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Qatar Reaffirms Commitment to Host Meetings on Afghanistan

Will Norway host Taliban for talks as West looks to re-engage with Afghanistan?.(photo:IN)

Qatar stands among the few countries that have been key hosts of the most significant international meetings on Afghanistan since 2020…reports Asian Lite News

Qatar reaffirmed its commitment to host international meetings on Afghanistan issues, further affirming its support for the Afghan people, according to Khaama Press.

In its recent statement, Juhara Abdulaziz Al-Suwaidi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Qatar to Geneva, underscored the importance of continuing to host meetings on Afghanistan at the fifty-fifth session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Notably, Qatar stands among the few countries that have been key hosts of the most significant international meetings on Afghanistan since 2020, contributing to notable developments in the country.

The recent Doha meeting and the signing of the Doha Agreement were pivotal events, with 18 months of negotiations hosted by Qatar in its capital city, as reported by Khaama Press, reported Khaama Press.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, in its statement, highlighted issues of communication, increased coordination within the framework of human rights promotion, and ensuring a decent life for the Afghan people as part of its policy to support Afghanistan.

The statement by Qatar’s Foreign Ministry also emphasised the continued humanitarian aid committed to supporting the Afghan people and hosting meetings on the country’s issues.

Qatar has played a crucial role in facilitating dialogues and negotiations aimed at resolving the Afghan conflict, fostering a platform for discussions and agreements critical for Afghanistan’s stability, Khaama Press reported.

Amidst dire humanitarian crises and ongoing violations of human rights and women’s rights in Afghanistan, Qatar’s sustained efforts to convene international gatherings highlight a commitment to address the country’s challenges and support people.

EU provides 21 million euro aid

The World Food Programme announced that the European Union has provided a 21 million euro contribution to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, according to Khaama Press.

The office declared on Friday that around 300,000 people in Afghanistan are expected to benefit from the fund.

The primary aim of this assistance is to improve food security and nutrition in Afghanistan, as the European Union stated.

Rafaela Iodice, the EU official in Afghanistan, said that the European Union will continue its assistance to the people of Afghanistan, as reported by Khaama Press.

This comes at a time when the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, stated that the organisation has only been able to secure three per cent of the required budget to address the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

The recent earthquakes in the country and the expulsion of migrants from neighbouring countries are raising the need for aid in Afghanistan.

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains dire, with millions of people facing extreme poverty, displacement, and food insecurity, Khaama Press reported.

Moreover, years of conflict, political instability, and the Taliban’s return to power have exacerbated these challenges.

Reportedly, many families in the country lack access to necessities such as clean water, sanitation facilities and healthcare.

The ongoing violence and insecurity have also hindered humanitarian aid delivery, which has further worsened the condition of vulnerable people in Afghanistan.

Additionally, there is a severe shortage of shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees returning to Afghanistan, according to Khaama Press.

Furthermore, the Taliban’s imposition of strict restrictions on women’s rights has had a devastating impact on their access to education and employment opportunities.

Afghan women and girls have been facing significant barriers to attending school or pursuing careers, denying them essential pathways to empowerment and economic independence.

Moreover, the international community should prioritize the protection and support of Afghan women’s rights as part of broader humanitarian efforts in the country, Khama Press reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ: 700 ‘Ghost Schools’ Annulled in Afghanistan

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Visually Impaired Afghan Woman Recipient of US Women Award

The statement recognised Yaqoobi for her unwavering commitment to supporting visually impaired individuals in Afghanistan….reports Asian Lite News

In a recent announcement, the US Department of State revealed that Benafsha Yaqoobi from Afghanistan is among the distinguished recipients of the 2024 Women of Courage Award, Khaama Press reported.

The statement recognised Yaqoobi for her unwavering commitment to supporting visually impaired individuals in Afghanistan.

The commendation extended to Yaqoobi highlighted her extensive work as a defence lawyer, specifically advocating for women survivors of violence. Together with her husband, she co-founded the “Rahyab Organisation” in 2008, focusing on the education and empowerment of visually impaired individuals in the region, according to Khaama Press.

Notably, Yaqoobi herself is visually impaired, and the US State Department acknowledged her tireless efforts in advocating for the rights of disabled citizens in Afghanistan. The Women of Courage Award, an annual honour, is bestowed upon women who have demonstrated exceptional contributions in peace, justice, courage, leadership, human rights, and gender equality.

While currently residing outside of Afghanistan, Yaqoobi is set to receive the prestigious award on March 4th. Afghanistan, having acceded to the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012, is committed to providing essential support, including healthcare and education, for visually impaired individuals.

Amidst these commendations, Yazdani Parast, a blind journalist, conveyed concerns to Khaama Press about diminishing attention from supporting organisations for visually impaired individuals in Afghanistan. Parast emphasised the urgent need for assistance, especially during the cold winter season and the upcoming month of Ramadan.

Though precise data on the current number of visually impaired individuals in Afghanistan is unavailable, UN estimates from 2016 indicated that their numbers exceeded 400,000, with 1.5 million individuals experiencing visual impairments, Khaama Press reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ: 700 ‘Ghost Schools’ Annulled in Afghanistan

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700 ‘Ghost Schools’ Annulled in Afghanistan

The ministry of education has culled up to 700 ‘ghost schools’ from official lists since the government took power more than two years ago…reports Asian Lite News

The Afghan caretaker government’s ministry of education has identified and annulled 700 “ghost schools” across the country, the spokesman for the ministry Mansour Ahmad Hamza said.

“The ministry of education has culled up to 700 ‘ghost schools’ from official lists since the government took power more than two years ago,” the local Television channel Tolonews quoted the official on Monday as saying

Xinhua news agency reported that during the previous U.S.-backed regime in Afghanistan, “ghost” schools, teachers, students, soldiers and police personnel existed as a pretext to enable those at the helm to earn money illegally from the foreign donors.

Based on the information of the ministry of education, over 18,000 primary, secondary and high schools are operating in Afghanistan where 260,000 teachers are currently working, the report added.

Recently, the Taliban had allowed girls graduating from 12th grade to get admission to state-owned medical institutes, the media reported.

“The enrolment of girls who graduated from 12th grade has started in state-run medical institutes in Kapisa, Parwan, Panjshir, Wardak, Ghazni, Paktika, Logar, Khost, Badakhshan, Paktia and Bamyan provinces,” the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported on Tuesday without giving further details.

Since the Afghan caretaker government took over power following the withdrawal of US-led forces in August 2021, girls from 7th grade and above cannot attend classes until further notice, Xinhua news agency reported.

Consensus over key issues

 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that international representatives have reached consensus on some key issues concerning Afghanistan after a two-day meeting in Doha, but obstacles remain.

“We want an Afghanistan in peace, peace with itself and peace with its neighbours and able to assume the commitments and the international obligations of a sovereign state,” Guterres said on Monday at a press conference after the meeting.

However, Guterres pointed out that overcoming some obstacles is still necessary to break the deadlock on the Afghanistan issue, Xinhua nedws agency reported.

On the one hand, “Afghanistan remains with a government that is not recognised internationally and in many aspects not integrated into the global institutions and global economy,” he added.

On the other hand, there is a common international perception of deteriorating human rights, particularly for women and girls in the country, Guterres said.

The UN Chief added that a common roadmap must be developed to address the concerns of the international community and the Afghan authorities.

The meeting, chaired by Guterres, was attended by representatives from more than 20 countries and international organisations, including China, Russia, and the US. Taliban, the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan, did not attend.

According to the UN Chief, the conditions set by Taliban authorities to attend the meeting were “not acceptable”.

“These conditions first of all denied us the right to talk to other representatives of the Afghan society and demanded a treatment that would, to a large extent, be similar to recognition,” Guterres said.

ALSO READ: WHO: 286K+ in Afghanistan Hit by Respiratory Illness

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Vienna Talks Address Forced Expulsion of Afghan Refugees

There are around 1.7 million Afghan refugees who are being forced by the Pakistan establishment to leave Pakistan….reports Asian Lite News

The Afghan Cultural Association in Austria (AKIS) and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) organized a session on Tuesday in Vienna, Austria, over the forceful expulsion of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and its implications for Europe. The said session was attended by around 30-35 SPO party members, including senior members such as Gerhard Spitzer, SPO Party Secretary of the 21st District of Vienna, Bernhard Herzog, District Councilor of SPO and Jurgen Bozsoki, Head of the SPO office in 10th District.

Ghousuddin Mir, the President of the Afghan Cultural Association in Austria, was the main speaker during the session. During his speech, Mir elaborated on the implications that Europe might face shortly because of the forceful expulsion of Afghan refugees from Pakistan. He also presented on the human rights violations of Pakistan against Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Elaborating on the same issue, he mentioned that, as per the UNHCR report, Pakistan hosts around 2.8 million Afghan refugees, out of which 1.5 million Afghans are estimated to be living in Pakistan without any documentation, including some 600,000 who arrived in the country following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

Evidently, in October 2023, the Pakistani government ordered a sudden crackdown on Afghan refugees and migrants who have been living without any documentation. There are around 1.7 million Afghan refugees who are being forced by the Pakistan establishment to leave Pakistan. More than 60% of these Afghan refugees have been residing in Pakistan for more than 15 years, the same press statement claimed.

Furthermore, most of these Afghan refugees are not willing to go back to Afghanistan and would make efforts to use the regular migratory route to reach Europe. This refugee situation created by Pakistan would have an impact on Europe, the statement said.

Additionally, Pakistan has traditionally been the first migratory stop for Afghans leaving Afghanistan. Most of the Afghans had made Pakistan their home and have been staying there with their children for years. However, this scenario would change because of this indiscriminate and unwanted action by Pakistan. In the coming years, more Afghan refugees would move towards Europe, possibly en-masse in batches. This would put pressure on the migratory systems in Europe. Austria being the gateway to Europe could receive more Afghan refugees on this front.

The statement further stated that this sudden action by Pakistan is neither required nor a solution for the terror threat faced by them. Most of these Afghans have been residing in Pakistan for a very long time and have never been a threat to the country. The reasons for the recent spurt in terror attacks across Pakistan are not because of these Afghan refugees. It is due to the actions of the Pakistan Army vis-a-vis the terror organisations such as Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan. Pakistan’s Army has provided space for these terror organisations to grow and are now finding it difficult to control them. They have shifted the blame on poor Afghan refugees for political reasons to hide their inability.

The statement also implicated that, the international community must raise their concerns with Pakistan and ensure that the Afghan refugees are treated by the International Human Rights law and that any action by Pakistan complies with these international instruments.

Many SPO members also raised questions on the present status of this issue and discussed on role of the party in addressing the rights of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and to reduce the negative fallout of such issues on Europe. (ANI)

ALSO READ: WHO: 286K+ in Afghanistan Hit by Respiratory Illness

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WHO: 286K+ in Afghanistan Hit by Respiratory Illness

Earlier this month, the World Bank in a report said that Afghanistan’s struggling economy has led to deflation and poverty, Khaama Press reported. This deflationary trend persisted from April 2023 to December 2023…reports Asian Lite News

The World Health Organization has announced that more than 286,000 people have been afflicted with respiratory illness in Afghanistan since the beginning of January 2024. Among those, 668 people have lost their lives, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported.

On February 24, the WHO reported hundreds of deaths and infections due to respiratory illness in Afghanistan, coinciding with the onset of winter, according to the report.

According to the World Health Organization, the rise in the number of people afflicted with respiratory issues is due to cold weather conditions, particularly affecting children, according to the Khaama Press report.

According to a WHO report, more than 63 per cent of the patients are children aged below five years, with nearly 50 per cent of them being women.

Previously, the World Health Organization stated that the average recorded statistics of respiratory illnesses in Afghanistan have increased in comparison to the same period from 2020 to 2022.

With the arrival of the cold season and increased air pollution, concerns over the spread of respiratory illnesses in Afghanistan have intensified. Previously, thousands of people died due to acute respiratory illnesses in Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported.

Amidst the increased deportation of Afghan refugees from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, more than half a million people are returning home and face dire conditions like lacking food, shelter, water, and job opportunities.

Earlier this month, the World Bank in a report said that Afghanistan’s struggling economy has led to deflation and poverty, Khaama Press reported. This deflationary trend persisted from April 2023 to December 2023.

According to the report, Afghanistan has been facing economic challenges due to reduced aggregate demand, including factors like the stronger local currency, dwindling household savings, reduced public spending, and the ban on opium cultivation causing farmers to lose income.

Afghanistan has witnessed a significant decrease in headline inflation, with a negative 9.7 per cent year-on-year rate in December 2023. Food inflation reduced to negative 14.5 per cent and non-food inflation dropped to negative 4.2 per cent, reflecting weak demand. Core inflation, excluding food and energy prices, also reduced to a negative 6.0 per cent year-on-year.

These economic struggles have increased unemployment and pushed half of the population into poverty, with 15 million people facing food insecurity. Coal exports dropped by 46 per cent in 2023 to USD 257 million.

Furthermore, food exports witnessed a rise of 13 per cent, reaching USD 1.3 billion. Textile exports increased by 46 per cent in 2023 and reached USD 281 million, with Pakistan and India remaining primary export destinations. Imports in Afghanistan increased by 23 per cent in 2023 and reached USD 7.8 billion, with food, minerals, and textiles making up a major portion. (ANI)

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Mercer gives testimony about ‘war crimes’ in Afghanistan

During his first day of testimony to the inquiry, on Tuesday, Mercer refused to reveal the names of SAS members who gave him first- and second-hand accounts of incidents in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News

The British minister for veterans, John Mercer, spoke on Wednesday of “horrific” stories he heard from former members of the Afghan special forces about alleged executions of unarmed detainees, including children, carried out by members of the UK’s elite Special Air Service.

He was speaking during his second day of testimony at a public inquiry set up to investigate accusations made in media reports that SAS members killed civilians and unarmed prisoners during operations in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.

In 2022, a BBC investigation alleged that an SAS squadron was involved in questionable killings of at least 54 people, including detainees and children, in a six-month period.

Mercer, himself a former army officer, told the inquiry that discussions he had with former members of Afghan special forces known as the Triples “confirmed my worst fears.”

When asked by the chair of the inquiry whether he was talking about “allegations of straight murder” by members of the SAS, he replied: “Yes.”

He said the accounts given to him included allegations that the SAS executed detainees, including children, who were restrained and posed no threat. There is “no reason why a person under control should lose their life,” he added.

Mercer said that the Triples units, concerned about injuries suffered by children in particular, eventually refused to accompany the British forces on missions. When “Tier 1 Afghan special forces are refusing to go out the door with you,” this should have raised concerns, he said.

If the allegations presented to him are true, the members of the SAS responsible for the actions they described are “criminals,” he said.

Mercer also expressed frustration with the Ministry of Defence for not adequately investigating the allegations, and accused ministry officials of misleading him about the availability of evidence, specifically full-motion video footage from the operations in question.

He said that when he challenged the head of UK Special Forces, Gen. Sir Roland Walker, about this apparent lack of footage, he simply leaned back in his chair and shrugged.

“I don’t disguise the fact that I am angry with these people,” Mercer said. “The fact that I’m sitting here today is because those people, with their rank and privileges, have not done their job.”

During his first day of testimony to the inquiry, on Tuesday, Mercer refused to reveal the names of SAS members who gave him first- and second-hand accounts of incidents in Afghanistan.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, who is chairing the inquiry, on Wednesday described the minister’s refusal to reveal the identities as “completely unacceptable,” the BBC reported.

“You need to decide which side you are really on,” Mr. Mercer,” he said. “Is it assisting the inquiry fully, and the public interest and the national interest, in getting to the truth of these allegations quickly, for everyone’s sake? Or is it being part of what is in effect an ‘omerta,’ a wall of silence?”

He warned Mercer that continued refusal to comply with the inquiry’s requests would result in “potentially serious legal consequences that I may need to put in place.”

If Mercer continues to refuse to provide the names, the inquiry has the legal authority to compel him to do so. In February, BBC current affairs program Panorama reported that UK Special Forces blocked members of Afghan special forces from relocating to the UK after the Taliban reclaimed power in the country in 2021.

Former members of the SAS told Panorama that this veto created a clear conflict of interest because Afghan personnel might be called as witnesses by the public inquiry.

ALSO READ-‘Advancements in Afghanistan Discussions, But Barriers Persist’

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Biden Replaces Endless War With Useless War

Xi Jinping is the beneficiary of the Russophobia (masquerading as Putinophobia) that has blanketed both sides of the Atlantic, writes Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat

President Joe Biden of the US went ahead with the Trump plan of surrender of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021. The surrender document in 2020 at Doha signed by then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was subsequently implemented by President Biden against the advice of elements in the Pentagon. Donald Trump claims that his administration would have retained the Bagram Air Base rather than surrender that too to the Taliban, although he remains silent on whether he would have continued to fund the logistics of the Afghan National Army (ANA).

This force was proving to be more than a match to the Taliban in several parts of Afghanistan. The ANA was denied all US support by President Biden, rendering inevitable its subsequent collapse. Either because of lack of familiarity with the ground situation or out of a politician’s reflex of always blaming the other side for a self-created problem, that the logistical “legs” of the ANA had been cut off by the US surrender in 2021, leaving that force helpless, went unmentioned by Biden when he blamed the ANA for the Taliban takeover.

During the six weeks following their takeover of the stricken country, several hundred commanders of the ANA were executed by the Taliban for their folly in having believed that the US would not once again leave Afghanistan to its fate, the way it had in the 1990s, in the process facilitating the takeover of much of the country by the Taliban in 1996. From 2001 onwards, commentary within the US strategic community had been altered to claim that Washington had consistently backed the Northern Alliance to fight the Taliban, when the opposite was the case during the Clinton Presidency.

Not the US or the EU but India together with Russia and Iran assisted the Northern Alliance under Ahmed Shah Massoud to continue to hold ground in the northern part of Afghanistan despite continuing and strenuous efforts by GHQ Rawalpindi-backed radicals to defeat them. During the 2001 war that saw the Taliban routed, US intelligence, air power and equipment were crucial in that outcome.

However, by 2005, reliance by Washington on GHQ Rawalpindi for ground level intel led to the funding and equipping of several hardcore Taliban elements that were recommended to the US by Pakistan Army Intelligence as “moderate” and “anti-Taliban”. Bush and Cheney joined hands with the arsonists in GHQ Rawalpindi who continued to pour fuel on the flames rather than help to douse them, even allowing key extremists to escape from Kunduz in November just weeks into the war in an airlift were why a war already won was transformed into a “forever” war.

A month later, Defence Secretary Rumsfeld deceitfully joined hands with the military dictator of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, in asserting that the Kunduz airlift never took place. It was US assistance (and the encouragement that was provided to Taiwan and Japan) that helped the PRC to rise in the 1980s in order to “ensure Beijing stood with Washington against Moscow”.

The reality is that even without any US help, Mao would have worked against the Soviet Union, a country he feared. Again, it was US taxpayer dollars that gave the Taliban a second life from 2005 onwards, from which period it once again began to pose a severe challenge to both US-UK forces as well as to their Afghans allies. In the US, the bulk of those interested in the future of Afghanistan believe that the collective of radicals known as the Taliban became stronger despite, and not because of, US policy towards Afghanistan. Policy errors led to the Afghan war becoming a “forever war”.

The war against the Russian Federation through Ukrainian proxies that was launched by the US and some European countries in 2014, and which sharply accelerated in 2022, need not have been the curse to the global economy and stability that it is, had it been factored in within NATO that from the start, the war was unwinnable for Ukraine.

As a way of degrading Russian military capability, it was useless, as shown by the steady expansion of defence production, introduction of innovative battlefield tactics and weaponry, and mobilisation of manpower by the Russian Federation since 24 February 2022. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces and much of the population are dependent on external charity in the way that residents of Gaza have been since the takeover of that enclave of the State of Palestine by Hamas in 2007.

Policymakers across both sides of the Atlantic remain trapped in the mists of Cold War 1.0 against Russia when that was replaced from the time of the Hong Kong handover on PRC terms by the UK in 1997. Xi Jinping is the beneficiary of the Russophobia (masquerading as Putinophobia) that has blanketed both sides of the Atlantic, in the process fulfilling the CCP’s objective of ensuring that Russia not follow the precedent set by China during Cold War 1.0 and team up with the US against China, as sought by Donald Trump and others such as Vivek Ramaswamy who are wholly American in their strategic thinking than European in the manner that so many within the Biden administration are.

Small wonder that the US under Biden has suffered a sharp reduction in respect and influence in those parts of the world which are not European, and who do not (unlike the Biden White House) believe that Europe continues as the fulcrum of global events and their consequences. Tucker Carlson did his country and the NATO alliance a favour by getting on record Vladimir Putin, stating that he was ready for an armistice (just as he was in April 2022 before Biden and Johnson persuaded Zelenskyy to instead fight on) based on the status quo.

Believing that Ukraine can get Russia to agree to a cease fire based on the pre-2014 effective boundaries is delusional, and the sooner Zelenskyy lives up to his election campaign promise of being a peacemaker, the better for him and his country. Meanwhile, people in the US and the EU are moving from grumbling to protesting at the way in which NATO is draining the coffers of member states by fuelling a conflict that was hopeless from the start.

Should the Russia-Ukraine war continue, the risk of a Russian attack on the Baltic states and on Polish defence fortifications will rise and not fall, and the CCP will further its goal of keeping the US mired in an unwinnable war in Europe. President Biden, with his Europe-focused administration, may believe that a stoppage of the Ukraine war will cost him the White House.

It would instead parachute him back for a second term, especially if the White House reduces the Ukraine component of aid legislation to a much smaller figure than $60 billion, and uses the savings to try and rescue the southern border from the demographic invasion that it has been witnessing in full view of television cameras. It is not the US Secretary for Homeland Security who is responsible for such a failure to protect US citizens from an invasion from the southern border, but the President of the United States.

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‘Advancements in Afghanistan Discussions, But Barriers Persist’

GENEVA, April 3, 2018 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech during the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, April 3, 2018. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres applauded Tuesday international pledges of more than 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 for the three-year-old crisis in Yemen. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan/IANS)

The UN Chief added that a common roadmap must be developed to address the concerns of the international community and the Afghan authorities…reports Asian Lite News

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that international representatives have reached consensus on some key issues concerning Afghanistan after a two-day meeting in Doha, but obstacles remain.

“We want an Afghanistan in peace, peace with itself and peace with its neighbours and able to assume the commitments and the international obligations of a sovereign state,” Guterres said on Monday at a press conference after the meeting.

However, Guterres pointed out that overcoming some obstacles is still necessary to break the deadlock on the Afghanistan issue, Xinhua nedws agency reported.

On the one hand, “Afghanistan remains with a government that is not recognised internationally and in many aspects not integrated into the global institutions and global economy,” he added.

On the other hand, there is a common international perception of deteriorating human rights, particularly for women and girls in the country, Guterres said.

The UN Chief added that a common roadmap must be developed to address the concerns of the international community and the Afghan authorities.

The meeting, chaired by Guterres, was attended by representatives from more than 20 countries and international organisations, including China, Russia, and the US. Taliban, the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan, did not attend.

According to the UN Chief, the conditions set by Taliban authorities to attend the meeting were “not acceptable”.

“These conditions first of all denied us the right to talk to other representatives of the Afghan society and demanded a treatment that would, to a large extent, be similar to recognition,” Guterres said.

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Taliban actions imperil Afghanistan’s health system

Photo taken on Nov. 27, 2021 shows people at Sarai-e-Shahzada, a main exchange market in central area of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Aria/Xinhua/IANS)

The WFP has raised an alarm regarding the plight of Afghan migrants forcibly expelled from Pakistan…reports Asian Lite News

The Human Rights Watch recently highlighted Afghanistan’s decimated public health system due to reduced foreign aid and Taliban’s gender-based abuses. This has left millions vulnerable to malnutrition and illness, exacerbating the healthcare crisis. The Taliban’s rule has plunged many into poverty and hunger as sanctions and frozen assets cripple the economy.

The World Food Programme reported record-high malnutrition rates, with women and girls disproportionately affected due to Taliban restrictions on education and employment, hindering access to healthcare.

The WFP has raised an alarm regarding the plight of Afghan migrants forcibly expelled from Pakistan, revealing that they are currently resorting to borrowing money merely to survive, Khaama Press reported.

In a recently released video clip, the organisation disclosed that in the span of nearly five months, over half a million Afghan migrants have been forcibly deported by the Pakistani government.

Highlighting the grim situation, the WFP emphasised that Afghan migrants find themselves compelled to borrow funds for survival, devoid of any facilities or support. The organisation’s website underscores that the majority of expelled migrants are currently in a state of confusion, as reported by Khaama Press.

Expressing deep concern, the World Food Program stated that some returning migrants are still grappling with hunger, identifying a critical need for food assistance.

In response to this humanitarian crisis, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations of the Taliban in Afghanistan announced a significant development. The Japanese ambassador reported a commitment of 100 million yen in assistance for various sectors, aimed at supporting the returning migrants in Afghanistan.

The funds are earmarked for crucial necessities, including shelter, tents, winter clothing packages, and health services for Afghan migrants, according to the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations, Khaama Press reported.

UN seat

 Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, said Afghanistan’s permanent seat in the United Nations must be given to the Islamic Emirate, the media reported.

Kabir made the remarks on Saturday in a meeting with Roza Otunbayeva, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan, saying that the international community should recognise the current government and all conditions for recognition have been met, Xinhua news agency reported.

The senior official also called sanctions on the Islamic Emirate and government officials unfair, stressing that the move would affect its interaction with the world.

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Mass grave with 100 bodies unearthed in Afghanistan

Initial assessments suggest that the victims were interred during the Afghan calendar year 1358, equivalent to the period between April 1979 and March 1980….reports Asian Lite News

In Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province, the chilling discovery of a mass grave containing approximately 100 bodies has unearthed haunting echoes of the country’s tumultuous past under the Soviet-backed government. Mayor Bismillah Bilal revealed that the grave was stumbled upon during the construction of a small dam in the Sarbani area of central Khost.

Initial assessments suggest that the victims were interred during the Afghan calendar year 1358, equivalent to the period between April 1979 and March 1980. Mayor Bilal, speaking to AFP, emphasized that the bodies, all seemingly civilian, included some adorned in women’s attire. Local residents pointed to the grim aftermath of the 1978 communist coup, attributing the deaths to the ruthless campaign of violence that ensued under the Soviet-backed regime.

Salam Sharifi, whose father vanished during the communist era, lamented the atrocities inflicted upon the victims, describing the harrowing manner in which they were brought to their final resting place without due process. As municipality workers, aided by residents, delicately extracted the skeletal remains, the somber reality of the unknown identities of these martyrs became increasingly poignant.

Afghanistan’s history is scarred by decades of conflict, including the Soviet invasion, subsequent civil war, and the more recent US-led occupation. Mass graves, poignant reminders of the nation’s turbulent past, have been discovered sporadically, bearing witness to the atrocities endured by countless individuals.

This recent find joins a grim roster of similar discoveries, including a mass grave found in 2009 containing at least 20 bodies from the Soviet-backed government era. More chillingly, in September 2022, another mass grave was uncovered in Spin Boldak, a site synonymous with intense clashes between former Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents during their protracted struggle for control before the latter seized power in 2021.

As Afghanistan grapples with its tumultuous past and uncertain future, each unearthed mass grave serves as a stark reminder of the profound human cost exacted by decades of conflict and political upheaval.

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