Page 29 - Afghanistan

Afghan Taliban promises to help Pak address threat posed by TTP: Report

The Afghan Taliban leaders have promised to cooperate with Pakistan on its concerns about the presence of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants and sanctuaries on their soil after Islamabad delivered a stark warning to them to rein in the outlawed outfit amid a rise in terror attacks across the country. The promise came during a day-long trip by a high-level Pakistani delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif to Kabul on Wednesday, amidst the worsening of ties between the two neighbours over the issue, according to a media report. Pakistan's Foreign Office said the growing TTP and IS-K threat was discussed and the two sides agreed to collaborate to effectively address the threat of terrorism. The delegation included ISI Chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, Foreign Secretary Asad Majid, Special Envoy on Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq and Pakistan's charg d'affaires in Afghanistan Obaid Nizamani. The visit took place days after the TTP gunmen raided the police headquarters

Ahmad Shah Massoud, guerilla extraordinaire

Mr Gall paints a vivid picture of Massoud as a guerilla leader - someone who is precise and methodical in his approach and whose decision making is clinical and rarely driven by impulse or sentiment

Taliban asks int'l community to recognise 'Islamic Emirate' of Afghanistan

Taliban has called on the international community to recognise the "Islamic Emirate" of Afghanistan, claiming that if recognised, concerns and complaints of the world will be addressed in a better way

Afghanistan's Taliban govt shuts down main border point with Pakistan

The Afghan Taliban commissioner for Torkham said the border point had been closed down for travel and transit trade

China to become Afghan's second-largest trade partner in 2023 after Pak

China's trade with Afghanistan has been growing fast and it may become the second-largest trading nation with Afghanistan in 2023 after Pakistan, a situation that bodes well for the continuation of the CPEC part of the Belt & Road Initiative into Afghanistan, as per Silk Road Briefing (SRB).Silk Road Briefing provides global and regional intelligence to assist and monitor infrastructure, geopolitical, and structural developments, along with foreign investment opportunities along China's Belt and Road Initiative.According to China customs data, in December 2022, China imported goods worth USD 9.09 million from Afghanistan and exported goods worth USD 59 million, resulting in a positive trade balance for China of USD 49.9 million, the SRB reported.If these figures are projected as the 2023 average, then this would result in a bilateral trade figure of USD 816 million. Pakistan, currently the largest Afghani trade partner, achieved bilateral trade of USD 1.513 billion in 2022, ...

Avalanches, flash flood destroy 20 houses in northern Afghanistan

Calling for providing assistances to the affected families, the official warned that overlooking the miseries of the disaster-affected families would lead to a tragedy in the ill-fated village

China, Iran urge Afghanistan to end work related restrictions on women

China and Iran have urged mutual neighbour Afghanistan to end restrictions on women's work and education. The call came in a joint statement Thursday issued at the close of a visit to Beijing by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during which the two sides affirmed close economic and political ties and their rejection of Western standards of human rights and democracy. Since taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has banned women and girls from universities and schools after the sixth grade and forced out those in elected offices and other prominent positions. The two sides ... called on the Afghan rulers to form an inclusive government in which all ethnic groups and political groups actually participate, and cancel all discriminatory measures against women, ethnic minorities and other religions," the statement said, adding that the US and its NATO allies should be responsible for the current situation in Afghanistan." The US had backed Afghanistan's elected government ..

Afghanistan remains primary terrorist threat for Central, South Asia: UN

Afghanistan remains the primary source of terrorist threat for Central and South Asia, with groups such as ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan enjoying greater freedom of movement in the country owing to the absence of an effective Taliban security strategy, a UN report has said. The 31st report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team (ISIL, Al-Qaida), was issued here on Tuesday. The report said that Afghanistan remains the primary source of terrorist threat for Central and South Asia. It originates from groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant- Khorasan (ISIL-K), Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, as well as ETIM/TIP (Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement/Turkistan Islamic Party), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Islamic Jihad Group, Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari, Khatiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, Jamaat Ansarullah and others. These groups enjoy greater freedom of movement in Afghanistan owing to the absence of an effective Taliban security strategy,

Earthquake of magnitude 4.3 hits Afghanistan's Fayzabad on Monday

An earthquake of magnitude 4.3 struck 135 km south-southeast of Fayzabad, Afghanistan at 6.47 am on Monday, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS)"Earthquake of Magnitude:4.3, Occurred on 13-02-2023, 06:47:53 IST, Lat: 36.51 & Long: 71.40, Depth: 135 Km, Location: 100km SE of Fayzabad, Afghanistan," NCS tweeted on Monday.This is the second quake to have rocked the country within a month.Earlier on January 22, an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 took place 79 km south-southeast of Fayzabad, Afghanistan at 9:04 am IST on Sunday, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS).

Afghanistan gets humanitarian aid amid harsh winters from UNHCR, Uzbekistan

In order to make the lives of Afghan people easy and bearable, the UNHCR, with the support of the Uzbekistan government has sent winter aid to the war-ravaged country to cope up with extreme cold.

No country should be allowed to use Afghan to export terrorism: NSA Doval

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday said that no country should be allowed to use Afghan territory to export terrorism and asserted that India will never abandon the people of Afghanistan in their time of need. In an address at a multilateral security dialogue on Afghanistan in Moscow, Doval said that an inclusive and representative dispensation in Kabul is in the larger interest of the Afghan society. He also reaffirmed that the well being and humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan is India's foremost priority and it will continue to guide New Delhi's approach towards that country, official sources said. The National Security Advisor (NSA) is on a two-day visit to Moscow from Wednesday. Besides Russia and India, the fifth meeting of Secretaries of Security Councils/NSAs on Afghanistan was attended by representatives from Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the official sources said In his remarks at the meeting, Dov

Top UN woman urges Muslim nations to move Taliban back to 21st century

The highest-ranking woman at the United Nations said Wednesday she used everything in her toolbox during meetings with Taliban ministers to try to reverse their crackdown on Afghan women and girls, and she urged Muslim countries to help the Taliban move from the 13th century to the 21st. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, a former Nigerian Cabinet minister and a Muslim, said at a news conference that four Taliban ministers, including the foreign minister and a deputy prime minister, spoke off one script during meetings with her delegation last week. She said the officials sought to stress things that they say they have done and not gotten recognition for and what they called their effort to create an environment that protects women. Their definition of protection would be, I would say, ours of oppression, Mohammed said. Those meetings in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the Islamic group's birthplace in Kandahar were followed by a visit this week by U.N. humanitarian chief Mar

Freezing weather in decade's 'coldest winter' kills 124 in Afghanistan

Akhund said the forecast for the next 10 days indicated temperatures would warm. But he was still worried about a rising death toll of Afghans, and their livestock

Reviewing engagement with Taliban, says US on rights violations in Afghan

US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price, in a press briefing, underlined that the US continues to be the world's leading humanitarian provider to the people of Afghanistan

UN says Taliban divided on restoring women's rights post official visit

A delegation led by the highest-ranking woman at the United Nations urged the Taliban during a four-day visit to Afghanistan that ended Friday to reverse their crackdown on women and girls

US House Republicans launch probe into chaotic exit from Afghanistan

Michael McCaul said the US House Foreign Affairs Committee will use the authorities available to it to enforce requests for information as necessary

OIC delegation to be in Afghanistan to discuss women's right to education

Amid the ongoing violation of the rights of Afghan women under the Taliban regime, the OIC has planned to send a delegation to the country to discuss women's rights to education and employment

UNSC unity key in wake of women's rights violations by Taliban: UN aide

A top UN aide for Afghanistan has called for a unified response in wake of Taliban policies violating the human rights of Afghan women and girls

OIC asks Taliban to reconsider ban on women from working for NGOs

OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim stressed that the OIC has been following with deep concern the developments of the "unfortunate events" in Afghanistan

Taliban's ban on women workers hits vital international aid for Afghans

Last June, a team of female doctors and nurses drove six hours across mountains, dry riverbeds and on unpaved roads to reach victims of a massive earthquake that had just hit eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people. When they got there, a day after the earthquake hit, they found the men had been treated, but the women had not. In Afghanistan's deeply conservative society, the women had stayed inside their tents, unable to come out to get medical help and other assistance because there were no women aid workers. The women still had blood on them, said Samira Sayed-Rahman, from the aid agency International Rescue Committee. It was only after she met local elders to tell them about the arrival of a female medical team that women came out to get treatment. That's not just the situation in emergencies; in many parts of the country, women don't go out to get aid, she said. It's an example, Sayed-Rahman said, of how vital women workers are to humanitarian operations in ...