Iran Gives Afghanistan One Month to Resolve Iran’s Water Rights Issue

The ambassador asked the current government of Afghanistan to take practical steps in this regard.

Following the rise of tension over Iran’s water rights from the Helmand River in recent days, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, said the current Afghan government should clarify the issue of Iran’s water rights within a month.

In an interview with Iranian media, Qomi added that if the Islamic Emirate wants Afghanistan to move towards peace and stability, it should have constructive interaction with its neighbors.

“If there was water and the Taliban did not provide it to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, then it is clear how it should act on this issue, which is one of the basic rights of the Iranian nation, and it should happen during this one month,” Qomi noted.

The ambassador asked the current government of Afghanistan to take practical steps in this regard.

“Taliban officials know that they must engage in constructive interaction with their neighbors if they want to have a strong, stable government in their country that includes all of the people’s representatives and the country moves towards peace, stability, independence, territorial integrity, and prosperity,” Qomi said.

In the meantime, Iran’s energy minister said in an interview with the country’s media that Iranian technical team is prepared to visit the Kajaki and Kamal Khan dams in accordance with international law and the 1973 treaty to assess the condition of water rights.

But the Islamic Emirate said that it is committed to ensuring Iran its water rights in accordance with the 1973 pact.

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, noted that the majority of the country’s provinces are presently experiencing drought, and the water level in dams has dropped.

“Water is not at the level where it can reach Iran. Afghanistan is also suffering from a drought. Everywhere across the country, water levels have dropped. We can see that in Helmand, Badghis, Nimroz, and other provinces, people do not have water to drink,” Mujahid told TOLOnews.

“Kajaki dam in Helmand has not been filled with water due to drought and the Kamal Khan Dam is also empty,” said Mohammad Asim Mayar, a water expert.

While farmers and residents of Afghanistan’s Helmand province are experiencing water scarcity and droughts have harmed this area’s farming fields, Iran insists on receiving its water rights based on the 1973 treaty.

Iran Gives Afghanistan One Month to Resolve Iran’s Water Rights Issue
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G7 Leaders Criticize Violation of Women, Girls’ Rights in Afghanistan

The Islamic Emirate said that women’s rights have been respected in accordance with the Islamic Sharia and that an inclusive governance has also been formed.

The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) in a statement criticized violations of human rights, particularly recent restrictions by the Islamic Emirate on women’s employment and access to education in Afghanistan.

The G7 leaders in their annual summit that was held in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 19, called for the cancellation of the ban on women and girls in Afghanistan and emphasized the need for full participation of the people in the government and the start of the national dialogue.

They also asked the current Afghan government to fulfil its commitments to the people of Afghanistan and the world and not to allow terrorist groups to use Afghanistan’s soil against other countries.

“We call on the Taliban to uphold its counterterrorism commitments and to ensure the territory of Afghanistan cannot be used to threaten or attack any country, to plan or finance terrorist acts, or to shelter and train terrorists,” the statement said.

“We express our strongest opposition to the Taliban’s systematic violations on human rights and fundamental freedoms, and call for the immediate reversal of unacceptable decisions, especially those against women and girls,” the statement added.

The G7 leaders also said that “all Afghans must enjoy full, equal, and meaningful participation in all spheres of public life, and have access to humanitarian assistance and basic services.”

“We call upon the Taliban to respect UNSCR 2681/2023 and the UN Charter, including Article 8, and to ensure unrestricted operations of the UN in Afghanistan. To remedy the persistent lack of political inclusivity and representation, we urge the Taliban to take significant steps to engage in credible, inclusive and Afghan-led national dialogue, in which all Afghans can be involved,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the Central Asia-China Summit, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the need to provide assistance for the purpose of preventing the spread of the humanitarian crisis and fighting against terrorism.

“We consider it essential to fully use the dialogue platforms of the Contact Group within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Afghanistan’s neighbor-states to develop a coordinated position and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in that country. As you noted yesterday, Mr. Xi Jinping, it is important to jointly promote issues related to assisting to build an inclusive political system in Afghanistan, to establish full-scale counter-terrorism cooperation between our countries,” Tokayev said.

But the Islamic Emirate said that women’s rights have been respected in accordance with the Islamic Sharia and that an inclusive governance has also been formed.

The Islamic Emirate’s deputy spokesman, Bilal Karimi, praised regional countries for helping Afghanistan and highlighted that Afghanistan’s soil is not a threat to any country.

“Security is ensured. The entire geography and territory of the country is controlled by the Islamic Emirate and there is no group or movement in Afghanistan that threatens other countries from Afghanistan’s soil. There should be no worries in this regard,” Karimi noted.

“The informal interactions that the region and the world have with the current Afghan government should prioritize the rights of Afghan women so that in the future we will see the reopening of schools for girls,” Soraya Pikan, a women’s rights activist, told TOLOnews.

“These countries are really interested in China to assist them in their development, military affairs and weapons because they are anxious and concerned about Afghanistan,” said Asadullah Nadim a military affairs analyst.

This comes as Uzbekistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Ismatilla Irgashev in a meeting last week with the special representative of UK for Afghanistan Andrew McCubrey discussed the issue of an Afghan settlement.

The British side highly appreciated the constructive role of Uzbekistan in finding solutions to resolve the situation in Afghanistan, as well as in ensuring peaceful development in the country, the Uzbek envoy said.

G7 Leaders Criticize Violation of Women, Girls’ Rights in Afghanistan
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GOP mulls how to make its Afghanistan oversight matter

House Republicans pushed their probe of the nation’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan to the brink this week, threatening to hold the secretary of state in contempt of Congress.

Yet some of them aren’t convinced that voters care.

For the House GOP the messy 2021 military removal that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. service members remains a potent political liability for President Joe Biden. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said that “oh yeah, 100 percent” the withdrawal has done lasting damage to Biden, whose approval ratings demonstrably sank in the summer of 2021.

Yet Afghanistan is a far trickier oversight for the Republican Party than the base-pleasing topics of border security or the Biden family. That’s because, as even some GOP lawmakers acknowledge, it’s not clear whether the 2021 pullout still resonates with voters.

“Americans want their pizzas in 30 minutes, and that’s about our attention span,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. “The average American, they’ve moved on.”

“The trouble with this bunch up here, in both parties,” Burchett added, is that “it takes them too dadgum long to get to issues.”

Indeed, the Afghanistan withdrawal is rarely acknowledged by the conservative media. It’s a stark difference from the 2012 attacks on U.S. officials in Libya that metastasized into a GOP-fueled investigation into then-presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

And even as McCaul pledged to hold State Department chief Antony Blinken in contempt over the withholding of an internal dissent cable — a document that details concerns from officials who objected to the withdrawal — some of his GOP colleagues are openly skeptical that his work will change any minds.

“The political points have all been scored,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in an interview. “All you had to do was turn on the television. … The American people know it was a debacle, but I think they’d like to understand the decision-making process leading up to it.”

McCaul said in an interview that he views his Afghanistan oversight as “a federal prosecutor” might, vowing that “I’m not trying to score political points here.” His Democratic counterpart atop the committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), countered that the investigation is part of a broader strategy by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to make Afghanistan matter in the 2024 elections.

And Meeks predicted that it would end in disappointment for the GOP.

“Look at any of the polls. You don’t even see it,” Meeks said of the Afghanistan exit in an interview. “It’s a blip on the screen. It’s not even there. This is just something that I think that the Republicans are doing.”

Democrats on both sides of the Capitol agree, saying it’s unlikely Republicans will be able to use their investigations to unearth new and significant enough information about withdrawal of troops, arguing that the facts of what happened are already well-established.

“It is not a type of situation where things are not known,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “We know what happened. Can we do things better? Did we learn from the experience? Absolutely. It was a chaotic ending. We know that. But the cards were dealt by previous administrations, not by this administration.”

California Rep. Ted Lieu, a member of House Democratic leadership, all but shrugged at the Afghanistan probe — describing himself as “certainly fine” with evaluating the withdrawal but noting that foreign policy issues rarely affect the national political landscape.

“The election next year will be won by Democrats and it’s not going to be very complicated. There will be one issue: abortion,” he said.

Public polling has been limited since the U.S. withdrawal. An August 2021 poll from Pew Research found a solid majority of respondents approved of the decision to remove troops from Afghanistan, even as they critiqued Biden’s handling of the situation. That survey found 69 percent of Americans believe the U.S. failed in achieving its goals in Afghanistan.

An October 2022 poll ahead of the midterms by Pew found foreign policy listed as the 12th most important issue to voters, behind topics such as the economy, violent crime and abortion. It found 54 percent of people considered the broader topic of foreign policy “very important” to their midterm vote.

That may be part of what’s driving the sense among even some Republicans that, while many in the party see investigations as important, they’re unlikely to fundamentally alter how voters already view the issues at hand.

“I’m not convinced that really you’ve got the American public fixated on any of these investigations,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “Nobody back home is asking me about any of these.”

Other rank-and-file Republicans say the emotional toll of the chaotic withdrawal continues to arise regularly when they’re at home, predicting that any new revelations through their investigations would resonate with Americans broadly.

“It’s still a question I get not just from veterans. Not just from Gold Star families, but I get it frequently from people all the time,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who suffered severe injuries while serving in Afghanistan, said. “There’s so many different ways that people come about that conversation.”

It’s a conversation continuing in real time in the halls of Congress. McCaul worked for months to view the State Department dissent cable, subpoenaing Blinken for it in March. Efforts to get hands on the cable began in August 2021, when Meeks still chaired the foreign affairs panel.

The State Department relented on Wednesday and offered to let McCaul and Meeks view the document at its headquarters and with personal information redacted.

McCaul responded in a Thursday letter that he would “pause efforts to enforce” the subpoena and accepted an offer to view the documents “as soon as possible,” but said he would “insist on the Department allowing other Members to review the dissent cable and response.”

He, along with House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), also sent a letter Thursday to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley seeking information about the 2021 terrorist attack outside Kabul airport that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians.

And McCaul isn’t alone in conducting oversight on the Afghan withdrawal. A House Oversight Committee spokesperson described a recent hearing with inspectors general as the “first in a series of hearings the committee will have to examine President Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

“Chairman [James] Comer has made it clear that he will continue to work to hold this Administration accountable for the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, safeguard taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse, and provide the American people answers,” the panel spokesperson added.

But as far as McCaul’s concerned, he’s in the driver’s seat. The Oversight panel knows “that we’re kind of taking the lead moving forward with this,” he said. “It’s understood.”

GOP mulls how to make its Afghanistan oversight matter
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Mes Aynak Artifacts Exhibited in National Museum

The ancient relics that were displayed in the National Museum date back to the Kushan Empire and Sasanian dynasty era.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan displayed more than a hundred historical relics from the Mes Aynak area in Logar at the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul on International Museum Day.

The acting minister of Information and Culture, Khairullah Khairkhwa, urged the international community to set aside its differences with the Islamic Emirate and support Afghanistan’s cultural field.

“This is our message to the world: We shouldn’t sacrifice what we have in common for politics. Let’s work to preserve and protect the commonality that is unrelated to politics, and try not to lose it,” Khairkhwa said.

The ancient relics that were displayed in the National Museum date back to the Kushan Empire and Sasanian dynasty era.

“The officials promised us that they would cooperate with the National Museum and we are trying to build a standard building and hangar,” said Mayel Karimi, an employee of the national museum.

Meanwhile, Zubair Ebadi, head of the National Museum, said that the smuggling of relics is still going on in the country, but the Islamic Emirate is trying to prevent it.

According to Atiqullah Azizi, the deputy minister of art and culture at the Ministry of Information and Culture, the ministry is home to 2,000 to 5,000 ancient sites that require restoration.

“There are 2,000 to 5,000 historical sites that we have identified which need restoration and the world should help us in this regard,” Azizi noted.

According to UNESCO, the first museum in Afghanistan was established in 1919 at the Bagh-i-Bala palace overlooking Kabul, and consisted of manuscripts, miniatures, weapons and art objects belonging to the former royal families.

Mes Aynak Artifacts Exhibited in National Museum
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Chairman Says US House Committee ‘Will Do All It Can’ for Afghan Women

At the moment, women are not allowed to enroll in universities, nor are they allowed to work for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, US Representative Michael McCaul, speaking at a discussion on Afghanistan, said the committee will do all in its power to assist Afghan women and girls.

Speaking at the “Roundtable on Crisis Facing Afghan Women and Girls,” McCaul said that Since the Islamic Emirate came to power in Afghanistan, the current Afghan government has issued more than 30 edicts aimed at severely limiting women’s freedoms.

“This committee will do everything in its power to help Afghan women and girls. And to hold the Taliban accountable for its human rights abuses,” McCaul noted.

However, the Islamic Emirate said that the issue of women’s rights is the country’s internal issue, and that the current government is trying to find a solution to it in accordance with Islamic principles.

“The issues they raised are related to the people of Afghanistan and are the internal issue of the Afghan people and the country of Afghanistan. This has nothing to do with them and is an interference in other’s affairs,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman.

According to some political analysts, the continued restriction on women’s rights will exacerbate tensions between Kabul and the international community.

“They should bring meaningful reforms regarding women’s work and education so that the issue of Afghanistan’s recognition will be resolved, and will lead to the stability and unity of the nation,” said Najibullah Jami, a political analyst.

“The concerns of regional and beyond-region countries regarding women’s rights to work and education are political. The position of women’s education and their right to work is clear in Sharia law,” said Mohammad Zalmay Afghanyar, a political analyst.

At the moment, women are not allowed to enroll in universities, nor are they allowed to work for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Girls above sixth grade are also prohibited from attending school.

Chairman Says US House Committee ‘Will Do All It Can’ for Afghan Women
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Qatar PM: Afghan People Need Intl Help to Avoid ‘Internal Crises’

Earlier, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that Qatar has been trying to create a political path between Afghanistan and the international community. 

The Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said that in his meeting with the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, there was emphasized “the necessity” for the “international community to cooperate to strengthen the capabilities of the people and enable them to avoid any internal crises.” 

The German Foreign Minister arrived in Qatar and met the country’s officials, including Al Thani.

According to a statement of Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, “both sides stressed the importance of having the international community continue cooperating to enhance the capabilities of the people and empower them against any internal crises, and the importance of moving forward in building peace, respecting human rights, especially women’s rights, providing education for girls and achieving development for all segments of Afghan society.”

Al Thani earlier visited Kandahar province where he held talks with the Islamic Emirate’s Prime Minister, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who has currently not active in this position due to illness.

“The current government of Afghanistan can also reach itself to the level of the world within a structure which is described by Islam,” said Maisuam Kazemi, political analyst.

The Islamic Emirate welcomed Qatar’s stance toward cooperation with Afghanistan, saying that the interim government is trying to resolve the concerns of human rights in Afghanistan.

“The Islamic Emirate is committed to making efforts to address concerns that exist regarding human rights as well, and we are trying to find a solution for the issues which have yet to be solved,” said Zabiullah Mujahid.

Earlier, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that Qatar has been trying to create a political path between Afghanistan and the international community.

Qatar PM: Afghan People Need Intl Help to Avoid ‘Internal Crises’
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Aid Group Concerned Over ‘Humanitarian Crisis’ in Afghanistan

Analysts said that the situation might worsen if fundamental measures are not taken to address these issues.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in a new report expressed concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

According to the report, successive droughts and increasing humanitarian needs in different sectors have increased the current crisis in Afghanistan and two-thirds of the country already has humanitarian needs in 2023.

The report shows that out of 80 million Swiss Franc requested for aid, less than 50 percent of it has been received.

Analysts said that the situation might worsen if fundamental measures are not taken to address these issues.

“Humanitarian aid in the past two years is not effective for our economy and it’s still not effective for our economy,” said Mahboubullah Mohammadi, an analyst.

Some Kabul residents said that after recent changes in the country, they have been faced with many economic challenges.

Malang, who is the only breadwinner for his seven-member family in Kabul, said that he “has not received any aid” so far.

“I am faced with a challenging situation. I have not received a penny from any organization,” said Malang.

“Aid cannot help us. It’s just for two and three months and after that we are in tension about what to do for the future,” said Ghulam Nabi, a Kabul resident.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy acknowledged that the people of Afghanistan are faced with many issues and that they need help.

“To gradually reduce the level of poverty and improve the living conditions of our dear compatriots and remove the economic restrictions and sanctions, the United Nations and the international community should take responsible actions and cooperate through supporting development programs and focusing on the employment sector,” said Abdul Rahman Habib, a spokesman for the Ministry of Economy.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that Afghanistan has seen an overall increase in people in need and that the number is now at 28.3 million people and many of them are women and children.

Aid Group Concerned Over ‘Humanitarian Crisis’ in Afghanistan
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UK-based group documents rights abuses since Taliban takeover of Afghanistan with ‘witness map’

By RAHIM FAIEZ

Associated Press
18 May 2023

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A U.K.-based rights group on Thursday launched an interactive map documenting rampant human rights abuses and violence against civilians since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan nearly two years ago.

The documented violations — committed by both the Taliban and militant groups such as the Islamic State group — paint a harrowing picture of present-day Afghanistan. The project by the independent, non-profit Center for Information Resilience is meant to draw wider attention to the surge in abuses against civilians, journalists, and ethnic minorities across the troubled country.

With more than 1,300 data points of incidents since Aug. 17, 2021, the map is part of the center’s Afghan Witness initiative.

“The map reveals the violence and human rights abuses occurring under Taliban rule against women, independent journalists, and minorities, sometimes in the form of ad hoc beatings in the street or staged public punishment, as well as violence used to suppress peaceful protest and armed resistance,” said Benjamin Den Braber, lead analyst at Afghan Witness.

He described the map as a “transparent record of verified human rights violations in Afghanistan.”

“What we can verify represents only the tip of the iceberg of human rights violations in Afghanistan; many abuses are hidden from view and never recorded online,” Den Braber said.

The Britain-based center has used open-source data and techniques to investigate human rights abuses, war crimes and disinformation in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Myanmar. To develop the map, the Afghan Witness team collaborated with C4ADS, a U.S.-based group that uses data-driven analysis and technology to shine a light on conflicts, instability, environmental crimes and human rights abuses.

“Our ability to tell the stories of the Taliban’s human rights abuses through visualization is a powerful tool,” said Lawrence Henderson, a program director at C4ADS.

Earlier this month, a report released by the United Nations strongly criticized the Taliban for carrying out public executions, lashings and stoning, and urged them to halt such practices. In the past six months alone, 274 men, 58 women and two boys were publicly flogged in Afghanistan, according to the report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.

The Taliban seized Afghanistan in mid-April 2021, during the last weeks of the U.S. and NATO troops drawdown from the country. Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during their previous stint in power in the 1990s, they swiftly moved to impose harsh measures in line with their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

In the months following their takeover, the Taliban gradually tightened restrictions on women, barring them from public spaces, such as parks and gyms, and banning education for girls beyond the sixth grade.

The restrictions have triggered an international uproar, increasing the country’s isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed — and worsening a humanitarian crisis.

The Afghan Witness map contains more than 450 pieces of footage showing attacks on civilians, more than 100 clips of attacks in the minority Shiite and Hazara communities, and more than 350 videos of protests. A viewer can search for a particular incident using keywords, access footage, original tweets or a report about it.

“Afghan Witness investigates, verifies where possible and archives data in the hope that one day accountability mechanisms will bring the perpetrators to justice,” said David Osborn, a team leader at Afghan Witness.

A statement released Thursday alongside the map, which can be accessed through the website of the Center for Information Resilience, said that the project “will continue to work with journalists around the world and civil society in Afghanistan to increase access to accurate, reliable sources of information.”

UK-based group documents rights abuses since Taliban takeover of Afghanistan with ‘witness map’
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Who’s Maulvi Abdul Kabir, Afghanistan’s new Taliban-appointed PM?

By

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have appointed Maulvi Abdul Kabir, who played a key role in the 2020 Doha Agreement with the United States, as the country’s new caretaker prime minister, a senior official of the group confirmed to Al Jazeera.

Kabir has replaced Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, 78, who had been in charge of the interim government since the group seized control of the country in August 2021.

The 60-year-old leader has been under United Nations sanctions since 2001, when he served as the acting prime minister of the then Taliban regime (1996-2001). He took shelter in Pakistan after the Taliban government was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2001.

“He [Akhund] has been unwell for a few weeks and hence been replaced by Kabir until he recovers,” Sohail Shaheen, the head of Taliban’s political office in Doha, said on Wednesday.

Earlier, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Taliban government refers to the country, said Kabir’s appointment was part of the routine governance process as Akhund is under treatment and needed rest.

Kabir, who hails from the Zadran tribe of Pashtun ethnicity, served as a political deputy to Akhund before his elevation on Wednesday.

Taliban leaders have denied the change was due to an internal rift. Last month, Mujahid was asked to divide time between Kabul and Kandahar, triggering speculation about an internal power struggle. Taliban has denied them.

History as a high-ranking Taliban leader

Kabir’s appointment came through a special decree by the Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada, the group’s secretive de facto leader.

The 60-year-old was born in the northern Baghlan province 262 kilometres (162 miles) north of the Afghan capital, Kabul. He has held crucial positions in previous and current Taliban governments and was part of the Taliban Doha political office that negotiated the agreement with Washington that paved the way for the US troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

His first appointment came in 1996 as the governor of the Nangarhar province along the country’s eastern border adjoining Pakistan. The province was among the centres of power for the group during its first reign and continued to be a stronghold during the 20-year occupation by the US.

Taliban’s founder Mullah Omar handpicked Kabir for the role and appointed him to the group’s high leadership council.

The United Nations Security Council listed Kabir as a sanctioned person in January 2001 for his concurrent roles in the first Taliban regime as the second deputy of economic affairs, member of the council of ministers, governor of the Nangarhar province, and head of the eastern zone.

In July 2005, Kabir was among a group of Taliban leaders that was arrested by Pakistani intelligence agents during raids against the group in northwest Pakistan. However, there are conflicting reports about the date of his arrest.

Appointment devoid of ‘decision-making rights’

Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Kabir has played a crucial role in negotiating with the US leadership during talks in Doha.

Delegates from both sides have held talks in the Qatari capital focusing on security and “terrorism” concerns, the rights of women and girls, as well as evacuations from Afghanistan.

Analysts say his diplomatic acumen and ability to negotiate with countries that are at odds with the Taliban could have been one of the factors behind his appointment.

“Given Abdul Kabir’s closeness to Pakistan and role in the Doha talks, the Taliban could be looking to smoothen relations with foreign countries,” Arif Rafiq, a political risk adviser on South Asia, told Al Jazeera.

“But a change in a single executive position isn’t enough to signal groundbreaking changes in domestic and foreign policy,” he said.

The talks between the Taliban and Western diplomats have borne little results as the group has increased its curb on women’s rights, banning women’s education and freedom to work.

Girls’ secondary schools were supposed to reopen last March, but the Taliban rescinded the directive forcing millions of teenage girls out of the school system. The Taliban has also barred women from seeking higher education and working with international NGOs.

It argues its rules are in keeping with its interpretation of Islam, although Afghanistan is the only Muslim country that prohibits girls from being educated.

Faiz Zaland, a lecturer at Kabul University, said a change in policy on women’s rights cannot be expected as Kabir’s appointment is temporary and devoid of “decision-making rights”. He added that Kabir will not have a “substantial influence” on the group’s future foreign policies.

US-based analyst Rafiq also emphasised that the “concentration of power” lay with Kandahar-based Akhunzada, who makes policy decisions on the rights of girls and women, including on education.

“Meaningful policy changes will only take place if Kabir’s appointment is part of a broader set of concessions to the Taliban factions, who take a comparatively more accommodating position on social issues,” he said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Who’s Maulvi Abdul Kabir, Afghanistan’s new Taliban-appointed PM?
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THE U.S. STILL OWES MONEY TO FAMILY OF 10 AFGHANS IT KILLED IN “HORRIBLE MISTAKE”

The Intercept

Some survivors of the 2021 drone strike are struggling in California as they wait for the U.S. to make good on a promised condolence payment.

NEARLY TWO YEARS after the U.S. killed 10 members of an Afghan family, including seven children, in a drone strike that prompted a rare apology from the Pentagon, the U.S. government has yet to make good on a pledge to compensate surviving relatives.

Weeks after the attack, which targeted an aid worker whom intelligence officials had mistaken for someone else, the U.S. made a public commitment to condolence payments and pledged to help survivors relocate. With the help of U.S. officials, some of those survivors made it to California last year, including two of the aid worker’s brothers, Emal and Romal Ahmadi, and their families.

As they struggle to adapt to life in a new country, however, they feel abandoned by the U.S. government, according to volunteers and community groups that have assisted them. One volunteer recently started a fundraiser to help cover some family members’ living costs while they wait for the U.S. government to deliver on its promise.

“They are living day to day in a very stressful environment of bills, and making sure they have their rent, and do they have enough food, and why did the utility bill go up this month?” Melissa Walton, who regularly visits members of the family, told The Intercept. “It’s stressful, and they didn’t ask for any of this, to have to leave their country and come to a different country and start over.”

The Pentagon declined to comment, citing the family’s privacy. John Gurley, Sylvia Costelloe, and Joanna Naples-Mitchell, attorneys representing the Ahmadi brothers, said they are having ongoing discussions with the U.S. government but declined to further discuss the case.

“Now that Emal and Romal Ahmadi’s families have been resettled in the United States, we look forward to productive discussions with the Department of Defense regarding the compensation promised to them,” the lawyers wrote in a statement. “Our clients arrived in the United States penniless, after suffering unimaginable losses. For that reason, a community volunteer has launched a fundraiser to help them meet their basic needs while our confidential discussions with the U.S. government continue.”

Zuhal Bahaduri, executive director of the 5ive Pillars Organization, an Afghan American-led group that was established following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan to support the thousands of refugees resettling in the U.S., said the Ahmadi family’s trauma compounds the many challenges facing the 76,000 Afghans who have arrived in the U.S. over the last two years.

“There’s a lot of hurt and a lot of anger and a lot of frustration. The country that is responsible for the death of their children has helped them out by getting them here, but they do not feel fully supported,” Bahaduri told The Intercept.

“I don’t understand why it’s taking this long,” she added, referring to the condolence payments “Do they think that all they had to do was relocate the family and that’s it? That that’s where their responsibility ends?”

Malika, left/top, and Aayat, right/bottom, ages 3 and 2, were killed on August 29, 2021 by a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photos: Courtesy of the Ahmadi family

A “Horrible Mistake”

When she offered to drive Romal and his wife Arezo to pick up donated clothes and household items for their temporary, unfurnished apartment, Walton was warned not to gush too much over their newborn baby boy.

Hadis, now 8 months old, was not the couple’s first child, Walton was told: Their three older children, 7-year-old Arwin, 6-year-old Benyamin, and 2-year-old Aayat, were all killed in the Kabul drone strike.

The strike was the U.S. government’s final act before withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan after losing its two-decade war there. The announced withdrawal precipitated the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover of the capital, which led to days of chaos as tens of thousands of Afghans rushed to flee the country. Three days before the drone strike, the Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, had carried out a suicide bombing that killed more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops outside the Kabul airport.

Zemari Ahmadi, an electrical engineer working for a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization and the primary breadwinner for his extended family, had been driving colleagues to work and unloading water canisters from his white Toyota Corolla all day, on August 29, 2021, as U.S. intelligence officials, believing that a second attack near the airport was imminent, tracked his movements for hours. The officials flagged his “erratic route” and concluded that the car contained explosives, according to an internal review obtained by the New York Times earlier this year. An American MQ-9 Reaper drone shot a Hellfire missile at his car just as Zemari arrived home and as a group of children from his family rushed outside to greet him. The California-based Nutrition & Education International, Zemari’s employer, did not respond to a request for comment.

Within hours of the drone strike, U.S. officials announced that they had successfully thwarted an attack but made no mention of civilian casualties, even as it later emerged that intelligence analysts had observed children on the scene moments beforehand. In the following days, as family members, journalists, and Zemari’s employer shared evidence that the drone strike had targeted the wrong person, U.S. officials defended the action, which a Pentagon official called “a righteous strike.”

The Defense Department did not admit to its mistake until more than two weeks later, after video reconstruction of the strike raised serious questions about its version of events. In a rare acknowledgment of responsibility, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin conceded that Zemari had no connection to ISIS-K and that he and his family were all innocent victims of a “horrible mistake.” Later, then-commander of U.S. Central Command, Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, took personal responsibility for the error. “As the combatant commander, I am fully responsible for this strike and its tragic outcome,” he said.

By October, the Pentagon promised to compensate the survivors — but only after family members told reporters that they had not been contacted by U.S. officials yet.

Romal and Arezo were the first to arrive in the U.S. last summer, followed a few months later by another brother, Emal, his wife, Royeena, and their 8-year old daughter Ada. (Emal and Royeena’s other daughter, 3-year-old Malika, was killed in the strike.) Other relatives have since joined them in California, although some remain in Afghanistan or in refugee camps in Kosovo and Qatar.

“They had a lot of faith that once they got to the U.S. they would be safe and secure and stable. And that’s not where they are at.”

But life in the country responsible for their family’s tragedy has been difficult for the Ahmadis. “They have put a lot of trust in America and the U.S. government,” said Walton. “They had a lot of faith that once they got to the U.S. they would be safe and secure and stable. And that’s not where they are at.”

U.S. officials have not publicly committed to a specific timeline or amount to compensate the Ahmadis, but in the past, condolence payments for families of Afghan victims ranged between $131 and $35,000, with most around a few thousand dollars. Walton noted that the family left Afghanistan in part because the public announcement of the condolence payments put their safety at risk in a country that was plunged into a deep economic crisis after the Taliban takeover — even as the payments had not materialized.

 

Benyamin, left/top, age 6 and Arwin, right, bottom, age 7, were killed by the August 29, 2021 U.S. drone strike on their family’s car in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photos: Courtesy of the Ahmadi family

Like tens of thousands of Afghans who have resettled in the U.S. since 2021, the Ahmadis found that the 90 days of refugee support services they received upon arrival fell short of addressing many of their immediate needs, let alone helping them land on their feet. A federal refugee cash assistance program covers $325 per adult and $200 per child monthly for eight months, hardly making a dent in the exorbitant Bay Area rents and cost of living they are now facing.

Most of the Ahmadis don’t speak English. Walton, who communicates with them with the help of an interpreter, described their experiences to The Intercept. One of them was robbed in broad daylight outside his Oakland apartment and lost all his documents. There was no space for Ada, the 8-year-old, in the school closest to the family, so she walks to a school further away, as her family has no car. A host of resources — including counseling and mental health support services — exists in theory but is largely inaccessible in practice because of overwhelmed agencies, an intricate bureaucracy made even more intractable by language barriers, and because it’s difficult for family members to get around on their own.

Meanwhile, the trauma from the drone strike lingers. Romal’s barebones apartment is decorated only with a photo of the 10 relatives killed in the strike — a reminder of the tragedy that forced his family to leave home.

“He keeps saying, ‘I lost all my kids,’” said Bahaduri, of the 5ive Pillars Organization. “He hasn’t had a chance to deal with that, but on top of that, he has to find a way to make ends meet now, so it’s trauma after trauma, one crisis after another crisis.”

THE U.S. STILL OWES MONEY TO FAMILY OF 10 AFGHANS IT KILLED IN “HORRIBLE MISTAKE”
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