Reports On Significant Decrease in Poppy Production in Afghanistan “Credible”: West

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Khaama: The US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West, tweeted that the recent reports on a significant drop in poppy production in the country are “credible and important.” But since the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan’s economy has collapsed, and the population is now facing a severe humanitarian catastrophe. Experts claim that as a result, one of the current regime’s past revenue streams has been the cultivation of poppies. Even yet, it’s not obvious if this most recent action will stick around or if it was just a gimmick to establish credibility. Click here to read more (external link).

India Boosting ‘Soft Power’ Edge Inside Afghanistan Amid Hunger Crisis

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Michael Hughes: As tensions between the Taliban government in Kabul and its longtime benefactors in Pakistan continue to boil, India is quietly enhancing its reputation inside Afghanistan through various humanitarian efforts, especially through food aid, although the assistance is no solution to long-term structural and governance challenges. Click here to read more.

Visa Program for Afghans Gains Momentum, Many Applicants Trapped Under Taliban

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Akmal Dawi
VOA News
June 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after the United States evacuated approximately 124,000 people from Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the U.S. government remain inside the country, facing fear of Taliban persecution.

Over 152,000 Afghans who say they have worked for the U.S. military in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 have applied for the Special Immigration Visa (SIV) program. As of May, some 17,000 principal SIVs remained in the congressionally authorized program.

“Every day that our allies spend in Afghanistan is a day they remain in extreme peril,” said Andrew Sullivan, director of advocacy at No One Left Behind, a charitable organization supporting Afghans and Iraqis who worked for the U.S. military during the past two decades.

Sullivan said his organization has documented and will soon release a report about “shocking cases of systematic, retaliatory violence committed by the Taliban against SIV” applicants in Afghanistan.

To tackle the challenges confronting the SIV program, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Roger Wicker have introduced legislation called the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2023. The act aims to authorize 20,000 additional principal SIVs through 2029, along with other administrative reforms.

Arash Azizzada, co-founder of Afghans for a Better Tomorrow, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization, said his organization currently supports about 200 Afghan asylum-seekers in the U.S., and among them are SIV applicants whose applications were either delayed or rejected, prompting them to take a long and perilous journey from Afghanistan to the United States through South America.

More than half of SIV applications are unsuccessful for various reasons, including failure to provide acceptable documentation to prove they worked for the U.S. for at least a year.

The program is also plagued by administrative delays. Through the end of 2022, SIV application processing by U.S. government agencies on average took 628 days, according to the Department of State.

Enhanced efforts

“At the president’s direction, we have undertaken substantial efforts to improve the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program to streamline the application and adjudication processes, while safeguarding our national security,” said a State Department spokesperson.

As a result, the spokesperson said, over 27,000 SIVs have been issued since January 2021 – significantly more than in previous years – and the application processing time has been reduced to 314 calendar days this year.

U.S. officials say many aspects of the SIV program, including approval from the chief of mission, are mandated by law.

While the U.S. has no diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, SIV applications have been processed at 57 U.S. embassies and consulates in different parts of the world since September 2021, the spokesperson said.

“What is needed is a permanent and sustainable solution,” said Helal Massomi, a policy adviser with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a refugee support organization that has assisted thousands of SIV beneficiaries in the United States.

Since its inception in 2009, more than 101,000 Afghans have benefited from the SIV program, with Congress authorizing a specific number of visas annually.

A comprehensive solution, Massomi told VOA, should also include settlement pathways for the tens of thousands of Afghans who were evacuated in 2021 and then brought to the U.S. and offered temporary parole.

Unlike SIV beneficiaries who qualify for permanent residence (green card) after arriving in the U.S., the parolees have no such option.

The Afghan Adjustment Act, proposed legislation that offers a legal pathway for the permanent settlement of Afghan parolees, has been stalled in Congress for almost a year, despite widespread support from veteran, refugee and human rights groups.

Expand the SIV

While the Afghan Allies Protection Act seeks 20,000 additional SIVs for Afghans who worked for the U.S. military, there are calls for an expansion of the SIV program to include other vulnerable groups.

In March, Representative John Garamendi introduced a bill that seeks to offer SIVs for Afghan Fulbright students.

From 2003 to 2021, more than 900 Afghans received Fulbright scholarships, and most of them were required to return to Afghanistan at the end of their studies in the United States.

Afghanistan has been characterized as a gender-apartheid regime under Taliban rule, with women being denied basic rights to work and education and excluded from public spaces.

Despite strong condemnation of the Taliban’s misogynistic policies, the United States has not established a special visa program for Afghan women suffering from Taliban repression.

U.S. officials say Afghan women and other persecuted individuals can seek consideration under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which takes referrals from the U.N. refugee agency.

Another program, called P2, offers immigration opportunities for Afghans who previously worked for civilian U.S. projects in Afghanistan.

“We have seen very small numbers of P2-referred Afghans arrive in the U.S.,” Cinthya Hagemeier, a communications expert with the International Rescue Committee, told VOA.

“In addition to general USRAP processing backlogs, delays have also occurred due to P2 designation requirements, where individuals must be processed outside their country of origin. That requirement particularly impacts Afghan women who are not able to travel without a male chaperone,” Hagemeier said.

‘In Dire Straits’: Taliban’s Alleged Interference In Foreign Aid Deprives Afghans Of Lifesaving Help

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Taliban militants (file photo)

By Mansoor Khosrow
Fayeza Ibrahimi
Abubakar Siddique

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
June 8, 2023

Ghulam Haider has depended on food and cash handouts from international aid agencies in order to survive.

He is among the millions of people who have received lifesaving aid in Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s takeover in 2021 worsened a devastating humanitarian crisis and triggered an economic collapse.

But tens of thousands of Afghans have been forced to fend for themselves after aid agencies, including the UN’s World Food Program (WFP), recently suspended their operations in several provinces.

The move came amid U.S. fears that funds it provided to UN aid agencies that are distributing aid in Afghanistan were ending up in the hands of the Taliban. Afghans and aid workers have accused the militant group of interfering in the delivery of foreign assistance.

The suspension of aid operations in the provinces of Ghor, Uruzgan, and parts of Ghazni appears to be already pushing more people toward starvation.

“People are miserable,” Haider, a resident of Ghor, in Afghanistan’s remote central highlands, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi. “People here are destitute.”

He said the WFP suspended its delivery of food, cash, and other assistance in April. “There has been no help for a month,” Haider said. “People are in trouble.”

Wahidullah Amani, a spokesman for the WFP in Afghanistan, said the UN food agency stopped distributing food aid, including meals to schools, in late April. Amani estimated that nearly 500,000 people in Ghor now faced food insecurity.

“Families who expected to receive food aid will now be deprived of assistance until these interventions by the local authorities are resolved,” Amani told Radio Azadi.

The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of Afghanistan’s 40 million people, or more than 28 million, need humanitarian assistance this year. At least 6 million of them are on the brink of starvation.

Hikmat Laali, an activist in Ghor, said the humanitarian situation in Ghor was rapidly deteriorating. “The poorest are in dire straits,” he told Radio Azadi. “Their miseries will increase if the people continue to be deprived of food aid.”

Locals in Ghor have accused Taliban militants of confiscating food, money, and other assistance they received from NGOs. Observers have also accused the Taliban of trying to channel aid to its own fighters or communities that support the group.

“People were left with little food during the winter and had little fuel,” Mohammad Hassan Hakimi, an activist in Ghor, told Radio Azadi.

‘Funding For The Taliban’

Last month, the United States said its NGO partners had suspended aid in several Afghan provinces following “evidence of continued attempts by the Taliban” to divert assistance.

“We do not provide funding for the Taliban,” Matthew Miller, a U.S. State Department spokesman, told journalists in Washington on May 24. “We require all of our partners that we work with to have safeguards in place to assure the assistance reaches those who need it.”

Miller said that the WFP had halted operations in two districts of the southeastern province of Ghazni from January to April because local Taliban officials attempted to direct the delivery of aid.

He added that an aid organization that received funding from Washington suspended its activities in the southern province of Uruzgan in April “after the Taliban issued demands to provide transportation support to Taliban representatives and otherwise interfered in staff recruitment processes.”

Miller’s comments came after John Sopko, the U.S. special inspector-general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), a government watchdog, said that “it is clear from our work that the Taliban is using various methods to divert U.S. aid dollars.”

“Unfortunately, as I sit here today, I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban,” Sopko told the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on April 19. “Nor can I assure you that the Taliban are not diverting the money we are sending for the intended recipients, which are the poor Afghan people.”

Sopko added that the “Taliban generate income from U.S. aid by imposing customs charges on shipments coming into the country and charging taxes and fees directly on NGOs.”

‘Devastating Impact’

Philippe Kropf, the head of communications at WFP, said the United Nations briefly halted aid distribution in Ghor in January. Weeks later, the agency resumed its operations after Taliban assurances that its fighters would not interfere in the delivery of aid. But continued Taliban meddling, he said, forced the WFP to suspend its activities.

Kropf said the WFP did not channel funds or food aid through the militant group. “Our operations are guided by the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, humanity, and independence,” he said, adding that the WFP assists people directly through its vetted partners based on independent needs assessments.

“Any instance where interference with WFP assistance is detected that cannot be resolved locally will result in the suspension of deliveries,” he said.

The Taliban has rejected allegations that it is interfering in aid deliveries. Chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban’s Economy Ministry had formed joint operational procedures with agencies to ensure that aid distribution is transparent.

“If any problems are detected, the government will have to intervene to address those,” he told Radio Azadi. “But such issues are rare.”

The Taliban’s ban on Afghan women working for local and foreign NGOs has also adversely affected the delivery of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

That decision in December led major international humanitarian organizations to halt or reduce their operations, including emergency food distribution, health services, and education. In April, the ban was expanded to include the United Nations.

On June 5, the United Nations revised its annual aid budget for Afghanistan from $4.6 billion to $3.2 billion this year, citing reduced funding from international donors. It said in a statement that a “changing operating context” in the wake of the Taliban’s ban on female aid workers had contributed to the revised plan.

Kropf said the lack of funding had prompted the WFP to cut emergency assistance to some 8 million highly vulnerable Afghans this year.

“Such cutbacks in humanitarian food assistance will have a devastating impact on women, young children, and the elderly in particular,” he said.

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Taliban’s Animosity with Farsi: Fueling the Fire of Afghanistan’s Enemies

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8am: Since the Taliban’s return, all official signs that had the Persian term for university written on them have been replaced with Pashtu terms. The presence of the Farsi in Taliban circles and media has decreased, and Taliban officials usually speak Pashto in public events. Administrative communication is usually conducted in Pashto. Tribal biases have become ingrained in the Taliban’s operations. Many of their leaders and soldiers have come from the most remote and traditional areas of southern Afghanistan, and only speak Pashto, viewing other languages as hostile. The Taliban have consistently stressed that Farsi is a foreign language, and that the language spoken by some Afghans is Dari, which is not related to Farsi. They and their sympathizers seek to create a divide between Farsi speakers in Afghanistan and their neighbors. Click here to read more (external link).

Faiz Hameed’s Unfulfilled Victory Dreams

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Taliban leader Mullah Baradar with Pakistan’s ISI Chief Faiz Hameed

8am: In early September 2021, General Faiz Hameed, the former head of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), made a surprise visit to Kabul in order to resolve the dispute concerning the formation of the Taliban cabinet. When asked about the future of Afghanistan, Hameed smiled and said, “Everything will be alright.” Pakistani strategists believed that the presence of the Taliban in Afghanistan would be beneficial to them, as it would reduce the challenges they faced in relation to Afghanistan. They viewed the Taliban’s presence as a victory, as it diminished India’s presence in the region and Afghanistan. Contrary to what General Hameed declared in the lobby of the Serena Hotel in Kabul, all is not well. Click here to read more (external link).

Amnesty Intl Says Taliban Guilty of a ‘War Crime’

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Tolo News: The “Taliban” have committed the war crime of collective punishment against civilians in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province, Amnesty International said in a new report published on Thursday. “Civilians targeted with torture and unlawful killings; detainees subjected to extrajudicial executions, mass arbitrary arrests and detention intended to intimidate local population. Thousands of people are being swept up in the Taliban’s continued oppression,” the report reads. “In Panjshir, the Taliban’s cruel tactic of targeting civilians due to suspicion of their affiliation with the NRF is causing widespread misery and fear,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. Click here to read more (external link).

From Amnesty International

Tajik Authorities Detain Dozens of ‘Armed’ Afghan Citizens, Sources Say

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By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service
June 8, 2023

Sources in Tajikistan’s government entities told RFE/RL on June 8 that dozens of armed Afghan citizens, including former Afghan military personnel, have been apprehended by Tajik law enforcement and security troops in the Central Asian nation’s southern Khatlon region. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the Tajik officials said the detained Afghan nationals had been transferred to Dushanbe. The authorities of the tightly controlled former Soviet republic have yet to confirm the situation. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, hundreds of Afghan citizens fled to other countries via neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Deadly Blast Hits Afghan Mosque During Memorial Service For Taliban Official

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
June 8, 2023

ISLAMABAD — A bomb blast ripped through a mosque in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province during a memorial ceremony Thursday for the Taliban provincial deputy governor who was assassinated in an Islamic State group attack this week.

The explosion in the provincial capital of Faizabad killed at least 11 worshipers and wounded more than 30 others, the Taliban-led Afghan interior ministry said on Twitter. Moazuddin Ahmadi, the head of the area information office, told VOA by phone that a former Taliban police chief of the nearby northern Baghlan province was also among the dead.

Witnesses reported that the powerful blast had inflicted many casualties on the worshipers inside the packed mosque, fearing a much higher death toll.

A mainstream Afghan news channel, TOLO news, reported that at least 15 bodies and about 50 wounded were brought to the main hospital in Faizabad.

On Tuesday, Badakhshan’s deputy governor, Molvi Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, was being driven to work in Faizabad when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into his vehicle. The ensuing blast killed Ahmadi and his driver, while 10 people were injured.

The Islamic State group claimed the car bomb attack was carried out by its Afghan affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan. The mountainous Afghan province borders China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

Several top Taliban leaders have been killed in IS Khorasan-claimed attacks since the hardline group retook control of Afghanistan nearly two years ago.

A car bombing last December, claimed by IS Khorasan, killed the Taliban police chief of Badakhshan.

In March, a suicide bomber assassinated the governor of northern Balkh province, Mohammad Dawood Muzammil. IS Khorasan took credit for killing one of the most senior Taliban leaders.

The Taliban are sworn enemies of IS Khorasan and have routinely conducted operations against its hideouts in Afghanistan, killing high-profile operatives of the terror group.

Islamic State launched its operations in the conflict-torn South Asian nation in 2015 from bases in eastern Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan. It has since expanded the violence to other parts of Afghanistan.

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