Over 200 Arrested in Kabul in Counter-Narcotics Operations: Official

July 9, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

9 July 2024

Some experts believe that to prevent poppy cultivation and drug trafficking in Afghanistan, other countries should also cooperate with the Islamic Emirate.

Khalid Zadran, the Kabul security command’s spokesperson, told TOLOnews: “The Counter-Narcotics Directorate of the Kabul Security Command has conducted 181 operations in various parts of Kabul, in which 225 suspects have been arrested and handed over to the law.”

UNICEF Reports High Rates of Anxiety, Depression Among Afghan Children

July 9, 2024 Current News Articles

By Hadia Ziaei

Tolo News

9 July 2024

Currently, the lack of access to education and fear of an uncertain future are other significant concerns for girls in Afghanistan.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reported that more than 24% of children aged 5 to 17 in Afghanistan are experiencing anxiety, and nearly 15% are suffering from depression.

The report cites war and insecurity, migration, displacement of families, natural disasters, poverty, and the ban on girls’ education as the main causes of depression and anxiety among children.

“Compounding these challenges is the persistently restrictive measures on girls’ education, limiting their hope for employment and a better future, as well as their access to basic services like healthcare and mental health support,” the report reads.

Over the years, children in the country have suffered from various psychological and emotional traumas, with girls potentially being more vulnerable than boys during this time.

Currently, the lack of access to education and fear of an uncertain future are other significant concerns for girls in Afghanistan.

Motahira, an eighth-grade student, told a TOLOnews reporter: “It has had a very negative impact on my life because I really wanted to study and serve society.”

Aisha, another student, said: “It’s really upsetting, and I was very sad. I would sit in a corner of the house and not talk to anyone.”

Meanwhile, for boys in the country, poverty and hardship are major concerns, making them increasingly vulnerable each passing day.

Sharif, who works from dawn to dusk to provide for his family’s table, said: “I came here to work. There are twelve people in my house, and only my father works. I work here and get paid fifty rupees a week.”

Tahmina Qadari, a psychiatrist, told TOLOnews: “A child’s personality is 85% formed by the age of five. If we consider a five-year-old as a child, 85% of their personality is already shaped, whether positively or negatively, by the family. So, families need to be aware and properly nurture them.”

Based on this report, UNICEF will provide enhanced mental health care and psychosocial support to 3.6 million children in Afghanistan this year.

Shahabuddin Delawar Affirms Leadership’s Latest Appointments

July 9, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

9 July 2024

Hidayatullah Badri said that this appointment is not a privilege but a responsibility.

Shahabuddin Delawar, speaking at a ceremony introducing Hidayatullah Badri as the acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, emphasized that obedience within an Islamic system is a fundamental principle.

Restrictions on Women and Girls by Afghan Ministry Draw UNAMA Criticism

July 9, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

9 July 2024

The report also mentions Afghanistan’s membership and commitments to several UN human rights documents and emphasizes the need to fulfill these commitments.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has issued a recent report criticizing the practices of the Ministry of Virtue and Vice in Afghanistan, particularly those affecting women and girls.

UNAMA expressed concern over the restrictions imposed on women and girls by this ministry.

The report primarily focuses on the human rights situation and the ministry’s practices from August 15, 2021, to March 31, 2024. It highlights that certain methods employed by the Ministry of Virtue and Vice in enforcing directives and orders have led to human rights violations.

“Between 15 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, UNAMA HRS documented at least 1033 instances (205 on female, 828 on male) where de facto PVPV employees applied force during the implementation of instructions. In some cases, made public by the de facto MPVPV, it reported to have helped the public in meeting the standards prescribed by the decrees in other ways,” the report reads.

Mohammad Aimal Dostyar, a university lecturer, told TOLOnews: “Unfortunately, UNAMA’s recent reports are not based on realities; instead, they project a specific segment of society in a certain way.”

Kamran Aman, a political and military analyst, said: “It is the best practice to implement the orders and directives of the Amir al-Mu’minin, and the Ministry for the Vice and Virtue implements these directives effectively.”

The report also mentions Afghanistan’s membership and commitments to several UN human rights documents and emphasizes the need to fulfill these commitments.

The perspective of the Ministry of Virtue and Vice is also included in the report, stating that its actions are based on the directives of their leadership.

According to the report: “The decrees of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Supreme Leader (May Allah protect him) lay the foundation of the formal documents that are based on Islamic sources. It is a widely recognized principle in all common regimes that decrees and relevant legal documents are issued to reform society and should have their implementation ensured.”

The report says that comprehensive prohibitions with discriminatory consequences have been imposed on women in Afghanistan. Human rights violations by personnel of the Ministry of Virtue and Vice and its current departments have affected many citizens’ trust in their work.

Previously, UNAMA’s quarterly report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan also criticized widespread violations of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan.

Veteran writes book about Afghan rescue operation

July 8, 2024 Current News Articles

By Shivani Chaudhari

BBC News, Essex

Nozad Pen Farthing looks directly at the camera as he holds a dog, he is sitting down and wearing Royal Marine commando gear. — *Pen Farthing’s new book recounts his experience of evacuating his charity from Afghanistan in 2021*

A former British Royal Marines commando said it was therapeutic to write a book about his experience of evacuating animals and people from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover in 2021.

In the mid-2000s Paul Farthing, known as Pen, from Dovercourt, Essex, set up Nowzad, an animal charity in Kabul.

Mr Farthing made headlines three years ago when, following the withdrawal of UK and US troops from Afghanistan, he was accused of prioritising “pets over people” when evacuating his charity.

Mr Farthing said the “pets over people tagline was absolutely horrendous” and his evacuation, known as Operation Ark, saved 67 Afghan people and 171 animals.

In Afghanistan, Nowzad cared for dogs, cats and donkeys – some of which belonged to UK service men and women.

Mr Farthing said that his animal shelter had predominantly employed young Afghan women.

“I couldn’t bear the thought that we were going to just leave them behind,” he said.

Yet saving the staff and evacuating them out of Kabul meant that the animals in the shelter would have no-one to care for them, which is why both staff and pets were rescued, he said.

Mr Farthing told BBC Essex: “The ‘pets over people’ tagline was absolutely horrendous, until today we’ve never had any media outlet that has focused on the people we rescued.”

‘Dark memories’

When speaking about his book, called Operation Ark, he said: “The book was almost never written because I almost didn’t want to revisit it all because it would just drag up all of those dark memories I wanted to put behind me.”

“For me it was therapy, it was writing it and putting it all into place.

“I can say now that I have no regrets, we saved 67 people and 171 animals.”

He said he hoped the new book will put the “pets over people” accusations to rest.

He added that Nowzad is still operating and has been providing aid in Ukraine.

Shaheen: Islamic Emirate Acts Independently in Fight Against Terrorism

July 8, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

8 July 2024

This comes as the president of Russia, a few days ago, referred to the Islamic Emirate as an ally of his country in the fight against terrorism.

Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Islamic Emirate’s political office in Doha, in an interview with a Pakistani journalist said that the Islamic Emirate operates independently in the fight against terrorism.

In this interview, Shaheen declared that the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan has ended and added that the organizers of ISIS have moved to other countries in the region.

He told the Pakistani journalist: “No! This is not true, we are independent, and ISIS, which attacks against the Islamic Emirate or when we had just arrived, attacked and martyred some of our officials, our war against them had started from the beginning, and this is independent. Just as ISIS attacks Moscow and other countries and they [officials in Moscow] conduct operations against them, that is their own matter, but Afghanistan fights in its own way. Because they are a group that does not want an Islamic system in Afghanistan.”

This comes as the president of Russia, a few days ago, referred to the Islamic Emirate as an ally of his country in the fight against terrorism.

The head of the political office of the Islamic Emirate in Qatar said about the third Doha meeting that the participants of this meeting recognized the effectiveness of the Islamic Emirate’s work in combating drugs, and they committed to cooperating with Afghan farmers in alternative crops. In his opinion, what the Islamic Emirate has done in the past three years in the fight against drugs and treating addicts has not been done in the past twenty years.

Suhail Shaheen said: “All those who attended the meeting understood that the anti-drug campaign carried out in Afghanistan has been very successful, and the success that Afghanistan has achieved in the prohibition of drug cultivation and the treatment of addicts in the past three years has not been achieved in the past twenty years.”

Meanwhile, some political analysts said that to maintain stability in the country, regional countries and the caretaker government of Afghanistan need to work jointly in the fight against terrorism and drugs.

“The Islamic Emirate fought decisively against ISIS; but it is necessary to have regional cooperation for a joint effort against any threats that endanger the borders of the countries, and to have a joint security plan,” Sayed Muqaddam Amin, a political analyst, told TOLOnews.

Shaheen, in another part of this interview with the Pakistani journalist, attributed the stability of the Afghan currency against foreign currencies to the absence of corruption and the effective actions of the Central Bank of Afghanistan in accordance with current conditions.

Five-Year Alternative Cultivation Plan Implemented for Afghan Farmers

July 8, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

8 July 2024

Some farmers are seeking cooperation from the Islamic Emirate officials in the field of alternative cultivation.

According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, a five-year alternative cultivation plan has been developed based on the decree of the leader of the Islamic Emirate, aimed at providing alternative livelihoods and introducing substitutes for poppy and other drug-producing plants for farmers.

Misbahuddin Mustaeen, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, said: “The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock calls on all citizens, the international community, and international aid organizations to always cooperate with farmers in the field of alternative livelihoods.”

Some farmers who used to make a living from poppy cultivation before the leader of the Islamic Emirate’s decree banning poppy cultivation in the country now said they are facing various challenges. They are seeking cooperation from the Islamic Emirate officials in the field of alternative cultivation.

“So far, nothing has been given to us. There is nothing but wheat, and opium has also been declared banned,” said Juma Gul, one of the farmers.

“Our request from the Islamic Emirate is to help us with saffron seeds or something else that we can use to meet the needs of our family instead of poppy,” said Baryali, another farmer.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock emphasized the distribution of improved seeds and chemical fertilizers, the creation of standard markets inside and outside the country to sell agricultural products, reducing customs tariffs, and providing alternative cultivation to farmers by the Islamic Emirate.

Merwis Haji Zada, deputy of the Chamber of Agriculture and Irrigation and Livestock, told TOLOnews: “Instead of poppy, use heng, plant saffron which is the leading product in the world, or other good plants. Overall, there should also be good markets available so that our agricultural items can be exported to Pakistan and from Pakistan to India and other countries.”

The third Doha meeting held last week, in addition to supporting Afghanistan’s private sector, focused on the fight against drugs and providing alternative livelihoods for the country’s farmers, which were emphasized by the United Nations, the delegation of the Islamic Emirate, and the participating countries.

GIZ restructures Afghanistan operations, shifts projects to NGOs by 2025

July 6, 2024 Current News Articles

By Fidel Rahmati

Khaama Press

July 6, 2024

The German development organization (GIZ) has announced a restructuring of its operations in Afghanistan. Moving forward, GIZ will conduct projects exclusively through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While current projects will continue as planned, GIZ has indicated that from 2025 onward, it will no longer employ its own national staff in Afghanistan.

Since August 2021, the situation in Afghanistan has undergone significant changes, leading to widespread hunger and poverty among the population. Recognizing this urgent need, GIZ emphasized the importance of providing support to help people meet their most basic necessities.

In response to these challenges, GIZ outlined its renewed focus on assisting the Afghan population by enhancing self-sufficiency in impoverished urban and rural communities.

This will include initiatives aimed at training midwives and female healthcare professionals, as well as supporting women entrepreneurs and organizations led by women.

GIZ’s presence in Afghanistan since 2002 has been marked by contributions to critical sectors such as healthcare, education, and essential services. Despite the evolving security and political landscape, GIZ remains committed to supporting Afghan communities in achieving sustainable development and resilience.

As GIZ transitions its operational strategy in Afghanistan, the organization aims to strengthen partnerships with local NGOs and continue delivering vital assistance to those most in need. By focusing on empowerment and community resilience, GIZ seeks to foster positive impacts and sustainable outcomes for Afghanistan’s future.

UN Chief urges countries to unite to prevent Afghanistan from “becoming a hotbed of terrorism”

July 6, 2024 Current News Articles

By Fidel Rahmati

Khaama Press

July 6, 2024

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the 24th meeting of the heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), urging countries to work together to prevent Afghanistan from “becoming a hotbed of terrorism.”

Guterres emphasized the importance of achieving peace in Afghanistan and forming a government that includes all groups and respects human rights.

“We need peace in Afghanistan and a government that respects human rights and engages with the international community,” said Guterres.

Guterres expressed the UN’s willingness to collaborate with the SCO in fighting terrorism worldwide, recognizing the SCO as the largest regional security organization encompassing several countries, including China, India, and Russia.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, also highlighted terrorism as a significant concern during the SCO summit. He called for constructive engagement with the Taliban and emphasized the need for concrete actions to prevent Afghanistan territory from being used for terrorism against any country.

Meanwhile, concerns are mounting over the resurgence of militant groups in Afghanistan amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries.

The instability in Afghanistan not only threatens regional security but also exacerbates the suffering of the Afghan people, who are already grappling with poverty and a lack of basic necessities.

International stakeholders continue to urge concerted efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and address the root causes of extremism, ensuring that the country does not regress into a haven for terrorist activities.

The path to lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan hinges on international cooperation and support for inclusive governance that respects human rights and fosters regional stability.

China and Tajikistan Advocate for Inclusive Govt in Afghanistan

July 6, 2024 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

6 July 2024

This statement was issued following the Chinese president’s visit to Tajikistan and his meeting with Emomali Rahmon.

Chinese media, citing a joint statement, said that Xi Jinping and Emomali Rahmon, the presidents of China and Tajikistan, support the creation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan that includes representatives from ethnic, religious, and political groups.

By Shivani Chaudhari

‘Dark memories’

By Fidel Rahmati

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