8am: The Taliban have intensified restrictions against Shia Muslims by banning the import of Shia religious books and prayer texts into Afghanistan. Pilgrims returning from Karbala have voiced concerns over the Taliban’s harsh treatment and the prohibition on transferring these religious materials at border crossings. They report that during book collections, the Taliban insult Shia followers, calling them “polytheists and infidels.” The Taliban also confiscate all religious books they consider contradictory to Hanafi jurisprudence from educational and university libraries, and this practice continues. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Denies Suspending Or Stopping Anti-Polio Campaign
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
September 17, 2024
Afghanistan’s Taliban-run Health Ministry on September 17 rejected reports saying the hard-line group has suspended or delayed a major polio vaccination drive.
Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman called such reports false and said there was no official directive to postpone or stop the anti-polio plans.
Instead, he said, Taliban health officials are trying to implement the vaccination campaign in a legitimate and technical way that benefits society.
A day earlier, AP quoted a top official from the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying it was aware of discussions to move away from house-to-house vaccinations and instead administer immunizations site-to-site in places like mosques.
Local and international observers have repeatedly warned of humanitarian challenges since the Taliban took control of the country as the U.S.-led international coalition withdrew in mid-2021, heightened by a lack of recognition of the group’s government in Kabul.
The WHO has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, up from six cases in 2023, and had announced a sweeping anti-polio drive for September.
A nationwide house-to-house anti-polio campaign in June was the first in at least five years, and WHO authorities said the scheme allowed its vaccinators to reach most of the children it was targeting.
Kamal Shah, a former communications officer at UNICEF, the UN agency responsible for humanitarian and other aid to children worldwide, has urged officials to better integrate the Taliban into polio vaccination efforts.
Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic.
The WHO has warned that high cross-border traffic between those two countries heightens the risk of polio spreading.
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.
Operations Resume at Afghan Embassy in Oman Now Under Islamic Emirate (Taliban)
Tolo News: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that diplomats representing the Islamic Emirate began their work at the Afghan Embassy in Oman this past Sunday. Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the reopening of the Islamic Emirate’s embassy in Oman is expected to play a significant role in strengthening political, economic, social, and religious ties between Kabul and Muscat. Click here to read more (external link).
Veteran Warlord Dostum Seeks Parallel Afghan Government To Undermine Taliban
Dostum
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
September 16, 2024
Veteran Afghan warlord and former politician Abdul Rashid Dostum has urged groups that oppose the fundamentalist Taliban to unite to form a government-in-exile for Afghanistan to challenge that extremist group’s unrecognized leadership.
Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek and longtime kingmaker who along with his private army has been accused of past rights abuses, was speaking to a virtual gathering of a Turkish-based Afghan resistance group on September 15.
Dostum said last year that his fighters were prepared to take on the Taliban once the international community concluded that it cannot deal with the hard-line extremist group.
The chameleonic Dostum formerly served under the UN-backed former Afghan government as a deputy defense minister.
He also held other party and military posts in Afghanistan before the U.S.-led international forces withdrew in mid-2021.
Dostum, whose historical power bases were in northern and western Afghanistan, ran unsuccessfully for the Afghan presidency in 2004.
He was also widely thought to be a major figure in factional fighting that plagued the country for decades and sometimes pitted ostensibly allied armed forces against each another.
In 2019, when he was first vice president, Dostum was said to have narrowly escaped when his convoy was attacked by Taliban forces in a northern province.
A day later, the Taliban, which was waging a fierce insurgency against the central government in Kabul, said Dostum remained on its hit list.
The Taliban raided homes and summarily executed many perceived enemies as the group swept into de facto power after capturing most of the country in 2020-21.
The subsequent Taliban-led government has waged a campaign of discrimination and abuse against women and been accused of persecuting minority groups in Afghanistan, among other alleged wrongdoing.
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
What Does Al-Qaeda’s Return to Afghanistan Mean?
8am: One analysis suggests that given the developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, Western powers, especially the U.S., may be seeking to exploit al-Qaeda and other Central Asian militant groups to undermine Russian interests. After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. significantly weakened al-Qaeda and eliminated many of its senior leaders, but it either did not want or could not deliver a blow that would deprive al-Qaeda of its ability to reorganize. Considering that al-Qaeda and similar groups were key allies of the U.S. during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, forming an unofficial alliance against “atheism,” it is not out of the question for such an arrangement to occur again. It is clear that in politics, there are no permanent friendships or enmities. The West has managed to contain Russia on the Ukrainian front, and if the confrontation between Russia and the West intensifies, the West may use extremist religious groups as leverage against Russia. Religious fundamentalist groups have demonstrated that despite their intense anti-Western rhetoric, they are willing to engage with and even serve Western interests at times. The current U.S. engagement with the Taliban could support this claim. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – September 16, 2024
Trump’s Assassination: Suspected Gunman Wanted to “Take Afghan Troops to Ukraine”
Afghanistan International: The New York Times has reported that Trump assassination suspect Ryan Wesley Routh said last year that he was looking to recruit former Afghan troops to fight in Ukraine. “We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” Routh had said. On Sunday, media outlets reported a shooting near Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Police officials said that the gunman was among the bushes near the golf course when Secret Service agents spotted the barrel of his rifle. Click here to read more (external link).
Anti-Shiism: A Battle Where the Taliban and ISIS Stand United
8am: The massacre of Shia pilgrims at the border between the provinces of Ghor and Daykundi, for which ISIS has claimed responsibility, has once again highlighted the issue of Anti-Shiism among extremist Islamic groups. This event occurred in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, a group that has repeatedly demonstrated that it is no less anti-Shia than ISIS. Shias, as a religious minority in Afghanistan, face severe discrimination and systematic oppression from the Taliban, while ISIS systematically targets them for massacre. The recent incident is the latest example of such ISIS crimes, occurring at a time when the Taliban have recently spoken about the absence of ISIS in Afghanistan. Whenever the Taliban make such misleading claims, one must be wary of the deadly actions of ISIS. This kind of brutal massacre is, in fact, a sign of the reappearance of a terrorist group that, contrary to all the false claims of the Taliban officials, remains actively present in Afghanistan, and the Kabul regime can never completely eradicate it. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Taliban Suspends Polio Vaccination Campaign in Afghanistan
Child getting polio drops (file photo)
Afghanistan International: The Taliban on Monday suspended a polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported, citing the United Nations. The reason for the suspension of the campaign has not yet been announced, and Taliban officials have not publicly commented on the matter. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries in the world which have not been able to stop the spread of this deadly and paralysing disease among children. Click here to read more (external link).
Claims of a Drug Crackdown: Hashish Demand and Supply Soar in Herat Province
8am: Over the past three years, the Taliban have repeatedly claimed to have eradicated drugs and tobacco in the country. However, findings from Herat province by Hasht-e Subh Daily reveal an increase in the buying and selling of hashish, with the market for hashish sellers thriving. This is despite a decree by Hibatullah Akhundzada banning the sale and purchase of drugs, including hashish. Following this decree, the price of hashish has surged. This comes as international organizations have also reported that, despite the Taliban’s rhetoric about fighting drugs, the trade from opium reserves continues, and drug production factories remain operational. Click here to read more (external link).