Discrepancy in Bird Hunting Policies: Qatari Sheikhs Roam Free, While Three Afghans Detained by the Taliban in Nimruz Province

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8am: While announcing the detention of three individuals on charges of bird hunting by the Taliban in Nimruz province, local sources highlighted that Qatari sheikhs had been engaged in hunting rare birds in the province over the past two months. Sources from the Chahar-Borjak district of Nimruz informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily that Qatari sheikhs hunt rare birds directly and without restraint. According to these sources, the Qatari sheikhs, whom the Taliban also support, hunt rare birds in various parts of Nimruz, particularly in Chahar-Borjak. Click here to read more (external link).

UN Security Council adopts new resolution on Afghanistan

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Khaama: The United Nations Security Council approved a new resolution on Afghanistan on Friday. The resolution was adopted with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions from Russia and China. The resolution calls on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to appoint a special envoy for Afghanistan. According to the resolution, the UN Secretary-General is to appoint a new representative in consultation with the Security Council, Afghan political actors, including Taliban officials, Afghan women, civil society, and countries from the region and the world in a timely manner. Click here to read more (external link).

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Kazakhstan To Remove Taliban From List Of Terrorist Groups

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By RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service
December 29, 2023

Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said in a televised interview on December 29 that the Central Asian state’s Security Council had decided to remove the Taliban group now ruling Afghanistan from its registry of terrorist organizations. Smadiyarov said Astana will continue to adhere to United Nations decisions and resolutions regarding Afghanistan. Kazakhstan officially designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization in March 2005. Kazakhstan has sent several official delegations to Kabul since the Taliban took over Afghanistan after the U.S.-led military withdrawal in mid-2021. In September, some 300 Afghan businessmen and Taliban representatives attended a business forum in Astana.

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Other Political News

Trade of Suicide: Pakistan’s Bloody Year 2023

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8am: Yesterday, the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) published a report, probing the security situation in Pakistan and specifically the number of suicide attacks in the country in 2023… This report and several other reports, including the report dated May 31, 2023, of the same organization, presented that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, terrorist activities in Pakistan increased drastically. The May report showed a 73% increase in suicide attacks in this country, which continued until the end of 2023, marking a 93% increase in suicide attacks for Pakistan. Click here to read more (external link).

Kabul faces surge in armed crime and robberies

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Khaama: A resident of Kabul expressed to Khaama Press that they feel like they are living in the world’s scariest and most insecure place. This feeling is likely shared by many others in the city, troubled by the constant threats of armed robbers, kidnappers, terrorist groups, and the daily occurrence of mysterious murders, all contributing to the widespread fear and unrest among the people. Click here to read more (external link).

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Pakistan Expels Some Afghans Waiting For U.S. Resettlement

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
December 27, 2023

Pakistan has sent scores of Afghans back to their country despite their possessing documents confirming they are being considered for resettlement to the United States.

The expulsions are part of a broader Pakistani crackdown on more than 1.7 million “undocumented foreigners,” who are predominantly Afghans.

Nearly half a million Afghans have returned to their country since early October, when Islamabad announced the forced repatriation drive.

“The process of our resettlement [in the United States] should be expedited or the problems of Afghan asylum seekers will worsen,” Gul Wali Ahmadzai, an Afghan in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar who is waiting to be resettled, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

“Although we carry a letter of protection from the United States, it has not deterred the [Pakistani] police from detaining us,” said another Afghan asylum seeker who requested anonymity.

“The police do not allow us to even call or text the U.S. government hotline,” he added.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad sent protection letters to some 25,000 Afghans. The letters proved to Pakistani authorities that they were being processed for resettlement in the United States.

U.S. officials say they are trying to keep in touch with these Afghans in Pakistan. Washington has established an emergency hotline on WhatsApp in Dari, Pashto, and English.

A senior State Department official told Reuters that his country had “no formal way to track these kinds of cases,” adding that the number of Afghans deported while awaiting U.S. resettlement was “very small.”

But Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, the main coalition of groups helping Afghan resettlement, told Reuters that at least 130 Afghans waiting for U.S. special immigration visas in Pakistan had been expelled and returned to their country.

He said the Pakistan police have arrested more than 230 such Afghans. Of these, about 80 have since been released.

“The letters matter in some cases and not others,” said VanDiver. “Not all local officers are abiding by it.”

Senior Pakistani government leaders have repeatedly assured their Western counterparts that Islamabad will not deport the tens of thousands of Afghans whose cases are being considered for immigration.

On December 13, Islamabad extended a deadline to allow tens of thousands of Afghans waiting to be resettled in a third nation to stay in the country for two more months.

Under the extension, the Afghans can remain in the country until February 29. Previously, they were to leave by the end of December.

With reporting by Reuters

Copyright (c) 2023. 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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