White House Says G.O.P.’s Afghanistan Report Offers ‘Little or Nothing New’

Reporting from the White House

The New York Times

President Biden’s spokesman denounced the House Republican investigation of the chaotic 2021 withdrawal as partisan and one-sided.

The White House dismissed on Monday a new House Republican investigative report castigating President Biden’s administration for the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying that it offers “little or nothing new” and ignores critical facts.

John F. Kirby, a national security spokesman for the president, took the lectern at the White House to issue a lengthy rebuttal to the report that was released earlier in the day. It came more than three years after the event and less than two months before the November election.

Mr. Kirby derided what he called the “one-sided partisan nature of this report” and noted that it was not the only one issued by Republicans. “This comes, of course, two years after their first report, and this one says little or nothing new,” he said.

He pointed out that in pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, Mr. Biden was following a withdrawal agreement negotiated with the Taliban by President Donald J. Trump before leaving office.

“Ending wars is more difficult than starting them,” Mr. Kirby said. “President Biden knew that. He acknowledged that. But it doesn’t mean that the decision to end this one was wrong or that the withdrawal wasn’t conducted as professionally and as bravely as it was humanly possible given the circumstances. It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve and mourn with the families of those whose lives were tragically taken during the withdrawal, especially at Abbey Gate on the 26th of August of that year.”

The report, prepared by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accused the Biden team of ignoring security warnings, failing to adequately plan an evacuation and lying to the public about the risks and the missteps that led to the bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members at Abbey Gate outside the airport in Kabul, the Afghan capital. The attack, which also killed as many as 170 civilians, punctuated a hasty and chaotic evacuation as the Taliban advanced, but Pentagon reviews have concluded that U.S. troops could not have prevented the violence.

The House report largely spared Mr. Trump of responsibility even though he sealed the original deal with the Taliban leading to the pullout and wanted to withdraw even more hastily.

The release of the report came as Mr. Trump has been blaming Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the fall election, for “the humiliation in Afghanistan.” His campaign posted videos from some relatives of those killed at Abbey Gate criticizing her. Ms. Harris, for her part, has accused Mr. Trump of politicizing the tragedy, pointing to his photo opportunity at Arlington National Cemetery in defiance of rules barring political events.

Mr. Kirby rejected the report’s criticism, saying that planning for the withdrawal started in the spring of 2021 and that no one had anticipated how quickly the Taliban would take over the country. He noted that Mr. Trump’s agreement resulted in the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters held in Afghan prisons and that U.S. equipment left in the country was given to the Afghan government, not to the Taliban, and wound up in enemy hands only when the government collapsed.

Mr. Kirby added that the administration continues to “look with awe and admiration at the many thousands of men and women who waged this war over the course of 20 years — troops, diplomats, intelligence experts, contractors and civilian employees from this and dozens of other nations.”

He also denied that the administration was not candid with the public. “There was no deception, lying or lack of transparency by this administration, either during or after the withdrawal,” he said. “We did the best we could every day to keep the American people informed of what was happening. We conducted our own after-action reports and shared those, too, with the public.”

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework

White House Says G.O.P.’s Afghanistan Report Offers ‘Little or Nothing New’
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G.O.P. Report to Denounce Biden Administration Over Afghanistan Withdrawal

Reporting from Washington

The New York Times

In an election-season document, Republicans are set to offer few new revelations but instead heap blame on the “Biden-Harris administration” while absolving former President Donald J. Trump.

House Republicans are preparing to release an investigative report blaming the Biden administration for what they called the failures of the chaotic and deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, laying out a scathing indictment that appeared timed to tarnish Vice President Kamala Harris in the final weeks before the presidential election.

The roughly 350-page document set to be released on Monday is the product of a yearslong inquiry by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It accuses President Biden and his national security team of being so determined to pull out of Afghanistan that they flouted security warnings, refused to plan for an evacuation and lied to the American public throughout the withdrawal about the risks on the ground and missteps that led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members.

“The Biden-Harris administration prioritized the optics of the withdrawal over the security of U.S. personnel on the ground,” the report states. The document, a draft of which was reviewed by The New York Times, also contends that the administration’s mismanagement resulted in “exposing U.S. Defense Department and State Department personnel to lethal threats and emotional harm.”

Details of the document were reported earlier on Sunday by CBS.

The findings are largely a recitation of familiar lines of criticism against Mr. Biden, offering few new insights about what might have been done differently to avoid the Taliban’s swift march into Kabul and the disastrous U.S. evacuation operation in August 2021. But they come at a critical time in the presidential race, when Mr. Trump has been working to persuade voters that Ms. Harris is unfit to be the commander in chief.

The authors single out Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, for particular condemnation, charging that he failed to coordinate a viable exit strategy and misrepresented the situation on the ground to the public.

They absolve former President Donald J. Trump almost entirely of responsibility for the debacle, even though an inspector general found in 2022 that the deal his administration struck with the Taliban in 2020, known as the Doha Agreement, to orchestrate a rapid U.S. withdrawal, was a major factor in the crisis. The report instead faults Zalmay Khalilzad, then the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, for the shortcomings of that pact.

A number of independent and internal government reviews have found that a series of factors — including that agreement, the Afghan military’s dependence on support from U.S. troops and contractors, and insufficient worst-case-scenario planning — contributed to the harried nature of the withdrawal.

Mr. Trump has gone to great lengths to try to portray Ms. Harris as responsible for the deaths of 13 service members in a terrorist attack near the Kabul airport in the final days of the evacuation. Ms. Harris, in turn, has accused Mr. Trump of trying to score political points off the deaths of those and other troops, after his campaign took photos and video of him in a restricted area of Arlington National Ceremony in defiance of military rules.

The report offers little new information about what role Ms. Harris played in the president’s actions on Afghanistan, though it repeatedly castigates the “Biden-Harris administration” and quotes the vice president’s assertion that she was “the last person in the room” when Mr. Biden made the decision to withdraw U.S. troops.

“Vice President Harris, despite publicly championing Afghan women’s rights, appears to have been working in lock step with President Biden behind the scenes to withdraw all U.S. troops no matter the consequence to Afghan women and girls,” the report says.

Democrats complained that the report ignored Mr. Trump’s role.

“The Republican majority has taken particular pains to avoid facts involving former President Trump,” Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the senior Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote in a letter accompanying a memorandum countering the G.O.P.’s findings. “Republicans’ partisan attempts to garner headlines rather than acknowledge the full facts and substance of their investigation have only increased with the heat of an election season.”

In their memorandum, Democrats insisted that Biden administration officials pulled off as seamless an evacuation as could have been mustered in a rapidly deteriorating threat environment.

But the Republicans’ report condemns the State Department for failing to put a reliable consular process in place to ensure that Americans and the Afghans who supported U.S. operations would be able to reach the international airport in Kabul and board planes out of Afghanistan.

It metes out scathing criticism for a wide swath of senior State Department and National Security Council officials for failing to draft contingency plans that might have helped mitigate the confusion or scale back the U.S. diplomatic footprint in proportion with the reduction in troops.

And it asserts that many witnesses pointed to Mr. Sullivan as “taking the lead for the Biden-Harris administration’s withdrawal planning and strategy — and owning many of the failures.”

The White House pushed back against the findings, calling the charges against Mr. Sullivan “false and complete nonsense.”

“Everything we have seen and heard of Chairman McCaul’s latest partisan report shows that it is based on cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations and pre-existing biases that have plagued this investigation from the start,” Sharon Yang, a spokeswoman, said in a statement, referring to the committee’s chairman, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas.

“The White House coordinated a robust policy-planning process ahead of and during the withdrawal that reflected input from departments and agencies across the government, including officials on the ground in Kabul,” she added.

The report also charges that internal State Department risk assessments were watered down and embassy staff members who dared raise safety concerns were reprimanded. Ambassador Ross Wilson, then the top diplomat in Kabul, is described as so “maniacal” about keeping the embassy open that staff members wanting to discuss contingency plans for an evacuation had to meet in secret.

Republicans allege that when Mr. Wilson ultimately fled the embassy, he left some staff behind — and later, after learning he had contracted Covid during the evacuation, had a Foreign Service officer take a test in his stead to procure a negative result, so he could escape quarantine in Qatar and go home.

In an interview, Mr. Wilson categorically denied those claims and said that he “never reprimanded anybody.” He also said that while he was not the last person to leave the embassy, the only staff members who remained stayed behind to destroy sensitive and classified information, and that they arrived at the Kabul airport the next morning.

In interviews with the committee, Mr. Wilson and others also said that evacuation planning was underway in the spring of 2021.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is presented as mostly absent during the crisis, delegating decision making during critical weeks to subordinates. Spokespeople for the department rebutted that characterization.

In a statement, Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, accused Republicans of having “done a disservice by relying on false information and presenting inaccurate narratives meant only to harm the administration.”

The report is largely sympathetic to the military. But it challenges the Defense Department’s conclusion that the attack at Abbey Gate that killed 11 Marines, one soldier and one sailor was the work of a sole ISIS-K bomber, citing testimony from Marines who referred to gunshots and bullet wounds.

Military officials have explained that ball bearings in the explosive device used in the attack would have caused wounds that appeared similar to gunshot wounds.

Karoun Demirjian covers Congress with a focus on defense, foreign policy, intelligence, immigration, and trade and technology.

G.O.P. Report to Denounce Biden Administration Over Afghanistan Withdrawal
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Islamic Emirate Calls UN Human Rights Session ‘One-Sided’

Volker Turk, expressed concern at the session about the human rights situation, particularly women’s rights in Afghanistan.

The Islamic Emirate, responding to criticism of Afghanistan’s human rights situation during the 57th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, claimed that the meeting and its discussions were one-sided.

Hamdullah Fitrat, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, emphasized the importance of having a representative from the Islamic Emirate at such meetings, arguing that without a representative from the caretaker government, the reports presented are biased.

Fitrat further stated: “There is no one representing Afghanistan in this session, and it is conducted in a one-sided manner. Therefore, the reports presented are also one-sided and unreliable, which we cannot endorse. Our demand is that a representative of the Islamic Emirate should be present at all meetings concerning Afghanistan to address concerns and refute any unfounded reports with logical arguments.”

Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concern at the session about the human rights situation, particularly women’s rights in Afghanistan, stating that this situation jeopardizes the country’s future. Turk also mentioned that they are engaging with the caretaker government to change these policies.

“It is essential that Afghanistan uphold the quality of women and men and indeed the rights of all people, my office will continue to engage with the de facto authorities…… and take meaningful steps to fulfill human rights,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights added.

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, said that human rights violations in Afghanistan are not limited to the past three years but have occurred over the past four and a half decades, and those responsible must be held accountable. Bennett also said that normalizing relations with the Taliban should be conditional on their respect for human rights.

Richard Bennett said: “Human rights crises in Afghanistan are not three years old, human rights have been violated in four and half decades of conflicts, all parties to the conflict are responsible and must be held accountable.”

The Canadian representative at the Human Rights Council session called for lifting the travel ban on Richard Bennett to Afghanistan.

“We condemn this disregard for the human rights of millions of Afghans and we remain committed to amplifying their voices and defending their rights. Mr. Special Rapporteur … we call on them to grant you the access,” he said.

Pakistan, representing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, also criticized the reduction in humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan and called for an increase in assistance.

“According to the report under discussion, 23.7 million people would require humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, and only 16.2% of the required US dollar 3.5 billion in funding was received for the Afghanistan humanitarian needs and response plan for 2024; in this context we reiterate our call and stress upon the international community and donor agencies to continue the humanitarian assistance as underfunding will significantly increase the risk of malnutrition and other associated risks,” he said.

The 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is set to continue until October 11, and extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan is part of the agenda for this session.

Islamic Emirate Calls UN Human Rights Session ‘One-Sided’
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Afghan Embassy in Norway to Close at Host Country’s Request

This comes as the Afghan Embassy in the United Kingdom also announced it would cease its activities on September 27.

The Embassy of Afghanistan in Norway has announced that it will close on September 12th at the request of the host country.

According to the statement, the embassy’s assets in Norway will be placed in the custody of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs until a new government is established in Afghanistan.

“Based on the official request of the host country, this representation will cease its activities from September 12, 2024, and following existing procedures, all movable and immovable property of this embassy will be entrusted to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs until a legitimate government based on the will of the people is established in Afghanistan,” the statement reads.

This comes as the Afghan Embassy in the United Kingdom also announced it would cease its activities on September 27.

Wahid Fakiri, an international relations expert, told TOLOnews: “This decision creates problems for Afghan refugees, such as not being able to obtain passports. From my perspective, this may be favorable for the Taliban in some ways.”

Salim Paigir, a political analyst, said: “The embassies and consulates are meant to solve the problems of Afghans living in Europe. If they do not interact with the Foreign Ministry, which is currently under Taliban control, it is natural that their documents will not be considered valid. Therefore, European countries have decided that the embassies must engage with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to resolve the problems of Afghans residing abroad.”

Previously, the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Emirate declared some Afghan embassies and consulates in European countries invalid due to their lack of interaction with the central government in Kabul. Subsequently, a German media outlet reported that the German Foreign Ministry had confirmed the invalidity of Afghan consular services in Berlin and Bonn.

Afghan Embassy in Norway to Close at Host Country’s Request
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  Fierce border clashes erupt between Pakistan and Afghanistan


ISLAMABAD —

Border security forces of Pakistan and Afghanistan were engaged in intense clashes Saturday, reportedly resulting in several casualties on both sides.

The war zone is located between the southeastern Afghan border province of Khost and the adjoining Pakistani district of Kurram, as reported by security officials and residents on both sides.

The conflict reportedly broke out when Taliban forces attempted to construct a security outpost on the Afghan side, prompting Pakistani troops to open fire to force the other side to stop the activity.

Pakistani officials maintain neither side can construct new posts unilaterally under mutual agreements regarding the nearly 2,600-kilometer border between the two countries.

Multiple sources reported that ongoing heavy clashes had injured at least five Pakistani soldiers, including an officer, and more than four Afghan border guards.

Pakistan and Afghanistan authorities have not commented immediately on the fighting. This is the second time in as many days that the two countries have clashed over the construction of the disputed Afghan border outpost.

The military tensions come amid Pakistan’s persistent allegations that militants linked to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have taken shelter on Afghan soil and are being facilitated by the country’s Taliban leaders in orchestrating cross-border terrorist attacks.

“We have, on numerous occasions, presented evidence of the activities of these terror groups, which have hideouts and sanctuaries inside Afghanistan,” Mumtaz Baloch, the Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson, reiterated Thursday.

“We urge the government of Afghanistan to take action against these terror groups and to ensure that these terror groups do not stage terror attacks against Pakistan,” she told a weekly news conference in Islamabad.

Taliban authorities deny foreign militant groups, including TTP, are present in Afghanistan, saying no one is being allowed to threaten neighboring countries from their territory.

However, recent United Nations assessments disputed the Taliban claims and backed Pakistan’s concerns that TTP operatives had intensified cross-border violence with the help of the de facto Afghan government in Kabul, which no country has officially recognized.

Since the Taliban regained power three years ago, bilateral ties have been strained due to increasing TTP attacks inside Pakistan and occasional border skirmishes, significantly undermining trade and transit ties between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan.

  Fierce border clashes erupt between Pakistan and Afghanistan
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Afghanistan Embassy in London set to close

According to the report, the Afghanistan embassy in London will close. The British Foreign Office officially informed Zalmay Rasul, the former ambassador to London, of this decision.

Reports indicate that Mr. Rasul was summoned to the British Foreign Office on Friday, September 6, and was asked to close the Afghanistan embassy within 20 days.

The Taliban, after months of efforts to compel the Afghanistan embassy in London to cooperate with its foreign ministry, has announced that the consular services of the embassy are no longer valid.

It appears that this move by the Taliban has influenced the British government’s decision to close the embassy.

The British Foreign Office has stated that the embassy’s affairs will not be handed over to the Taliban representatives and will be closed. The embassy staff has been given 90 days to either leave the UK or remain in the country.

The UK has one of the largest Afghan migrant populations in Europe. Closing the embassy will make it harder for these migrants to access consular services, such as obtaining power of attorney for property matters.

The closure of the Afghanistan embassy in London underscores the complexities of international diplomacy and its impact on Afghan migrants. It highlights challenges in accessing essential consular services amid shifting political dynamics.

Afghanistan Embassy in London set to close
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Global Cooperation Emphasized in First Meeting of Anti-Narcotics Commission

Sirajuddin Haqqani emphasized that the international community should also assist in the release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs stated today (Saturday) at the first meeting of the High Commission for Combating Narcotics that the international community must fulfill its commitments to combat drug trafficking in Afghanistan.

Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, who heads the commission, also mentioned that the cultivation of poppies and drug production in Afghanistan have almost reached zero, posing no threat to other countries from this front.

The Deputy Prime Minister added: “In the third Doha meeting, important discussions were held regarding alternative crops, and we hope that the commitments made to assist Afghan farmers and the agricultural sector in Afghanistan will be fulfilled.”

According to Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the High Commission for Combating Narcotics plans to hold a meeting with the head of UNAMA and several ambassadors in Kabul soon.

Several senior officials of the Islamic Emirate also participated in this meeting. The acting Ministers of Defense, Interior, and Foreign Affairs emphasized the importance of international cooperation with the caretaker government in combating narcotics.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in the meeting: “This negatively impacts global relations with the system and the people of Afghanistan. Our travelers face humiliating inspections in other countries to ensure they are not carrying contraband.”

Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting Minister of Interior, and Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the acting Minister of Defense, also stressed that combating narcotics requires both domestic and global cooperation, and the international community must fulfill its responsibilities in this area.

Sirajuddin Haqqani emphasized that the international community should also assist in the release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets.

The acting Minister of Interior said, “If they cannot provide other forms of aid, they should at least cooperate with the Islamic Emirate in unfreezing Afghan assets unjustly held by the Americans.”

Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the acting Minister of Defense, stated: “The world remains largely silent on this issue and does not fulfill its responsibility. We call on them to take responsibility and support the Afghans, especially the farmers.”

Noor Jala Jalali, the acting Minister of Public Health, reported that there are currently around 80 drug addiction treatment centers in the country, with approximately 14,000 addicts receiving treatment.
The acting Minister of Public Health said, “The number of treatment beds and centers in the provinces must increase, and the upgrading of some clinics should be approved, but there is no budget to construct buildings for clinics and to promote them.”

Abdul Manan Omari, the acting Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, was also one of the speakers at this meeting. He mentioned that 2,500 addicts have graduated from various professions after their treatment.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Narcotics Directorate of the Ministry of Interior also provided statistics indicating that since the return of the Islamic Emirate, 20,000 suspects have been arrested on drug trafficking charges, 1,450 drug factories have been destroyed, 37,000 hectares of land have been cleared of drug cultivation, and 122,000 addicts have been collected across the country.

According to the directorate’s statistics, in the past, 590,000 people were engaged in drug cultivation annually across the country, generating about $3 billion in revenue each year.

Global Cooperation Emphasized in First Meeting of Anti-Narcotics Commission
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Clashes Between Islamic Emirate-Pakistani Forces Leave 2 Dead, 11 Injured

By TOLOnews

According to them, a large number of families along the Durand Line have migrated to nearby areas.

As a result of clashes between the forces of the Islamic Emirate and the Pakistani military, two people, including a woman, have been killed, and eleven others injured.

Local residents reported that since Wednesday evening of last week, intermittent clashes between the Islamic Emirate forces and the Pakistani military have been ongoing in the Zazai Maidan district of Khost province.

According to them, a large number of families along the Durand Line have migrated to nearby areas.

“We have two martyrs, including one woman, and about eleven injured,” said Thamin Khan, a resident of Zazi Maidan district.

“Bullets have struck near homes, and it is unclear what will happen next. This situation has caused problems for the people, and they have migrated,” Mohibullah, another resident, told TOLOnews.

Meanwhile, on Saturday night, the Deputy Governor of Khost, during his visit to the Zazai Maidan district, told the residents and the forces stationed along the Durand Line to respond appropriately to any attacks.

At the same time, the Deputy Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs in Kabul said that this issue was resolved last night.

Mohammad Ismail Ghaznawi, Deputy Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, said: “The incident that took place in the Zazai Maidan district of Khost was resolved last night at 10:30PM.”

Although officials have not provided new details regarding the clashes and casualties in the Zazai Maidan district of Khost, the Ministry of Defense has said that while building a security outpost by the Islamic Emirate forces, Pakistani soldiers opened fire, prompting a similar response from the Islamic Emirate forces, leading to a confrontation.

Clashes Between Islamic Emirate-Pakistani Forces Leave 2 Dead, 11 Injured
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UNSC Expresses Concern Over Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan

Twelve members of the United Nations Security Council have expressed concern in a statement regarding the human rights situation and the newly enacted law of the Ministry of Virtue and Vice in Afghanistan.

The Security Council members have also called on Afghanistan’s interim government to revoke restrictive policies against women and have demanded the lifting of the entry ban on Richard Bennett, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan.

Yamazaki Kazuyuki, Japan’s representative, who read the statement, said that Afghan citizens, especially women, have suffered for a long time and are losing hope for the future day by day. He added that the Council is committed to comprehensively addressing the problems of Afghan citizens and is monitoring the situation in Afghanistan.

Yamazaki further stated: “Afghan citizens, especially women and girls, have suffered for far too long. Day by day, Afghan women and girls lose their opportunities and hope for their future. This is unacceptable. We are committed to doing our utmost to holistically address their plight and will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

The statement also expressed concern about the travel ban imposed on Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur, from entering Afghanistan.

On the other hand, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said that the organization’s focus is on improving the lives of the Afghan people through development, humanitarian work, and policy.

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General added: “Our focus in Afghanistan is on trying to do whatever we can to improve the lives of the Afghan people, right?  Through development work, through our humanitarian work, and also through our political work.”

The Islamic Emirate has not yet responded to the reactions from the Security Council members; however, it has consistently stated that the rights of the Afghan people, particularly women, are protected under Islamic law.

Aziz Maraj, a political analyst, told TOLOnews: “Everything should be made clear according to the holy Islamic religion to eliminate any complaints, doubts, disputes, or problems that may arise with the international community or the United Nations.”

The law of the Ministry of Virtue and Vice was enforced by the Ministry of Justice a month ago. The law contains four chapters and 35 articles.

Previously, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Acting Minister of Virtue and Vice, emphasized the implementation of this new law during his provincial visits.

UNSC Expresses Concern Over Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan
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UN to Host Talks on Afghan Drug Alternatives

Meanwhile, a number of farmers say that to boost the country’s economic growth, support for farmers is essential.

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, said that UNAMA is working to organize a meeting on alternative crop cultivation to poppy, treatment of drug addicts, and assistance to farmers.

According to a statement from the Presidential Palace, this meeting is expected to be held soon with the participation of representatives from various countries, organizations, and the Islamic Emirate.

Hamidullah Fitrat, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, regarding the meeting between Roza Otunbayeva and Mullah Abdul Kabir, said: “UNAMA is trying to organize a meeting for alternative crop cultivation to poppy and other narcotics, treatment of addicts, and cooperation with farmers, in which representatives of the Islamic Emirate are also invited.”

At the same time, some political analysts consider holding such meetings on Afghanistan important.
Janat Faheem Chakari, a political analyst, told TOLOnews: “The fundamental way is to establish an agricultural development bank in Afghanistan that creates cooperatives through banks and supports farmers through these cooperatives.”

Qaribullah Sadat, another political analyst, said: “If not completely eradicated, it is nearly zero. A substitute for preventing future risks is an urgent necessity, and it should be considered by international organizations and countries affected by this issue.”

Meanwhile, a number of farmers say that to boost the country’s economic growth, support for farmers is essential.

Mushk Alam, one of the farmers, told TOLOnews: “Gardens of walnut and cumin should be established, and improved seeds should be distributed to farmers.”

Another farmer, Abdul Shakoor, said: “We request all organizations to help farmers so they can support their families by cultivating other crops.

UN to Host Talks on Afghan Drug Alternatives
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