Arab News: There are reports that the revenues from mines, besides helping the Taliban run its government machinery, are also partially being channeled into the private pockets of some of the Taliban leaders. If true, this could be another chapter in the long history of thefts of the national assets of Afghanistan. Another example is the illegal timber mafia that has led to continuous logging and deforestation in the country’s eastern Kunar province. Afghanistan cannot afford a new mining mafia as the country struggles to confront the declining economy in the wake of the political developments of August 2021. Click here to read more (external link).
US Envoy: Taliban Kill 8 Key Islamic State Leaders in Afghanistan
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
September 13, 2023
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban’s “successful” offensive against the Islamic State branch in Afghanistan, IS-Khorasan, has “significantly degraded” its capability and steadily decreased large-scale attacks against civilians, according to a senior US envoy.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, shared the assessment during a Tuesday seminar at the nonpartisan Stimson Center think tank in Washington.
“They have a very aggressive violent offensive ongoing that has significantly degraded ISKP capability,” West said, using an acronym for IS-Khorasan. “I think it’s notable that since early 2023, Taliban raids in Afghanistan have removed at least eight key ISKP leaders, some responsible for external plotting.”
West said the counterterrorism actions had led to a “steady decrease” in attacks against Afghan civilians.
“There were horrific attacks largely against the Hazara population, but we have not seen a return to those sorts of attacks since then,” he added.
But the American envoy warned the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, TTP, “is posing the greatest threat” to regional stability. “We see a very significant increase in (TTP) attacks directed at Pakistan,” West said.
The militant group, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, is listed as a global terrorist organization by the United States. It is waging terrorist attacks in neighboring Pakistan and operating out of Afghanistan sanctuaries.
Pakistani officials say TTP has intensified cross-border attacks since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul two years ago. The violence has become a daily routine and has reportedly killed more than 1,500 Pakistanis, including civilians and security forces, mostly in districts near or on the Afghan border.
The TTP leadership has publicly pledged allegiance to Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban. The militant group emerged in Pakistani border areas in 2007 and fought alongside the Taliban against the U.S.-led NATO troops in Afghanistan.
“They became allies of the Taliban during the war. They were financial supporters, logistical supporters, and operational allies as well. I think the ties between them are quite tight,” West said.
The U.S. envoy declined to comment on Pakistani allegations that TTP attacks are taking place with the approval of Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities.
“As far as whether the Taliban are supporting TTP attacks against Pakistan, that’s a tough one and probably gets beyond what I am able to talk about publicly. It’s no secret that this is the issue that dominates Pakistan’s engagement with the Taliban at the moment,” West stated.
The Taliban reject allegations they are allowing any group, including TTP, to use Afghan soil to threaten the security of Pakistan or the region at large.
For their part, officials in Islamabad say they have formally shared evidence with Kabul about the presence of TTP leaders and fighters in Afghanistan and their use of the country to launch terrorist attacks against Pakistan.
The tensions over rising terrorism were partly behind Pakistan’s decision to shut the main border crossing with landlocked Afghanistan a week ago.
The busy Torkham transit point for trade and travelers remains closed, stranding hundreds of trucks carrying commercial goods and thousands of passengers on both sides and deteriorating relations between the two countries.
West also noted at Tuesday’s seminar that al-Qaida was at its “historical nadir” in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Their ability to threaten the U.S. from Afghanistan and Pakistan is probably at its lowest point since the group relocated to Afghanistan from Sudan in 1996.”
The United States and its allies withdrew all their forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, just days after the then-Taliban insurgents took control of the country from a U.S.-backed government in Kabul. The foreign troop departure ended nearly two decades of U.S. involvement in the Afghan war.
Tolo News in Dari – September 13, 2023
World Cup 2023: Afghanistan announces 15-member squad
Ariana: Afghanistan World Cup squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq. Afghanistan will open its World Cup campaign against Bangladesh in Dharamsala on October 7. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Sports News
Taliban accepts credentials from new Chinese envoy
Ariana: In a ceremony held at ARG, in which Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs was also present, the [Taliban] Prime Minister welcomed the new Chinese ambassador. This is the first diplomatic step at this level in Afghanistan in the past two years. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Resistance Against the Taliban: From Ahmad Shah Massoud to His Heirs
Ahmad Shah Massoud
8am: September 9th marks the anniversary of the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the charismatic leader of the resistance against the Taliban in the 1990s. With the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Massoud’s legacy has gained renewed attention, underscoring the enduring relevance of his ideals. Discussing justice and equality in society serves as an indicator that these values are at risk, prompting the need to emphasize their significance. The extensive discourse surrounding Massoud’s life and career on social media and in foreign media outlets today underscores the precarious state of these values, making it imperative to invoke Massoud to underline their importance. Recently, a viral video featuring Massoud’s speech seemingly describes the plight of individuals under Taliban control. In a friendly yet earnest tone, he emphasizes, “If a person possesses bread, water, and shelter, but finds himself imprisoned or devoid of dignity and authority, none of these comforts bring true satisfaction. Freedom, personal authority, and independence hold far greater value, enabling individuals to endure even poverty and hunger.” Click here to read more (external link).
US Maintains Taliban Engagement, Names Obstacles to Normalization
Akmal Dawi
VOA News
September 12, 2023
The Taliban’s quest for normalization of relations with the international community, which includes relief from terrorism sanctions and the release of Afghan financial assets, faces significant obstacles due to the regime’s oppressive policies toward women, ongoing security threats, and the group’s failure to form an inclusive government, according to a top U.S. official.
Despite the Taliban holding sway over all of Afghanistan for more than two years, no country has officially recognized their self-proclaimed Islamic Emirate.
Thomas West, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, underscored the reasons behind the diplomatic standoff during a Tuesday event at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.
“Steps toward normalization, I think, are not going to be possible. And I think there will remain remarkable unity among the international community until and unless we see a significant change in their [Taliban] treatment of the population,” West said.
West said the United States was not leading the global consensus for nonrecognition but has a set of conditions that are unfulfilled by the Taliban.
“First, the Taliban need to fundamentally fulfill their security obligations,” West said, adding that while al-Qaida had been reduced to a “historic nadir” since it moved to Afghanistan from Sudan in 1996, concerns persist about other terror groups still operating in the landlocked country.
West also highlighted the necessity for the Taliban to establish a more inclusive political system and guarantee women’s rights to education and work as two additional conditions for normal relations with the international community.
The Taliban have defied widespread calls for a reversal of their bans on women, while maintaining that their interim government is inclusive enough.
Change from within
Thus far, Washington has rebuffed calls from some Afghan groups that seek assistance in toppling the Taliban regime.
West said meaningful reforms and changes in the war-ravaged nation should originate from within Afghanistan rather than being imposed through external pressure.
“If a change has to occur on allowing women to return to secondary schools, girls’ secondary schools, and then to university, it’s going to come from inside the country. It is not going to come because I asked for it. … It will be an internal matter,” he said.
However, human rights organizations continue to advocate for increased international pressure on the Taliban, including classifying Taliban-run Afghanistan as a gender-apartheid regime and prosecuting Taliban leaders for crimes against humanity.
West acknowledged the active role played by several majority Muslim countries, such as Qatar and Indonesia, as well as the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in engaging the Taliban on women’s rights issues.
Last month, an OIC delegation of Islamic scholars from some Muslim-majority countries visited Afghanistan to try to persuade Taliban officials to lift the ban on women’s secondary education and work.
The group, however, has shown no signs of relenting.
While the Taliban leadership has remained unbending in the face of domestic and international appeals for women’s rights and political inclusivity, they appear to have acknowledged to some extent the counterterrorism demands put forth by the United States.
“The Taliban understand that they need to fulfill their security commitments in order to protect their own sovereignty. So, they don’t want the United States to take action on Afghan soil,” said West.
Pashtunization: Taliban Have Detained Two Bamiyan Residents Over Resisting To Give Their Lands To Kuchi Nomads
8am: Sources informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Tuesday, 12 September, that Abdullah Sarhadi, the Taliban governor of Bamiyan province, has imprisoned two individuals from the Pashta-e Gharghari village because they did not hand over their land to the Kuchi nomads. This comes after last year when the Taliban’s Conflict Resolution Commission had warned the residents of Rashk to hand over their lands to the Kuchi nomads and leave the region themselves. Click here to read more (external link).
Saudis, Taliban Follow Different Paths on Women’s Work, Education
Akmal Dawi
VOA News
September 12, 2023
Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia are known for their Shariah-based legal systems and authoritarian ways of governance. But the two Islamist governments are on divergent paths regarding women’s work and education.
In the Saudi kingdom, where until a few years ago women were deprived of many social rights and freedoms, the women’s employment rate has surged to 37%, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.
In the high-tech industry, Saudi women’s participation has gone up so much that recently U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney humorously suggested that U.S. tech hub Silicon Valley could take inspiration from Saudi Arabia’s efforts to foster female entrepreneurship.
“In the tech sector in Saudi Arabia, a third of the workforce is women — which as I understand it is higher than Silicon Valley,” Ratney said at an event in July.
The progress extends beyond the tech industry, with women securing positions in government and private companies and leading startups at unprecedented rates. Furthermore, literacy among young Saudi women 15 to 24 years of age has reached 99%, marking a significant milestone. In May, astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi became the first Arab woman in history to travel into space.
The kingdom also has appointed five female ambassadors, including Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, who represents Saudi Arabia in the United States.
“Today in the kingdom, we have more women receiving advanced degrees than men,” Al Saud said at an event in July jointly organized by the nonpartisan Atlantic Council and Georgetown University in Washington.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been criticized in the past for his human rights violations, is credited with spearheading a reformist and developmental agenda that includes greater rights and opportunities for women.
Widely referred to as an authoritarian monarchy, Saudi Arabia still has no female ministers in the government or a woman in the royal court where the Saudi royal family decides nearly all of the kingdom’s affairs.
But even there, change is expected.
“There are several women in leadership positions already, and I only expect it to increase with time,” Sussan Saikali, a research associate at Arab Gulf States Institute, told VOA.
“The Saudi government has removed several laws that were previously restricting women’s ability to work in certain sectors, while also passing several anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws,” she said.
Taliban’s shariah
Afghanistan, meanwhile, has witnessed a regression in women’s access to fundamental human rights and freedoms under the Taliban regime, including setbacks in education and employment, purportedly based on Islamic and cultural justifications.
Habiba Sarabi, Afghanistan’s former minister of women’s affairs, believes the Taliban’s extremist ideology stems from decades of internationalization of Islamic extremism sponsored by oil-rich Gulf monarchies, chiefly the Saudis.
“For too long, the Gulf countries invested heavily in Islamic extremism, but now they have realized their mistakes and have started pursuing a different civilizational path,” Sarabi told VOA.
Many Islamic organizations, countries and experts have objected to the Taliban’s misogynistic policies, calling them inconsistent with Islamic principles and values.
The Taliban, like Saudi Arabia, operate under an unelected supreme leader who wields unchecked power, accountable only to a divine authority.
“The man [Taliban supreme leader] in Kandahar thinks he is the representative of God and he is not bound by human laws,” Sarabi said.
Taliban officials say they have restored women’s Islamic rights to decency and seclusion, a statement met with skepticism by many Islamic scholars.
“We should not heed those people [countries] that chant for women’s education but do not allow education for women wearing the hijab,” Sheikh Mohammad Khalid, the Taliban’s minister for the promotion of Islamic virtues and the prevention of vice, told a gathering of male tribal elders on Tuesday.
Saudi influence
Riyadh has not recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government but has maintained contact with Taliban officials, most of whom travel to Saudi Arabia annually for the Islamic pilgrimage, Hajj.
During Hajj in June, Taliban Defense Minister Yaqub Mujahid was seen greeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is credited for backing women’s rights in his country. But it is not clear if he advised Yaqub about women’s rights in Islam. Yaqub is the son of the late Mullah Omar, one of the Taliban’s founding leaders, who is still widely revered among Taliban leaders.
“I don’t necessarily think we can predict one country’s actions by the other. Countries like Afghanistan have a wholly different system than Saudi Arabia, despite sharing a religion,” Saikali said.
Sarabi, the former Afghan minister, said the Saudis and other Gulf monarchies like Qatar have extensive religious, economic and political influence over the Taliban that could sway the group into softening its harsh policies on women.
U.S. officials, recognizing the Taliban’s defiance of Western countries, have urged Saudi Arabia and other Muslim-majority nations to advocate for women’s rights within Afghanistan.
Rina Amiri, U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights — a role not seen in other countries dealing with the Taliban — has urged Muslim states to prevent a normalization of the Taliban’s misogyny.
After meeting officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in July, Amiri wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the “dangerous precedent” set by the extreme repression of Afghan women and girls.
In February, the Saudis closed their embassy in Kabul, reportedly over security concerns. The kingdom has donated $1.6 million to the $3.2 billion the United Nations has sought for a humanitarian response in Afghanistan this year.
During her July speech in Washington, Reema said it was essential for the world to invest in women’s empowerment to build more inclusive and equitable societies. She particularly emphasized the importance of education for women.
“Education and training help level the playing field. It gives women equal footing in the workplace and fosters not only gender equality but equity,” she said.
Missing from her remarks was Afghanistan.
Hundreds Arrested In New Pakistani Crackdown On Afghan Refugees
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
September 12, 2023
Police in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh have arrested more than 250 Afghan refugees and migrants as part of a new crackdown aimed at repatriating undocumented Afghans.
Most of the arrests and detentions have occurred in Karachi since September 11. The seaport is the capital of Sindh and also serves as the key industrial and trade hub for the Muslim nation.
“The government has directed the police and other [law enforcement] organizations to arrest Afghans living illegally in Sindh and elsewhere in the country,” Kamran Tissori, the governor of Sindh, told journalists on September 11.
Afghan refugees and Pakistani human rights campaigner say the arrests are aimed at harassing mostly impoverished Afghans who cannot return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan because of security fears or economic reasons.
“The mass arrest of Afghan refugees is based on their racial profiling,” Muniza Kakar, a lawyer who has voluntarily represented Afghan refugees arrested in Karachi, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Kakar said that many of the detained Afghans possessed cards issued by the Pakistani government identifying them as Afghans.
“Urgent action needed to protect refugee rights,” she wrote.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan complain of harassment and a lack of information and help in completing the paperwork needed for extending their stay in the country.
“After my Pakistani visa ended in July, I repeatedly applied to extend it but the government, unfortunately, has not processed it,” said one such refugee, who said his name was Ahmad.
“The Pakistani government announcement has created huge pressure and most of us now face mental health problems,” he told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
The Pakistani government issued Proof of Registration cards for more than 1 million Afghans that expired on June 30.
Qaisar Afridi, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Radio Mashaal that Islamabad has so far refused to extend the deadline.
“I am extremely afraid of being arrested whenever I go to the market to buy groceries,” said Aimal Habibi, an Afghan refugee in Sindh.
Since the early 1980s, Pakistan has hosted one of the largest refugee populations in the world.
But it has not signed the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It also is not a signatory of the 1967 protocol, which broadens the definition of who can be considered a refugee.
Islamabad currently hosts about 1.4 million documented Afghan refugees. An equal number of undocumented Afghans are estimated to also be living in the country.