This is the second batch of 40 million US dollars in cash aid sent to Afghanistan by the international community over the past week…reports Asian Lite News
Afghanistan has received a batch of 40 million US dollars in humanitarian cash aid for bolstering its economy, said Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country’s central bank in a statement on Wednesday.
This is the second batch of 40 million US dollars in cash aid sent to Afghanistan by the international community over the past week, Xinhua news agency reported.
“As part of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan a batch of 40 million US dollars in cash reached Kabul Tuesday and was transferred to one of the country’s commercial banks,” the statement said without naming the bank where the cash has been deposited.
The war-town and economically impoverished Afghanistan received a similar amount on September 22 as part of support to raise the country’s foreign reserve, which has reached more than 1.2 billion US dollars.
Taliban’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai claimed on September 27 that Islamabad was “receiving millions of dollars” from Washington to allow American drones to conduct flights over Afghanistan.
Pakistan has termed the recent remarks of an official from the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan as “against the spirit of friendly relations”, and highlighted the need for interim authorities to take necessary steps to address international expectations and concerns.
The views were expressed by Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar at the weekly media briefing here on Friday, in response to a question regarding the statement of the Taliban’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai, a week after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shared the concern of the international community regarding threats posed by terrorist groups operating from the neighbouring country, during an address to the UN General Assembly, Dawn news reported.
The premier’s speech, however provoked a sharp rebuke from the Taliban, with Stanikzai claiming on September 27 that Islamabad was “receiving millions of dollars” from Washington to allow American drones to conduct flights over Afghanistan.
“How long can we tolerate this?” he asked a gathering in Kabul. “If we rise against this, no one will be able to stop us.”
In response to the question about his comment, the FO spokesman said: “This is very unfortunate and unacceptable. We have noted with concern, these recent remarks. We consider such statements as against the spirit of friendly relations between our two brotherly countries.
“Pakistan’s role in facilitating peace in Afghanistan, and our efforts to strengthen bilateral ties are well known, and they are acknowledged widely.
“We believe that for the success of positive engagement, it is important that the interim Afghan authorities take necessary steps to address international expectations and concerns.
“For its part, Pakistan will continue to pursue positive engagement with Afghanistan for peace, prosperity, and progress of the two countries and the wider region.”
Of particular concern is the vulnerability of more than four million internally displaced, including people belonging to minorities and over 3.5 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries….reports Asian Lite News
Amid the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, the situation of Afghan women continues to deteriorate as they are denied their fundamental freedoms and rights under the Taliban rule, said the Charge d’Affaires of the Afghan Permanent Mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq at the UN Security Council recently.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, Afghan women and girls have been systematically excluded from all economic, social, and political arenas, Faiq said during the UNSC briefing on Afghanistan on Tuesday, reported Khaama Press.
He also underlined the importance of underlined restoration of fundamental rights for women and girls and called for the immediate opening of schools for girls in the war-ravaged country.
According to international assessments, Afghanistan now has the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity, with more than 23 million in need of assistance, and approximately 95 per cent of the population having insufficient food consumption.
Of particular concern is the vulnerability of more than four million internally displaced, including people belonging to minorities and over 3.5 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.
More than 24.4 million people need humanitarian aid in Afghanistan–an increase from 18.4 million in 2021, according to a report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
The report states that the Taliban takeover of the country and the resulting cut in international assistance has led to a worsening humanitarian crisis and approximately 70 per cent of the Afghans are unable to provide for their basic needs on a daily basis.
Notably, the situation of human rights in Afghanistan has worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power in August last year. Although the fighting in the country has ended, serious human rights violations continue unabated, especially against women and minorities.
Besides this, the continuously soaring prices of food products in the country have emerged as a new challenge for Afghans. In a short span of fewer than three months, food prices have almost doubled, reported Khaama Press. (ANI)
This deal comes as Russia has been hit hard by sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
Taliban have inked an agreement to purchase and import Russian wheat, gas, and oil, the officials of the Islamic group said.
A Taliban spokesperson said products including gasoline, diesel, gas, and wheat would be purchased at a “special discount” in Russian currency, Khaama Press news agency reported.
Although Russia had agreed to the discounted trade deal, the Taliban official did not provide any details on the pricing and payment methods.
This deal comes as Russia has been hit hard by sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine. The punitive measures from the Western countries have forced Moscow to shift its exports from Europe to Asia.
Meanwhile, economic development, trade and transit remained a high priority for the Taliban, since its accent to power in August last year.
The Islamic group has continued diplomatic and economic engagement with regional countries, whose representatives stated publicly that formal recognition of the de facto authorities as a government was not imminent.
This deal comes after high-level Taliban delegations visited Russia earlier this year. Aside from Moscow, several companies from regional countries have shown interest in investing in the extractive industries sector in Afghanistan.
The Taliban leadership have consistently said that they are looking for trade deals with the international community.
This latest agreement with Russia move could help to ease the isolation that has effectively cut it off from the world following their takeover of Afghanistan last year.
A UN report released on Tuesday said the Afghan economy remained greatly weakened by the severe economic contraction and the banking and financial crisis that followed the Taliban takeover.
“Available data suggest that six-month revenue collection through June, driven by customs and non-tax sources, is on par with the level recorded for the same period last year, and exports, driven by coal and fruits, surpassed past performance,” said the latest quarterly report of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Security Council.
The sudden stop of aid inflows, however, accompanied by political uncertainty, inadequate access to services and women’s exclusion from economic participation, continued to lead to slow growth, the report added.
According to the UN report, Humanitarian needs were compounded by the sharp economic decline and the
devastating combination of decades of conflict, recent earthquakes, recurring natural hazards and protracted vulnerability. (ANI)
Afghanistan: At least 20 killed, 22 injured in Herati mosque blast
The blast took place in front of Faizabad Municipality at 4 p.m. local time, killing one civilian and injuring three others..reports Asian Lite News
One person was killed and three others injured as a blast rocked Faizabad city, the capital of Afghanistan’s northern Badakhshan province, Provincial Head of Information and Culture Department Qari Maazudin Ahmadi said.
The blast took place in front of Faizabad Municipality at 4 p.m. local time, killing one civilian and injuring three others, the official added on Sunday.
Ahmadi said an investigation was underway, Xinhua news agency reported.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the blast.
On Friday, a deadly blast outside a mosque in the Afghanistan capital Kabul claimed seven lives and injured more than 40 others.
A special flight operated by Ariana Afghan with a number 315 was organised by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee, Amritsar in coordination with the Indian World Forum and the Government of India…reports Asian Lite News
A special flight carrying 55 Afghan Sikh minorities fleeing from Afghanistan arrived in India at New Delhi airport on Sunday, as a part of efforts to evacuate the distressed minorities in the Taliban-led nation.
International President of World Punjabi Organisation and Punjab Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Vikramjit Singh Sahney received the Afghan refugees who arrived at the Indira Gandhi Airport today.
A special flight operated by Ariana Afghan with a number 315 was organised by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee, Amritsar in coordination with the Indian World Forum and the Government of India to evacuate these Afghan minorities.
“The 55 families which were stranded in Kabul, Jalalabad have arrived safely in Delhi today. I am thankful to the Indian government to facilitate e-visas. We will rehabilitate them in the “My family My responsibility” programme.” Punjab MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney said.
Sahney is running a programme “My family My responsibility” under which 543 Afghan Sikhs and Hindu families are being rehabilitated in West Delhi by providing them with all facilities.
He said, “We are already rehabilitating 543 families by providing them with monthly household expenditures, house rent and medical facilities, and the rehabilitation of these people will be a part of the same programme.”
The Afghan refugees thanked the Indian government and Prime Minister to provide urgent e-visas and safely evacuating them.
An Afghan Sikh, Baljeet Singh, who returned on the same flight, said, “The condition is not very well in Afghanistan. I was imprisoned for four months. Taliban have cheated us, they butchered our hair in prison. I am thankful and happy to return to India and to our religion. There are 11-12 people left behind who will also return soon, I hope.”
“We would like to thank the Indian government to give us urgent visas and help us to reach India. We are 55 families who have arrived here today, but many of us still have families left behind as around 30-35 people are left stranded in Afghanistan. They have been issued visas from the Indian government, but it is their wish now if they want to return or not,” Sukhbeer Singh Khalsa, another Afghan Sikh refugee said.
Mansa Singh, a sevadar at Kabul gurdwara said, I would like to thank the Indian government and PM Modi to facilitate with e-visa and help us return to India. Besides, I would like to thank Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Puneet Chandowk and all other organisations who made this a success; hence, we returned safely.”
“The situation of Afghanistan is not hidden, we have come here for the safety of our kids, and urge the Indian government to evacuate our other 30 brothers who are left behind in Afghanistan,” he added.
The Sikh refugees told that there are still some 30-35 Afghan Sikhs who are stranded in Afghanistan, and said that the government has provided them e-visas but it is their own wish to stay back.
On being asked about the remaining Sikh nationals in Afghanistan, the AAP MP Sahney said that they are the sevadars and others in the service of gurudwaras, the Indian government is trying to evacuate them as well.
“The remaining Afghan Hindus and Sikhs in the country are sevadars and those in the service of gurudwaras, the Taliban has urged to let them stay there saying that those gurudwaras are a part of national heritage. But the government is in talks with the Taliban to evacuate the remaining Sikh and Hindu nationals, and we will hopefully bring them back to their country,” the AAP MP said.
He thanked the government of India and all other organisations who helped to make the mission successful.
“Since the Taliban took over the country situation is not under control, and an evacuation process was underway. The Government of India played a significant role and held talks with the Taliban to evacuate the Sikh nationals. We are working as a family and would like to thank all the teams and organisations who have helped in this,” Sahney said.
Indian World Forum has coordinated and facilitated humanitarian evacuation for more than 300 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs post the regime change in Kabul.
68 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have arrived till date after the attack at Gurudwara Karte Parwan in Kabul. SGPC is bearing the airfare for the same. On August 3, at least 30 Afghan Sikhs including children and infants, arrived in Delhi by a non-scheduled commercial flight from Kabul, operated by Kam Air.
On July 14, a total of 21 Afghan Sikhs, including an infant, were evacuated from Kabul to New Delhi on Kam Air, the largest private Afghan airline.
There were about 700 Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan in 2020, but a large number of them left the country following the Taliban’s takeover on August 15, 2021.
Four Saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib still remains in Afghanistan. Due to a lack of cooperation from the local administration in Kabul, the same could not be transferred to India as per religious protocol.
Ever Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, there has been a series of attacks on Sikhs.
On June 18 this year, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) attacked Karte Parwan Gurdwara in Kabul which claimed the lives of about 50 people.
In October, last year 15 to 20 terrorists entered a Gurdwara in the Kart-e-Parwan District of Kabul and tied up the guards.
In March 2020, a deadly attack took place at Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib Gurudwara in Kabul’s Short Bazaar area in which 27 Sikhs were killed and several were injured. Islamic State terrorists claimed responsibility for the attack.
On the death anniversary of former Afghan President, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Dostum in the meeting that Khalili is colluding with Pakistan as he continues to choose silence on Taliban’s actions….reports Asian Lite News
Abdul Rashid Dostum, a political figure and leader of the Uzbek community in Afghanistan accused Mohammad Karim Khalili, a Hazara leader of having secret ties with Pakistan, media reports said.
Dostum made the claims in an online meeting which saw the presence of anti-Talibani figures. He criticized the absence of Mohammad Karim Khalili in the meeting and accused him of having secret ties with Pakistan, reported Khaama Press.
On the death anniversary of former Afghan President, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Dostum in the meeting that Khalili is colluding with Pakistan as he continues to choose silence on Taliban’s actions.
He further said that Khalili has received money from Pakistan to stay ‘silent’ against the Taliban. Reacting to Dostum’s remarks, Mohammad Karim Khalili burst out in anger and asked the Uzbek leader to apologize for his words.
On his social media account, Khalili sai that his political party believes that war and violence is not the solution for Afghanistan’s crisis and that the country needs to switch from a centralized system to a fully decentralized administration system through negotiations, reported Khaama Press.
Since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has been the country’s de facto authority.
The UN has called upon the Taliban to reverse the slew of measures they have introduced restricting Afghan women and girls’ enjoyment of their basic rights and freedoms.
“The window of opportunity may be narrowing, but we urge them to take concrete steps – such as actively enabling girls to return to high school – that can lift Afghanistan up and give hope to its people,” a UNAMA statement read.
Various rights group is calling on the Taliban to implement major policy changes and measures to uphold the rights of women and girls. Despite initial public commitments to uphold the rights of women and girls, the Taliban introduced policies of systematic discrimination that violate their rights.
Women and girls across Afghanistan reacted to this crackdown with a wave of protests. In response, the Taliban targeted protesters with harassment and abuse, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, and physical and psychological torture. (ANI)
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan the natives of the country are under a severe humanitarian crisis and are deprived of basic amenities…reports Asian Lite News
In the wake of poor Internet services across Afghanistan, residents in Kabul called on authorities to pay attention to the issue as they complained about low-quality Internet despite paying high prices for the service.
“The people can’t get 1GB or 2GB of Internet,” said Naveed, a resident of Kabul, according to TOLOnews.
Questioning the relevant departments, another resident Mohammad Naseem said, “The price of the Internet is high, why is it not controlled?”
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan the natives of the country are under a severe humanitarian crisis and are deprived of basic amenities.
Moreover, university students also expressed their plight and said due to the high price of the Internet and its low quality, they cannot access materials to study online.
“We need to have access to the Internet, but unfortunately, the price is high and the quality is poor,” TOLOnews reported quoting Abdul Qadir, a student.
However, the officials of the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology Information refuted the claims of locals and said that the price of one gigabyte of the Internet has recently dropped to 110 Afs from 250 Afs and efforts are underway to improve the quality of the Internet, according to TOLOnews.
Since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has been the country’s de facto authority.
Various rights groups are calling on the Taliban to implement major policy changes and measures to uphold the rights of women and girls.
Since they took control of the country in August 2021, the Taliban have violated women’s and girls’ rights to education, work, and free movement and decimated the system of protection and support for those fleeing domestic violence. People are deprived of basic facilities and people are facing serious challenges due to takeover of Afghanistan by the terror outfit.
The group has also detained women and girls for minor violations of discriminatory rules and contributed to a surge in the rates of child, early and forced marriage in Afghanistan. (ANI)
Several reports have been published about the clashes between the Islamic Emirate forces and Resistant Front fighters–with both sides claiming to be inflicting casualties on each other…reports Asian Lite News
UN special rapporteur for Afghan Human Rights, Richard Bennett, called out the Taliban to conduct the investigations amid reports of extra-judicial killings in Panjshir in a genuine manner and as per international standards.
“Noting Department of Foreign Affairs, MoD, has opened an investigation into reports of extra-judicial killings in Panjshir, I remind Taliban that they bear responsibility for the actions of their forces,” Bennett said in a tweet, TOLOnews reported.
However, the local officials in Panshir said that a serious investigation is underway.
“The Ministry of Defense and the provincial governor’s office started a serious investigation into this to find out the time of the videos because the fighting happened in several areas. Sometimes the videos are misused,” said Nasrullah Malikzada, head of the Panjshir department of culture.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense said it would investigate footage on social media about the killing of detainees, as per the Khaama Press and stated that the perpetrators would be brought to justice if it is proven that the footage is original and the incident took place in Panjshir, TOLOnews reported.
Several reports have been published about the clashes between the Islamic Emirate forces and Resistant Front fighters–with both sides claiming to be inflicting casualties on each other.
Earlier also, UN experts cautioned that Afghanistan’s future is “bleak” if more is not done to improve the deteriorating human rights situation, especially for women and girls.
Since they took control of the country in August 2021, the Taliban have violated women’s and girls’ rights to education, work, and free movement and decimated the system of protection and support for those fleeing domestic violence. The group has also detained women and girls for minor violations of discriminatory rules and contributed to a surge in the rates of child, early and forced marriage in Afghanistan.
Various rights group is calling on the Taliban to implement major policy changes and measures to uphold the rights of women and girls.
Since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has been the country’s de facto authority.
Despite initial public commitments to uphold the rights of women and girls, the Taliban introduced policies of systematic discrimination that violate their rights. Women and girls across Afghanistan reacted to this crackdown with a wave of protests. In response, the Taliban targeted protesters with harassment and abuse, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, and physical and psychological torture. (ANI)
The spokesman said the matter was under investigation and that they were in contact with the leadership to pre-empt the construction of posts in the nearby areas in future…reports Asian Lite News
The Taliban government in Afghanistan and the Pakistani military have traded barbs over a clash along the Durand Line, the countries’ international land border, the media reported.
In a statement on Wednesday, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan government Bilal Karimi confirmed that the clashes took place in Dand Patan area in Afghanistan’s Paktia province while Pakistani forces were trying to build a post close to the border.
Durand Line
“As a matter of principle”, construction of military installations or posts was not permissible in close proximity of the Durand Line, Dawn news reported citing Karimi as saying.
But the Pakistani troops, he claimed, attempted to build a post close to the border and when some people from the Afghan side approached them to discuss the issue, “unfortunately, they were fired upon as a result of which there were casualties”.
“Subsequently, there was (an) exchange of fire between the two sides which possibly caused some casualties on the other side as well,” he said.
The spokesman said the matter was under investigation and that they were in contact with the leadership to pre-empt the construction of posts in the nearby areas in future.
Karimi’s remarks follow a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media affairs wing of Pakistan military, soon after the incident on Tuesday.
The ISPR said that three Pakistani soldiers were killed in firing by “terrorists from inside Afghanistan” in the general area of Kharlachi, Kurram tribal district.
“As per credible intelligence reports, due to fire of (our) own troops, terrorists suffered heavy casualties,” it further said.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that Afghan government will not allow conduct of such activities in future,” the ISPR had said.
