Tag: Taliban killing

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China first nation to hope Taliban will respect peace

China has said the Taliban will establish an “open and inclusive” Islamic government in the war-torn country and will ensure a peaceful transition of power….reports Asian Lite News

Several countries led by the UK have asked the world community not to bilaterally recognise the Taliban in Afghanistan, but China has done everything short of saying that it is a friendly force.

China has said the Taliban will establish an “open and inclusive” Islamic government in the war-torn country and will ensure a peaceful transition of power.

The Chinese Embassy in Kabul is among those few missions that are running at full steam and without any reason to either vacate the office or evacuate the staff. Its ambassador is stationed there though Chinese nationals living in the country have returned to China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying went to the extent of hoping the Taliban would take full responsibility for the safety of the Afghan people and foreign embassies and missions.

The Chinese government has decided to take the word of the Taliban on its face value, saying: “We noticed the statement from Afghan Taliban yesterday (Sunday) saying that the war is over and they will start consultation on establishment of an open and inclusive Islamic government and take the responsibility of the safety of Afghan citizens and foreign diplomatic corps.”

A Chinese government spokesperson said that Beijing has been maintaining contact and communication with the Taliban and playing a constructive role in promoting a political settlement.

China’s new-found love for the Taliban stems from the July-end meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Taliban’s political commissioner Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in China.

The Taliban’s assurance that it will not encourage anti-China elements, like the alleged Uyghur Islamic militants of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, to take roots in Afghanistan.

Some reports of the United Nations would have everyone believe that hundreds of fighters of the Movement, which has been linked to the al-Qaeda, are moving towards Afghanistan. The US has removed the Movement from its list of terrorist organisations, it may be mentioned.

ALSO READ: China set to woo Taliban, but fears of Uyghur backlash remain

It may also be added that China’s Xinjiang — home to the Uyghur Muslims — shares only a 76 km boundary with Afghanistan. The border is heavily fortified by the People’s Liberation Army.

Some western analysts have speculated that China wants to wield influence in this region and with the Americans on their way out, it would want to play a significant role in how the future of Afghanistan is settled.

However, China’s interests are much more materialistic than political. At best it may want Afghanistan to stop resisting entry into the Belt and Road Initiative Project.

The real reasons are economic in nature.

Afghanistan is reportedly sitting on deposits of rare earth elements like lanthanum, cerium and neodymium and other minerals such as copper, iron and zinc and gold worth trillions of dollars.

A consortium of Chinese companies is already mining in the Logar province. A Chinese government-owned company is drilling three fields for oil.

Its interest in the BRI comes from the fact that it has invested $60 billion in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor that links Xinjiang with Pakistan, and extending the highway further can link it with Kabul. China is also interested in a strategic road it is building in Afghanistan through the Wakhan corridor that would connect Xinjiang with Iran via Pakistan and Afghanistan.

An Indian media organisation has reported: “China seems to be approaching Afghanistan from a totally different direction; it is using every means to make the Afghans see the commercial sense in welcoming China into their country. Not war but economy is what the People’s Republic of China is betting on to bring Afghanistan into its web of influence; to make that happen, Beijing seems ready to partner with anyone who can deliver the goods, even if it be a regressive religio-political militia like the Taliban.”

Western defense experts, however, discount the commercial interest of China in Afghanistan.

CNN reported: “Such arguments have only intensified following the high-profile meeting between Taliban leaders and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last month… But for China, a neighbour of Afghanistan with substantial investment in the region, the security challenges posed by the abrupt return of the Taliban are far more pressing than any strategic interests down the road.”

It quoted Andrew Small, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, as saying: “China does not tend to perceive Afghanistan through the prism of opportunities; it is almost entirely about managing threats.”

Small argued that China, wary for long about American military presence in Afghanistan, is now concerned that with the Americans gone, that country may become the hot bed for terrorists of all kinds and that could threaten China’s Xinjiang region.

“Although Beijing is pragmatic about the power realities in Afghanistan, it has always been uncomfortable with the Taliban’s ideological agenda… The Chinese government fears the inspirational effect of their success in Afghanistan for the militancy across the region, including the Pakistani Taliban,” Small told CNN.

ALSO READ: China Expects Taliban To Leave Terrorism Past

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Public anger against Taliban grows in Afghanistan

Armed Afghan women take to the streets against Taliban.(Photo courtesy Facebook)

Men, women, and minors of the Herat city chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest) to welcome Afghan National Defense and Security Force and oppose Taliban…reports Asian Lite News

As the conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban in Herat entered its sixth day, the residents of the city chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest) to express their support to Afghan government forces and oppose the militant group, according to media reports.

The chanting by men, women, and minors was unprecedented in 20 years and was welcomed by ordinary Afghan people and officials.

After the Taliban toppled all but one district including the provincial capital in western Herat province bordering Iran, the fighters stormed the city and launched an offensive against the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).

July 30 was the worst in terms of the severity of the conflict. The Taliban toppled two Police Districts in the city and had besieged the airport.

An Afghan special force member attends a military operation against Taliban fighters

The ANDSF backed by US army airstrikes drove the Taliban from the city and recaptured the Guzara district of the province.

The Ministry of Defence said that 41 Taliban fighters were killed and 32 more wounded as a result of land and air operations in Herat province Monday night.

Herat along with Lashkar Gah city of Helmand province, Taloqan of Takhar province, and Kandahar city are among the provincial capitals which have been witnessing heavy conflicts between the ANDSF and the Taliban in the past two weeks.

ALSO READ: US, UK embassies in Afghanistan accuse Taliban of war crimes
ALSO READ: ‘Tajik’ Taliban creating havoc in Northern Afghanistan


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Ghani blames ‘abrupt’ US pull out for worsening security

Afghanistan President announced that the period of military presence in Afghanistan is over and it is now the responsibility of the Afghans to determine their future…reports Asian Lite News

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday blamed the country’s deteriorating security on the US deciding “abruptly” to withdraw its troops.

“The reason for our current situation is that the decision was taken abruptly,” he told the Afghan Parliament, adding he had warned Washington that the withdrawal would have “consequences,” reported Tolo News.

President Ghani said in a special session of the National Assembly that Afghanistan was facing a test of survival and the country must be mobilized to pass this test successfully. Ghani also announced the beginning of a six-month security plan to improve the security situation in the country.

He announced that the period of military presence in Afghanistan is over and it is now the responsibility of the Afghans to determine their future.

US soldiers prepare to depart from Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Brian Harris Planet Pix ZUMA_dpa_IANS)

President Ghani in his speech said the present time offered an opportunity to build peace and harmony in the country and it is now the time for unity and solidarity.

Addressing members of both houses of parliament, Ghani said the country was facing an “unprecedented onslaught” from the Taliban who had links with thousands across the country and there is need to mobilize Afghan forces to defend the regime.

Addressing the Taliban, President Ghani said: “Enmity with Afghans is serious” and they “will not surrender to any group”.

ALSO READ: ‘Tajik’ Taliban creating havoc in Northern Afghanistan

“The Taliban have intensified their oppression and violence,” added Ghani.

“The real conversation is that in the last three months we have faced an unexpected situation … We are facing an onslaught of internal and external propaganda,” said Ghani.

Ghani’s remarks came as the country’s security forces struggle to keep the Taliban at bay.

In southern Afghanistan, fighting continued in Lashkar Gah overnight on Sunday as Afghan forces beat back a fresh assault from the Taliban.

Meanwhile, a US airstrike targeted a Taliban stronghold in Lashkargah city on Monday morning, killing seven members of the group, the Defense Ministry said.

ALSO READ: Pakistani Jihadis Join Taliban Troops in Afghanistan

The Afghan government forces have killed 38 members of the Taliban when they attempted to storm a prison in the southwestern city of Lashkargah in Helmand province, the Afghan defense ministry said today.

Many parts of the city have fallen to the Taliban in recent weeks, TOLO News reported.

Afghanistan has witnessed a spike in violence as the Taliban stepped up its offensive in the country.

Referring to the Taliban’s offensive, President Ghani asked if the Afghan people would allow the Akura Khattak school, a religious seminary located in Akura Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan to decide their future.

According to the President, the Taliban not only have become more oppressive, but they have also strengthened their ties with terrorist groups and sought to seize ports in collusion with smuggling groups.

The Taliban have previously denied any links to foreign terrorist groups, reported Tolo News.

The President stressed that the current problem began when pressure from outside the republic and democracy began and intensified efforts to legitimize a terrorist group. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Stop pushing Islamabad to make efforts on Afghanistan: Pak NSA
ALSO READ: Afghan VP lashes out at Pakistan for providing supplies to Taliban
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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

‘Tajik’ Taliban creating havoc in Northern Afghanistan

The Tajik Taliban is basically a group of militants of Tajikistan who have been fighting along with the Taliban in the Northern region of Afghanistan….reports Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha

Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear in three Central Asian Republics (CAR) which share borders with Afghanistan — Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The assertion by Taliban – with an arch-extremist DNA – is generating deep anxiety among the largely secular minded trio, located in the heart of the Pamirs. The resurgence of the Pakistan-backed Taliban also poses a huge challenge to Russia, which has for long considered Central Asia as its backyard.

Unsurprisingly, Moscow has beefed up the combat capabilities of its military base in Tajikistan, which includes training local soldiers on a significant scale. Moscow is warning the leadership in Dushanbe about the danger posed by the Islamic State, which has entrenched itself across the border in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s capture of the Northern region of Afghanistan, has in fact prompted Russia to significantly upscale its military profile on the borders with Afghanistan. To demonstrate its military clout Moscow is holding joint military drills, which will involve more than 1,000 Russian soldiers along with Uzbek and Tajik troops.

Taliban Pic credits ANI

The August 5-10 exercise – a show of collective muscle flexing – will take place amid reports that the Taliban has handed over charge to Tajik militants to “govern” the region close to the Tajik border.

According to a report by the gandhara.rferl.org, the Taliban has deployed these militants of the “Tajik Taliban” to defend the captured districts Kuf Ab, Khwahan, Maimay, Nusay, and Shekay of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province.

ALSO READ: Attack on UN mission in Afghanistan draws global attention

Fawzia Koofi, a member of the peace negotiating team of the Afghan government, told Tolo news that these “Taibans” are creating havoc in northern regions of Afghanistan.

“Now the activities and movements of foreign militants have increased more than any time before along the border areas and in the strategic locations which have come under Taliban control, unfortunately,” said Koofi.

The Tajik Taliban is basically a group of militants of Tajikistan who have been fighting along with the Taliban in the Northern region of Afghanistan. According to the website, the Tajik militant group is led by Mahdi Arsalon , but whose real name is Muhammad Sharifov.

His 200-strong group of pro-Taliban Tajikistan militants are now controlling areas along Afghan-Tajik border.

Rise of Taliban in Afghanistan

Quoting the sources from Afghan officials, the website says that these Tajik fighters belong to the militant organisation Jamaat Ansarullah, also known as Ansarullah or Ansorullo�an organisation banned by the Tajikistan government.

Founded in 2009-10 by a former commander of Tajik army to overthrow the legitimate government in Dushanbe, the Ansarullah extremist group has been taking part in the Taliban offensives in Badakhshan, where the militant group captured large swaths of territory in recent months.

Tajik fighters in Badakhshan caught the Afghan government’s attention last year when the insurgents brutally killed a group of of Afghan Army soldiers after the fall of the Maimay district to the Taliban. The group Ansarullah has links with other militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and al-Qaeda.

Under the US-Taliban deal in 2019, which was followed by the withdrawal of US troops has raised the morale of Central Asian Salafi-Jihadi groups. They did not hide their elation on social media, gushing praise for the Taliban. Central Asian Salafi-Jihadi groups are backed by al-Qaeda, Uzbek groups including Katibat Imam al-Bukhari (KIB), Katibat Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ), and the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), along with Tajik Jamaat Ansarullah (JA) and the Uyghur fighters of Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) from China’s Xinjiang region.

Vladimir-Putin-

The US-Taliban agreement obliges the Taliban to sever ties with al Qaeda and other Central Asian terrorist groups and refuse them the possibility to threaten the security of the US and its allies using Afghan soil. However the Taliban did not keep its promise. Judging by their reactions, the Central Asian jihadists are not at all concerned over the Taliban’s commitment to sever contacts with themselves and al Qaeda.

Central Asian governments have this apprehension that the Taliban will control Afghanistan in the coming months and the “Taliban factor” could also provide inspiration and a morale boost to underground radical Islamists inside Central Asia, encouraging them to fight against the secular regimes. If the Taliban comes to power in the future and establishes Sharia rule in Afghanistan, this could increase the activity of the Islamic opposition in the five countries to the north.

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoyguv warned that Russia will act immediately if there is a threat emanating toward Central Asia from Afghanistan.

Taliban’s �friend”, China has been wary of Afghanistan becoming a hub for the al-Qaida-backed Uyghur Muslim militant group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a separatist outfit waging an insurgency in volatile Xinjiang region. On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made it clear to the Taliban delegation led by Taliban deputy political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to “make a clean break” from all terrorists, including the anti-China East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM and the TTP. China believes that recent attacks on its nationals in China was the handiwork of the Uyghur militants with the TTP.

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

ALSO READ: Pakistani Jihadis Join Taliban Troops in Afghanistan

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UN Seeks Probe As Taliban Attack Kabul Compound

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

As the Taliban engaged in fierce clashes with Afghan security forces in Herat on July 30, the UN’s main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on the Taliban to undertake a full investigation and provide answers concerning a recent attack on its compound in Herat province.

As the Taliban engaged in fierce clashes with Afghan security forces in Herat on July 30, the UN’s main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, according to the UNAMA.

The Taliban is responsible for 2,978 civilian casualties (917 killed, and 2,061 injured) in the first six months of 2021. The war tactics by the Taliban include the use of IEDs, rocket fires, target killing, and ground battles

“So-called ‘anti-Government elements’ targeted entrances of the clearly marked UN facility with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire just hours after Taliban fighters penetrated Herat city and clashed with Afghan security forces near UNAMA’s provincial headquarters,” the mission added.

The mission wrote on Twitter that perpetrators for “the attack that killed an Afghan guard needs to be held accountable”.

  Herat has been the scene of heavy fighting since early July 28 after Taliban launched a massive attack and tried to overrun the Afghan city.

  On Sunday, battles in the city resumed and entered its fourth day after reinforcement joined Afghan security forces and local Public Uprising Forces to prevent Taliban from advancing.

Civilian casualties

As many as 1,677 civilians were killed and 3,644 more were injured in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year, showing an 80 per cent increase of casualties compared to the same period in 2020, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said.

According to the AIHRC report , these killings took place in 1,594 different security incidents.

“Important to note that the total number of civilian casualties in the first six months of 2020 was

2,957, including 1,213 killed and 1,744 injured. A comparison of the abovementioned figures shows that civilian casualties have increased by 80 per cent in the first six months of 2021 compared with the first six months of 2020,” the report said.

The number of women civilian casualties in the first six months of 2021 is 504 in total which includes 154 killed, and 350 injured. The number of women civilian casualties in the first six months of 2020 was 297 in total which included 126 killed, and 171 injured.

According to AIHRC findings from armed conflicts in the country, out of the total number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2021, the Taliban is responsible for 56 per cent, pro-government forces are responsible for 15 per cent, Daesh is responsible for seven per cent, and unknown perpetrators are responsible for 22 per cent.

The Taliban is responsible for 2,978 civilian casualties (917 killed, and 2,061 injured) in the first six months of 2021. The war tactics by the Taliban include the use of IEDs, rocket fires, target killing, and ground battles, the report said.

The number of civilian casualties by the Taliban in the first six months of 2021 compared with the

same period in the previous year has been doubled. The Taliban was responsible for 1,438 civilian casualties (542 killed, and 896 injured) in the first six months of 2020.

Unknown perpetrators were responsible for another 1,190 civilian deaths and injuries in the first half of this year, including 425 civilians killed and 765 civilians injured. These attacks have not been claimed by any groups or individuals..

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SPECIAL: Plot To Whitewash Danish Murder

Danish Siddiqui

Siddiqui was alive when the Taliban captured him. The Taliban verified Siddiqui’s identity and then executed him, as well as those with him. The commander and the remainder of his team died as they tried to rescue him … writes Michael Rubin

On July 16, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, the chief photographer for Reuters in India, was killed in Afghanistan.His death made headline news around the world. “He was embedded with a convoy of Afghan forces that was ambushed by Taliban militants near a key border post with Pakistan,” the BBC reported. He “was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and the Taliban,” the New York Times wrote.

He “was killed in what was described as Taliban crossfire,” the Washington Post explained. Reuters itself gave a bare-bones account and said, “We are urgently seeking more information [and] working with authorities in the region.” The State Department, meanwhile, said, “We are deeply saddened to hear that Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed while covering fighting in Afghanistan.”

Danish Siddiqui

The circumstances of Siddiqui’s death are now clear. He was not simply killed in a crossfire, nor was he simply collateral damage; rather, he was brutally murdered by the Taliban.

Local Afghan authorities say that Siddiqui traveled with an Afghan National Army team to the Spin Boldak region to cover fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban to control the lucrative border crossing with Pakistan. When they got to within one-third of a mile of the customs post, a Taliban attack split the team, with the commander and a few men separated from Siddiqui, who remained with three other Afghan troops.

During this assault, shrapnel hit Siddiqui, and so he and his team went to a local mosque where he received first aid. As word spread, however, that a journalist was in the mosque, the Taliban attacked. The local investigation suggests the Taliban attacked the mosque only because of Siddiqui’s presence there.

Siddiqui was alive when the Taliban captured him. The Taliban verified Siddiqui’s identity and then executed him, as well as those with him. The commander and the remainder of his team died as they tried to rescue him.

While a widely circulated public photograph shows Siddiqui’s face recognizable, I reviewed other photographs and a video of Siddiqui’s body provided to me by a source in the Indian government that show the Taliban beat Siddiqui around the head and then riddled his body with bullets.

Siddiqui, of course, was doing his job: documenting newsworthy events. It was a risky job, but he took normal precautions that, across countries and battlefields, generally suffice to protect journalists. As for the Afghan National Army: It gave Siddiqui permission to cover the fighting near Spin Boldak because Afghan forces believed they would win. Documenting a victory could provide a much-needed morale boost.

The Taliban’s decision to hunt down, execute Siddiqui, and then mutilate his corpse shows that they do not respect the rules of war or conventions that govern the behaviour of the global community. There are many parallels between the Khmer Rouge and the Taliban. Both infused radical ideology with racist animus. The Taliban are always brutal but likely took their cruelty to a new level because Siddiqui was Indian. They also want to signal that Western journalists are not welcome in any Afghanistan they control and that they expect Taliban propaganda to be accepted as truth. In effect, Siddiqui’s murder appears to show that the Taliban have concluded that their pre-9/11 mistake was not that they were cruel and autocratic but rather that they were not violent or totalitarian enough.

The real question for journalists is why the State Department continues to pretend that Siddiqui’s death was just a tragic accident.

The Biden administration’s decision to uphold the Feb. 29, 2020, U.S.-Taliban agreement even though the Taliban have not, and to withdraw completely, is condemning Afghanistan to a bloodbath. It threatens to destabilize the broader region. But rather than confront reality, the Biden administration appears intent to whitewash Taliban crimes. To acknowledge the fact that the Taliban executed Siddiqui and that the photographer’s death was not a tragic accident would contradict White House spin.

If only successive administrations focused more on defeating the Taliban rather than absolving them or projecting sincerity onto them, the situation might never have become so dire.

(The article was first appeared in Washington Examiner. Michael Rubin (@Mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.)