Afghanistan International: The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) claimed responsibility for an explosion at a Taliban base in Dara district of Panjshir province on Friday evening, October 4. The front said in a statement that 13 Taliban members had been killed and two others were wounded in the attack. Click here to read more (external link).
More Resistance News
Ariana: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday called on Afghanistan and other Islamic countries to tie defense belt against Israel. “If any nation wants to avoid the paralyzing siege of the enemy, it must open its eyes from the beginning, be awake,” Khamenei said in a Friday prayer speech in Tehran. “When it sees the enemy going to another nation, it should partner with that oppressed nation and help it, cooperate with it so that the enemy does not succeed there. If the enemy succeeds there, it will come to this next point.” Click here to read more (external link).
Lavrov
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 5, 2024
ISLAMABAD — Russia reported Friday that a “principal decision” had already been made to remove Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban from Moscow’s list of terrorist organizations.
Zamir Kabulov, the Russian presidential envoy for the South Asian nation, was quoted by state-run TASS news agency as saying that the foreign ministry and national security agencies “are putting finishing legal touches” on the Taliban’s delisting in line with federal laws.
“A principal decision on this has already been made by the Russian leadership,” said Kabulov. “Hopefully, the final decision will be announced soon.”
The remarks were reported on the same day that Moscow hosted a conference of regional countries to discuss Afghanistan, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presiding over the proceedings.
Lavrov later held bilateral talks with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who led his delegation at Friday’s multilateral event in the Russian capital, organized under the Moscow Format platform.
“We firmly believe in the importance of maintaining a pragmatic dialogue with the current Afghan government,” Lavrov said in his inaugural speech to delegates from countries such as China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.
“Moscow will continue to develop political, trade, and economic ties with Kabul,” Lavrov pledged.
Russia launched the Moscow Format in 2017 and it has since become a regular platform for discussing challenges facing impoverished, war-torn Afghanistan.
Muttaqi, in his broadcast address to Friday’s gathering, welcomed Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’s recent announcements that they will remove the Taliban from their lists of outlawed groups.
“We also appreciate the positive remarks [made] by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon,” said the Taliban chief diplomat.
Russia’s involvement in Afghanistan has been tumultuous. The Soviet army entered the country in 1979 to help a pro-Moscow government in Kabul but pulled out a decade later due to heavy losses inflicted by U.S.-backed Afghan insurgents, or mujahideen.
Moscow has developed close informal ties with the Taliban since they regained power in Afghanistan three years ago after the United States and NATO forces withdrew ending 20 years of war.
President Vladimir Putin stated in July that Russia considered the Taliban an ally in the fight against terrorism. The former Afghan insurgent group has been on the Russian list of terrorist organizations since 2003.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov praised the Taliban for combating narcotics in Afghanistan and fighting a regional Islamic State affiliate known as IS-Khorasan (IS-K).
“We support the Afghan authorities’ resolve to combat the terrorist threat,” he told the conference Friday.
Muttaqi called on all regional countries “to cooperate in preventing the recruitment of their citizens by ISIS and then send them to Afghanistan and other countries to carry out subversive operations.” He used an acronym for IS-K, which the United Nations describes as the most significant terrorist regional threat emanating from Afghan soil.
The Taliban foreign minister did not name any country, but Kabul formally alleged last week that the terrorist group is orchestrating attacks from bases in Pakistan, charges officials in Islamabad have refuted as unfounded.
No country has officially recognized the de facto Taliban government, although China and the United Arab Emirates have formally accepted Taliban-appointed ambassadors.
Washington remains opposed to any step toward easing sanctions or moving toward recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s rightful government, saying Kabul must improve its human rights record to win international legitimacy and support.
“We will look for interest in any outcomes and deliverables from the upcoming Moscow Format meeting, but we do not participate,” Karen Decker, the head of the Doha-based U.S. diplomatic mission for Afghanistan, told reporters Thursday.
The U.S. has never attended a Moscow Format meeting because it is seen as a regional conversation, said Decker, who has also been tasked with overseeing Afghan diplomacy.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai
Michael Hughes: Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan has plummeted since the rise of the Taliban 2.0 regime, driven by political rows and security issues, and to compensate Kabul is hoping to enhance commerce with Iran, India, and neighbors across Central Asia.
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have resulted in closure of trade routes and stiff tariffs along with bans on hundreds of items. Pakistan trade is down 60 percent overall and transit trade is off by 80%. Annual trade with Pakistan has fallen from $2 billion to about $500 million, according to Afghan commerce authorities.
“We tried a lot to convince the government of Pakistan but border closure and transit challenges such as high taxes led to a significant decline in trade with Pakistan,” Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment Deputy Head Khan Jan Alokozai said as quoted by Arab News on October 3.
Taliban have been reluctant to go nuclear in the trade war although they continue warning Islamabad of dire consequences. Taliban’s Political Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, expressed this hesitance combined with a veiled threat.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 4, 2024
Russia has urged the West to lift sanctions on Taliban-led Afghanistan and called for the inclusion of its government in discussions about the country’s future in direct opposition to the U.S. position of keeping sanctions against the regime in place. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a session of the “Moscow Format” consultations on October 4 that it’s necessary to engage with the Taliban administration despite its lack of formal recognition by Moscow. Despite the Taliban being unrecognized internationally, the Taliban administration’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi participated in the forum, highlighting Russia’s ongoing engagement with the Taliban. The U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, Karen Decker, said a day earlier that Washington remained opposed to easing sanctions or recognizing the Taliban, stressing that progress on human rights, particularly women’s rights, was necessary before any steps toward legitimacy or economic engagement could occur.
NDTV: One of the finest spinners in the game at present, Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan tied the nuptial knot as he got married on October 03. Rashid got married in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, with the wedding celebration videos taking social media by storm. The Afghan star, who is widely touted as the No. T20I spinner in the world had his wedding according to Pashtun customs. While many cricketers from the Afghanistan national cricket team attended his wedding, the picture and videos from his wedding venue created immense social media buzz. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Afghanistan International: Speaking at the Moscow Format Conference, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister said that ISIS has been able to establish equipment and training centres outside Afghanistan’s borders, and this incident has caused concern for the Taliban. Muttaqi called on the countries of the region not to allow ISIS to recruit their nationals and send them to Afghanistan and other countries for destructive purposes. Click here to read more (external link).
Reuters: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Friday that gender and nationality alone were sufficient for a country to grant asylum to women from Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban have sharply curtailed women’s rights. Authorities in Austria refused refugee status to two Afghan women after they applied for asylum in 2015 and 2020. They challenged the refusal before the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court, which in turn requested a ruling from the ECJ, the top European Union court. Click here to read more (external link).