UN announces third Doha meeting for Afghanistan on June 30

Khaama Press

The United Nations has announced that the third Doha meeting, which will include special representatives for Afghanistan from various countries, will take place on June 30 and will last for two days.

According to the statement, the UN labelled the conference as a means to foster international dialogue.

Following the second Doha meeting held on February 18th and 19th in Qatar, the United Nations has declared that the third Special Envoys Conference will take place on June 30th and July 1st in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The United Nations has indicated in a statement that Rosemary DiCarlo, the Deputy Secretary-General, has traveled to Afghanistan to negotiate regarding the third Doha conference. She has met with officials and the diplomatic community in Kabul, as well as representatives of civil society.

During this trip, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations met with Taliban officials and invited them to attend the third Doha conference.

DiCarlo met with Taliban officials and various Afghan figures, including former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, the former head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, during her visit to Kabul.

The statement indicates that “the aim of this conference is to increase international interaction with Afghanistan in a more coherent, coordinated, and structured manner.”

The statement adds, “They also highlighted the dangers and threats posed by drugs and terrorist groups.”

The Deputy Secretary-General discussed the human rights situation in Afghanistan, particularly the restrictions on women’s education under the Taliban.

During the course of this trip, UN officials in Afghanistan urged Afghan stakeholders to focus on any strategy for international engagement to address the humanitarian, developmental, and economic challenges facing Afghanistan.

UN announces third Doha meeting for Afghanistan on June 30
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okayev: Situation in Afghanistan Requires Close Attention

 

Thomas West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, in a meeting with Qatari officials, emphasized security and stability in Afghanistan.

Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kazakhstan, in a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries, said that the situation in Afghanistan requires close attention.

According to reports from Kazakh media outlets, in this meeting, Jomart Tokayev emphasized the continuation of efforts to prevent a humanitarian crisis and to create conditions for long-term stability in Afghanistan.

The President of Kazakhstan said: “The situation in Afghanistan requires close attention. It is crucial to continue efforts to avert a humanitarian crisis and create conditions for long-term stabilization. Supporting Kazakhstan’s initiative to establish a UN Regional Center for Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty is particularly relevant.”

Thomas West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, in a meeting with Qatari officials, emphasized security and stability in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar in a statement said: “HE Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Faisal bin Abdullah Al Hanzab met Monday with HE US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, who is on a visit to the country. The meeting discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan and the joint international efforts dedicated to achieving security and stability in Afghanistan.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Islamic Emirate’s political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, said that peace and stability are currently established in the country and that understanding Afghanistan’s problems requires dialogue with the Islamic Emirate.

The head of the Islamic Emirate’s political office in Doha said: “Anyone who wants to understand Afghanistan’s problems and propose solutions needs to meet and talk with the Islamic Emirate.”

Earlier, TASS, quoting the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had written that in the SCO meeting, the foreign ministers of the member countries will discuss stability in Afghanistan.

okayev: Situation in Afghanistan Requires Close Attention
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Turkish Airlines resumes flights to Afghanistan nearly 3 years after the Taliban captured Kabul

Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban government confirmed the resumption of Turkish Airlines flights to Kabul’s international airport, nearly three years after the carrier’s services were suspended following the collapse of the Western-backed government.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation said that the first Turkish Airlines flight landed Tuesday and was greeted by government officials.

Turkish Airlines flights have returned with a schedule of four weekly round-trip flights between Istanbul and Kabul on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

All international airlines halted flights to Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces departed after two decades of war.

In January, Air Arabia restarted flights to Kabul’s international airport. In November 2023, FlyDubai became the first international carrier to resume flights to Afghanistan.

Two Afghan airlines, Kam Air and Ariana Afghan Airlines, operate from Kabul to destinations such as Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Moscow; Islamabad and Istanbul.

 

Turkish Airlines resumes flights to Afghanistan nearly 3 years after the Taliban captured Kabul
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UN stresses support for clearing unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan

 

The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General expresses support for efforts to find a sustainable solution to clearing unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix stated that last year, 800 people died in explosions from mines and explosives in Afghanistan.

The UN official announced his return from Afghanistan on Tuesday, May 21 on his social media page.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, wrote in a note, “I just returned from Afghanistan, where I witnessed the terrible impact of explosives on communities.”

Mr. Lacroix also emphasized that most of the victims of mine and explosive explosions in Afghanistan last year were children.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General said in a video released by the UN’s official news service: “Afghanistan has been grappling with mine issues for decades, and education and skills development in this area have been very effective.”

He stated that hundreds of thousands of tons of various types of unexploded ordnance remain from the remnants of war in Afghanistan.

Recently, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan said that a large portion of the land and infrastructure is contaminated with explosives, causing physical harm to the country’s citizens.

UN stresses support for clearing unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan
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SIGAR Claims $10.9M Paid to Islamic Emirate Institutions

According to SIGAR’s report, out of the 65 organizations, 38 responded to the questionnaire.

John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), said that from August 2021 to the present, $10.9 million of US funds have been paid to Islamic Emirate institutions.

According to SIGAR’s report, out of the 65 organizations, 38 responded to the questionnaire, revealing that since August 2021, $10.9 million of US aid has been paid to various departments of the Islamic Emirate for customs expenses, taxes, electricity bills, and other costs.

Economist, Siyar Quraishi told TOLOnews: “If these payments are from taxes that these organizations have agreed upon in contracts and must pay to the Ministry of Finance, or for electricity bills and other expenses related to the government, I think it is legal.”

However, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate rejected this SIGAR report, stating that the Ministry of Economy only oversees the activities of aid organizations and does not interfere in their expenditures.

The spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate said: “The Islamic Emirate has not used any foreign funds in any department, and international organizations have full authority over their work. The Islamic Emirate only provides general oversight through the Ministry of Economy and does not interfere in the internal affairs and expenditures of these organizations. This claim is incorrect.”

Abdul Latif Nazari, the Deputy Minister of Economy, told TOLOnews regarding US aid to Afghanistan: “The actual humanitarian and development aid from the United States to the people of Afghanistan amounts to only $2.8 billion. The remaining funds, which include administrative, ceremonial, luxury, relocation, and resettlement expenses for US allies, do not count as aid to the people of Afghanistan.”

Some economic experts say that taxing foreign organizations is important and that the increase in aid organizations and their activities benefits the national economy.

Abdul Zahoor Madbar, an economist, told TOLOnews: “To the extent that the activities of aid organizations in Afghanistan increase, it can positively impact the country’s economy and increase liquidity.”

Three weeks ago, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported in its quarterly report that since the return of the Islamic Emirate to power, over $17 billion has been provided to Afghanistan and Afghan refugees.

According to this report, in addition to considering the $3.5 billion of Afghanistan’s central bank assets held in a trust fund in Switzerland as part of the US aid, $2.8 billion has been allocated for humanitarian and development assistance in Afghanistan, and $10.89 billion has been spent on the evacuation, resettlement, and accommodation programs for Afghan refugees in the United States.

SIGAR Claims $10.9M Paid to Islamic Emirate Institutions
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General says he warned that Afghanistan would get ‘very bad, very fast’

The Washington Post
May 20, 2024 
Austin Scott Miller, the last four-star U.S. commander based in Kabul, is among the latest witnesses to meet with lawmakers scrutinizing the Biden administration’s management of the withdrawal.
The top U.S. general in Afghanistan during the American military’s 2021 withdrawal repeatedly warned Washington that security would get “very bad, very fast” after troops departed, but the Biden administration still failed to grasp the danger in keeping its embassy open with only nominal protection, he told lawmakers investigating the war’s deadly endgame.
Retired Gen. Austin Scott Miller said in closed-door testimony last month before the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee that, as his tour was nearing its end in July 2021, he was so troubled by the administration’s “lack of understanding of the risk” that he privately warned a Marine Corps commander charged with planning for a possible evacuation to prepare for “really adverse conditions.”

“I did not foresee a good future for Afghanistan as I was departing,” the general said in his testimony, later adding that he wishes he had done more to ensure his perspective from Kabul was consistently represented as plans took shape in Washington.

The transcript of Miller’s interview, obtained by The Washington Post, provides President Biden’s critics fresh political ammunition ahead of the November election as they seek to discredit his foreign policy with the scenes of chaos and despair in Kabul when the Taliban stormed back to power.

Miller, who has shunned the spotlight in Washington since relinquishing command in Afghanistan in July 2021, is among about 20 witnesses to meet with the committee to date. Its chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), is expected to issue a report this summer detailing the investigation’s findings.

Reached by phone, Miller said he had nothing to add to his testimony.

One person familiar with his thinking said that the general met with the committee voluntarily believing he would be subpoenaed if he declined, and that he wanted lawmakers to understand the advice he provided and the challenges he faced as he carried out orders to wind down the nation’s longest war. This person, like some others contacted for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a subject that remains highly sensitive.

The administration and its allies on Capitol Hill have criticized McCaul’s investigation, alleging it has glossed over pivotal decisions made by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, including a deal with the Taliban that set a May 2021 deadline for the full military withdrawal but imposed few conditions and left Biden boxed in with no plan to conduct it.

An official with the White House National Security Council defended Biden’s decision-making, saying that ending the war was “the right thing to do” and allowed the United States to focus on other challenges, such as the war in Ukraine that erupted six months later. Biden, the NSC official said, “refused to send another generation of Americans to fight a war that should have ended long ago.”

A U.S. official, addressing Miller’s criticisms, said that as security deteriorated in Kabul, the State Department “pivoted and worked shoulder to shoulder with our military and other government colleagues to conduct the largest airlift in history.”

A U.S.-led crisis-response force was flown in to restore order, but two weeks of misery followed. A suicide bombing killed 13 American troops and an estimated 170 Afghans. Days later, a botched U.S. drone strike claimed 10 members of an Afghan family, including seven children.

Tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked for the U.S. and Afghan governments were left behind.

Miller, whose command assignment began in September 2018, told lawmakers he saw Afghanistan “as being on fire” as early as March 2020, shortly after the Trump administration agreed to remove all U.S. troops by May 2021. As 2021 progressed and the American military presence steadily shrank, he said, he grew “scared” for his personnel positioned far from Kabul in southern Helmand province.

No U.S. troops were killed in combat after the deal with the Taliban was signed, but Miller characterized the agreement as “a tough one for the Afghans to absorb.” The militants demanded the release of 5,000 prisoners and regularly attacked Afghan forces. He said he worried they would turn their guns on Americans, too, after the May 1 deadline passed. The Biden administration deliberated on its own plan until April, and then said it would have all forces out by September.

Under questioning by Democrats, Miller also highlighted the mission’s challenges while Trump was commander in chief.

In 2018, Miller recalled, he was awakened in the night by a phone call informing him the military had been directed to prepare “to leave in the middle of the night.” Miller said he responded that this was “not feasible.”

“It wasn’t disobeying an order,” Miller said in his testimony. “I just said, ‘I can’t do it. It’s too hard to do.’”

Miller said he heard rumors of other withdrawal orders in 2020, but those were “walked back or rescinded.”

When he arrived in Afghanistan, Miller took command of about 15,000 U.S. troops and assessed following a review that he could reduce the number to about 8,600. He significantly boosted airstrikes against the Taliban, he said, to pressure the militants to negotiate.

The Trump administration signed the deal with the Taliban in February 2020, even though senior Afghan officials were excluded from the discussion, Miller noted. Later in the year, Trump ordered additional reductions, first to 4,500 U.S. troops and then to 2,500 days before he departed office.

Miller told the committee he thought a force of 2,500 could be sufficient for an undefined period — but with the caveat that a “surge” of additional troops “down the road” might be necessary. Under questioning from Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, Miller said the security situation was in a “slow bleed” at that point.

Biden has vigorously defended his decision to end the mission in Afghanistan and, in an ABC News interview amid the evacuation, claimed that “no one” among his senior military advisers said to him that the United States should retain a force of 2,500 there. Senior defense officials later contradicted him, telling Congress after the operation that they had recommended a couple thousand personnel stay.

In his testimony, Miller described an unusual amount of interaction, for a field commander, with members of Trump’s Cabinet, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose involvement he called “extensive” and “helpful.”

When the Biden administration took over, it brought a more conventional way of doing business. Miller said he did not hear directly from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, acknowledging that the secretary was not obligated to reach out to the general and that there may have been “sensitivities” within the Defense Department if he had.

Miller said he did consult with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; Gen. Mark A. Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, who took over as head of U.S. Central Command in 2019. Other State Department officials also made trips to Kabul and met with him as the administration assessed its options, he said.

Miller, asked about his involvement in the Biden administration’s planning, said he routinely sent McKenzie his assessments and “wasn’t shy” about sharing his opinion. But he added he “wasn’t clamoring” to be in additional meetings. He told lawmakers that, in hindsight, he wishes he had been more directly involved in the deliberations.

James Adams, a Pentagon spokesman, said Austin and Milley, as Biden’s top military advisers, attended those planning sessions. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, sought out Miller for information separately, said another official familiar with the process.

Miller said the plan in early 2021 had him leaving with the last U.S. forces from Bagram air base, a major installation north of Kabul. But as the crisis grew and the Biden administration sought to continue evacuating U.S. citizens and at-risk Afghans, the plan changed. Bagram was vacated in early July, and a force of about 700 troops was kept in Kabul split between the airport and the embassy.

Brian McKeon, a former deputy secretary of state who oversaw aspects of the withdrawal, said in an interview with The Post that the State Department has maintained embassies in several other dangerous countries. Diplomatic officials, he said, believed that keeping the facility open would help facilitate the departure of more people.

Miller, like other senior military officers involved, told the committee he thought the Biden administration should have declared a U.S. evacuation sooner but that “I understand the quandary.”

“If you start pulling people out,” he asked, “do you precipitate the crisis?”

General says he warned that Afghanistan would get ‘very bad, very fast’
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Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly tourist attack in Afghanistan

Reuters

The Taliban’s interior ministry spokesperson, Abdul Mateen Qani, said on Sunday that four people had been arrested over the attack. One Afghan citizen was also killed and four foreigners and three Afghans were injured in the attack, he added.

Mountainous Bamiyan is home to a Unesco world heritage site and the remains of two giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban during their previous rule in 2001.

Since taking over Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have pledged to restore security and encouraged a small but growing number of tourists trickling back into the country. They have sold tickets to see the site of the destroyed Buddha statues.

Friday’s attack was among the most serious targeting foreign citizens since foreign forces left and the Taliban took over in 2021.

Islamic State previously claimed responsibility for an attack that injured Chinese citizens at a hotel popular with Chinese business people in Kabul in 2022.

Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly tourist attack in Afghanistan
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At least 66 dead as new floods hit Afghanistan’s Faryab province

Al Jazeera

Fresh floods have killed at least 66 people in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, says a provincial official, in the latest deadly string of disasters to hit the country in recent days.

Heavy floods in multiple districts of Faryab province on Saturday night “resulted in human and financial losses”, Asmatullah Moradi, spokesman for the Faryab governor, said in a statement on Sunday.

Due to the floods 66 people were killed,” he said, adding that at least five people were injured and several others missing.

The flooding damaged more than 1,500 houses, swamped more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of agricultural land and killed livestock in their hundreds, he said.

Another 18 people had also died in floods in the same province on Friday, Moradi added.

INTERACTIVE_AFGHANISTAN_FLOODS_MAY19_2024-1716108697

The latest disaster in Faryab came just a day after provincial authorities said 50 people were killed in flash flooding just south of the province in Ghor.

According to the Kabul-based TOLONews, up to 80 percent of the city of Ferozkoh in Ghor was destroyed by the flooding.

Afghanistan is prone to natural disasters, and the United Nations considers it among the countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Just over a week ago, more than 300 people were killed in flash flooding in northern Baghlan province, according to the UN World Food Programme and Taliban officials.

The disasters are the latest to hit the impoverished country, which has seen above-average rainfall this spring.
At least 66 dead as new floods hit Afghanistan’s Faryab province
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Guterres’ Deputy Urges Islamic Emirate to Participate in Doha Meeting

Mawlawi Kabir said that the participation of the Islamic Emirate in this meeting is conditional on the world’s acceptance of the interim government’s demands.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, has called on the Islamic Emirate to participate in the third Doha meeting on Afghanistan.

The Arg in a statement said that the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and her accompanying delegation, in a meeting with Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, described the third Doha meeting as a good opportunity to expand interactions and normalize Afghanistan’s relations with the world.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs said that the participation of the Islamic Emirate in this meeting is conditional on the world’s acceptance of the interim government’s demands.

The Arg statement said: “The UN Under-Secretary-General provided information about the upcoming Doha meeting to the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs and said that in addition to the World Bank, representatives from several international organizations and countries have also been invited. She invited the Islamic Emirate to participate in this meeting, adding that the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participation are not difficult and expressed hope that the Islamic Emirate’s delegation would also participate.”

Mohammad Hassan Haqyar, the general director of press and protocol of the political deputy of the Prime Minister’s office, told TOLOnews: “Such meetings of the world with Afghanistan also provide an opportunity for friendly relations, and this meeting led to the participation of the Emirate in the Doha meeting.”

DiCarlo also met separately with former President Hamid Karzai, and Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, discussing not only the Doha meeting but also achieving peace and national understanding.

Meanwhile, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said that the US Special Representative for Afghanistan discussed the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2721 regarding the appointment of the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan with Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Political Affairs.

“It can be effective when all countries with different views on the Islamic Emirate come to a consensus and, based on this consensus, appoint a special representative who, in coordination with all of them, advances their goals,” Zakiullah Mohammadi, a university scholar, told TOLOnews.

“The main task is to independently assess Afghanistan’s issues and work towards integrating Afghanistan into the UN, and Thomas West has repeatedly emphasized that Afghanistan’s issues should be resolved through the United Nations,” said Janat Faheem Chakari, another political analyst.

Earlier, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations in a meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that the upcoming Doha meeting on Afghanistan would address financial, banking, drug trafficking, and climate change issues, among others.

Guterres’ Deputy Urges Islamic Emirate to Participate in Doha Meeting
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‘Blood everywhere’: Survivor recounts attack on tourists in Afghanistan

Susannah WALDEN

A view shows the site where the Shahmama Buddha statue once stood before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, in Bamiyan province (Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN)
A view shows the site where the Shahmama Buddha statue once stood before being destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, in Bamiyan province (Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN)

When she first heard the gunshots, French tourist Anne-France Brill thought for a split second there was a celebration in the Afghan market where she and her fellow travellers stopped to buy fruit.

But then she heard one of her companions screaming: “I realised she had blood all over her stomach.”

The 55-year-old had been sitting in a van during a group tour in the mountainous city of Bamiyan on Friday evening when a gunman approached their vehicles and opened fire.

Brill was unhurt, but the Lithuanian woman next to her was hit.

“She had gone completely white,” Brill said. “She was saying, ‘I’m cold, I’m cold… I’m going to die’.”

The spray of gunfire only lasted seconds, Brill recalled, followed by long minutes of uncertainty crouching on the floor of the van, wondering what had happened, if it was over, what to do.

“There was blood everywhere,” Brill told AFP on the phone.

A Norwegian man in the van had also been wounded, and their driver had been killed.

He was one of six gunned down: three Spanish tourists, two Afghan men working with the group and a Taliban security official who returned fire on the gunman.

Suddenly, Taliban authorities swarmed the street, cordoning off and clearing the road.

As they approached the car where Brill and the others were, they still weren’t sure if they were safe.

“But we didn’t have a choice (but to get out) as we had wounded” in the van.

– Evacuation to Kabul –

The wounded were bundled into the back of Taliban authorities’ trucks and rushed to the hospital in Bamiyan, and later to Kabul, around 180 kilometres (110 miles) away.

Brill said her and other tourists who escaped unhurt were given a security escort overnight to Kabul, where they were taken in by a European Union delegation.

Before leaving Bamiyan, she helped gather the belongings of those killed and wounded, including from the site of the attack.

“They were covered in blood, but it’s so important for the families, so we tried to recover what we could,” she said.

One item stuck out, the backpack of a young woman.

The bodies of three Spanish victims were due to be returned to Spain on Sunday and the wounded to be transferred out of Kabul, diplomats said.

Brill and two Americans took early flights out of Kabul to Dubai, the shock taking its different tolls on the group.

“I cried my eyes out in front of the conveyor belt in Dubai, my suitcase was spinning, and all of a sudden, boom,” she said.

“I had to let go and say to myself, ‘That’s it, now I’m safe’,” she said, speaking from Dubai.

– Fledgling tourism industry –

An avid traveller drawn to places off the beaten path Brill had long thought of visiting Afghanistan, one of the scores of foreign tourists drawn to experience the country’s rich landscapes, history and culture long rendered virtually unreachable by decades of war.

More than two years after the Taliban ended their insurgency, ousting the Western-backed government, “it seemed possible”, said Brill, who lives just outside Paris but whose career in marketing took her all over the world.

Used to travelling independently, she still opted for a tour group — conscious of the remaining challenges of travelling in Afghanistan, a country with poor infrastructure, dilapidated health services, tight Taliban government controls, little diplomatic presence and lingering security threats.

The attack on Brill’s group was the first reported deadly assault on foreign tourists in Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban to power in 2021, the authorities encouraging travellers and a fledgling tourism sector.

The group had arrived in Kabul on Wednesday, Bamiyan their first stop outside the Afghan capital to see the famed remnants of the 1,500-year-old giant Buddhas destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban during their first rule.

She and her companions had been just getting to know each other, trading tips over WhatsApp before arriving, then sharing their first Afghan meals as they looked forward to stops in the cities of Herat and Kandahar.

But instead of bonding through their travels, the group is now tied together over haunting memories, their WhatsApp messages sharing word of their wounded companions.

“An experience like that, when something like that happens to you, it creates bonds,” she said.

‘Blood everywhere’: Survivor recounts attack on tourists in Afghanistan
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