Category: Afghanistan

Some 70 personalities representing Afghan refugees in Pakistan and about 30 others from refugees living in Iran have participated in the Jirga….reports Asian Lite News

The much-awaited Loya Jirga or grand assembly of Afghan religious scholars and elders opened in Kabul on Thursday, the Taliban-led government’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced.

Mujahid told the state-run media that the Jirga allows people of Afghanistan and even representatives of Iran and Pakistan-based Afghan refugees to attend it, reports Xinhua news agency.

Some 70 personalities representing Afghan refugees in Pakistan and about 30 others from refugees living in Iran have participated in the Jirga however, women have not been allowed to attend the assembly by the Taliban.

According to the state-run Bakhtar news agency, about 3,500 religious scholars and elders from across the country have been invited to attend the grand assembly.

Participants of the jirga are expected to discuss a series of issues, including reopening schools for girls from classes 7-12, the type of government, national flag and national anthem.

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The acting Foreign Minister said that the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate government seeks good relations with all the countries….reports Asian Lite News

Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting Foreign Minister of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, expressed optimism about with the regime’s ties with the international community, saying that more countries are expected to reopen their diplomatic missions in Kabul soon.

“We have good relations with all the world and our relations are getting better. We hope to have good achievements in the future too,” TOLO News quoted Muttaqi as saying on Sunday.

The acting Foreign Minister said that the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate government seeks good relations with all the countries.

“Our relations are official with the world. Although no one announced our recognition, that is another issue. But our embassies are opened in many countries and many countries have their embassies opened in Kabul,” Muttaqi said.

Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan have accredited the Islamic Emirate’s appointed diplomat in recent months, though all had initially refused to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

In the wake of the Taliban takeover last August, Western nations shut down their diplomatic posts in Kabul, Khaama Press reported.

They have however, maintained contact with the group to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-torn nation.

The Taliban regime must comply with at least for conditions to potentially gain formal recognition: observe the rights or women and rights to education; form an inclusive government; and do not use Afghanistan for any attack against the region and the international community.

ALSO READ: Taliban turning schools into madrasas

Critics say the aim of the Islamist militant group is to root out all forms of the modern secular education that thrived in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban’s first regime….reports Asian Lite News

Dozens of state schools, public universities, and vocational training centers have been turned by the Taliban into Islamic seminaries across Afghanistan.

Equipped with a science laboratory, library, and computer lab, the Abdul Hai Habibi High School was considered one of the most modern and prestigious government schools in southeastern Afghanistan.

But since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the secular school in the city of Khost has been converted into a madrasah, or religious seminary, forcing many of its 6,000 students and 130 teachers to leave, RFE/RL reported.

Critics say the aim of the Islamist militant group is to root out all forms of the modern secular education that thrived in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban’s first regime.

Transforming Afghanistan’s education system has been one of the Taliban’s main goals since it regained power. The militants have banned girls from attending high school, imposed gender segregation and a new dress code at public universities, and vowed to overhaul the national curriculum. The Taliban has also unveiled plans to build a vast network of madrasahs across the country’s 34 provinces.

Madrasahs have a special place in the Taliban’s worldview. The word “taliban” means students of madrasahs. Many members of the Taliban, which first emerged in the 1990s, studied at radical Islamic seminaries in neighbouring Pakistan.

A teacher in eastern Afghanistan said the Taliban was converting training centers for teachers into madrasahs. He said the centres, which follow the existing curriculum devised by the former government, provided training to new teachers. Each province has at least one training centre for teachers, RFE/RL reported.

“In certain provinces, the [Taliban’s] Education Ministry has already handed over training centres to be converted into jihadist madrasahs,” he said.

He said the Taliban has already converted training centres in the northern province of Baghlan and the eastern province of Kunar into madrasahs.

Mohammad Mohiq, an Islamic scholar, accused the Taliban of employing “social engineering.” He said the Taliban has a systematic plan to “brainwash” the next generation in madrasahs by undermining secular schools.

“This way, they can keep recruiting [madrasah] students to be their soldiers and build a medieval theocratic system,” he said, RFE/RL reported.

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While there is a layer of sectarian rivalry in the infighting within the Taliban, it is money generated by selling coal that seems to be at the root of the crisis….MRITYUNJOY KUMAR JHA

Taliban factions are feuding with each other over control over coal mines, after demand for coal in neighbouring Pakistan surged due to hike in oil and gas prices.

The Pushtun-dominated Taliban mainstream is being challenged by Hazara commander Maulavi Mehdi Mujahid. The bad blood between the two became public in April after the Taliban fired Mujahid from his post of Intelligence chief in the Bamiyan province. The Hazaras have been traditionally close to Iran, a leader of the Shia sect among Muslims.

While there is a layer of sectarian rivalry in the infighting within the Taliban, it is money generated by selling coal that seems to be at the root of the crisis.

Unsurprisingly, after his sacking, Mehdi declared war against the Taliban. Initially, the Taliban ignored his threats but as the fighting spread, the group’s leadership sent a few top officials to reason with him. But that effort at negotiations yielded little results.

“We are not extremists and do not accept oppression and cruelty. As you can see, a number of Taliban delegations have recently arrived. We talked about friendship and brotherhood but they refused. We did not want anything but brotherhood, equality and social justice. We want an inclusive system,” said Mujahid in his video message which was posted on social media.

Mujahid claims that he represents the millions of Afghan Hazara and Shia communities.

“Either give us our rights. If you don’t give that, we don’t fear war,” he declared. Mujahid has dug his heels in his stronghold in the Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan, along with thousands of his armed supporters. The faction leader also accused Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Interior Minister of the Taliban for attacking Shia mosques.

“The perpetrators of the bombings in Shiite mosques are the Haqqani network. I have credible documents and evidence and will make them available to the media and the public soon,” said Mujahid.

To suppress the uprising by Hazaras, the Taliban has dispatched thousands of troops to Balkhab. According to Afghan media, a possible clash might start between the Taliban and Mujahid very soon.

According to Afghan experts, Mujahid was appointed as a shadow governor of Balkhab in 2020 by the Taliban as they wanted the support of the Hazara community to show to the world that they are representing a large part of Afghanistan.

According to Bilal Sarwary, an Afghan journalist, the main reason for the Taliban’s rift with Mahdi is over the proceeds of coal mines in Balkhab. There has been a hike in demands for coal in Pakistan after the energy prices went up and the decade-long unmet energy shortages in Pakistan. Since the collapse of the previous regime, Pakistani businesses flocked to the north to reap the spoils of an unregulated market and all the coal from the mines in northern Afghanistan is now being exported to Pakistan at dirt-cheap prices.

“Mahdi pockets around 60 million in Afghani currency a day from Balkhab mines. He turned Balkhab into an economic power hub creating economic activities for the locals and the surrounding areas and collecting taxes that he does not share with Kabul.”

According to Afghan experts, this helped Mujahid garner support from local communities. Taliban’s ploy to offer him a job in Kabul is to gain access to the proceeds of the mines and thwart a possible challenge to their rule from within in the future.

Contrary to the Taliban’s claim that an atmosphere of calm and security prevails in Afghanistan, there has rumblings against their rule in some parts of the country. For instance, the National Resistance Front (NRF), headed by Ahmad Massoud-the son of the legendary Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, has revolted in the Panjshir Valley.

Earlier this year, Makhdoom Alam, a senior Uzbek Taliban commander in the northern Afghan province of Faryab was arrested by the Taliban for raising the issue of inclusiveness in national governance.

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

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The epicentre was 44 km from Khost city and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India….reports Asian Lite News

At least five people were killed on Friday when a tremor hit Afghanistan’s Paktika province where a massive earthquake had claimed 1,100 lives earlier this week, authorities said.

“Unfortunately, once again an earthquake hit Gayan district of Paktika province roughly at 10 a.m. on Friday based on the initial information, five people were killed and 11 others wounded,” Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Public Health as saying in a tweet.

On early Wednesday, the 5.9-magnitude earthquake, deemed to be the deadliest in two decades, struck the districts of Gayan and Barmal. Some 1,600 people were also injured as a result.

The epicentre was 44 km from Khost city and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India.

More than 1,600 homes were destroyed in the worst-hit Gayan district.

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