The employees said that they were in dire financial conditions and that the Taliban government has failed to pay them for the last eight months service they had provided for the airport….reports Asian Lite News
Several staffers at the Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport in Afghanistans Kandahar province have resigned over non-payment of salaries and remunerations.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan last August, at least 35 airport employees have resigned till date, reports Khaama Press.
The employees said that they were in dire financial conditions and that the Taliban government has failed to pay them for the last eight months service they had provided for the airport.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation, however, put the number of resignations at 15, claiming that the employees who quit were housekeepers, helpers and janitors, while not specifying whether the workers were paid.
According to sources, if employees’ salaries are not paid on time, the number of resignations may rise owing to financial difficulties.
The development comes after the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned last week that Afghanistan was currently experiencing the “worst humanitarian crisis on Earth”, with about 20 million people facing food insecurity.
The Taliban has admitted that their chopper was shot down but did not reveal the identity of their captured commander….writes Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
The Taliban has launched fresh air and ground attacks in the Panjshir valley in a bid to rescue one of the senior commanders and four crew members who are under the custody of the National Resistance Front (NRF).
Two days ago, the anti-Taliban NRF led by Ahmad Massoud had claimed that they had shot down a MI-17 chopper and arrested a senior Taliban commander along with the helicopter’s crew. The NRF video shows an Mi17 helicopter engulfed in smoke somewhere in Panjshir mountains of northern Afghanistan. The group also released the pictures of captured Taliban pilots and a commander who were onboard the chopper.
“The brave forces of the NRF shot down a Taliban occupier’s helicopter in the Arezoo valley of Panjshir. Unlike the Taliban, we are treating the arrested Taliban commander and others as the law of prisoners of war,” Sibghatullah Ahmadi, the NRF’s spokesperson told local Afghan media. He added that the NRF was ready to exchange these prisoners under the supervision of the Red Cross.
The Taliban has admitted that their chopper was shot down but did not reveal the identity of their captured commander. According to NRF, the Taliban commander was a “high value” prisoner. It warned the Taliban of dire consequences if they try to launch any rescue operation.
According to unverified reports, the NRF has killed three Taliban commanders including a key aide of Abdul Haq Waseq, the Taliban’s intelligence chief who is very close to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s Interior Minister.
“The NRF fighters are spread around the Kuhsar village, Paryan, Panjshir. The freedom fighters have about 20 heavily defended bases in the Panjshir mountains and during the last 10 months the Taliban terrorists did not manage to capture even one base,” tweeted Frenkie Mark,a French journalist who is there in Panjshir.
Over the past few weeks, NRF fighters have launched many attacks on Taliban in the erstwhile Northern Alliance bastion.
“We do not recognise this Taliban government because they have not gained their legitimacy from people ”, Ahmad Massoud said. He added that he is ready to stop the war if the Taliban agree to form an inclusive government where all ethnic groups and women have a decisive participation.
The NRF, an armed coalition of several militias and former Afghan military personnel, was formed after the Taliban recaptured Kabul last August. The alliance is led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, a legendary anti-Taliban fighter, who used the Panjshir Valley as a base to fight the Soviets in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s. Panjshir is a predominantly ethnic Tajik region, whereas the Taliban are dominated by Pashtuns.
Ahmad Massaod says that his fight is for the inclusive government in Afghanistan which the Taliban has failed to form despite their promises made to the world.
“We do not recognise this Taliban government because they have not gained their legitimacy from people ”, Ahmad Massoud told Al Arabiya TV.
He said that the NRF Council has released a charter that states that armed resistance will be used if the Taliban do not comply with the wishes of the inclusive transitional government. “We have proposed the charter which has a detailed report on the political system, the decentralized parliamentary Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.” he said.
But the Taliban has called the attacks by the NRF as minor local skirmishes.
“These claims are untrue. There was some gunfire from the mountains. We have taken steps to suppress them,” was the version of a spokesman in the Panjshir government office. Six Islamic Emirate troops have died in the clashes so far. “The claims of much higher casualties made by opponents are untrue”. But various posts on social media have shown pictures of top Taliban leaders visiting those areas where the battles are raging.
In the last two weeks, the Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Baradar,the Defence Minister of the Taliban, Mullah Yaqoob and other top leaders of the group were seen in the Panjshir valley.
Earlier, the Taliban tried to reach out to the NRF for negotiation. In late January, a Taliban delegation led by the Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi met Massoud in Tehran and Moscow, but the talks have apparently not yielded positive results.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has called on the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to address problems faced by Afghan refugees abroad…reports Asian Lite News
Addressing a gathering here, acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Khalil Rahman Haqqani expressed concerns over the mistreatment of the refugees who have fled to other nations in the wake of the conflict, reports TOLO News.
“The rights of refugees, their problems must be raised to the whole world and to those who are responsible for them,” he said.
The deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Bilal Karimi, said there were reports of Afghan refugees being mistreated in some countries.
“Unfortunately, we have heard some reports that our citizens are facing problems in some countries. We call on the officials of these countries to understand the situation of the Afghans based on their humanitarian and Islamic faith,” he said at the same gathering.
According to the UNHCR, Afghan refugees are the third-largest displaced population in the world, following Syrian refugees and displaced Venezuelans.
There are 2.6 million registered Afghan refugees in the world, of whom 2.2 million are registered in Iran and Pakistan alone.
After the Taliban took over in August last year, 667,900 Afghans were internally displaced, which added to the already 3.5 million internally displaced civilians at the end of 2020.
Eighty per cent of the newly displaced Afghans are women and children.
According to the Taliban-led government’s Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), there will be three to four flights each week…reports Asian Lite News
The Jalalabad Airport in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province has resumed civilian flights after two decades of serving as a base for the US military and other foreign troops.
According to the Taliban-led government’s Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), there will be three to four flights each week, reports TOLO News.
“The resumption of civilian flights from Nangarhar airport is a good step. It is a major resource for the eastern provinces of Laghman, Nuristan, Kunar and Nangarhar itself,” said Imam Mohammad Warimach, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Civil Aviation.
MoTCA said it will attempt to provide further facilities at the airport.
“With the Islamic Emirate’s coming to power, we reactivated this airport and provided it with all the necessary equipment. The staff of the MoTCA have occupied their posts,” said Imamuddin Warimach, a Ministry spokesman.
Meanwhile, businesspeople have called for the resumption of international flights from Nangarhar province, saying that the international flights can help the country’s economy.
“I call on the Islamic Emirate’s officials to facilitate international flights from this airport and air-corridor, thus we can export our goods from Afghanistan,” TOLO News quoted Zalmay Azimi, a businessman, as saying.
Earlier, the Jalalabad Airport was heavily used by the US Armed Forces and civilian contractors. They operated out of Forward Operating Base Fenty.
Members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Resolute Support Mission (RSM) also used the airport.
An Afghan Taliban member stands guard at the site of a blast in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Oct. 3, 2021. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua/IANS)
The Ministry of Interior have confirmed the blasts and said a group of armed insurgents entered the gurdwara in Kart-e-Parwan area, reports Asian Lite News
At least two civilians were killed and three security personnel injured after three explosions ripped through a gurdwara in Kabul on Saturday, according to multiple sources.
The Ministry of Interior have confirmed the blasts and said a group of armed insurgents entered the gurdwara in Kart-e-Parwan area.
“Before entering, the enemy attacked the guards with a grenade, which caused a fire, and two of our Hindu compatriots, who were injured in the attack, were evacuated and taken to hospital for treatment,” the Ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, a car bomb was also detonated by the insurgents before it reached its target.
“Fortunately, they did not reach their target and detonated a car bomb before reaching the target.”
Meanwhile, a witness told Xinhua news agency: “We heard a huge blast which struck the gate of the temple at around 6 a.m. The blast was followed by two more explosions inside the temple.”
The security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures, and several warning shots were also fired, he said.
A security source told Xinhua that the two people were killed during the first blast.
Videos on social media showed smoke billowing from the two-storey gurdwara which is surrounded by blast walls.
Mediapersons and the general public were not allowed to enter the site and no one knows what exactly is ongoing inside the compound.
Meanwhile, India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar has condemned the attack in Kabul.
“The cowardly attack on Gurudwara Karte Parwan should be condemned in the strongest terms by all,” Jaishankar tweeted.
“We have been closely monitoring developments since the news of the attack was received. Our first and foremost concern is for the welfare of the community,” he added.
The cowardly attack on Gurudwara Karte Parwan should be condemned in the strongest terms by all.
We have been closely monitoring developments since the news of the attack was received. Our first and foremost concern is for the welfare of the community. https://t.co/ocfuY0RBhN
Earlier in the day, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that it was closely monitoring the situation.
We are deeply concerned at the reports emanating from Kabul about an attack on a sacred gurdwara in that city,” a statement citing Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and waiting for further details on the unfolding developments.”
In March 2020, two dozen worshippers were killed when a gurdwara was attacked in downtown Kabul.
In recent months, the war-torn country has been hit by a series of terror attacks reportedly staged by the Islamic State (IS) terror group opposing the Taliban-led government.
On Friday, one person was killed and seven others were wounded after a blast hit a mosque in the northern province of Kunduz.
At the session, countries and representatives of human rights organisations discussed the state of the world’s interactions with the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate regime…reports Asian Lite News
Nasir Andisha, Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said that all efforts by the international community to engage with the Taliban regime in Kabul in the past 10 months were “approaching a dead end”.
While addressing the 50th annual UN Human Rights session in Geneva, Andisha said: “In the past 10 months, the international community is using every possible mean to engage with the Taliban, but it appears to become a dead end filled with broken promises and deep disappointments.
“The violent extremist group have removed, decree by decree, every fundamental rights and liberties of the citizens of Afghanistan. Women cannot participate in political life and are not represented in the government,women have become invisible in public life.
“As the conflict resumed in several parts of the country,gruesome reports of violations of the IHL including extrajudicial killings, torture, displacement, denial of access to medical facilities killing of war wounded, surfaced.”
At the session, countries and representatives of human rights organisations discussed the state of the world’s interactions with the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate regime, the “systematic exclusion of women from society”, and the “deteriorating human rights situation”, TOLO News reported.
“We want to speak to the Taliban ourselves, we know what our people need… I call on the de facto authorities to honor their commitments to women’s rights to urgently create a meaningful dialogue with Afghan women and to listen to their voices…,” said Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
She said that the Taliban’s recent acts constituted an “institutionalised, systematic’ oppression of Afghan women”.
Bachelet explained that the Taliban’s policy toward women is alarming, and that women currently have no opportunity to engage in public gatherings.
Also addressing the session, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “In Afghanistan, the Taliban have appointed a government of men, closed girls’ schools, banned women from showing their faces in public and restricted their rights even to leave their own homes. Nearly 20 million Afghan women and girls are being silenced and erased from sight.”
The IFRC suggested that Afghanistan is in the midst of the biggest and the “worst humanitarian crisis on Earth”, with about 20 million people facing food insecurity….reports Asian Lite News
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has warned that Afghanistan was currently experiencing the “worst humanitarian crisis on Earth”, adding that it needed about $82 million to further scale up response in the war-torn nation.
In its latest update on Thursday, the Red Cross said that more than half of Afghanistan’s total population required immediate humanitarian assistance.
“The country is experiencing the compounding effects of decades of conflict, severe drought, food insecurity, climate-related disasters, displacement and gaps in health services,” it said.
The IFRC suggested that Afghanistan is in the midst of the biggest and the “worst humanitarian crisis on Earth”, with about 20 million people facing food insecurity.
It said that intense summer heat and a weak spring rainy season have effectively spelt doom for a meaningful harvest in the country.
Amidst mounting poverty, 70 per cent of households are unable to meet basic food and non-food needs, with particularly devastating effects for homes headed by widows, the elderly, people with disabilities, and children.
An estimated 3 million children are at risk of malnutrition and susceptible to diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea and measles due to weakened immunity.
Thousands of people have resorted to begging in the streets, with prices of essential items soaring in the face of declining remittances, a crumbling economy and rising poverty.
Mohammad Nabi Burhan, Secretary General of Afghan Red Crescent, said: “This is one of the worst humanitarian crises I have seen in Afghanistan, in more than 30 years as a humanitarian aid worker. It is horrifying to see the extent of hunger and resurgence of poverty that we have fought so hard to eradicate.”
Dr. Gargash and Nicholson discussed the latest developments and the situation in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News
Dr. Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to UAE President, has received Thomas Nicholson, European Union Special Representative for Afghanistan, in the presence of Andrea Matteo Fontana, European Union Ambassador to the UAE.
Dr. Gargash and Nicholson discussed the latest developments and the situation in Afghanistan, the international efforts to find effective solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, in addition to enhancing cooperation between the UAE and the European Union (EU) in this context.
During the meeting, they reviewed the distinguished efforts by the UAE to enhance the humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan, especially initiatives related to the health and social fields, relief and charitable work, and the provision of humanitarian aid.
Dr. Gargash emphasised the significance of continuing efforts to restore stability and recovery in Afghanistan, in cooperation and coordination with regional partnerships and the international community for the benefit of the Afghan people and to safeguard its stability, security, peace and ensure a decent life.
Two weeks ago, Thomas West, US Special Representative for Afghanistan, and his accompanying delegation, visited UAE as part of a regional tour.
During the meeting held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi, the West met with Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State and discussed the situation in Afghanistan, international efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis, and avenues of cooperation between the UAE and US in this regard.
Al Sayegh reviewed the UAE’s efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, especially through initiatives in the health and food sectors.
He highlighted the importance of sustaining efforts to restore stability and promote recovery in Afghanistan in cooperation with regional partners and the international community to serve the interests of the Afghan people and improve their living conditions. He also emphasised the significance of ensuring education for girls as part of relief efforts.
The US envoy praised the UAE’s contributions to support the Afghan people, stressing the need to intensify the international community’s efforts to achieve a better future for Afghanistan and alleviate the suffering of its people.
Earlier, Russia’s special ambassador to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said that Moscow might recognise the Taliban regime but would not follow other countries’ lead….reports Asian Lite News
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that recognising the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan was not on Moscows “current agenda”.
When questioned about the possibility of recognising Afghanistan’s new authorities, Peskov told reporters on Wednesday: “It is not on the current agenda. We have said this many times. It is useless to make any forecasts,” TAAS News Agency reported.
Peskov’s clarification came a day after Russia’s special ambassador to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said that Moscow might recognise the Taliban regime but would not follow other countries’ lead.
In an interview with Channel One Russia on Tuesday, Kabulov stated that the first step toward recognition of the Islamic Emirate would the formation of an inclusive political government in Afghanistan, TOLO News reported.
“Such prospects do exist. The conditions were described by the Russian President (Vladimir Putin) and the Foreign Minister (Sergey Lavrov). Inclusive ethnopolitical government should be the first step towards this. We make no secret of this and we say so outright to our Afghan partners.
“As soon as this happens, there will be the basis for a serious discussion. We will act regardless of what the United States and everybody else may think,” he said.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, no country has recognised the regime yet.
The new Afghanistan Emergency Food Security Project will boost the production of food crops for smallholder Afghan farmers and prevent the further deterioration of food security…reports Asian Lite News
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) welcomed an unprecedented $150 million contribution from the World Bank to provide critical livelihood and life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable rural populations in Afghanistan, while boosting local food production and smallholder resilience.
Some 19.7 million people, almost half of Afghanistan’s population, are facing acute hunger, meaning they are unable to feed themselves on a daily basis, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released in May by the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster partners, including the FAO, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and many non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
High levels of acute food insecurity persist across Afghanistan due to a combination of a collapsing economy and continuing drought.
The ripple effects from the war in Ukraine are exacerbating the food security situation, pushing food prices to new highs, increasing the costs of vital agricultural inputs, especially fertilizer, and placing pressure on countries in the region supplying wheat to Afghanistan to restrict food exports, giving priority to their respective domestic consumption.
The new Afghanistan Emergency Food Security Project will boost the production of food crops for smallholder Afghan farmers and prevent the further deterioration of food security.
This is the first tranche of a total amount of $195 million, another $45 million will be released within the next 24 months.
“We are grateful to the World Bank and its Members for the generous and timely contribution,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
“It is a historic moment for poor farmers in Afghanistan, and it represents an important milestone in our collective efforts to deliver results at scale, avert a looming catastrophe and make real transformative differences in the lives of vulnerable people,” Dongyu added.
FAO will be the sole implementing partner for the funding, and this work will be centred around two main components.
First, it will focus on wheat production, supporting about 2.1 million people, that will be reached each year through the November 2022 and March-November 2023 planting seasons.
The project will also provide focussed support on the nutritional needs of children, people with disabilities or chronic illness, and households headed by women by providing seeds and basic tools for backyard kitchen gardening and technical training on improved nutrition and climate-smart production practices.
Almost one million people will benefit from this support and these inputs, particularly targeting rural women.
About 150,000 women will receive training on improved cultivation techniques and nutrition. The project will enhance linkages for both farmers and women involved in gardening with local markets to facilitate the sale of marketable surpluses of wheat, vegetables and legumes.
Second, the project will also increase access to irrigation water, improve soil and water conservation, and bolster climate resilience by supporting the rehabilitation and improvement of selected irrigation and watershed management systems of over 137,000 hectares of land.
Under this component, more than 1.9 million people will benefit from cash for work activities for the restoration of irrigation infrastructure and watershed management.
The FAO food security project is one of the three projects totalling $793 million approved by the World Bank to provide urgent and essential livelihood and health services, in addition to food assistance, to the people of Afghanistan.
The World Bank support reinforces other ongoing FAO programmes in Afghanistan, funded by the Asian Development Bank and other donors, which combine to provide both immediate life-saving and livelihood-protecting assistance with activities that lay down pathways for longer-term recovery and resilience-building.
