How an Afghan Drug Kingpin Became Beijing’s Man in Kabul

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Bashir Noorzai

FP: A drug kingpin whose heroin empire helped fund the Taliban’s long war in Afghanistan—and who was released early from a U.S. prison in a trade for an American hostage—has now gone into business with China. Bashir Noorzai, a close friend of the extremists’ supreme leader, has set up murky joint-venture deals with Chinese firms in Afghanistan that have won at least two minerals and petrochemical contracts, which mining and security sources said are little more than rentier operations raking in cash but doing nothing to develop the impoverished country.  Click here to read more (external link).

Federal Government: Sweet Dream and Bitter Fate for Afghanistan

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8am: It seems that the federal system is neither relevant to Afghanistan’s problems nor a solution to the country’s issues nor does it have a place in Afghanistan. This system, like poison, is harmful to Afghan society. Despite its many good qualities and even though most advanced countries adhere to this system, it cannot address Afghanistan’s problems because it does not align with our historical conditions or our national spirit. Click here to read more (external link).

Biden Never Recovered From Botched Afghan Exit

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Joe Biden

Michael Hughes: In these pages in August of 2022, a year after the fall of Kabul, this author suggested the botched Afghan exit may have sent Joe Biden’s poll numbers plummeting “irretrievably.” That may still be true, unless somehow his job approval rating miraculously bounces back between now and the end of his term. The topic is hot again as the “leader of the free world” completely melts down and pundits reflect on his biggest mistakes. Click here to read more.

The Azadi Briefing: Taliban Minister Under Fire For Alleged Nepotism

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By Abubakar Siddique
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 9, 2024

The Key Issue

Shahabuddin Delawar, the Taliban’s mining and petroleum minister, has been accused of nepotism after his son was appointed as the extremist group’s ambassador to Uzbekistan.

Maghfoorullah Shahab, Delawar’s younger son, took over Afghanistan’s embassy in Tashkent on February 4.

Delawar’s elder son, Rohullah Shahab, is already serving as a senior bureaucrat in the office of a Taliban deputy prime minister. Meanwhile, his son-in-law, Shamsuddin Ahmadi, holds a senior position in the Kabul municipality.

Delawar has come under rare criticism from Taliban members, some of whom have said his son’s appointment as ambassador was a brazen display of political nepotism.

Why It’s Important: The allegations against Delawar are a blow to the Taliban’s claims that its hard-line government is free of nepotism and corruption.

In a decree issued last year, Taliban chief Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada told “all officials in the ministries, departments, and independent authorities that no one is allowed to appoint family members or relatives in government positions.”

Delawar is not alone in appearing to defy Akhundzada’s orders.

Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani’s uncle, Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, is the refugee affairs minister. Members of the extended Haqqani family also hold important posts in the intelligence service and the administration in southeastern Khost Province.

Taliban founder Mullah Omar’s son, Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, is the powerful defense minister. Yaqub’s uncle, Mullah Manan Omari, is the labor and social affairs minister.

What’s Next: Many officials from the fallen Western-backed Afghan government were accused of using their positions to grant favors to their relatives.

It appears that allegations of political nepotism are also likely to dog Taliban officials.

Taliban leaders appear likely to use their positions to enrich themselves and consolidate their power.

What To Keep An Eye On

Global rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) has urged the Taliban to release two Afghan education activists.

Samira Hamidi, a South Asia campaigner for AI, on February 8 urged the Taliban to release Ahmad Fahim Azimi and Sediqullah Afghan.

“They must be released immediately,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that despite a lack of evidence against the two, a Taliban judge sentenced them to prison in an “unfair trial.”

Azimi and Afghan are known for campaigning for girls’ education, which the Taliban has severely restricted.

They were arrested in October by the Taliban’s intelligence service and now languish in the notorious Pul-e Charkhi prison in Kabul.

Their arrests have been widely condemned by rights activists.

Why It’s Important: The arrests of Azimi and Afghan are part of the Taliban’s wider crackdown on dissent.

Since its return to power, the Taliban has detained and jailed scores of journalists and activists for publicly opposing its repressive policies.

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.

US President extends freeze on Afghanistan’s Foreign Reserves with new executive order

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Khaama: US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that Afghanistan’s foreign reserves would continue to be frozen beyond February 11. This decision stems from Biden’s initial executive order issued on February 11, 2022, addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and its associated threats. The original executive order, issued by Biden on February 11, 2022, highlighted the urgent needs of the Afghan people, including food security, livelihood support, and essential health services. The order emphasized the extraordinary threat posed to US national security and foreign policy by the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Consider Attending Doha Meeting, Reject New UN Envoy

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Akmal Dawi
VOA News
February 8, 2024

Taliban officials remain opposed to the possible appointment of a U.N. envoy but say they are considering “meaningful participation” in an upcoming international meeting on Afghanistan.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a meeting of various countries’ special representatives for Afghanistan in Qatar on February 18 to discuss engagement strategies with de facto Taliban authorities.

A key agenda item for the two-day session is the potential appointment of a U.N. envoy who would coordinate increased international engagement with Taliban leaders in Kabul. The appointment, recommended in an independent U.N. assessment, is backed by the United States and its European allies.

China and Russia abstained in a December 2023 U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution that authorized the secretary-general to appoint a special envoy for Afghanistan.

“In the presence of UNAMA [the U.N. Assistance Mission for Afghanistan], there is no need for the appointment of a new envoy,” Taliban’s deputy chief minister, Abdul Kabir, told Tomas Niklasson, the special envoy of the European Union for Afghanistan, on Wednesday.

UNAMA, a political mission headed by a special representative of the secretary-general, was established in 2002 and its mandate is annually renewed by the Security Council.

While the U.N. has not said whether it has invited the Taliban to the Qatar meeting, a statement from the Afghan foreign ministry said Kabul is mulling meaningful participation.

“Overall, the Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan] has a positive view about this meeting,” the statement quoted Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Afghan foreign minister, as saying on February 3.

The Taliban’s request to represent Afghanistan at the U.N. has been denied for the past two years and no country has formally declared its recognition of the Taliban government.

Intransigence

Since reclaiming power in 2021, Taliban leaders have largely ignored international and domestic calls to form an inclusive Afghan government and ensure women’s rights to work and education.

Human rights organizations caution that increased engagement with the Taliban risks legitimizing a leadership accused of maintaining discriminatory practices and committing a range of human rights violations, including what some have labeled “gender apartheid.”

“The Taliban are not in a position to set conditions for the international community. The Taliban need the international community more than vice versa. They should think and act rationally,” Hugo Llorens, a former U.S. charge de affairs in Afghanistan, told VOA.

Should the Taliban refuse to cooperate with a new U.N. envoy, it could further limit the international community’s capacity to respond to the political and humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Llorens said.

“The Taliban must show they are worthy of recognition.”

However, Taliban officials accuse Western governments of disregarding Afghan realities and imposing their own agendas.

“Anyone who tries to hurt Afghanistan’s security and economy, and impose political and external pressures, will get no results,” Yaqub Mujahid, Afghanistan’s defense minister, said on Wednesday at a gathering in Kabul.

The United States and the U.N. have imposed distinct sets of sanctions on Taliban leaders and entities, citing concerns related to terrorism. The Taliban have rejected those accusations and say the sanctions disproportionately burden the Afghan economy, hindering humanitarian aid and economic development.

Pakistan and ISIS; A Pause on The Guardian’s Claim

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8am: There is no doubt that the ISIS Khorasan operates in Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban. Although the Taliban deny this issue, occasionally they report attacks on ISIS hideouts in certain provinces, which is a significant contradiction. However, the idea of a country and a group supporting ISIS against the Taliban is at least dubious for now. Countries like Russia and Iran have repeatedly accused the United States of supporting ISIS in Afghanistan over the past two and a half years; a claim that is quite surprising. For example, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, claimed last June that the United States supports ISIS and Al-Qaeda groups in Afghanistan. Lavrov had said that America seeks to keep Afghanistan in a perpetual state of unrest with this action. Following that, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Afghanistan, claimed in early August of the same year in an interview with Iranian media that Washington uses ISIS as a tool to pressurize the Taliban. He even stated that America has replaced ISIS with its military forces in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).