Tag: taliban

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India participates in Taliban’s regional conference in Kabul

In the case of India, New Delhi has a ‘technical’ team in Kabul, whose head, Rambabu Chellappa, participated in the session…reports Asian Lite News

India on Monday participated in a ‘regional conference’ organised by the Taliban government in the run-up to next month’s UN-convened meeting on Afghanistan. This was the first such programme convened in the Afghanistan capital.

Dubbed Afghanistan’s ‘Regional Cooperation Initiative,’ the meeting was chaired by Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and attended by special envoys from Russia and China as well.

Besides, the resident diplomats from India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan took part in the meeting.

As the Taliban government has yet to receive formal international recognition, the diplomats present at the meeting were not designated as ‘ambassadors’ but rather ‘chief d’affairs.’

In the case of India, New Delhi has a ‘technical’ team in Kabul, whose head, Rambabu Chellappa, participated in the session.

According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by the foreign ministry spokesperson, the India representative said that it actively took part in international and regional intiatives and “supports every effort leading to the stability and the development of Afghanistan”.

The Taliban minister reiterated the opposition to an appointment of a special envoy for Afghanistan by the UN Secretary general.

Last month, the UN Security Council passed a resolution that called for appointing a UN special envoy as part of greater engagement with the war-ravaged country. Russia and China had abstained but did use their veto to stop the adoption.

“Afghanistan as country that has gone through long imposed conflicts, and has achieved peace, security, and stability – does not need another UN special representative and/or new mission with UNAMA already on the ground – but this government stands ready and has the capacity to conduct talks on common and concerning issues with different regional and international sides,” said Muttaqi.

He also urged the participating countries to “portray ground realities of today’s Afghanistan in the upcoming Doha meeting”.

“Calling the current diplomatic relations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with the countries of the region remarkable, FM Muttaqi stressed that regional countries should hold regional peace talks to increase and continue positive interaction with Afghanistan, adding Muttaqi asked the participants to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in Afghanistan based on a region-oriented tradition so as to coordinate in managing the potential threats,” Taliban-controlled Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.

“Underlying on positive engagement with the countries of the region and the world, FM Muttaqi once again reiterated that there remains no need to appoint a new special representatives in the presence of UNAMA and the existence of an independent central government in Afghanistan, urging the participants to convey the message of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s region-oriented initiative to their countries so that Afghanistan and the region can jointly utilise the new opportunities in the region for the benefit of their governments and nations,” it also said.

The UN secretary General Antonio Guterres will be hosting a meeting of special envoys from regional countries and international organisations on Afghanistan at the Qatari capital Doha on February 18-19.

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Taliban Tighten Grip on Book Stores, Publishing Houses

Last week, Taliban security forces forcefully detained an employee of the Vajeh Publishing House and Bookstore….reports Asian Lite News

The Taliban is tightening its grip on books in Kabul. They have visited bookstores with a list of banned books, seizing works by Afghan authors, Khaama Press reported.

A politician and researcher Mujib Rahman Rahimi had his works confiscated by the Taliban during their recent attack on publishing houses and bookstores in Kabul.

He stated on his official Facebook page, “The Taliban do not realise that in the age of the internet, the information revolution, and the decline of the control and authority of governments and oppressive systems over information, publications, books, scientific articles, etc., they cannot stop information dissemination and book publication.”

Before being a spokesperson for Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, Mujib Rahimi was known as the author of books such as “A Critique of the Structure of the Afghan System,” “State Formation in Afghanistan: A Theoretical and Political History,” and other works.

Last week, Taliban security forces forcefully detained an employee of the Vajeh Publishing House and Bookstore.

The head of publications at Vajeh Publishing Qasim Farzam reported that the Taliban violently apprehended one of their colleagues.

Meanwhile, reports state that Taliban members severely beat Naser Maqsoudi, the head of Maqsoudi Publications, on Thursday due to his opposition to collecting and confiscating books.

It also mentioned that Taliban members stormed the National Market bookstores in Pul-e-Sokhta and took away numerous books.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education had previously ordered the collection of non-religious books and those influencing people’s beliefs from university libraries, as per Khaama Press.

Book publishers said that all publishers and booksellers were required to register all the details of their publications and bookstores on forms provided by the Taliban intelligence department, and after being stamped and signed, deliver them to the Taliban intelligence office.

These incidents underline the ongoing challenges and restrictions facing publishing and education in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, raising concerns about freedom of expression and access to knowledge, as per Khaama Press. (ANI)

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Taliban accuse Tajik, Pak citizens of carrying out attacks

If Pak govt does not agree to our demands, our fighters will wage jihad in entire country--Pakistan Taliban (TTP)(IN)

Mujahid rejected Pakistani claims that Afghan territory is a safe haven for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or the Pakistani Taliban), calling those complaints “baseless.”…reports Asian Lite News

In reviewing the Taliban government’s security achievements in 2023 on December 31, Afghanistan’s acting Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said that any attacks that did occur were “all carried out by foreigners, especially the citizens of Tajikistan.”

“Dozens of Tajikistan citizens have been killed in our operations and dozens of others have been arrested. Also, in the second step, Pakistani citizens have been involved in organizing many attacks,” Mujahid said, according to TOLO News. The defense minister did not offer concrete figures, though he did say that more than 20 Pakistani citizens had been killed in Taliban operations and dozens of others captured.

Mujahid meanwhile heralded the efforts fo the Taliban’s security forces, proclaiming that, as TOLO News reported, “the security forces have stopped 99 percent of smuggling of money, precious stones and currencies from inside Afghanistan in the past year” and had seized “tens of thousands of weapons.” He also claimed that there had been a 90 percent decrease in Islamic State attacks over the course of 2023.

The Taliban defense official accused unspecified neighboring countries of being the real centers of production, sale, and smuggling of weapons — accusations that have been lobbed against the Taliban, which arguably inherited quite a stockpile from the previous Republic government upon its collapse in August 2021.

Mujahid also rejected Pakistani claims that Afghan territory is a safe haven for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or the Pakistani Taliban), calling those complaints “baseless.”

The veracity of Mujahid’s statements aside (he did not provide any details or evidence, per se), the sharp accusations fit into a sustained pattern of tension between Afghanistan and two of its neighbors: Pakistan and Tajikistan. Curiously, while Pakistani officials — notably then-Prime Minister Imran Khan — welcomed the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, relations between the two countries have become strained, with both sides lobbing accusations against the other of harboring their enemies. In November, Pakistan began a massive effort to deport “illegal migrants,” most of whom are Afghan.

When it comes to Tajikistan, Dushanbe has been the most hesitant to engage of Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbors. As Shanthie Mariet D’Souza outlined in a mid-December article, despite some forms of engagement — such as the reopening of border markets in September and the transfer of the Afghan consulate in Khorog into Taliban hands — Dushanbe remains “the strongest critic of the Taliban in Central Asia.” Tajikistan, most notably, hosts a number of former Republic officials and members of the Afghan National Resistance Front (NRF). In November, Dushanbe hosted the Herat Security Dialogue (HSD) which drew together a wide array of Afghans, again many from the former Republic government and many who stand staunchly in opposition to the Taliban.

Dushanbe has not responded to Mujahid’s statement.

The Taliban in Afghanistan — even before its full return to power — put Jamaat Ansarullah (sometimes referred to as the Tajik Taliban, and banned in Tajikistan as a terrorist group in 2012) in charge of the border. The group remains the lead security force in five districts bordering Tajikistan and sits as a major point of contention. In August, for example. Tajik officials claimed to have stopped an attempted terrorist attack, with the purported Jamaat Ansarullah attackers crossing over the border from Afghanistan after having been trained and armed. The alleged attack was “deliberately planned by the intelligence services” the Tajik State Committee for National Security said.

In May 2023, journalist Franz J. Marty embedded with the Taliban forces assigned to guard the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border. He found that border forces were ill-equipped, overworked, and underpaid (if they are paid at all; many reported receiving no salary). Conversations with troops also revealed a heavy sense of paranoia about Afghan resistance forces and/or Tajik militants slipping across the border.

“Most Taliban, like the ones who felt shadowed by Tajik patrols on the other side of the river, are convinced that everyone is actively plotting to overthrow their Emirate,” Marty concluded. “Accordingly, the Taliban are set to continue patrolling their borders, looking for mostly imagined enemies.”

As the Taliban government tries to portray itself as a competent security guarantor in Afghanistan, this requires a narrative that can externalize any and all attacks that do occur. At the same time, Afghanistan’s neighbors have many of the same complaints about Taliban-run Afghanistan. Somehow, the enemies are always from elsewhere.

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-Top News USA

US warns Taliban on terror 

Pakistan Taliban stay firm on demand for separate tribal area at Kabul meeting held to broker peace.(PHOTO:IN)

Washington also voices concern about the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan, slams systematic suppression of women and girls…reports Asian Lite News

The US will continue to remain concerned about the potential for terrorist activists in Afghanistan and expects Taliban to prevent Afghanistan from being a haven for terrorism, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.In response to a question about President Joe Biden’s concerns regarding terrorist activity in Afghanistan, Miller said, “We continue to be very concerned about the potential for terrorist activities in Afghanistan. We’ve made it clear that we maintain the capability to conduct over-the-horizon anti-terrorism activities. And of course, we expect the Taliban to prevent Afghanistan from being a haven for terrorism, as it has been in the past.”Earlier this month, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the country has witnessed an increase in violence against the Shia and Hazara communities in the past month in the provinces of Kabul, Balkh, and Herat, Khaama Press reported. UNAMA called for support for individuals at risk.This came in response to the recent attack on Shia Muslims in the Herat province, which had prompted strong reactions, Khaama Press reported. On December 1, six people, including four men and two women, were killed as a result of gunfire by unidentified armed individuals in Herat. The incident occurred in the Hazara-populated area of Jibril in Herat, where all the victims were riding in rickshaws, according to Khaama Press report.Meanwhile, Matthew Miller said that the US will continue to be “very concerned” about the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan. Ever since the Taliban came into power, women’s human rights in Afghanistan have been systematically suppressed and girls have been denied access to secondary education and women to higher education.

Asked about the Taliban not making a change on their claim regarding Afghan women, he said, “We continue to be very concerned about the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan.”Asked about a report published that former Afghan house speakers under Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s government has been listed by the US Treasury, Matthew Miller said that US has taken action to designate former members of the Afghan parliament and their immediately family members due to their involvement in significant corruption.Miller asserted that the US will continue to take action to combat corruption in Afghanistan and around the world.

He said, “We have taken action to designate former members of the Afghan parliament and their immediate family members, which renders them generally ineligible to enter into the United States. Because of their involvement in significant corruption, The Treasury Department has also designated these individuals under the Magnitsky sanctions program for their extensive role in transnational corruption.Treasury designated a network of 44 companies connected to them for their role. So, I will say that we will continue to take action to combat corruption both in Afghanistan and around the world,” he added.Miller’s statement comes after the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two former Afghan government officials – Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son, Ajmal Rahmani collectively known as “the Rahmanis” for their extensive roles in transnational corruption, as well as 44 associated entities, US Department of Treasury announced in a statement.In the statement, the US Department of Treasury said, “These individuals and entities are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.”Through their Afghan companies, the Rahmanis perpetrated a complex procurement corruption scheme resulting in the misappropriation of millions of dollars from U.S. Government-funded contracts that supported Afghan security forces,” he added.Concurrently, the US Department of State designated Mir Rahman Rahmani, Ajmal Rahmani, and their immediate family members, under Section 7031(c) of the annual Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for involvement in “significant corruption as a public official”, according to the statement.

‘Diplomatic resolution to issues between Afghanistan, Pakistan’

Meanwhile, Miller added that Washington supports diplomatic resolution to all of the various issues between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Asked whether the US is concerned about the ties going bad between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Matthew Miller said, “With respect to relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, obviously, we support diplomatic resolution to all of the various issues between those two countries. It’s something that we have been engaged on, we have detailed the substance of some of those specific engagements in the past few weeks and we will continue to do so.”

Notably, the ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan became strained after the Pakistani caretaker government initiated a nationwide campaign to deport illegal foreign nationals, the majority of whom are Afghans.In response to another question, Matthew Miller reiterated that the US does not play any role in choosing the leaders of Pakistan. He said that the US engages with Pakistan’s leadership, as decided by the people of the country. In 2022, Pakistan’s then-PM Imran Khan claimed that the US was involved in a conspiracy to oust him. However, the US denied involvement in the matter.

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Amnesty Urges ICC Action on Taliban Crimes

Zaman Sultani, South Asia researcher of Amnesty International, called on the International Criminal Court to prioritise the issue of dealing with war crimes in Afghanistan….reports Asian Lite News

Amnesty International has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prioritise and accelerate the delivery of justice for victims of crimes committed by the Taliban and other actors in Afghanistan before the Taliban seized power in August 2021, TOLO News reported.

In the statement, Amnesty International stated, “The International Criminal Court (ICC) must prioritize and accelerate the delivery of justice for victims of crimes committed by the Taliban, as well as by other actors in Afghanistan before the 2021 takeover”, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported.

Zaman Sultani, South Asia researcher of Amnesty International, called on the International Criminal Court to prioritise the issue of dealing with war crimes in Afghanistan.

In the statement, Sultani said, “We demand that the International Criminal Court should prioritize the issue of dealing with war crimes in Afghanistan and provide information regarding the investigation that they started a year ago, where this investigation has reached.”

The Taliban also urged the International Criminal Court to conduct a probe into the war crimes of other nations in Afghanistan, TOLO News reported.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said, “The crimes committed by the occupying countries in Afghanistan are the responsibility of the powerful countries. This international organization cannot hold them accountable, so we have no hope from this organization, but if it is seen that they are neutral, we will speak about it.”

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said women in Afghanistan still face arrests, threats and suppression, TOLO News reported. The international NGO that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, raised concern about the current situation of activist women in Afghanistan.

A report published by the NGO pointed to the continued detention of female protesters, including Julia Parsi, Manijeh Sediqi, Neda Parwani, and Parisa Azada.

“These are four women’s rights activists arbitrarily detained by the Taliban right now. Remember their names. But please also remember that there are many more in custody who have not been named,” the report stated.

“You haven’t heard of most of the detained women. Families are terrified into concealing their arrests, hoping silence might buy their release or reduce abuses in custody,” it added.

The Taliban, however, said that some women have been arrested to prevent the implementation of foreign programmes and maintain public security.

“Seizure does not mean that we silence someone’s voice or that someone is oppressed; It is for the sake of maintaining public security and preventing external conspiracies from happening in Afghanistan,” Mujahid added, according to TOLO News.

Some women’s rights activists called for the release of the protesting women.

Hwaida Hadis, a women’s rights activist, said, “The goal of women’s rights activists and those who took to the streets was to be able to hear the voices of Afghan women for the world.”

Sonam Latif, another women’s rights activist, said, “The women who were arrested did not have any anti-government and security activities, they only wanted Afghan women and girls to study,” said Sonam Latif, another women’s rights activist.” (ANI)

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Taliban Acknowledges Education Crisis, Calls for Reforms

The Taliban appointed Deputy Foreign Minister stressed the importance of reopening schools for girl students beyond grade 6 and said a society without knowledge is “dark”….reports Asian Lite News

Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai has said the main reason people are distanced from the Taliban is the continued ban on women’s education, TOLO News reported. TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul.

The Taliban appointed Deputy Foreign Minister while speaking at a graduation ceremony, stressed the importance of reopening schools for girl students beyond grade 6 and said a society without knowledge is “dark”.

The ceremony was held by the Taliban’s Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs to mark the graduation of students who have studied in educational entities under the ministry.

Stanikzai said: “This is everyone’s right. This is the natural right which God and the prophet has given them, how can someone take this right from them? If anyone violates this right, this is an oppression against the Afghans and the people of this country. Try to reopen the doors of the educational institutions for everyone. Today, our only problem with the neighbors and the world is caused by the issue of education. If the nation is getting distant from us and upset with us, that is due to the education issue.”

The Taliban-appointed acting Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, Noorullah Noori, said that the youth living in far areas that lack access to education, have been enrolled in schools. He also stressed that there is no distance between religious and modern education.

“The issue of distance is not true. There is no distance. The education that is being taught under Islamic Emirate’s rule, I can tell you that there has been no such system before,” Noori said, according to TOLO News.

Girl students above grade six have been deprived of their education since the Taliban came to power.

Taliban-appointed Acting Minister of Education Habibullah Agha recently criticised the poor quality of education in the country’s religious schools, TOLO News reported.

Habibullah Agha asked the Taliban and religious scholars to pay serious attention to raising the quality of education. (ANI)

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China Hints at Diplomatic Recognition of Taliban

The Chinese FM spokesman said he hopes Afghanistan will “adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies…reports Asian Lite News

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has said China hopes Afghanistan will further respond to the expectations of the international community, including adopting “moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies,” TOLO News reported. TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul.

Wenbin while responding to a question about the appointment of Bilal Karimi as the Taliban’s ambassador in Beijing and whether China will formally recognise Taliban, said: “As a long-standing friendly neighbour of Afghanistan, China believes that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community.”

But he also stressed the importance of building an open and inclusive political structure in Afghanistan.A political analyst Sayed Jawad Sijadi said that the international community is pressing their demands on Taliban.

“The formation of an inclusive government, considering the realities in Afghanistan, recognition of the rights of and freedom of the people of Afghanistan are the demands of the international community. It doesn’t look like the international community will let it (Taliban) fall short on these demands,” he said, as per TOLO News.

The Chinese FM spokesman said he hopes Afghanistan will “adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, firmly combat all forms of terrorist forces, develop friendly relations with other countries, especially with its neighbours, and integrate itself into the world community.”

“We believe that diplomatic recognition of Taliban will come naturally as the concerns of various parties are effectively addressed,” he said. The Taliban said it is inclusive but stressed that it wants to improve relations with the international community.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said: “The matters that are being mentioned should be mentioned through legal paths, so practical steps are taken for them. We want good relations with all countries and we will provide the grounds for it gradually.”

Last week, the Taliban’s former deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi presented his credentials to the Director-General of the Protocol Department of the Foreign Ministry of China, Hong Lei. (ANI)

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Taliban Minister Slams Afghanistan’s Poor Quality of Education

Habibullah Agha asked the Taliban and religious scholars to pay serious attention to raising the quality of education….reports Asian Lite News

Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed Acting Minister of Education Habibullah Agha has criticized the poor quality of education in the country’s religious schools, TOLO News reported.

Habibullah Agha asked the Taliban and religious scholars to pay serious attention to raising the quality of education.

The Taliban-appointed minister, while speaking at the graduation ceremony of about 120 students from Darul-Ulom Imam Abu Hanifa’s 12th and 14th grades, said that the number of religious schools in Afghanistan has increased in comparison to the past and that students are given good facilities in this area.

Agha noted: “In my point of view, the quality of education is becoming weaker day by day, although seeking education has become easier. There was a time when students could not find a book.”

Meanwhile, the officials of Darul-Ulom Imam Abu Hanifa stressed about improving the quality of education in religious schools, saying that not only religious sciences are taught in this Darul-Ulom, but also contemporary sciences.

“In our Darul Ulom, not only religious sciences but also contemporary sciences are taught, so these graduates, in addition to religious sciences, also include students from contemporary sciences, and today about 120 people graduated from this Darul Ulom,” said Abdulhai, head of the Imam Abu Hanifa Darul-Ulom, as per TOLO News.

A number of Imam Abu Hanifa Darul-Ulom graduates from the 12th and 14th grades asked the Taliban to provide them with employment opportunities in the country.

A graduate said: “There is no equivalency between knowledge and ignorance. So, we must study and be educated. Those young people who are educated and talented, the Islamic Emirate must provide them with work.”

About four thousand students are now enrolled to study religious and modern sciences at Darul-Ulom Imam Abu Hanifa, which was established in the Bagrami district of Kabul province in 1323 solar year, according to official records. (ANI)

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Qatar’s Global Clout Soars in Diplomatic Arenas

Doha Emerges as a Vital Intermediary for Washington, Navigating Talks with Iran and the Taliban…reports Asian Lite News

Qatar was instrumental in facilitating talks between the US and the Taliban that culminated in the 2020 Doha Accord and led to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Ongoing mediation efforts in Lebanon, Libya, Chad, Venezuela, and Palestine are also positioning the small Gulf nation as a diplomatic heavyweight with expanding geopolitical influence, as per a recent article published in Middle East Council on Global Affairs.

Mediation has long been a cornerstone of Qatar’s foreign policy – a key strategy by which the country garners outsize prestige within the international system, while hedging its bets and maintaining ties with a wide range of actors.

Doha has made itself indispensable to Washington as a go-between with various states and non-state parties, including Iran and the Taliban, the article said.

The two sides held talks over humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and issues related to facilitating people’s movement at Torkhan and Spinboldak. (Photo Pakistan Embassy Qatar)

This strategy arguably took a hit in 2017 when Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates imposed a three-and-a-half-year blockade on Qatar, leading the country to temper its efforts abroad even after the blockade ended in 2021.

But its more recent engagements show that Doha can still punch above its weight by mediating conflicts and alleviating tensions in the Middle East and beyond, the article said.

Qatar’s ability to speak to all sides in the current conflict seems to have paid off with the potential release of hostages in Gaza, DW reported.

The announcement of a possible “humanitarian pause” in the Gaza Strip can be considered a triumph for the small Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, the report said.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry put out a statement announcing a four day “pause” during which all sides — the Israeli military, the militant Hamas group and Hezbollah’s armed wing in Lebanon — would agree to stop fighting.

Previously, even Israel’s national security advisor Tzachi Hanegbi had praised Qatar’s role, writing on social media that “Qatar’s diplomatic efforts are crucial at this time”.

But not everyone is so pleased with the small Gulf state. Some commentators said negotiators should have tried harder to secure the release of more hostages. Others argued that because Qatar has been home to Hamas’ political leadership since 2012, it was somehow complicit in Hamas’ attacks, DW reported.

Experts agree that Qatar is walking a fine line when it comes to its foreign policy, playing the “Switzerland of the Middle East” and keeping doors open to all comers.

“Qatar’s role is particularly sensitive because the emirate has been relying on being an intermediary for well over two decades now,” Guido Steinberg, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said.

In the past, Qatar has also acted as an interlocutor between the international community and the Taliban in Afghanistan (who also have political offices in Doha), between the US and Iran, and even Russia and Ukraine.

It also hosts the largest US military headquarters in the Middle East, al-Udeid Air Base, which played a significant role in evacuations from Afghanistan in 2021. This led to Qatar being described as ‘major non-NATO ally’, DW reported.

In the recent past, Qatar was spending an estimated $30 million a month on Gaza. But the arguments around this money are yet another example of how fraught Qatar’s role is when it comes to Palestinians and Hamas.

Some have suggested Qatari money subsidizes Hamas’ military wing and is used for nefarious purposes. Hamas has ruled the enclave since 2007 and also manages payments for the civil administration of Gaza, DW reported.

For many years the Qataris have served as a diplomatic bridge between various actors in the region, which, for political reasons, would not be able to easily engage each other in direct talks, The New Arab reported.

This has been evident in many instances, including the West’s engagement with the Taliban, which manifested in the Doha Agreement of 2020, the September 2023 Iran-US prisoner swap, as well as talks in Qatar between factions involved in conflicts in Lebanon and Sudan during the 2000s.

It is no secret that Hamas has a political office in Doha, with the group’s exiled leadership moved to Doha after leaving Damascus in 2012 following Hamas’ falling out with the Syrian regime at the Arab Spring’s outset, The New Arab reported.

Many neo-conservative voices in Washington have lashed out at Qatar for its relationship with the Palestinian group. Yet, an important fact to bear in mind is that it was the US which requested the opening of this Hamas office in the gas-rich emirate.

Qatar has long used Hamas’ status in Doha as a means to serve as an intermediary between the US and Israel, on one side, and Hamas, on the other, The New Arab reported.

Through Qatari backchannels, Hamas and Israel agreed to ceasefires which ended their previous armed conflicts in 2014, 2021, and 2022.

Many countries in the Middle East aspire to the role of mediators – Egypt, Oman and Kuwait among them – but Qatar presents itself as the region’s primary problem solver and advocate of dialogue. It has been active in Ukraine, Lebanon, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan and Gaza, in the process hosting the leadership of the Taliban and the political wing of Hamas among others, The Guardian reported.

Observers say Qatar takes on this role since as a small but fabulously wealthy country built on vast supplies of liquid gas, it needs to make itself indispensable to the international community and be protected from unwelcome interventions by its larger neighbours, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The 2017-2021 boycott of Qatar led by Saudi Arabia showed it has good reasons to be fearful, The Guardian reported.

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Taliban Forces Raid, Seal Schools Teaching Girls Foreign Languages

Reverse decrees limiting women's rights, UN urges Taliban.(Photo : Twitter.com/unwomenafghan)

The director of one of the schools in Herat said that the authorities of the Taliban administration have blocked the gates of approximately ten schools….reports Asian Lite News

The Taliban intelligence forces raided and sealed some schools that were teaching girls foreign languages, reported Khaama Press.

Officials from the Ministry of Education, the Department of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and the Taliban intelligence forces raided these schools on Tuesday.

According to sources in Herat province, the presence of girls in some educational centres has been prohibited due to the failure to comply with the directives of the local government of this province, Khaama Press reported.

The director of one of the schools in Herat said that the authorities of the Taliban administration have blocked the gates of approximately ten schools.

“Girls cannot attend courses, and schools that were teaching girls have had their gates sealed,” he added.

Meanwhile, another school administrator in Herat stressed that the presence of girls has been prohibited due to male teachers instructing them, according to Khaama Press.

Nisar Ahmad Elias, the spokesman for the Herat governor, stated that he is unaware of the closure of school gates, noting that he needs more information.

Furthermore, notably, girls who have experienced the closure of schools and universities continue their foreign language studies in some of the country’s educational institutions.

Today, it has been over 600 days since the Taliban banned girls from attending schools after sixth grade in Afghanistan, and has not taken any action to reopen the educational institutions for girls.

Earlier, Firoza Amini, a women’s rights activist, said, “When this restriction is imposed on girls, and schools and universities are closed, girls’ depression, despair and demotivation continue to rise, and it causes further harm,” TOLO News reported.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they have issued several decrees which impose restrictions on women. Afghanistan’s women have faced numerous challenges since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Girls and women in the war-torn country have no access to education, employment and public spaces. (ANI)

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