Al Jazeera: Afghans fleeing deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions find themselves with few pathways to seek refuge. Of more than 66,000 Afghans who have sought humanitarian parole since July 2021, fewer than 8,000 had their applications processed, according to an investigation last year from the news outlet Reveal. The success rate was even narrower, with only 123 applications granted. Click here to read more (external link).
Mohammad Nabi
Ariana: Veteran Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has become the second highest wicket-taker in ODIs after completing 150 ODI wickets during the third ODI against Bangladesh in Chattogram on Tuesday. Although Afghanistan lost the last ODI, they won the series 2-1. The only other Afghan player to reach this milestone has been Nabi’s teammate Rashid Khan, who has scalped 167 wickets in ODIs. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The Afghanistan Oil and Gas Corporation (AOGC), a state-owned institution, plays a crucial role in the country’s energy sector, encompassing the transportation, procurement, supply, storage, and distribution of petroleum and gas products in adherence to both national and international standards. The corporation’s charter mandates that it be led by competent, professional, and experienced individuals, without political interference. However, since the Taliban assumed power in Afghanistan, they have dismissed around 400 employees and replaced them with their own affiliates. In the past three months, the General Director of AOGC, operating under Taliban administration, has appointed approximately 20 associates, all residents of Chak Wardak district in Maidan Wardak Province, to key positions within the institution. Additionally, employees have raised concerns about favoritism, coercion, death threats, demotions, and unauthorized promotions occurring within specific circles. Disturbingly, information obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily reveals that individuals affiliated with the Taliban in this institution have received salary and benefit increases that violate the corporation’s charter and administrative procedures, with highly paid positions being created based on their requests. Click here to read more (external link).
RFE/RL EPA-EFE: With living conditions continuing to deteriorate under the Taliban regime, Afghan migrants are fleeing their country in pursuit of a better life wherever they can find it, including on a tea plantation in Turkey. Click here to view photo essay (external link).
Taliban militant (file photo)
Al Arabiya English: Taliban forces in Afghanistan violently evicted hundreds of people from a settlement in the country’s capital city, Kabul, reportedly killing two children, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Tuesday. “Several families [the] NRC spoke with reported having to evacuate their homes under traumatic conditions,” the NRC said. “Bulldozers began demolishing the camp early yesterday morning – by the end of the day, nothing remained.” In 2021, Afghan [Taliban] authorities informed the humanitarian agencies of their plans to return internally displaced people to their areas of origin, closing these informal settlements across the country. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 11, 2023
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The Taliban Tuesday ordered the suspension of all Swedish activities in Afghanistan because of the public burning of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, at a protest in Sweden last month.
The June 28 authorized protest saw an Iraqi national resident in Stockholm tear and burn a copy of the Quran outside the capital’s largest mosque as Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha worldwide. The incident sparked outrage and condemnation in Islamic countries.
“The Islamic Emirate suspends Sweden’s activities in Afghanistan for granting permission to insult the Quran and the Muslim faith,” the Taliban said, using the official name for their government in Kabul.
According to the statement, the order will remain effective “until they (Sweden) apologize to the Muslims for this heinous act.” The Taliban called on other Islamic nations to “reconsider” their relations with the Swedish government over its “blasphemous” act.
The Quran burning incident in Sweden saw immediate reaction from the Middle East and North Africa, with governments strongly condemning the act. Morocco recalled its ambassador from Stockholm.
A crowd of angry protesters in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad quickly assembled at the Swedish embassy and stormed its compound before being dispersed by security forces. Tens of thousands of people staged protest rallies across Pakistan last Friday.
Like other Western countries, Sweden closed its embassy in Afghanistan and evacuated all its staff, including Swedish and Afghan citizens, in August 2021, when the then-insurgent Taliban regained control of the country.
Aid workers said Tuesday’s Taliban order would likely disrupt the humanitarian operations of the non-governmental Swedish Committee for Afghanistan in the impoverished war-ravaged country.
The charity group manages development programs, including health care and education, in 19 Afghan provinces, employing around 6,000 people, mostly Afghans. It provides education to nearly 90,000 children and health care to two million people through its hospitals and medical centers in Afghanistan.
The SCA did not immediately comment on the possible suspension of its activities by the Taliban.
Humanitarian operations in Afghanistan have already been under severe pressure after the Taliban banned the United Nations and other non-government organizations from hiring Afghan female workers. The Taliban have also barred girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade and ordered most female government employees to stay home since seizing power nearly two years ago.
The restrictions on women’s freedom to access education and work and a decline in donor funding have prompted the U.N. to cut its annual humanitarian aid plan for Afghanistan by more than $1 billion, forcing aid agencies to stop giving critical assistance to millions of people across the country.
John Sopko
The Guardian (UK): Poor oversight, lack of understanding and weak collaboration between allies contributed to ease of Taliban takeover, conclude US and UK aid bodies at London conference – America’s huge, badly-coordinated and politically-driven aid programme in Afghanistan engendered the corruption that undermined its entire mission and turned Afghans away from the western coalition, according to the head of a US aid watchdog. “We did not really understand Afghanistan or how it worked as a country,” John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (Sigar), told a conference at the defence and security thinktank the Royal United Services Institute. “We sent so much money so quickly into so poor a country with so little oversight we were actually giving more money than the gross domestic product of Afghanistan for so many years,” Sopko said. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The Directorate of Public Health in Panjshir has reported a rise in cases of malnourished children in the province. In the past two months alone, over 500 children have been affected by malnutrition, according to the Directorate. Some residents of Panjshir attribute this high number of malnourished children to factors such as poverty, inadequate food supplies, and lack of proper nutrition. They believe that the delayed arrival of relief aid from humanitarian organizations in remote areas of the province has contributed to the spread of this disease. In late March 2023, local sources in Panjshir province accused the Taliban of obstructing the delivery of aid by humanitarian organizations to conflict-affected areas. Click here to read more (external link).