on terror in Afghanistan under the pretext of pursuing Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the terror attacks. In late August 2021, the US forces hastily withdrew from Afghanistan with a military defeat, leaving the war-torn country in insecurity and abject poverty.

The Iranian Foreign Minister highlighted the necessity of managing the economic situation in Afghanistan and cited the economic pressures in the country as a factor behind the increased migration of Afghan refugees to neighbouring countries, which has resulted in certain types of insecurity in these countries.

He added the US’ 20-year presence in Afghanistan led to a significant increase in the cultivation and trafficking of opium in the country, noting that the role of “the Western countries’ mafia network” is quite conspicuous in the expansion of the illegal drug trade.

Amir-Abdollahian also expressed concern about the Afghan women and girls having been deprived of education and the opportunity of being present in society, voicing Iran’s readiness to offer further assistance in terms of providing education to Afghan girls and women with the UN’ help.

ALSO READ: Afghanistan ranks fourth in highest crime rate

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

TTP still using Afghan soil against Pakistan: Pak Minister

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.(photo: https://www.facebook.com/khawajamuhammad.asifmna.3)

Pakistan Defence Minister alleged that the Afghan authorities have not succeeded in stopping the use of their territory for launching attacks on Pakistan.”…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is still using Afghan soil to launch attacks against Pakistan, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), media reports said.

In an interview with US broadcaster ‘Voice of America’, Asif said: “Islamabad has good relations with the ruling Taliban government in Kabul. However, the Afghan authorities have not succeeded in stopping the use of their territory for launching attacks on Pakistan.”

The minister said the matter had been brought up and discussed last month during a meeting between a high-ranking delegation, including Asif and ISI DG Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, and the Afghan officials, The Express Tribune reported.

“During the meeting, the Taliban expressed their determination to deal with this problem,” Asif said.

The Afghan authorities said that they would not allow their land to be used for terrorism against any country, the Defence Minister added.

Asif said that he believed the Afghan Taliban were “distancing” themselves from the proscribed outfit, however, due to the fact that they fought against NATO together in the past, certain “camaraderie” existed between the two sides, The Express Tribune reported.

During the interview, Asif also alleged that resettlement of TTP leaders in Pakistan was done through a “programme”.

“(PTI Chairman and former PM) Imran Khan has been signalling throughout his political career that he is ideologically supportive of the Taliban. At various points, the international media has even referred to him as ‘Taliban Khan’,” Asif said.

The minister highlighted that the people of the tribal areas and K-P are not ready to “co-exist” with the Taliban, saying: “It is noteworthy that people are protesting unarmed against the return of the Taliban,” The Express Tribune reported.

ALSO READ: India slams Pakistan’s drone delivery of arms in borders

Categories
Afghanistan Asia News

4.3 magnitude quake jolts Fayzabad

Earthquake. (Photo: IANS)

The NCS said the earthquake occurred at 4:45 am IST on Tuesday….reports Asian Lite News

An earthquake of magnitude 4.3 struck 188 kilometres east southeast of Fayzabad in Afghanistan on Tuesday, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) informed in a tweet.

The NCS said the earthquake occurred at 4:45 am IST on Tuesday. According to National Centre for Seismology, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 160 kilometres. Taking to its official Twitter handle, the NCS posted, “Earthquake of Magnitude:4.3, Occurred on 11-04-2023, 04:45:32 IST, Lat: 36.43 & Long: 72.49, Depth: 160 Km ,Location: 188km ESE of Fayzabad.”

Further details are awaited

Earlier, on Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 4.1 struck 86 kilometres southeast of Fayzabad in Afghanistan, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) informed in a tweet. According to NCS, the earthquake occurred at 8:23 am IST, on Monday.

In a tweet, the National Centre for Seismology stated, “Earthquake of Magnitude:4.1, Occurred on 10-04-2023, 08:23:03 IST, Lat: 36.65 & Long: 71.34, Depth: 150 Km, Location: 86km SE of Fayzabad, Afghanistan.” (ANI)

ALSO READ: Afghanistan ranks fourth in highest crime rate

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Afghan women banned from restaurants with gardens in Herat

In a horrifying first, Taliban ready to recruit women for suicide bomber squads in army

The decision came after religious clerics complained of mixing genders in such places…reports Asian Lite News

The Taliban on Monday barred entry of families and women into restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Herat province, Afghanistan, reported Fox News.

The decision came after religious clerics complained of mixing genders in such places. Afghan officials said that the curbs have been brought in place because of gender mixing or because women allegedly are not wearing the hijab. So far, the ban is applicable to restaurants with green spaces in the Herat province only. The outdoor dining ban only applies to establishments in Herat, where such premises remain open to men. Baz Mohammad Nazir, a deputy official from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue’s directorate in Herat, denied media reports that all restaurants were off limits to families and women, dismissing them as propaganda, reported Fox News.

Afghanistan, Sep 07 (ANI): Afghan nationals including women shout slogans during a protest outside the Pakistan embassy, in Kabul on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)

He said it applied only to restaurants with green areas, such as a park, where men and women could meet. “After repeated complaints from scholars and ordinary people, we set limits and closed these restaurants.”

Azizurrahman Al Muhajir, who is head of the Vice and Virtue directorate in Herat, said, “It was like a park but they named it a restaurant and men and women were together. Thank God it has been corrected now. Also, our auditors are observing all the parks where men and women go.”

It was the latest in a slew of restrictions imposed by the Taliban since they took power in August 2021. They have shut girls out of classrooms beyond sixth grade and women from universities, most types of employment, including jobs at the United Nations. They are also banned from public spaces such as parks and gyms.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) bounded aid to the Taliban with the removal of the ban on Afghan working women, reported Tolo News.

EU said that the ban on women working for UN organizations violates international law and that aid to Afghanistan cannot be delivered regardless of gender, aid activities will be reconsidered.

The United Nations said that 3,300 male and female employees of the organization have stayed at home since women were banned from working at UN agencies.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the situation of women in the country has only got worse. Women in the country are prohibited from leadership posts, and not allowed to work as well as travel unless accompanied by a male companion.

The Taliban promised to reopen all schools on March 23 this year, but, instead, they closed secondary institutions for girls on that day.

There is still no word on when or if these schools will reopen or if the ban is indefinite. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Afghanistan ranks fourth in highest crime rate

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Afghanistan ranks fourth in highest crime rate

More than 76 crimes are committed in Afghanistan for every 100,000 people….reports Asian Lite News

Afghanistan is ranked fourth on the list of countries with the highest crime rate in 2023, according to the World Population Review (WPR), Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported.

The country has the fourth-highest crime rate. More than 76 crimes are committed in Afghanistan for every 100,000 people. The crime has various forms, including corruption, assassinations, drug trafficking, kidnapping and money laundering.

Afghanistan in 2020 provided 85 per cent of the illicit opium consumed worldwide, the report claimed.

The report also added that since the Taliban regained control of the Country in 2021, despite their promise to eliminate the opium industry, it will be difficult since it is such a vital part of the Country’s struggling economy, Khaama Press reported.

The report also said that the other form of crimes could be robbery and assault due to the high unemployment rate in the country.

Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa lead Afghanistan as the countries with the first, second and third highest crime rates respectively.

As per Khaama Press, the total number of crimes of any kind reported divided by the total population, then multiplied by 100,000, yields the overall crime rate (because the crime rate is typically reported as X number of crimes per 100,000 people).

Many factors affect crime rates, which differ widely from country to country. For instance, a country’s crime rate typically increases with high poverty and unemployment, as per Khaama Press. (ANI)

ALSO READ: US Congressional hearing examines repression in Tibet

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan USA

Haley slams Biden for hasty troop pullout

Critics have since slammed the Biden administration for projecting the wrong narrative blaming the Republicans and being disingenuous in claiming there was no chaos….reports Asian Lite News

Nikki Haley, former Republican UN Ambassador of US who has announced her 2024 presidential run, has denounced President Joe Biden’s hasty withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and shifting the blame to his predecessor Donald Trump for the resultant chaos.

Biden never took his allies, who fought shoulder to shoulder in the hilly terrain for over three decades against terrorism, into confidence about the withdrawal and made America open to criticism for the Taliban overrunning the elected government, media reports said.

Nikki Halley, an Indian American whose parents migrated from Amritsar to the US, was born and brought up in South Carolina, the state of which she became the governor, and later, Trump appointed her as US ambassador to the UN.

She said they were making fun of us. “It’s a terrible image throughout the world that we have had. We were completely defeated.”

The White House last week released a 12-page unclassified report of what it called the after action summary on the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, first initiated by then President Donald Trump and followed upon by his successor Joe Biden.

US soldiers prepare to depart from Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Photo Brian Harris_Planet Pix_ZUMA_dpa_IANS)



Biden’s administration blamed former President Trump’s White House for much of what took place.

The overrunning of the democratically elected government by the Taliban and the fleeing of the President from the country since troop’s withdrawal has drawn fire from all quarters in the world, reports said.

The National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed the exit from Afghanistan, during which 13 service members were killed in a bombing at the Kabul Airport, was not chaotic. “For all this talk of chaos, I didn’t see it from my perch,” he said. “I just don’t buy the whole argument of chaos,” The Washington Examiner quoted him as saying.

Critics have since slammed the Biden administration for projecting the wrong narrative blaming the Republicans and being disingenuous in claiming there was no chaos.

“I mean, the idea that we left Afghanistan in the middle of the night, without telling our allies, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us for decades, because we asked them to be there,” Haley told Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM Patriot.

“I mean, think about what that told our allies. More importantly, think about what that told our enemies.”

The former US ambassador to the UN and former South Carolina governor claimed that “Afghanistan had made strides, especially with women, on the fact that women could be educated, women had jobs, and women were making so much progress.”

“And now you look back, and they have, you know, we’ve seen the fact that all of that has gone backwards,” she said.

“And you know, there is no religious freedom there at all. There’s only, you know, control and aggressiveness, and they’ve taken it back,” the examiner quoted her as saying.

The US left military equipment in Afghanistan while withdrawing from the country only to be used by the Taliban in their overrun over the capital city of Kabul.

She charged saying: “We left all of our military equipment, and I remember my husband looking at a video, and he was looking at a video of the Taliban and he’s saying, They’re driving our Jeeps,” she recalled.

“And then he goes, They’re holding our guns. And then the worst part was, he was like, They’re wearing our uniforms.”

Haley said her criticism was not directed towards “why our troops got out” but the “manner in which they got out” leaving everything behind for the Taliban to use.

She said Biden withdrew the troops in the most embarrassing of circumstances and lost 13 brothers and sisters in the process. That was not the way it was supposed to play out, she said.

Haley termed as a debacle the manner in which the Biden administration withdrew the troops. Much of the current issues, she said, have been influenced by what the world observed from the US in 2021, such as “the Russian invasion in Ukraine”, “China sending over a spy balloon”, and “Iran trying to build a bomb”, among others.

ALSO READ: US blames Trump over hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Aid-delivery gets disabled in Afghanistan

Afghan women work in a tailor shop in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, April 26, 2022. (Xinhua/IANS)

Residents of Kabul have emphasized that they require humanitarian aid more than ever right now….reports Asian Lite News

Afghanistan has been pushed deeper into a humanitarian crisis after the Taliban banned female aid workers from working at NGOs, disabling aid delivery at a time when numerous people are in dire need of assistance in the country, TOLOnews reported.

Due to significant underfunding and restrictions on female relief workers, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that Afghanistan is under an emergency and requires aid. Citing OCHA’s report, TOLOnews reported that despite the fact that 20 million people are suffering from extreme hunger and six million of them are on the verge of starvation in the war-torn country, only USD 213 million has been raised so far through assistance.

“While we continue to engage with the Taliban de-facto authorities to find a solution to these decrees, we urge the international community not to punish the Afghan people further by withholding critical funding. Aid agencies remain on the ground delivering lifesaving assistance to millions of people, and national and international NGOs have continued to implement programmes over the past three months despite the very challenging circumstances. The population has already endured so much, it would be unconscionable to impose further harm on them by depriving them of an essential humanitarian lifeline,” head of OCHA in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov stated, according to TOLOnews.

“The world cannot abandon the people of Afghanistan at this precarious moment,” said Ramiz Alakbarov, according to the report.

If aid is not given, more people would become vulnerable, according to Wahidullah Amani, a spokesman for the World Food Organization in Afghanistan.

Residents of Kabul have emphasized that they require humanitarian aid more than ever right now.

Since the Taliban seized power in Kabul last year, the humanitarian situation has been exacerbated in the wake of an unprecedented nationwide economic, financial and humanitarian crises.

The Taliban dismantled the system to respond to gender-based violence, created new barriers to women accessing health care, blocked women’s aid workers from doing their jobs, and curtailed their basic rights. (ANI)

ALSO READ: US blames Trump over hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Arab News

OIC concerned over Taliban ban on Afghan women

Afghan women work in a tailor shop in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, April 26, 2022. (Xinhua/IANS)

The OIC’s general secretariat said that the barring of females from state organisations is of grave concern.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called upon the de-facto authorities of Afghanistan to once again revisit the ban on Afghan women staff of the UN agencies in the country from working, TOLOnews reported.

OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha (Photo: OIC)

Many nations and international organisations have continued to respond negatively to the prohibition. Calling the restrictive measures placed on women and girls regressive for country’s growth, the OIC’s general secretariat said that the barring of females from state organisations is of grave concern, the Afghan news agency said.

Moreover, the German mission for Afghanistan on Twitter also condemned the ban on women working for UNAMA.

“It puts millions in acute danger and blatantly violates human rights. Women are essential to humanitarian assistance,” the German mission said on Twitter, adding, “We are now coordinating further steps with our international partners.”

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, stated that Afghan women would not be replaced with men.

“Afghan women and men are essential to all aspects of the UN’s work in Afghanistan. As we’ve said repeatedly, Afghan women’s meaningful participation is essential to reach safely and effectively populations in need with principled and quality assistance,” he said, reported TOLOnews.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the situation of women in the country has only got worse. Women in the country are prohibited from leadership posts, and not allowed to work as well as travel unless accompanied by a male companion.

The Taliban promised to reopen all schools on March 23, this year, but, instead, on that day, they closed secondary institutions for girls.

There is still no word on when or if these schools will reopen or if the ban is indefinite.

As women’s education continues to suffer majorly in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in March agreed to send a team of scholars to the country to discuss women’s right to education and work with the regime, TOLOnews reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Afghan women slam Taliban over employment curbs

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Pak-Taliban hostility leaves Afghan refugees trapped

Pakistan, which is facing an economic crisis is hell-bent to stop the Afghans from entering the country, pushing back hundreds of them each day…reports Asian Lite News

More than one million Afghan refugees in Pakistan have been trapped between Taliban and Islamabad who is determined to push them into the jaws of harrowing life, Hamid Pakteen wrote in the Afghan Diaspora Network report. Afghans had been fleeing their home for decades, every time the war-torn nation went into conflicts, including at the height of the Cold War and the return of the Taliban.

Over the years, Pakistan has played a game of snakes and ladders with Afghans, the report said. The Afghan refugees first became an effective tool for Pakistan to have influence in Afghanistan and advance its strategic interest of keeping Kabul as its “strategic backyard,” Afghan Diaspora Network reported.
Since the return of Taliban regime in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, more than 6,00,000 Afghans have fled to Pakistan, adding close to four million existing Afghan refugees, of which only 1.32 million people were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Pakistan, which is facing an economic crisis is hell-bent to stop the Afghans from entering the country, pushing back hundreds of them each day, Hamid Pakteen wrote in the Afghan Diaspora Network. Earlier, the situation was different.

Refugees provided a counterbalance to Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy, making Afghans an important tool in Islamabad’s strategic planning, as per the news report. The refugees also helped Pakistan to counter adversarial moves from Afghanistan, including on the Durand Line.

Pakistan welcomed the Afghan refugees during the Soviet invasion which in turn helped Islamabad to get familiar with the Western military bloc. Afghanistan used Pashtun groups opposed to Pakistan to have its influence over Islamabad while the Pakistan Army played a game of providing weapons in 1975 to Panjshir province to overthrow the Afghanistan regime.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) used the Cold War scenario to make terrorist sanctuaries from the refugee camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, as per the Afghan Diaspora Network report. After the Soviets left Afghanistan, the majority of Afghans had little interest in fighting with the Western armies and wanted to live a peaceful life.

Big cities in Pakistan, including Karachi and Peshawar, provided a home away from home and Afghans became part of the urban scape in Pakistan, the author wrote in the news report.

Islamabad even provided a convenient exit gate to Europe and the US for Afghans. However, the situation changed after 2001 and Afghans were no longer welcome in Pakistan. Pakistan started stricter monitoring of refugees and announced stricter detention and deportation policies and Afghans are being pushed back into the hell from where they had fled.

Earlier in March, more than 2,000 Afghan refugees had returned back to their nation from Iran and Pakistan, Taliban appointed Refugees and Repatriation Department announced, according to Khaama Press.

Taking to Twitter, the Refugees, and Repatriation department, on Saturday, said that 1851 Afghan refugees from Iran and 331 others from Pakistan came back home through Spin Boldak and Islamqala crossing points, as per the Khaama Press news report. According to the department, out of 331 refugees, 70 were the ones released from Pakistani prisons. (ANI)

ALSO READ: US blames Trump over hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

Categories
-Top News Afghanistan USA

US blames Trump over hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

US soldiers prepare to depart from Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Photo Brian Harris_Planet Pix_ZUMA_dpa_IANS)

Over his last 11 months in office, Trump ordered a series of drawdowns of American troops and by June 2020, he reduced personnel in Afghanistan to 8,600….reports Asian Lite News

The US administration has blamed the hasty withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in the wake of the 2021 Taliban takeover on former President Donald Trump, saying that President Joe Biden was “severely constrained” by his predecessor’s decisions, including the 2020 Doha Agreement to end the war.

This was revealed in a new report which was put together by the White House National Security Council with input from Biden and made available to the public on Thursday.

It says that when Biden took office in January 2021, he “believed the right thing for the country was to end the longest war in American history and bring American troops home”.

But “Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor”, the report said.

“When Trump took office in 2017, there were more than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan. Eighteen months later, after introducing more than 3,000 additional troops just to maintain the stalemate, he ordered direct talks with the Taliban without consulting with our allies and partners or allowing the Afghan government at the negotiating table.

“In September 2019, Trump embolded the Taliban by publicly considering inviting them to Camp David on the anniversary of 9/11. In February 2020, the US and the Taliban reached a deal, known as the Doha Agreement, under which Washington agreed to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by May 2021.

“In return, the Taliban agreed to participate in a peace process and refrain from attacking US troops and threatening Afghanistan’s major cities, but only as long as the US remained committed to withdraw by the agreement’s deadline,” it added.

The report goes on to say that as part of the agreement, the former President had also pressured the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison, “without securing the release of the only American hostage known to be held by the Taliban”.

Over his last 11 months in office, Trump ordered a series of drawdowns of American troops and by June 2020, he reduced personnel in Afghanistan to 8,600.

The report mentions that there was an unclassified signed order directing the US military to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan no later than January 15, 2021. One week later, that order was rescinded and replaced with one to draw down to 2,500 troops by the same date.

During the transition period, the outgoing Trump administration “provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to
evacuate Americans and Afghan allies”, claims the report.

“As a result, when President Biden took office on January 20, 2021, the Taliban were in the strongest military position that they had been in since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country. At the same time, the US had only 2,500 troops on the ground — the lowest number of troops in Afghanistan since 2001,” it said.

The deadly pull-out in August 2021 ended America’s longest war.

When the Afghan government collapsed on August 15, 2021, there were desperate scenes at Kabul airport as huge crowds tried to flee the Taliban.

On August 26, an attack at the airport by two suicide bombers killed 170 Afghans and 13 US soldiers as the American troops were scrambling to evacuate more than 120,000 people in a matter of days.

Responding to the report, Trump shot back on social media, accusing “Morons in the White House” of playing “a new disinformation game – Blame “TRUMP” for their grossly incompetent SURRENDER in Afghanistan”.

“Biden is responsible, no one else!” he said.

ALSO READ: Trump charged with 34 felonies after historic arrest