Death of 21 Children Due to Measles in Badakhshan: Residents Decry Lack of Health Facilities

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8am: A credible source at the provincial hospital of Badakhshan confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Sunday, February 4th, that since the start of the current solar year, the hospital has recorded at least nine thousand, seven hundred, and seventy-six cases of measles. It is important to highlight that since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, the country’s health sector has encountered significant challenges, including a scarcity of healthcare workers and personnel. Click here to read more (external link).

Other Health News

Amnesty International Demands Release Of Afghan Educational Activists Held By Taliban

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 3, 2024

Amnesty International called on Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban rulers to free two activists working for the Fekre Behtar educational organization, who the rights group said were “arbitrarily arrested” in October 2023 in Kabul. Amnesty said that “Ahmad Fahim Azimi and Seddiqullah Afghan’s arrest and arbitrary detention are against international human rights law. They must be immediately and unconditionally released.” Amnesty said the men were falsely accused of assisting girls from the national robotic team to leave the country, inciting women protesters, and organizing protests. They have denied the allegations. After taking power in August 2021, the Taliban severely restricted the rights of women and girls, especially in educational matters.

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.

Life under Taliban rule 

Britain issues another warning to citizens about traveling to Afghanistan

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Khaama: The British government has once again urged all its citizens not to travel to Afghanistan. On Saturday, February 3rd, the British government issued a statement categorizing travel to Afghanistan as “highly dangerous” and warned of the risk of its citizens being detained in Afghanistan. In the statement, the British government expressed concerns about the possibility of “terrorist attacks” around religious sites, during religious ceremonies, and on significant religious occasions. Furthermore, the British government continues to claim that Kabul airport does not meet international safety standards. Click here to read more (external link).

Threats from terrorist groups still exist in Afghanistan: SIGAR

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Ariana: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) says in its new report that more than two years after the Islamic Emirate’s takeover, threats from terrorist groups still exist in Afghanistan. SIGAR has mentioned Daesh, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al-Qaeda as serious terrorist threats. Based on SIGAR’s report, the US said that it is not yet clear whether the ruling authorities in Afghanistan can prevent the foreign operations of al-Qaeda, TTP and Daesh or not. This organization also said that America has helped Afghanistan with more than eleven billion dollars in the last two years. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

US dismisses reports of reopening American consulate in Kabul

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Khaama: The US Embassy for Afghanistan in Doha has denied reports about the reopening of its consulate in Afghanistan. The US mission to Afghanistan in Doha, also known as the Afghanistan affairs unit told Khaama Press that the United States’ position towards Afghanistan remains unchanged, and there are no immediate plans to resume diplomatic mission in Kabul. “To be clear, the State Department’s position has not changed and we have no near-term plans to return any diplomatic functions to Kabul,” said a State Department spokesperson. Click here to read more (external link).

US Exploring Consular Return to Afghanistan Without Recognizing Taliban Rule

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Akmal Dawi
VOA News
February 1, 2024

The United States is cautiously exploring the possibility of reopening a consulate in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, according to a newly released strategy document from the State Department.

The move signals a potential shift in U.S. policy toward limited engagement with the isolated Islamist regime, while aiming to achieve multiple security, political and economic objectives.

“With the Taliban, we advocate for consular access, transparency and accountability for Americans; we also support the work of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs to obtain the release of Americans unjustly detained,” reads the recently approved Integrated Country Strategy Afghanistan, which was approved in October 2023.

With the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021, the U.S. shut down its embassy in Kabul, marking a symbolic end to two decades of military and political engagement with Afghanistan.

Since then, U.S.-Taliban interactions have been limited to sporadic meetings outside of Afghanistan, mainly in Doha, Qatar, where the U.S. has stationed a charge d’affaires to Afghanistan.

“Even as — and for as long as — the United States does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, we must build functional relationships that advance our objectives and further our understanding of the Taliban’s readiness and ability to fulfill their commitments to us,” the strategy paper states.

The new U.S. strategy outlines four strategic mission areas, namely counterterrorism, economic assistance, local engagement, and consular services for U.S. citizens inside Afghanistan and assisting Afghans who want to migrate to the United States.

The strategy maintains that Washington will “continue to speak out for basic rights of the Afghan people, especially women and girls.”

U.S. officials have repeatedly said that any normalization with the Taliban, including ending decades-long sanctions on their leaders, depends on the reversal of Taliban’s repressive policies and the formation of an inclusive Afghan government.

Security, political risks

While not recognizing the Taliban’s interim government, some countries, including U.S. allies like India, Japan and Turkey, have maintained diplomatic missions in Kabul.

The United Nations, including its political mission, has also remained operational in the country.

Last year, an independent assessment sponsored by the United Nations called for increased and direct engagement by the international community with de facto Taliban authorities.

“From a logistical standpoint, it would be easier for the U.S. to help Afghans seeking paths to the U.S. if it had consular staff and facilities open on the ground,” Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at the Wilson Center, told VOA.

However, Kugelman cautioned about the political and security risks of a return to Afghanistan, especially during a U.S. election year.

“The Biden administration would likely feel the security risks are prohibitive,” he said.

Terrorism-related violence in Afghanistan has plummeted by 75% over the past two years, according to a 2023 Global Terrorism Index from the Institute for Economics & Peace.

The drop appears to have resulted from an end of the Taliban’s war against the former U.S.-backed Afghan government.

Despite the Taliban’s claim of restoring peace, terrorist groups like the Islamic State’s Khorasan branch have perpetrated attacks in Afghanistan killing hundreds of people mostly religious minorities.

“Security does not appear to be the issue, but how to decide the relationship with the Taliban is,” Kathy Gannon, former Associated Press bureau chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan, told VOA.

Gannon argued that the United States, like other countries, needs to engage with 40 million Afghans inside the country in order to charter an effective policy.

UN: Al-Qaida, Afghan Taliban Assist TTP With Attacks in Pakistan

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 1, 2024

ISLAMABAD — A new United Nations report warns that al-Qaida has established eight new training camps in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and is increasingly assisting anti-Pakistan militants to launch cross-border attacks.

The report said an al-Qaida camp in the Afghan border province of Kunar is “conducting suicide bomber training” to support operations of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a globally designated terrorist group leading attacks against Pakistani security forces.

The U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team released its findings this week, providing a fresh assessment of the threat militant groups, particularly TTP, pose to the region from their sanctuaries in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Thursday, the de facto Afghan authorities rejected the U.N. findings as “false allegations.”

The report noted that the Taliban’s relationship “remains strong” with senior al-Qaida leaders, particularly with the terror group’s regional affiliate, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent or AQIS.

It found that the Taliban “are generally sympathetic to TTP aims” and have not responded to Pakistan’s repeated requests to prevent cross-border militant violence, which last year alone killed nearly 1,000 Pakistani security forces and civilians.

“The short-term detention of 70 to 200 TTP members and the relocation of personnel northward away from the border areas by the Taliban were assessed as deflecting pressure from Pakistan to contain TTP,” the report noted.

“Besides supplying weapons and equipment, Taliban rank and file, Al-Qaida core and AQIS fighters assisted TTP forces in cross-border attacks … Some Taliban members also joined TTP, perceiving a religious obligation to provide support.”

TTP members and their families receive regular aid packages from the Taliban, the U.N. report said, adding that the de facto Afghan authorities reportedly provided a monthly $50,500 to TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud.

“A notable development is the increase of Afghan nationals in the TTP ranks. Al-Qaida core and AQIS continue to provide training, ideological guidance, and support to TTP,” the report said. It added that al-Qaida recently ordered all its vehicles to be “gifted” to TTP due to fear of being targeted by the United States.

The support has “strengthened and emboldened” TTP to increase attacks “with a broader degree of autonomy to maneuver.” The U.N. report noted that AQIS reportedly supplied armed fighters to support a major TTP assault on security outposts in the Pakistani border district of Chitral, increasing the group’s morale.

The report said a newly emerged group, Tehrik-e-Jihad Pakistan, or TJP, is operating from Afghan territory, possibly with support from al-Qaida and providing TTP with “plausible deniability to alleviate the pressure from Pakistan on the Taliban government.”

TJP has claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks against the Pakistani military in recent months. Officials in Islamabad said some of the assailants killed by security forces involved in these attacks were Afghan nationals.

Last December, TJP militants, including suicide bombers, assaulted an army base in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing 23 soldiers and making it the deadliest raid against the Pakistan military in recent years.

The U.N. study said that several member states reported “continued proliferation of weapons from stockpiles” left by U.S.-led coalition troops after they withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, when the then-insurgent Taliban seized power.

“In one case Taliban commanders were reported to have provided TTP with significant quantities of weaponry, including M24 sniper rifles, M4 carbines with Trijicon ACOG scopes, and M16A4 rifles with thermal scopes,” the report said.

It added that weapons and equipment, particularly night vision capability, have reportedly added “lethality to TTP attacks on Pakistani security forces.”

The chief Taliban government spokesperson Thursday rejected as propaganda the U.N. report about the presence of al-Qaida camps or allegations that Kabul is providing support to militant groups.

“There is no one related to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, nor does the Islamic Emirate allow anyone to use the territory of Afghanistan against others,” Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

Mujahid previously also refuted Pakistani allegations that his government is allowing TTP to conduct cross-border attacks.

“We will not allow anyone to use the soil of Afghanistan against Pakistan. However, it is not our responsibility to prevent and control attacks inside the territory of Pakistan,” the Taliban spokesperson said in a recent statement.

TTP is known to have provided recruits and sheltered Taliban leaders on Pakistani soil while they directed insurgent attacks against U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan for years.

The group moved its command-and-control operations to Afghan border areas after the Taliban takeover and is conducting attacks with greater operational freedom from there, according to Pakistani officials.

VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.

Kabul residents express concern over rise in crime across the city

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Ariana: A number of Kabul residents have voiced concern over the increase in crime, especially theft, in the city and say if crime is not stopped, the situation will revert to what it was prior to the Islamic Emirate’s takeover. “Recently, there have been many criminal robberies in the city of Kabul and we are not safe,” said a Kabul resident. Click here to read more (external link).