Azerbaijan Embassy Opens in Kabul: Islamic Emirate

The spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate calls on the international community to renew its diplomatic relations with the caretaker government.

The Islamic Emirate said that Azerbaijan has opened its embassy in Kabul and plans to send its diplomats to this country in the coming days.

The spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate calls on the international community to renew its diplomatic relations with the caretaker government.

“Azerbaijan has started its diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and has activated its embassy. The Islamic Emirate will also activate its embassy in Azerbaijan. This is a new step in diplomatic relations between the two countries and will be beneficial for all,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate.

“The countries of the region not only have political and economic competitions among themselves but are also concerned about their internal security because of Afghanistan,” said Aziz Maarij, a former Afghan diplomat.

Meanwhile, Ilham Mahmmadov, the Azerbaijani ambassador to Afghanistan, emphasized the expansion of comprehensive political and economic relations in separate meetings with deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate in political affairs and the acting Minister of Interior yesterday.

The Arg in a statement stated that during these meetings, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir supported Azerbaijan’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

“The Azerbaijani ambassador stated that they have religious, economic, and cultural relations with Afghans and are trying to connect Afghanistan’s trade with Europe,” said Hassan Haqyar, head of the media directorate of the political deputy PM.

Although the issue of the recognition of the Islamic Emirate remains unclear, the number of the Islamic Emirate’s political representations in countries has reached 38, and representatives of the Islamic Emirate also have a diplomatic presence in some countries.

Azerbaijan Embassy Opens in Kabul: Islamic Emirate
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Afghanistan’s school year starts without more than 1 million girls barred from education by Taliban

BY RAHIM FAIEZ
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The school year in Afghanistan started Wednesday but without girls whom the Taliban barred from attending classes beyond the sixth grade, making it the only country with restrictions on female education.

The U.N. children’s agency says more than 1 million girls are affected by the ban. It also estimates 5 million were out of school before the Taliban takeover due to a lack of facilities and other reasons.

The Taliban’s education ministry marked the start of the new academic year with a ceremony that female journalists were not allowed to attend. The invitations sent out to reporters said: “Due to the lack of a suitable place for the sisters, we apologize to female reporters.”

During a ceremony, the Taliban’s education minister, Habibullah Agha, said that the ministry is trying “to increase the quality of education of religious and modern sciences as much as possible.” The Taliban have been prioritizing Islamic knowledge over basic literacy and numeracy with their shift toward madrassas, or religious schools.

The minister also called on students to avoid wearing clothes that contradict Islamic and Afghan principles.

Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister, said they were trying to expand education in “all remote areas in the country.”

The Taliban previously said girls continuing their education went against their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, and that certain conditions were needed for their return to school. However, they made no progress in creating said conditions.

When they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, they also banned girls’ education.

Despite initially promising a more moderate rule, the group has also barred women from higher educationpublic spaces like parks, and most jobs as part of harsh measures imposed after they took over following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the country in 2021.

 

Afghanistan’s school year starts without more than 1 million girls barred from education by Taliban
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Afghanistan; The Focus of Discussions in Global Meetings in 1402

The United Nations Security Council also held at least seven meetings on Afghanistan in 1402.

More than twenty global meetings were held in 1402 Solar year regarding Afghanistan, many of them not attended by any representative of the Islamic Emirate.

The formation of an inclusive government, preventing the use of Afghanistan’s soil against other countries, combating narcotics, and observing human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, were demands that were consistently raised in these meetings; demands that, according to the Islamic Emirate, are all being observed in Afghanistan.

The EU-Central Asia meeting in Kazakhstan, the Oslo Forum in Norway, the Shanghai meeting hosted by India, the Astana meeting in Kazakhstan, the Samarkand meeting in Uzbekistan, the Moscow format meeting in Kazan, and the Herat security meeting in Tajikistan were among the important meetings regarding Afghanistan.

Asif Ali Durani, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, stated in one of these meetings concerning peace in Afghanistan: “Pakistan believes that by engaging with the current authorities in Afghanistan, we can help bring peace to this country and tranquility to the people of Afghanistan.”

The representative of the Islamic Emirate was present in some of these meetings, including the Moscow format, the Oslo Forum, and Samarkand.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Acting Foreign Minister, said in one of these meetings: “My country, Afghanistan, after more than four decades of invasions by foreign countries, war, and chaos, as it steps towards security and stability, faces sanctions for employing human rights.”

Alongside these meetings, meetings of the political opponents of the Islamic Emirate were also held abroad, where the situation in Afghanistan was discussed in various aspects. The “Afghanistan between Past and Future” meeting in Moscow and the Vienna meeting in Austria were among the important meetings of the political opponents of the Islamic Emirate this year.

The conduct of these meetings was not without reaction. Some officials of the interim government, including Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Political Deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the Acting Minister of Defense, called the organization of such meetings abroad biased and a conspiracy against Afghanistan.

The first Doha meeting on the situation in Afghanistan was held in this year, lasted two days, discussed important issues including human rights in the country.

The second Doha meeting was also held in the month of Dalw (18-19 February 2024). The meeting was supposed to appoint a Special Representative of the United Nations for the implementation of recommendations of the independent assessment by the United Nations Special Coordinator with the goal of reintegrating Afghanistan into the United Nations; however, at the end of this meeting, António Guterres added that they would also consult with the Taliban for appointing this representative; an issue that remains unclear.

Guterres said at the end of this meeting to reporters: “We want an Afghanistan that is at peace with itself and its neighbors, and an Afghanistan that is capable of fulfilling international commitments.”

The United Nations Security Council also held at least seven meetings on Afghanistan in 1402.

The Security Council meeting on the independent assessment of the United Nations Special Coordinator in Qaws (December 2023), the Security Council meeting on the outcomes of the Doha meeting and the appointment of a Special Representative in Hoot (March 2024), the Security Council meeting on the United Nations Secretary-General’s quarterly report in Hoot (March 2024), the subsequent Security Council meeting on the extension of UNAMA’s mission, the Security Council meeting on the extension of the mandate of the Monitoring Team on sanctions against the Islamic Emirate, the Security Council meeting on children and conflict in Afghanistan, and the Security Council meeting on ISIS and Afghanistan were held during this year.

Nevertheless, these meetings could not pave the way for addressing the current challenges in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan; The Focus of Discussions in Global Meetings in 1402
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1402; A Challenging Year for Afghan Migrants in Neighboring Countries

In this year, more than 1.7 Afghan migrants were expelled from Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and some other regional countries.

The expulsion of Afghan migrants from Pakistan was one of the significant events of 1402 (solar year).

After the deterioration of relations between Kabul and Islamabad, Pakistan announced that it would expel all illegal Afghan migrants from the country.

In this year, more than 1.7 Afghan migrants were expelled from Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and some other regional countries.

According to statements from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations, this year, “1.2 million migrants returned to the country from Iran, 500,000 migrants from Pakistan, and 13,000 migrants were forcibly returned from Turkey.”

Abdul Rahman Rashid, the deputy minister of Refugees and Repatriations, said: “Since the beginning of the month of Hamal until now, which is the end of Hoot (solar calendar), 1.7 million migrants have returned.”

Since the start of Hamal (solar calendar) till now, 1.7 million migrants have returned to the country.

In 1402, the interim government of Pakistan, with its strict policies and unprecedented action, gave 1.7 million migrants, most of whom were Afghans, until the twelfth of Mizan (solar calendar) to leave the country.

Sarfaraz Bugti, the Interior Minister of the interim government of Pakistan, on the 12th of Mizan (solar calendar), said: “We have given a deadline to illegal migrants until the first of November to voluntarily return to their countries. If they do not leave by the given deadline, we will deport them. After the first of November, no one can enter Pakistan without a passport.

From October 10 to October 31st, Afghans are allowed to stay with an electronic ID, and after that, they can enter Pakistan with a passport and visa.”

Despite the demands of the Islamic Emirate and some international bodies to reconsider this decision of Pakistan, the country did not stop the forced expulsion of migrants.

John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, on the 13th of Aqrab (solar calendar), said that Pakistan speaks of its policies towards refugees and asylum seekers and respecting them. It is clear that we want to see all countries do whatever they can to help refugees and asylum seekers, and this definitely includes our Pakistani friends concerning Afghans who want to flee this country.

An action that faced harsh reactions from officials of the Islamic Emirate and representatives of some countries and the United Nations.

The deputy prime minister for political affairs, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, on the 23rd of Dalw (solar calendar), said: “Our request from all countries is not to force migrants to return forcibly in the winter season and other emergency situations, especially in conditions where they have not gathered their belongings and have not settled their accounts.”

Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the Acting Minister of Defense, on the 13th of Mizan, said: “This decision is unjust and unfair. We ask Pakistan, its citizens, respected scholars, and political leaders to stop these authorities who are terrorizing and brutalizing Afghans like this.”

In addition to Pakistan, another neighbor of Afghanistan, Iran, also expelled more than 1.2 million Afghan migrants, having the highest expulsion rate of Afghan migrants. The mistreatment of these migrants was another issue they complained about.

“They beat us badly. They hit us with iron. They broke my legs,” said Sarwar, an Afghan migrant.

“It had been almost four months since I had gone there, and they treated us poorly until they expelled us,” said Sayed Hassan, another Afghan migrant.

According to the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations, 7 million Afghan migrants live in neighboring countries, and nearly one million others live in European countries, with 3 million migrants in Pakistan, 3 million in Iran, one million in countries like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and some other neighboring countries, and one million more in European countries.

The ministry also reports that “nearly 7,000 Afghan migrants in Iran, nearly 6,000 Afghan migrants in Pakistan, and nearly 1,600 migrants in Turkey are imprisoned.”

An Afghan prisoner in Pakistan on the 20th of Hoot (solar month), said: “We and other Afghans in Pakistani prisons are facing very bad conditions here. Some Afghans have been in prison for six months, and some for ten months, but their fate is unclear.”

The continued detention and forced expulsion of migrants in neighboring countries and the region led to the issue of Afghan migrants being discussed at the margin and center of some global meetings.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, on the 24th of Qaws (solar calendar), said: “As you know, for more than 45 years, Iran has been the host of the longest refugee situation and currently, after the political changes in Afghanistan in 2021, my country hosts the largest refugee population in the world.”

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate, on the 5th of Jadi (solar calendar), said: “We raised the issues that migrants are facing. In some matters, they promised that they would solve the problems. In the political sector, our embassy and consulates are active.”

At the same time, Pakistani media outlets, with their latest reports quoting the Interior Ministry, have announced the second stage of the operation to expel Afghan migrants from the country until the 27th of Hamal of the year 1403 (solar calendar).

It remains to be seen what the fate of Afghan migrants will be in the coming Solar year.

1402; A Challenging Year for Afghan Migrants in Neighboring Countries
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Going to School; Dream of Girls That Did Not Come True in 1402

Various institutions and countries also emphasized the resumption of girls’ education in Afghanistan in the year 1402.

Female school and university students from across the country protested until the last days of 1402 (solar year) for the reopening of schools and universities and for access to a brighter future in the country; however, no positive result was achieved.

Various institutions and countries also emphasized the resumption of girls’ education in Afghanistan in the year 1402.

Mariam, one of the students who criticized the closure of schools in the month of Hamal of the year 1402 (first month of the solar calendar), raised the question: “If a girl cannot study and become a doctor, to whom should a sick woman turn?” She said, “Why are schools closed to girls? When there is no female doctor, should a sick woman go to a male doctor?”

The closure of educational institutions’ doors to girls in this year has always faced reactions from countries and global institutions.

Markus Potzel, the UN deputy special representative for Afghanistan, said: “I think that the de facto authorities in Afghanistan should let girls go to school beyond grade six. They should let girls go to university. They should let women work for international NGOs, national NGOs, and for UN organizations. And they should let women participate in social life. If this happens, I can imagine that Afghanistan would be integrated into the international community again, and international donors would also rethink and probably reinforce engagement with Afghanistan.”

Thomas West, the US special representative for Afghanistan, also spoke about the restrictions imposed on women in Afghanistan: “As we engage with the Taliban, we need to keep women and girls’ issues front and center when we talk about other things — it is their families that are bearing the brunt of that dislocation.”

Some officials of the Islamic Emirate also declared their support for girls’ education in the country.

Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Political Deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “I say once again that the door to knowledge should not be closed and should not discriminate. We need everything, and we need men and women in every field.”

On the 29th of the month of Saratan 1402 (solar calendar), the Kankor exam for the year 1401 was held without the presence of girls among 24,000 candidates in eleven provinces, raising further concerns among female students.

Hadia Mohammadi, a school graduate at that time, said: “We also want to participate in the exam and build our future. Please let girls study too.”

On the 24th of the month of Sunbula (solar calendar), a global foundation under the name “Education Above All” said that Afghanistan is on the list of countries in the worst educational situation.

Maleiha Malik, Executive Director of Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC), said: “There are some persistent countries that come in that list —Afghanistan was on that list persistently. And in Afghanistan attacks on education all sides not only state actors, but also armed non state actors were prevalent. And I think what happened particularly with the media is that the armed non-state actors became more prominent, and it was hard sometimes to see that state parties were also causing massive destruction. The new barriers to education in Afghanistan are still challenging.”

The acting Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadim, during a trip to Tatarstan, Russia, in the month of Jauza of 1402 (solar calendar), sought support for the education sector in Afghanistan and asked neighboring countries to send staff to Afghanistan.

Nadim added in that meeting: “We expect friendly countries to support higher education in Afghanistan by sending professional cadres there or, in their own countries, by providing scholarships to train professional cadres.”

The Acting Minister of Education, Habibullah Agha, in the month of Mizan (solar calendar), promised to provide better educational opportunities for students in the country.

Habibullah Agha, said: “The Ministry of Education is dedicated to providing its educational services in the areas of religious and modern education in all parts of Afghanistan in a balanced manner.”

Although girl students were not allowed to go to school this year, the Ministry of Education announced in the month of Dalw (solar calendar) that more than 35,000 schools and madrasas are active across the country, and thousands are engaged in education.

Mansour Ahmad Hamza, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, added: “The leadership of the Ministry of Education has strived to provide services completely to places that were deprived of education and had their rights taken away, and the Ministry of Education is 100% committed to providing balanced educational services to remote areas.”

Mansour Ahmad Hamza, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said: “The leadership of the ministry has always tried to concentrate on forgotten areas of Afghanistan where people were deprived of their rights. We are committed to provide balanced educational services to the deprived areas.”

The academic year in the cold provinces of the country started on the first day of the month of Hoot (solar calendar) without the presence of girls.

Nevertheless, there is still no hopeful news about the reopening of schools to girls beyond grade six and the reopening of universities to female students.

Going to School; Dream of Girls That Did Not Come True in 1402
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Fighting With Pakistan Displaces Hundreds in Dand-e-Patan, Paktia

Residents of Dand Patan in Paktia stated that the recent clashes have resulted in significant financial and human loss.

After Pakistan’s air strikes in Khost and Paktika and clashes between the forces of the Islamic Emirate and Pakistan’s border guards in the Dand-e-Patan district of Paktia, nearly 500 families in Dand-e-Patan have now been forced to leave their homes.

The area of Setia in Dand Patan district was targeted by rocket attacks on Monday, resulting in the death of two civilians and injuring seven others, including women and children.

“Unfortunately, as a result of a tank shell fired by Pakistani forces hitting a vehicle, one person was martyred,” said Miakhil, a resident of Dand-e-Patan district.

“He went to take his children outside, a mortar struck, killing him and injuring his daughter and son,” said Gulal Khan, a resident of this district.

A number of these families, ask for security and for both sides to resolve their problems through dialogue.

“Many shells were fired, targeting civilian houses, not governmental organizations. Whenever there is a conflict Pakistan targets people’s houses,” said Miraj Khaksar, a resident of Dand-e-Patan.

“Injustice has been done to us all our lives. If there are people on that side of the line, they are Muslims, and they are always being shot at, and people on this side of the line are always suffering too,” said Jarnail Mangal, a resident of Dand-e-Patan.

Officials of Dand-e-Patan district said that in the counterattacks, the forces of the Islamic Emirate targeted the centers of the Pakistani border forces, but the Pakistani forces fired rockets at civilian houses.

“The cause of the war was that many outposts of the Islamic Emirate forces were attacked. The Islamic Emirate considered the general public and did not fire blindly,” said Ziauddin, the deputy of Dand-e-Patan district’s governor.

Recently, the Ministry of Defense announced in a statement the visit of the Deputy Chief of Army Staff to the Dand-e-Patan district of Paktia. The ministry said that the Islamic Emirate is not in favor of war, but if fired upon, security forces will respond.

Fighting With Pakistan Displaces Hundreds in Dand-e-Patan, Paktia
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Afghanistan schools restart, with girls barred for third year running

THE HINDU

AFP

March 20, 2024, 12:28 pm

Taliban authorities barred girls from secondary school in March 2022, after surging back to power in mid-2021 and ousting the Western-backed government.

“Schools in Afghanistan opened for the new academic year on March 20,” the Education Ministry said, with girls banned from joining secondary-level classes for the third year in a row.

Taliban authorities barred girls from secondary school in March 2022, after surging back to power in mid-2021 and ousting the Western-backed government. The Education Ministry announced the new school year on Tuesday, a day before the start of the Afghan calendar’s new year.

“The new school year… will start in all provinces with the ringing of the school bell at a ceremony” in Kabul, the announcement said. Women journalists were expressly forbidden from covering the ceremony in an invite issued to media outlets.

The Taliban government has imposed an austere interpretation of Islam, with women bearing the brunt of curbs the United Nations has labelled “gender apartheid”. Government universities also recently started the new academic year, but women have been blocked from attending since December 2022.

Afghanistan schools restart, with girls barred for third year running
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Top former US generals say failures of Biden administration in planning drove chaotic fall of Kabul

BY TARA COPP
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation of Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban in August 2021 blamed the Biden administration for the chaotic departure, telling lawmakers Tuesday that it inadequately planned for the evacuation and did not order it in time.

The rare testimony by the two retired generals publicly exposed for the first time the strain and differences the military leaders had with the Biden administration in the final days of the war. Two of those key differences included that the military had advised that the U.S. keep at least 2,500 service members in Afghanistan to maintain stability and a concern that the State Department was not moving fast enough to get an evacuation started.

The remarks contrasted with an internal White House review of the administration’s decisions which found that President Joe Biden’s decisions had been “severely constrained” by previous withdrawal agreements negotiated by former President Donald Trump and blamed the military, saying top commanders said they had enough resources to handle the evacuation.

Thirteen U.S. service members were killed by a suicide bomber at the Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate in the final days of the war, as the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

Thousands of panicked Afghans and U.S. citizens desperately tried to get on U.S. military flights that were airlifting people out. In the end the military was able to rescue more than 130,000 civilians before the final U.S. military aircraft departed.

That chaos was the end result of the State Department failing to call for an evacuation of U.S. personnel until it was too late, both former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and U.S. Central Command retired Gen. Frank McKenzie told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“On 14 August the non-combatant evacuation operation decision was made by the Department of State and the U.S. military alerted, marshalled, mobilized and rapidly deployed faster than any military in the world could ever do,” Milley said.

But the State Department’s decision came too late, Milley said.

“The fundamental mistake, the fundamental flaw was the timing of the State Department,” Milley said. “That was too slow and too late.”

Evacuation orders must come from the State Department, but in the weeks and months before Kabul fell to the Taliban, the Pentagon was pressing the State Department for evacuation plans, and was concerned that State was not ready, McKenzie said.

“We had forces in the region as early as 9 July, but we could do nothing,” McKenzie said, calling State’s timing “the fatal flaw that created what happened in August.”

“I believe the events of mid and late August 2021 were the direct result of delaying the initiation of the (evacuation) for several months, in fact until we were in extremis and the Taliban had overrun the country,” McKenzie said.

Milley was the nation’s top-ranking military officer at the time, and had urged President Joe Biden to keep a residual force of 2,500 forces there to give Afghanistan’s special forces enough back-up to keep the Taliban at bay and allow the U.S. military to hold on to Bagram Air Base, which could have provided the military additional options to respond to Taliban attacks.

Biden did not approve the larger residual force, opting to keep a smaller force of 650 that would be limited to securing the U.S. embassy. That smaller force was not adequate to keeping Bagram, which was quickly taken over by the Taliban.

The Taliban have controlled Afghanistan since the U.S. departure, resulting in many dramatic changes for the population, including the near-total loss of rights for women and girls.

The White House found last year that the chaotic withdrawal occurred because President Joe Biden was “constrained” by previous agreements made by President Donald Trump to withdraw forces.

That 2023 internal review further appeared to shift any blame in the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, saying it was the U.S. military that made one possibly key decision.

“To manage the potential threat of a terrorist attack, the President repeatedly asked whether the military required additional support to carry out their mission at HKIA,” the 2023 report said, adding, “Senior military officials confirmed that they had sufficient resources and authorities to mitigate threats.”

A message left with the State Department was not immediately returned on Tuesday.

 

Top former US generals say failures of Biden administration in planning drove chaotic fall of Kabul
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Swedish Group Halts Afghanistan Aid After Taliban Bans Sweden’s Activities

A screenshot of a page from the website of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, a humanitarian organization that has suspended its work after the Taliban demanded Sweden halt its activities in Afghanistan. Another page on the site announced the pause in its services.
A screenshot of a page from the website of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, a humanitarian organization that has suspended its work after the Taliban demanded Sweden halt its activities in Afghanistan. Another page on the site announced the pause in its services.

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, a major foreign humanitarian organization, has suspended all its operations following a Taliban decree demanding a halt to Sweden’s activities in the country.

The SCA noted in a statement Tuesday that the Taliban government had issued the decree in response to burnings of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in Stockholm last year. There was no immediate response from de facto Afghan officials.

“We are extremely saddened by the current situation and the effects our suspension will have on the millions of people who have benefitted from our services over the past four decades,” the non-governmental group said, in a statement.

It said that SCA representatives were seeking talks with Taliban authorities to resolve the situation and ensure that the needs of its target groups are met.

The aid group emphasized that it was an impartial entity with no links to the Swedish government or any government and received funding from a broad range of donors.

The SCA condemned and distanced itself from the burning of copies of the Quran in Sweden.

“Desecration of the Holy Koran is an insult to all Muslims around the world who hold this sacred text dear to their hearts, and it constitutes a flagrant attack on the Islamic faith,” the statement said.

The organization said that it was “gravely concerned” about the future of its nearly 7,000 employees across 16 provinces of Afghanistan. “Many of them are the sole breadwinners of their families, and if they lose their jobs, thousands of families will suffer,” it said.

In 2023, 2.5 million patients visited SCA clinics and hospitals across Afghanistan, while tens of thousands of others, including children, benefited from livelihood support and education programs.

The aid sector in Afghanistan has been severely hampered by a series of restrictions the Islamist Taliban have imposed on local female aid workers since seizing power in August 2021.

The United Nations estimates that more than 24 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country, reeling from years of war and natural disasters.

Aid workers say the Taliban takeover has worsened humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan. Human rights concerns, particularly restrictions on Afghan women’s access to education and work, have deterred the international community from recognizing the Taliban government.

Swedish Group Halts Afghanistan Aid After Taliban Bans Sweden’s Activities
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‘Cousins at war’: Pakistan-Afghan ties strained after cross-border attacks

By

Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistan’s air raids inside Afghanistan on Monday amid rising tensions between the neighbours have injected new uncertainty into ties, say analysts.

The early morning attacks on Monday from Pakistan, according to a detailed statement by the Pakistani foreign ministry, were aimed at hideouts of armed groups including the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistan Taliban, or TTP). Afghan officials said eight people in all — five women and three children — were killed.

The official government statement said that the “terrorists” pose a great threat to the country, and alleged that “they have consistently used Afghan territory to launch terror attacks inside Pakistani territory.”

“Terrorist groups like TTP are a collective threat to regional peace and security. We fully realise the challenge Afghan authorities face in combating the threat posed by TTP.  Pakistan would therefore continue to work towards finding joint solutions in countering terrorism and to prevent any terrorist organisation from sabotaging bilateral relations with Afghanistan,” the statement said.

The air raids came two days after a group of suicide bombers targeted a Pakistani military checkpost in its North Waziristan district, a border area next to Afghanistan, killing at least seven Pakistani soldiers.

The Afghan Taliban, who have ruled the country since taking over in August 2021, reacted swiftly to the Pakistani attacks, calling them “reckless”. Hours after the air raids, the Afghan military fired mortar shells on Pakistani military positions near border districts, which left four civilians and three soldiers injured.

Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesperson, denied that foreign armed groups are allowed to operate from Afghan soil. But he conceded that parts of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan were hard to control.

“In this regard, we have made our utmost effort and continue to do so; but one thing we must accept is that Afghanistan shares a very long border area with Pakistan, and there are places with rugged terrain including mountains and forests, and places that might be out of our control,” Mujahid said in response.

Sami Yousafzai, a journalist and a longtime observer of Pakistan-Afghanistan ties, described the spat as a fight between two cousins.

“These two neighbours act like they are cousins. They cannot leave each other, but they cannot find a way to fix their relationship either. And in all this fighting, it is impacting the public-to-public relations between them,” he told Al Jazeera.

For years, Pakistan was seen as a patron of the Afghan Taliban, which first rose to power in 1996. It was believed to hold considerable sway on the Taliban leadership, whom it sheltered, funded and shielded diplomatically.

Yet amid the United States’s so-called “war on terror”, the Pakistan Taliban emerged and started waging a war against the state of Pakistan, although the group was ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban.

The Pakistani army conducted multiple operations to eliminate the Pakistan Taliban, and managed to push some of its leaders into Afghanistan. After the Afghan Taliban returned to Kabul in late 2021, Pakistan hoped to use its historic influence over the new Afghan rulers to contain the Pakistan Taliban.

Instead, attacks grew, and 2023 was among the bloodiest years in recent Pakistani history, with more than 650 attacks across the country, killing nearly 1,000 people, mostly from law enforcement agencies and the military. Most of the attacks on security personnel were claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, along with other relatively lesser-known armed groups.

Over the years, Pakistan has blamed the Pakistan Taliban for several attacks inside its territory, killing thousands of people, including the deadly attack on Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014, which killed more than 130 students.

More than 90 percent of the attacks in 2023 were carried out in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan, both of which border Afghanistan.

Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, a former police chief in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said that such regular attacks against security personnel affects the motivation of the forces and Pakistan had little option but to retaliate.

Shah also noted that Pakistan had the added experience of a similar level of cross-border action earlier in the year against Iran, which perhaps emboldened the military.

In January this year, Iranian forces launched a cross-border attack inside Pakistan, targeting hideouts of an armed group that it claimed works against the interest of state of Iran.

Within 24 hours, the Pakistani government responded with attacks of its own inside Iran’s Sestan-Baluchestan province, targeting what it claimed was armed groups seeking protection in Iran.

After the tit-for-tat action, Pakistan and Iran managed to calm those tensions, with the Iranian foreign minister visiting Pakistan the same month.

Shah, the former police chief, believed that Pakistan perhaps learned a lesson from that incident and decided to show “muscle”. But he also added a word of caution.

“When you take an aggressive stance like that, it helps to have a dialogue from a position of strength. But it could backfire, as well, and lead to a dilemma for the country because the Afghan government can retaliate,” he added.

Yousafzai said one way that the Afghan government could show its ability to hit back was by allowing the Pakistan Taliban a freer reign in the border areas.

“There is a lot of resentment within Afghanistan for what Pakistan did, and they are unhappy with the situation so this could have consequences,” he said.

Shah said Pakistan does have some leverage on Afghanistan: Pakistan is landlocked Afghanistan’s biggest trading partner. Pakistan has also long hosted millions of Afghan refugees. Many Afghans also travel to Pakistan to access health facilities.

Last year, following the surge in violence, Pakistan launched a drive to push Afghan refugees living in the country back to Afghanistan, citing security concerns.

The move was denounced, both domestically and globally, but more than half a million Afghans had been deported as of December 2023.

But if Pakistan uses any of those levers of influence, it is likely to end up even more unpopular in Afghanistan.

“There are strong anti-Pakistan sentiments in Afghanistan, and vice versa, and all of this isn’t going to help in the long-term for either of the two,” Yousafzai said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
‘Cousins at war’: Pakistan-Afghan ties strained after cross-border attacks
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