Over 180 cases of Journalists rights violations recorded in Afghanistan in 2024: AFJC
Khaama: The Afghanistan Journalists Center released its annual report on December 26, 2024, highlighting the challenging situation for media outlets and journalists in the country. The report indicates that 181 cases of journalist rights violations were recorded, and 18 media outlets were shut down due to the Taliban’s repressive policies. The Afghanistan Journalists Center has reported 181 instances of media rights violations by the Taliban in 2024, as part of its annual report. Click here to read more (external link).
The Passport Holders: Power, Privilege, and Corruption in Afghanistan
Ghani
8am: Ashraf Ghani was just another passport holder who had spent most of his life in the West and was married to a Christian woman from Lebanon. Despite spending his childhood in Kabul, he was alien to Afghanistan and its people. His obvious mistakes in performing namaz (Prayer) and reciting Farsi poems became subjects of jokes in people’s gatherings. During his tenure, Ashraf Ghani placed unconditional trust and support in his fellow passport holders, utilizing various methods to weaken the jihadi leaders who were enjoying the lion’s share of power during Hamid Karzai’s tenure, and replacing them with his own men. In doing so, he systematically weakened state institutions, overcentralizing decision-making authority under his control at the presidential palace. Click here to read more (external link).
Syrian Islamist Rulers Shun The Taliban Governance Model
Jolani (Sharaa)
By Abubakar Siddique
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 25, 2024
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers were quick to congratulate fellow Islamists from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
As the HTS fighters seized the capital, Damascus, on December 8, the Taliban said it hoped that the group would “lay the foundations of a sovereign and service-oriented Islamic government.”
But over two weeks on, the HTS, a U.S. and EU-designated terrorist organization, appears keen on distinguishing itself from the way the Taliban has governed Afghanistan.
Its leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously known by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, has publicly pledged to adopt moderate policies compared to the Taliban’s extremist approach to women’s rights, national reconciliation, and relations with the international community.
“There are many differences between Syria and the Taliban,” Sharaa told the BBC last week. “The way we govern is different.”
Women
Sharaa said that his government would allow women to get an education. He said that in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, ruled by the HTS for the past eight years, more than 60 percent of university students were women. He also said Christian women would not be forced to observe the veil.
The Taliban banned teenage girls from grade 7 and above one month after seizing the capital, Kabul, in August 2021. It also prohibited women from university and professional education in December 2022.
In 1996, the Taliban took over Afghanistan and established a government that strictly adhered to Islamic law. A U.S.-led coalition overthrew them in 2001, but they reorganized as an insurgent force and eventually reclaimed power in 2021 after U.S. and NATO forces left.
Senior Taliban leaders have adopted a “fringe opinion” of Islamic Shari’a law to enforce the ban, which is opposed internationally and by many inside Afghanistan.
The HTS, however, is not in favor of full freedom for women and is considering various restrictions and limitations. “Regarding women assuming judicial authority, this is a subject for researchers and study by experts,” said Obaida Arnaout, a spokesman for the HTS-led interim administration.
Arnaout has similar views about women’s work in the parliament and government.
His comments provoked protests from women’s rights activists who warned the Islamist group against imposing religious rule.
‘Unity And Reconciliation’
The HTS’s main political message is unity and reconciliation among Syria’s diverse ethnic, religious, and sectarian groups, some of whom have been fighting a bitter civil war since 2011.
The Islamist HTS has appointed a transition government of figures from among its leaders. And it has largely shifted its administration from its northwestern Idlib stronghold to serve as the country’s interim government until March.
But leader Sharaa has pledged national reconciliation and inclusive government institutions.
“Syria is a country for all, and we can coexist together,” he told journalists on December 22.
The HTS leader even invited a senior former Ba’athist leader and ex-vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa to participate in a future National Dialogue Conference in the capital. He has repeatedly pledged to work toward a constitution acceptable to all.
This is unlike the Taliban, which, since 2021, has monopolized power. Its theocratic government, led by Taliban clerics, has shunned Afghans who are not Taliban and refrained from writing a constitution.
Despite appointing a caretaker government in September 2021, there is no indication that the Taliban will ever allow the formation of an inclusive national government acceptable to all Afghans.
Foreign Relations
The international community is closely watching Syria’s transition and how the HTS responds to fellow Syrians’ aspirations.
Sharaa has reportedly impressed diplomats and senior international officials who met with him in Damascus to discuss future governance, counterterrorism, and foreign policies.
The initiative seems to be paying off. On December 20, Washington lifted a $10 million bounty on Sharaa. And the Syrian leader is pushing for a quick end to international sanctions on his country.
“Sanctions must be lifted quickly in order for us to take our country forward,” he told journalists alongside the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on December 22.
In Afghanistan, most Taliban leaders remain on UN and U.S. sanctions lists. Some leaders have faced new travel bans and sanctions for imposing the education ban on women and other human rights violations.
As HTS continues to entrench power in Syria, Western officials and diplomats are cautious about taking the militant group at its word.
“The Taliban projected a more moderate face, or at least tried to, in taking over Afghanistan, and then its true colors came out,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York on December 18. “The result is it remains terribly isolated around the world.”
Blinken advised “the emerging group in Syria” to focus on “moving the country forward” to avoid international isolation.
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Related
Tolo News in Dari – December 25, 2024
More Than 40 Killed In Pakistani Strikes Inside Afghanistan, Taliban Claims
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
December 25, 2024
Pakistani air strikes killed 46 civilians in eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban-led government in Kabul said on December 25, while Islamabad claimed it targeted suspected militant hideouts in border areas.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told RFE/RL that there were many women and children among the victims of the December 24 strikes, which hit four locations in the Barmal district of Paktika Province.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistani authorities on the strike inside Afghanistan.
However, the Pakistani Army said security forces killed 13 insurgents in an overnight intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan, a Pakistani district that borders Paktika.
RFE/RL cannot independently verify the claims.
The strikes are likely to further spike tensions between the two neighbors.
Pakistan says that militants from the Islamist group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are hiding across the border in Afghanistan, and Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Afghan Taliban to take action against them. But the Afghan Taliban say the TTP are in Pakistan.
The latest Pakistani air strikes come just days after TTP militants carried out a raid near the northwestern border with Afghanistan that killed 16 security officers and wounded eight others.
The attack occurred when militants opened fire at a security checkpoint in South Waziristan in the early hours of December 21.
The TTP, which seeks to impose Shari’a law in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 35 Pakistani security officers. RFE/RL could not independently confirm the number of dead. Neither side said how many militants were killed during the attack.
There has been a steady increase in TTP attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021.
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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At least five killed in Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan: Sources
Amu: At least five people, including children, were killed in airstrikes carried out by Pakistani forces in Barmal District of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika Province, local sources said. The death toll is expected to rise as reports from the remote area continue to emerge, sources added. Click here to read more (external link).
Pakistan resumes senior-level contacts with Afghanistan’s Taliban to address mutual tensions
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 24, 2024
Islamabad — Taliban leaders in Afghanistan hosted meetings Tuesday with a high-level delegation from neighboring Pakistan, marking the resumption of such interactions after a year-long pause due to terrorism allegations.
Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s newly appointed special envoy for Afghan affairs, led his country’s team at the talks in Kabul with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, among others.
Muttaqi’s office said in a post-meeting statement that the delegations focused on enhancing diplomatic, trade, and transit relations between the countries, which share a nearly 2,600-kilometer border.
The chief Taliban diplomat stated that Kabul “desires positive relations” with Islamabad.
Muttaqi said without elaborating that to develop trade and transit ties further, both governments “must enhance mutual coordination, facilitate travelers’ cross-border movement, and address issues straining relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Taliban’s statement quoted Pakistani envoy Sadiq as saying that his mission was to “bolster” bilateral political, economic, commercial, and transit relations.
“Held wide-ranging discussions. Agreed to work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as for peace and progress in the region,” the Pakistani envoy wrote on his X social media platform.
Sadiq’s predecessor, Asif Ali, visited Kabul in September 2023 when Pakistan was experiencing a dramatic rise in terrorist attacks attributed to the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, with Islamabad persistently alleging the militant group was orchestrating the deadly cross-border violence from its Afghan “hideouts.”
TTP attacks have since intensified and killed hundreds of Pakistani civilians as well as security forces, leading to a further deterioration in relations.
“Given the current circumstances, we must expedite our collaborative efforts to safeguard the relationship between our peoples and ensure regional stability and development,” Haqqani’s office quoted him Tuesday as telling the Pakistani delegation.
He stressed “the urgency of accelerating joint efforts to resolve security and political challenges,” according to the statement.
Taliban leaders have consistently denied allegations that Afghan territory is being used as a launching pad for attacks. The de facto Afghan government maintains it does not support the TTP or any other foreign militant group, describing the violence in Pakistan as an “internal problem” for the neighboring country to resolve rather than blaming Kabul for the crisis.
Afghanistan is landlocked, relying heavily on Pakistani overland routes and seaports to conduct bilateral and international trade. Tensions over terrorism charges have led to a significant decline in Afghan trade and transit activities through Pakistan in recent months.
The Taliban swept back to power in 2021, but no country has officially recognized them as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
Several neighboring and regional countries, including Pakistan, China, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran have retained their embassies in Kabul since the Taliban takeover, allowing the fundamentalist de facto rulers to take charge of Afghan diplomatic missions in their respective territories.
Western countries have refused to open official contacts with the Taliban over their sweeping restrictions on Afghan women’s access to education, work, and most aspects of public life. The United Nations has turned down Taliban requests to let them represent Afghanistan at the global organization, citing the treatment of women.
Taliban leaders defend their governance in line with Islamic law, known as Sharia, and Afghan culture, rejecting international criticism as interference in the country’s internal matters.
Tolo News in Dari – December 24, 2024
The Mystery of Hibatullah Akhundzada’s Seclusion
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada
8am: Many still wonder whether Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada exists. Some say no, others say yes. At times, bizarre and laughable rumors circulate, too absurd to mention. For instance, some suggest that Hamid Karzai is Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. This perception stems from Karzai’s past Taliban-friendly policies and stances, which led people to draw such conclusions. Yet, some public perceptions about Mullah Hibatullah are worth contemplating. Click here to read more (external link).