Khaama: Officials in Kandahar province report that 60 families were expelled from Pakistan and have entered Afghanistan through the Spin Boldak border. The registration and refugee identification committee at the Anjargi camp in Kandahar stated that 60 families, consisting of 323 individuals, returned to the country through Spin Boldak over the past two days. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Taliban militants (file photo)
8am: Many Uzbek citizens in Afghanistan argue that the Taliban’s ethnic biases have excluded them from political power, denying them a meaningful role in national decision-making. They criticize the Taliban’s mono-ethnic regime, which they claim has failed to provide any significant benefits to Uzbeks over the past three years. Instead, they say, the Taliban have forced competent Uzbek leaders and representatives out of the country through threats and coercion. Even Uzbeks who supported the Taliban and fought as commanders or fighters against the former republic and foreign forces now hold no authority in political, economic, or social matters, serving only symbolic roles within the group. The former deputy of the European Union’s special envoy to Afghanistan noted that these actions have prompted influential Uzbek figures to seek opportunities to form an independent force against the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).
WION: A report by The Independent said that on Thursday, a record 191 flights passed over Afghanistan, with airlines paying the country’s civil aviation ministry $700 per flight for the privilege. As the crisis in West Asia is intensifying, the number of international flights passing through Afghan airspace saw a record high this week after Iran launched a massive missile attack against Israel, according to a report by The Independent on Saturday (Oct 5). Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: The federal government of Pakistan announced on Sunday that it has officially designated the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) as a ‘proscribed organisation,’ effectively banning its activities across the country. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said on Sunday that tensions between Pakistan’s government and the opposition have reached a worrying level and could have a negative impact on the entire region. Supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan have rallied in Islamabad to push for Khan’s release as the police blocked roads, cut off mobile internet and fired tear gas to deter the protesters. Dozens of police personnel have been injured in clashes with protestors. Click here to read more (external link).
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.