Afghanistan women’s cricket future again rests with wrangling of men

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The Guardian (UK): The stop-start– or start-stop – story of the Afghanistan women’s cricket team has been sitting in the ICC’s to-do tray since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. It isn’t a straightforward issue, but no one can say that it has been at the top of the pile, with the governing body largely relying on procedure to explain its sloth-like movement. A brief history: the Taliban’s takeover violently, and instantly, scrubbed out the development of the nascent women’s team – players had only been given contracts in November 2020 and were yet to play a competitive match. The players and their families faced immediate intimidation – with many going home and burning and hiding their equipment for fear of being discovered. They fled over the border to Pakistan and 22 of the 25 were given emergency Australian visas (with two others going to Canada and another to the UK). Click here to read more (external link).

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Horrifying Conditions for Healthcare Workers in Afghanistan: 80% of Violence Attributed to the Taliban

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8am: The Institute for Conflict Management has published a shocking report on the condition of healthcare workers under the Taliban regime. The report documents 109 incidents of violence against healthcare workers in 2023, with 80 percent of these incidents perpetrated by Taliban fighters. According to the report, 65 healthcare workers were detained and interrogated by Taliban forces in 38 incidents in 2023. The report also states that 16 healthcare workers and doctors were killed in 10 incidents by June this year. The institute noted the death of a doctor due to brutal Taliban torture in Badakhshan province, highlighting that Afghanistan’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse as the Taliban prioritize spending on their intelligence and security sectors. Click here to read more (external link).

Pakistan suspends deportations of Afghans on ‘humanitarian grounds’

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 9, 2024

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has halted the expulsion of undocumented migrants from Afghanistan after discussions with the chief of the United Nations refugee agency.

Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, wrapped up his three-day visit Tuesday and called for “a bolstering of efforts towards longer-term solutions” for Afghans in Pakistan.

A post-visit UNHCR statement said, “Grandi expressed appreciation that the ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’ had been suspended and sought assurances that it would remain on hold.”

A senior Pakistani official who was knowledgeable about Grandi’s meetings with leaders in Islamabad confirmed to VOA that Pakistan had halted deportation of Afghans. However, the official did not specify the duration of the suspension. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

“Our message to Grandi was that the international community should fulfill its responsibility for the upkeep and repatriation of Afghan refugees. It’s a shared responsibility and shouldn’t be left to Pakistan to lift the entire burden,” the official said.

The decision to suspend the evictions of Afghans was taken on “humanitarian grounds” because of deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions facing impoverished, war-ravaged Afghanistan, said Pakistani and U.N. officials.

During his visit, Grandi met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior Pakistani officials, and his talks mainly focused on the fate of about 3 million Afghans.

According to Pakistani and U.N. officials, of those, about 1.3 million are officially declared refugees, nearly 900,000 hold Afghan citizenship cards, and the remainder are without documents, or their visas have expired while waiting to seek asylum in third countries after fleeing the August 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Repatriation action

Pakistan unleashed a crackdown last November on all foreigners illegally staying in the country, citing a dramatic rise in militant attacks and attributing them to people residing among the refugee populations. The move has largely targeted more than 1 million Afghan migrants and asylum-seekers who lack legal documents or valid visas.

Pakistani and Afghan officials say close to 600,000 Afghans have been repatriated to their homeland since the deportation campaign started.

During his stay in Pakistan, Grandi also traveled to Afghan refugee localities in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including its capital of Peshawar, and met with their representatives.

“In the meantime, as Pakistan continues to host some 3 million Afghans, all solutions need to be explored in addition to voluntary repatriation, including third-country resettlement and longer-term solutions within Pakistan,” concluded the UNHCR statement.

Islamabad maintains that anti-Pakistan militant groups entrenched in sanctuaries in Afghanistan have stepped up attacks against Pakistani security forces and civilians since the Taliban returned to power in the neighboring country three years ago.

Taliban authorities have criticized the expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan and dismissed allegations they are allowing militants to use Afghan soil to threaten neighboring countries and beyond.

Strengthen Anti-Taliban Resistance Fronts Through Aid, Advises Former US NSA

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Bolton

Afghanistan International: John Bolton, former US National Security Advisor, told Afghanistan International that the Taliban must be sidelined to resolve the crisis in Afghanistan. He expressed support for strengthening anti-Taliban forces and called for sending US military aid to resistance groups in Afghanistan. On Monday, July 8, Bolton stated that meetings between US officials and the Taliban, especially intelligence officials from both sides, benefit the Taliban more than the US, as they grant legitimacy to the group. Click here to read more (external link).

WHO data contradicts Afghan Taliban’s claim of zero polio cases

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 9, 2024

ISLAMABAD — A Taliban Health Ministry spokesman says Afghanistan has recorded no polio cases so far in 2024, contradicting reports of nine cases recorded by the World Health Organization.

“This year, we haven’t had a positive case of poliovirus in the entire country,” Sharafat Zaman, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health spokesperson, said in a video announcement ahead of a four-day polio vaccination campaign that began Monday.

However, the WHO-led Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has recorded nine paralytic polio cases in Afghanistan so far in 2024, including three reported this week from the southern province of Kandahar.

“The Afghan Ministry of Public Health has reported all the cases of wild poliovirus as per the IHR (International Health Regulations) protocols to WHO,” Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, which includes Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, told VOA.

Jafari told VOA that the information is available weekly in the WHO polio analysis published online. Afghanistan did not detect a polio case this year until April. It recorded six cases in 2023.

“[As of] now, we have no confirmed cases of poliovirus,” Zaman reiterated Tuesday in written remarks when VOA contacted him for an explanation regarding his ministry’s claims of no polio cases in Afghanistan this year, despite the nine cases recorded by the WHO.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still endemic. The highly contagious disease affects young children and can paralyze them in severe cases or can be deadly in certain instances.

In his video statement, the Public Health spokesperson stated that the ongoing polio vaccination campaign would inoculate roughly 8 million children under the age of 5 against the paralytic virus in 23 of the 34 Afghan provinces. He called on parents, religious scholars, and community leaders to collaborate with vaccinators to help eradicate polio in the country.

WHO’s Jafari noted that Afghanistan has a “long and positive track record in complying with” IHR recommendations.

The regional WHO director told VOA that in addition to participating at every quarterly meeting of the IHR’s emergency committee, the crisis-ridden country “has intensified polio eradication efforts and identified ways of implementing temporary recommendations.”

WHO has warned that the recent repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan has increased the risk of polio spreading on both sides of the border.

An ongoing crackdown on undocumented migrants in Pakistan has forced hundreds of thousands of Afghans to return to their home country since November 2023.

Polio in Pakistan

Pakistan recorded six cases of paralytic poliovirus in 2023 and has reported eight cases so far this year. According to the GPEI data, the worldwide case count stands at 17 as of Tuesday, nine from Afghanistan and eight from Pakistan.

The WHO has reported 44 positive wild poliovirus environmental samples from Afghanistan and 211 from Pakistan to date in 2024.

“The persistent detection of poliovirus in environmental samples and polio cases will delay the interruption of transmission beyond the timeline of the end of 2024 and will likely get pushed to the next low season in the first half of 2025,” Jafari said.

Polio immunization campaigns have long faced multiple challenges in both countries, including security and vaccine boycotts, dealing setbacks to the goal of eradicating the virus from the globe.

While the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in 2021 effectively ended years of war-related violence there, surging militancy and allegations that vaccines cause infertility or that vaccinators are government spies continue to hamper polio eradication efforts in Pakistan.

“Despite immense efforts to stop polio, transmission of wild poliovirus type 1 in Afghanistan and Pakistan expanded through late 2023 and 2024,” Jafari stated.

He mentioned that the rise in poliovirus detection in environmental samples in Pakistan since August 2023 is mainly due to “unpredictable” population movements, leading to virus detection in previously polio-free areas. “The large, unusual population movements were in part related to the repatriation of migrants,” said the WHO regional director.

Kleptocracy and Systematic Corruption of the Taliban: Suspicious GDP and Population Statistics

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8am: Afghan Citizens are fed up with systematic corruption and favoritism in government institutions under Taliban control. Residents from various provinces complain that without paying bribes to Taliban officials, their tasks are not completed. Media reports indicate that many senior Taliban officials are involved in significant financial corruption, earning millions of dollars through large contracts. Recently, “World Economics,” which analyzes and evaluates global economic data, reported that Afghanistan’s gross domestic product (GDP), demographic data, and governance indicators under Taliban rule are suspicious. According to this organization, the Taliban’s data is unreliable and may have been manipulated. Click here to read more (external link).

Livestock Farming In Turkiye Would End If Afghan Farmers Left, Says Turkish Minister

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Afghanistan International: Omer Bolat, Turkey’s Minister of Trade, announced that if 25,000 Afghan farmers were to leave Turkiye, the country’s livestock industry would collapse. Bolat mentioned to Sabah News Agency that the labour shortage in Turkiye is so serious that even foreign workers cannot fill it. This cabinet member highlighted Turkey’s need for foreign workers amidst growing reactions from citizens and opposition parties to the government’s refugee policies in recent months. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Destroys Abdul Ali Mazari’s Statue In Kabul

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Mazari

Afghanistan International: Sources from western Kabul reported that the Taliban has destroyed the statue of Abdul Ali Mazari, the former leader of Hezb-e-Wahdat Islami, at the Pul-e Sokhta intersection in Kabul. According to local residents, on Saturday night, the Taliban defaced the statue of Mazari with a drill and then covered it with plaster. Residents told Afghanistan International that on Sunday, the presence of Taliban members at the Pul-e Sokhta square was higher than usual, preventing people from taking photos of the damaged statue. Click here to read more (external link).

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