As Many As 20 Die In Afghanistan After Overloaded Boat Sinks Crossing River

·

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
June 1,2024

A boat carrying 25 people sank while crossing a river in eastern Afghanistan on June 1, officials of the country’s Taliban-led government said.

Quraishi Badlon, director of the Information and Culture Department in Nangarhar Province, said the boat sank on a river in the Mohmand Dara district, killing 20 people, including women and children.

Moulvi Mohammad Ajmal Shagwal, the district governor of the Taliban-led government in Mohmand Dara, told RFE/RL that nine bodies had been removed from the river with help from local residents.

He said that there were 25 people on board the boat, which sank at 7:30 a.m. local time. Ten people survived, all of them with injuries, he said.

Badlon also said the boat was carrying 25 people, but he said only five survived.

Shagwal said there were women and children on the boat, but he did not give details. According to the province’s Public Health Department, the bodies recovered thus far include those of a man, a woman, two boys, and a girl.

Sherzad Ahmad Khel, one of the survivors, said that the boat sank because too many people were on board.

The government’s Bakhtar news agency published a video message in which an official said many people got into the boat, and when it reached the middle of the river, its motor overheated and burst into flames. The boat then flooded and sank, leaving its passengers to fend for themselves.

District resident Abdul Majeed told RFE/RL that people had used the same boat to cross the river almost every day to get to work and shop in the district market. He stressed that a bridge should be built.

“It is very important to build a bridge here. We asked the previous government, but it was not built. We are still demanding that the government build a bridge for us. If the bridge is not built, similar incidents will happen.”

People of Mohmand Dara and other districts of Nangarhar use small boats to cross the river due to the lack of bridges.
A few years ago, a number of people died in a similar boat sinking incident in district.

With reporting by AP

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.

Taliban and the Plundering of Mines: Companies and Countries Lack the Right to Contract Without a Legitimate Government

·

8am: In the nearly three years since the Taliban’s rise to power, they have significantly expanded the unregulated and illegal extraction of the country’s mineral resources. The group has announced that during this period, they have signed contracts for the extraction of over 150 small mines with domestic companies and 30 large mines with Chinese, Iranian, Turkish, and Qatari companies. Meanwhile, the former Minister of Mines and Petroleum argues that Afghanistan lacks a legitimate government under international law, and no company or country has the right to enter into contracts with a geography devoid of a legitimate state. He asserts that any future government of Afghanistan has the right to take the contracting parties to international courts and seek compensation. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban accuse Pakistan of sowing ‘distrust’ between Afghanistan, China

·

Zabihullah Mujahid

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 31, 2024

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban government Friday dismissed the findings of a Pakistan probe that attributed a recent fatal attack against Chinese workers in the country to militants operating from Afghanistan.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesman, told an Afghan television station that his country had nothing to do with the March 26 attack on Chinese nationals in northwestern Pakistan, insisting it was an internal issue for the neighboring country to address.

“The report published by Pakistan is an attempt to damage the trust between Afghanistan and China. We have repeatedly denied this report as illogical,” Mujahid told TOLO TV in his audio remarks.

The response came a day after a Pakistani delegation visited Kabul on Thursday and shared with Taliban counterparts the results of Islamabad’s investigation into the killings of five Chinese nationals, along with their local driver, in a suicide car bombing. The victims were working on a China-funded hydropower project in northwestern Pakistan.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson told a weekly news conference in Islamabad on Friday that its delegation also had requested assistance from Afghan authorities to apprehend the perpetrators of the terrorist attack on Chinese workers based on the “concrete evidence” Pakistan had shared with them.

“The Afghan side has committed to prevent the use of their soil for any terrorist activity, and they have agreed to examine the findings of the investigation and to work with Pakistan to take the investigation to its logical conclusion,” Mumtaz Baloch said.

Pakistani military and civilian officials maintain that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a globally designated terrorist group also known as the Pakistani Taliban, orchestrated the attack on Chinese personnel from Afghan sanctuaries.

The militant group has for years waged deadly attacks in Pakistan, targeting security forces and civilians.

Officials in Islamabad maintain that fugitive TTP leaders and combatants relocated to sanctuaries in Afghanistan after the Taliban retook control of the country nearly three years ago, and they have since intensified cross-border attacks with “greater operational freedom.”

The Taliban have consistently denied that foreign extremist groups have a presence in Afghanistan and are using their territory to threaten outside countries. Critics, however, have questioned those claims.

This month, a U.S. government quarterly report to Congress noted that the ruling Taliban continued to allow senior al-Qaida leaders, the TTP, and other insurgent groups to operate in Afghanistan.

Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said Friday that the situation in Afghanistan “remains the main source of instability” in the region.

“Numerous radical groups have gained a foothold there, stepping up attempts to promote their ideas in the neighboring countries,” the Russian state-run Tass news agency quoted him as telling a regional defense ministers meeting in Kazakhstan.

“The risk of gangs and terrorism spilling outside the country is growing,” Belousov said. He stressed the need for “constant monitoring and prompt measures” to ensure regional stability.

A United Nations report published earlier this year said the Taliban continued to be “sympathetic” to the TTP and supplied it with weapons and equipment, and some Taliban members reportedly joined the TTP in conducting cross-border raids against Pakistan.

The Taliban government has not been formally recognized by the international community.

China has steadily improved relations with Afghanistan, though, since the fundamentalist Taliban regained power in Kabul in August 2021. Beijing was the first to appoint a new ambassador to Kabul and the first to officially accept a Taliban ambassador.

Taliban’s New Pick For Health Minister Triggers Criticism

·

RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi:  The only technocrat in the Taliban’s cabinet has been dismissed and replaced by a hard-line cleric. Taliban chief Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada on May 28 removed Health Minister Qalandar Ebad, a trained doctor, and named Noor Jalal, a former deputy interior minister, as his successor. The Taliban’s theocratic regime is dominated by senior Taliban veterans and loyalists, most of them clerics from the Pashtun ethnic group. Click here to read more (external link).

Abdul Qayum Karzai Passes Away at Age 77 in US

·

Tolo News: Abdul Qayum Karzai, brother of former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, passed away yesterday (Thursday) at the age of 77 in the state of Maryland, USA. He was born in 1957 in the village of Karz in Kandahar. Abdul Qayum’s father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, was an influential tribal elder and served in the National Assembly of Afghanistan during the reign of King Zahir Shah. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghan Leaders Call For Liberation Of Afghanistan From Taliban ‘Occupation’

·

Massoud

Afghanistan International: On the anniversary of the killings of two former senior police commanders by the Taliban, various anti-Taliban leaders highlighted the need to free Afghanistan from the group’s “occupation”. The leaders accused the Taliban of transforming Afghanistan into a nexus for fostering terrorism and exporting it internationally. Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front, was among the Taliban’s opponents who spoke at a virtual event to mark the thirteenth anniversary of the deaths of General Dawood Dawood and General Shah Jahan Noori, former commanders of the Afghan police. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Which Countries Have Relations With The Taliban’s Unrecognized Government?

·

By Abubakar Siddique
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 30, 2024

No country in the world formally recognizes the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, where the extremist group seized power in 2021.

But some countries operate embassies in Kabul and have accepted diplomats appointed by the Taliban, which controls Afghan missions in some 14 nations in the region.

Russia is the latest country that is set to expand diplomatic ties with the militants. Moscow appears poised to delist the Taliban from its list of terrorist groups.

“This could be a step toward the Taliban gaining regional legitimacy,” said Graeme Smith, a senior Afghanistan analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

Many countries have tied recognition to the Taliban establishing an inclusive government, ensuring women’s rights, and breaking ties with extremist groups — issues that the militants have refused to budge on.

But Afghanistan’s neighbors, concerned about security, trade, migration, and drug trafficking, have been more open to establishing ties with the Taliban, said Smith.

The militants face major hurdles in gaining international legitimacy, and many Afghan missions around the world are still run by diplomats appointed by the former internationally recognized Afghan government.

But the hard-line Islamist group appears to be making headway in its strategy to gain recognition from countries in Afghanistan’s backyard.

Russia

Russia is one of the few countries that has maintained its embassy in Kabul. In April 2022, Russia handed over the Afghan Embassy in Moscow to the militants, becoming the latest country to accredit Taliban-appointed diplomats without officially recognizing the Taliban-led government. Commenting on removing the Taliban from Russia’s list of terrorist organizations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 28 that Moscow should “build relations” with the group.

China

In January, Chinese President Xi Jinping formally accepted the credentials of a Taliban-appointed ambassador, becoming the first head of state to do so. The Chinese Foreign Ministry clarified the move did not mean Beijing officially recognized the Taliban-led government. But the militants celebrated the move as a major diplomatic victory.

Pakistan

The Taliban gained control of the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad in October 2021. It was one of the first Afghan missions the group took over after regaining power. Pakistan is a longtime ally of the Taliban, although the sides have fallen out recently over the militants’ alleged support for the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan extremist group.

Iran

Tehran also kept its embassy in Kabul open after the Taliban seized control of the capital. Iran formally handed over the Afghan Embassy to the Taliban in February 2023. Former foes, Iran and the Taliban have forged close ties despite sporadic border clashes.

India

New Delhi reopened its embassy in Kabul last year. But Afghan diplomatic missions in India are in limbo as diplomats appointed by the former Afghan government have tried to stave off Taliban attempts to take over the embassy and two consulates.

Kazakhstan

In December, Astana removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist groups. That came months after Kazakhstan accepted a new Afghan ambassador appointed by the Taliban.

Uzbekistan

Tashkent engaged the Taliban soon after the militants returned to power. In February, the Taliban appointed a diplomat to take charge of the Afghan Embassy in the Uzbek capital.

Turkmenistan

Ashgabat accepted a Taliban ambassador in March 2022. The sides have worked closely on regional energy and transport projects. But there have been sporadic tensions and border clashes.

Tajikistan

The Taliban controls the Afghan consulate in the eastern Tajik city of Khorog. But the embassy is run by the ambassador appointed by the ex-Afghan government. Tajikistan is the only neighboring country to publicly oppose the Taliban’s return to power, and Dushanbe has hosted some of the leaders of the National Resistance Front, an anti-Taliban resistance group.

Azerbaijan

Baku officially reopened its embassy in Kabul in March, following through on a pledge made last year. But it is not clear if there are any Taliban diplomats present in Azerbaijan.

Turkey

The Afghan Embassy in Ankara is controlled by the ambassador appointed by the ex-Afghan government. But the consulate in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, is run by the Taliban. Several exiled Afghan political leaders are believed to reside in Turkey, including former Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Qatar

Doha has hosted a Taliban political office since 2013. The Qatari capital was the scene of negotiations between Taliban and U.S. officials that paved the way for the complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan in 2021. Qatar has engaged with the Taliban at the highest level and remains a key international interlocutor for its government, which controls the Afghan Embassy in Doha.

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh maintains an embassy in Kabul and continues to offer consular services for Afghans, thousands of whom work in the kingdom as laborers. After the Taliban takeover, Riyadh helped establish an Organization of Islamic Countries mission in Kabul. It is unclear if the Taliban controls all Afghan diplomatic missions in the oil-rich country.

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi also maintains an embassy in Kabul. The Taliban has appointed diplomats to the Afghan Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai.

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.