Terror threat to China ‘is challenge to our own’, Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership pledges to Beijing in apparent first

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Muttaqi

SCMP: Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership has assured Beijing that it has worked to combat terrorism and regards threats to China as seriously as a threat against its own country. Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Thursday that the Taliban will not tolerate terrorist activities targeting China in Afghanistan. Speaking to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Niyingchi, Tibet, Muttaqi said that “we have done a lot of work to combat terrorism and we take security threats against China like a challenge to our own”, according to a foreign ministry statement. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan beat Pakistan, will meet India in final of Asian Games cricket

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Ariana: Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by four wickets on Friday to storm into the gold medal match of Asian Games cricket against India in Hangzhou, China. Earlier, Afghanistan had defeated Sri Lanka in the quarter-final of the competition. Afghanistan will lock horns with India in the final tomorrow (Saturday). Click here to read more (external link).

Pakistan Turns Up Heat Over Cross-Border Attacks

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 5, 2023

ISLAMABAD — A senior Pakistani diplomat said Thursday that while the Taliban had brought peace and security to Afghanistan, increased terrorist attacks from the neighboring country threatened stability in Pakistan, putting strains on an already difficult bilateral relationship.

“Unfortunately, the peace dividends for us are missing,” Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan, told an international seminar in Islamabad.

He said his government was engaged in a sustained dialogue with the Taliban to seek an end to the cross-border terrorism orchestrated by fugitive leaders and militants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a globally designated terrorist organization.

“The TTP attacks on Pakistan along the borders have increased. They are taking shelter on the Afghan soil,” the envoy stated.

“I cannot blame the government in Afghanistan at the moment,” Durrani stressed. “But we as Pakistan expect that the kind of peace they have brought in their land should also contribute to peace in our borderlands, and those TTP people who are taking shelter in Afghanistan either should be returned to Pakistan or be neutralized.”

The seminar was organized by the state-run Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in collaboration with the United States Institute of Peace.

Surge in militant attacks

Since the Taliban seized control of the neighboring country in August 2021, Pakistan has seen a dramatic surge in militant attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians and security forces. Officials say TTP leaders and other members have moved their operation bases to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover and enjoy greater freedom of movement there.

The rising TTP-led attacks in Pakistan are the primary source of tensions between Islamabad and de facto Taliban rulers in Kabul, amid allegations Afghan nationals have also taken part in some of the recent suicide bombings and other terrorist raids.

Last month, members of a Durrani-led delegation to Kabul were reportedly told by their Taliban interlocutors that the Afghans had captured 200 TTP members for their involvement in cross-border attacks and had taken other steps to “neutralize” the militant activity. But Pakistani officials said the measures did not lead to a reduction in attacks.

TTP calls itself an extension of the Afghan Taliban to Pakistan, and its leaders pledge allegiance to Hibatullah Akhudzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban government in Kabul.

This week, the militant violence prompted the Pakistani government to order all illegal immigrants, including more than 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by November 1 or face deportation. The Taliban decried the move and urged Islamabad to review the decision.

“Pakistan’s decision to expel Afghans is unjustifiable and inhumane, and we condemn it,” Taliban Defense Minister Muhammad Yaqoob told a graduation ceremony at the police academy in the Afghan capital.

However, Durrani said that Pakistan and Afghanistan “enjoy a symbiotic relationship” and attempted to downplay tensions as mere “rivalries between cousins” under local traditions. “But that does not mean that we have become enemies. Not at all.”

Foreign ministers meet

Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and his Taliban counterpart, Amir Khan Muttaqi, met on the sidelines of a China-hosted international conference Thursday.

Jilani’s office in Islamabad said he “underscored that challenges confronting regional peace and stability be addressed in collaborative spirit through collective strategies.”

Muttaqi’s spokesman said the two sides had discussed bilateral trade and problems facing Afghan businessmen and refugees in Pakistan. The Taliban foreign minister cautioned Jilani that “negative media statements, hurdles facing transit trade and harassing Afghan refugees” could adversely affect mutual ties.

Pakistan provides landlocked Afghanistan access to international markets through its land and seaports.

This week, Islamabad banned more than 200 items “prone to smuggling” under its Afghan transit trade agreement with Kabul and imposed a 10% process fee on commercial goods imported into Afghanistan through Pakistan.

The restrictions have upset the Taliban, and they have urged Pakistani officials to reverse them, warning they would harm bilateral trade and transit cooperation.

Pakistan also conducts its trade with landlocked Central Asian countries through Afghanistan, and there has been a significant increase in the transit trade since the Taliban takeover two years ago.

Taliban’s Act of Cultural Vandalism: Barat Statue in Ghazni Reduced to Rubble

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8am: Barat, a revered cultural icon and elder of the Jaghori district, resided here nearly a century ago. His legacy was marked by significant contributions to charity, road and bridge construction, and the establishment of schools. His altruistic endeavors earned him immense respect and popularity among the district’s inhabitants. Regrettably, this incident is not an isolated one. The Taliban has previously targeted historical artifacts in various provinces. Click here to read more (external link).

Undeterred by Taliban, Afghan Activist Hopes to Win Nobel Prize

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Mahbouba Seraj

Akmal Dawi
VOA News
October 4, 2023

As the world eagerly awaits the Norwegian Nobel Institute’s announcement Friday of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Afghan women have a stake in the results.

Though official nominee names remain under wraps, an Afghan American women’s rights stalwart, Mahbouba Seraj, is reportedly among the contenders.

The Norwegian Peace Institute, independent from the Nobel Institute, disclosed its director’s top five prize candidates last week, featuring both Seraj and an Iranian human rights activist, Narges Mohammadi.

Currently in California for medical care, Seraj, 75, told VOA that receiving the prestigious prize would bolster her persistent fight for women’s rights in Afghanistan.

“[The Taliban] cannot silence all voices — they may try, though, but someone has to speak up for the Afghan women inside the country,” Seraj said, adding that she would soon return to Afghanistan, where she manages a local nongovernmental organization supporting women.

The Taliban have been accused of imposing a gender-apartheid regime on Afghanistan, denying women most human rights, including work, education and political representation.

Treatment of women criticized

Human rights groups say the Islamist regime detains, tortures and silences women’s rights activists as part of its misogynistic rule. The Taliban deny such criticism.

“Indeed, it’s risky to work for women’s rights in Afghanistan,” said Seraj, “but someone has to be there to speak up for women. We have to take risks. There is no way around it.”

Since the Taliban’s 2021 resurgence, many prominent Afghan women who worked in high-profile jobs in the former Afghan government have fled the country, fearing Taliban persecution.

From abroad, some Afghan women have maintained a robust call for action against the Taliban’s restrictive policies.

“We are tired of empty sympathy statements,” Asila Wardak, a former Afghan diplomat and member of the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, said last month at an event at the U.N. General Assembly.

She urged the international community to undertake more meaningful actions to help support women inside Afghanistan.

“Mahbouba Seraj has put her life in danger and is still running a shelter in Kabul and is raising women’s voice,” Wardak told VOA, adding that the Nobel Prize would empower and inspire Afghan women.

However, Seraj’s candidacy has not been devoid of controversy. Ties to a 19th-century Afghan monarchy that allegedly suppressed local uprisings have led some activists to challenge her nomination.

Her royal lineage briefly led to her incarceration in 1978 during a Soviet-backed regime shift, subsequently pushing her to migrate to the United States. She lived in the U.S. until 2003, then returned to her native Afghanistan.

“I will not leave Afghanistan again until my last breath,” Seraj vowed.

While the Taliban have publicly invited all Afghans, including former government officials, back home promising no retribution, it is unclear how the regime will receive women’s rights activists such as Seraj.

Related

Afghanistan’s economy continues to be fragile: World Bank Report

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Khaama: The report mentions that Afghanistan’s economy remains fragile, with two-thirds of Afghan families facing livelihood challenges. According to experts, the publication of this economic report and Afghanistan’s fragile economy harm foreign traders and investors looking to invest in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan, the international community has not formally acknowledged the current regime, leaving the nation isolated. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban urge Japan to invest in Afghanistan’s minerals, metals

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Nikkei: Japanese ambassador to country met official in Qatar last month – The source at the Japanese embassy said that while the number of “explosions” in the country has been decreasing, it was not “easy to say” whether the situation is secure or stable. Faran Jeffery, deputy director and head of the South Asia terrorism desk at the U.K.-based Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, told Nikkei Asia the terrain in Afghanistan is “almost always difficult,” and the previous Afghan republic’s inability to tap its potential mineral wealth was due in part to security concerns, substandard infrastructure and a lack of easy export options. Click here to read more (external link).