8am: Sources in Kabul city have reported that the Taliban have arrested two former government army officers in the country’s capital. These individuals, named Muslim and Beryalai, were apprehended on Tuesday, May 23rd, in the second district of Kabul. The detained individuals are brothers and originally hail from the village of Pojava in the Dara district of Panjshir province. Click here to read more (external link).
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Bhutto
Tolo News: The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said that if the issue of terrorism is not taken seriously, it could lead to disaster. Referring to the issue of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Zardari said that Islamabad hopes the Afghan interim government will treat the issue as its own core issue. “In the 600 days to the lead-up to the fall of Kabul, there were a total of five terrorist incidents in Pakistan, on Pakistani soil, conducted by these groups. 600 days past the fall of Kabul, that number went up to 50,” Zardari told a Pakistan Senate committee. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Afghanistan defeated Lebanon 3-2 in the first futsal friendly match in Beirut on Thursday. Reza Hussain Pur, Ali Amiri and Farzad Mahmoodi were the goal-scorers for the Afghan team in the match. Afghanistan’s National Futsal team arrived in Beirut on Tuesday for three friendly matches. Click here to read more (external link).
Akmal Dawi
VOA News
May 25, 2023
WASHINGTON — Among a small number of ambassadors who remain in Kabul, Wang Yu, Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, appears the busiest.
This week, Wang met with three Taliban ministers, two of whom are particularly shunned by Western diplomats — Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister who has a $10 million terrorism bounty over his head from the United States, and Nida Mohammad Nadem, the higher education minister who has closed universities for Afghan girls.
Like his counterpart in Kabul, Sayed Muhayuddin Sadaat, the Taliban’s ambassador in Beijing, maintains a busy schedule meeting nationwide with Chinese government and corporate officials.
China is among a small number of countries that host a Taliban charge d’affaires. Short of a formal recognition, Beijing has practically treated the Taliban regime as not only Afghanistan’s legitimate government but also a trade, investment and security partner.
“A crucial driving factor behind China’s shift lies in its preference for political systems that guarantee longer-term predictability in bilateral relationships, even if led by Islamist groups like the Taliban,” Javid Ahmad, a former Afghan ambassador, told VOA.
“The Chinese leaders operate under the assumption that their success in the competition with the West hinges on their leverage over smaller intermediary states like Afghanistan.”
3-3 policy
Even while sharing a rugged and always closed 92-kilometer-long border with Afghanistan, China has traditionally treated the country distantly, saying it follows a policy of “3 Respects” and “3 Nevers.”
“China respects the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, respects the independent choices made by the Afghan people, and respects the religious beliefs and national customs of Afghanistan,” reads a policy statement issued by China’s foreign ministry on April 12.
Perhaps it is out of that respect that China has failed to take any punitive action against the Taliban, which, according to the United Nations and other independent human rights groups, has imposed a nationwide gender-apartheid regime denying women the most basic human rights.
“China never interferes in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, never seeks selfish interests in Afghanistan, and never pursues so-called sphere of influence,” the policy statement continues.
Lithium deposits
Around the world, Beijing has been accused of maintaining a highly exploitative policy toward low-income countries in Asia and Africa, where Chinese companies have invested in mine extraction and large construction projects.
After signing an oil extraction contract with a Chinese firm earlier this year, Taliban officials now say China is interested in investing in lithium mining in Afghanistan.
Landlocked Afghanistan reportedly has more than $1 trillion worth of precious minerals, including the highly sought-after lithium deposits used in rechargeable batteries.
“Part and parcel of the way they [China] approach a bilateral relationship is extractive, literally and figuratively extractive, looking for advantages that they can take from a bilateral relationship, including the potential for critical minerals,” John Kirby, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, told reporters Wednesday in response to a VOA question about recent rapprochements in China-Taliban relations.
Chinese interests in Afghanistan’s natural resources are not new, as it signed a multibillion-dollar copper mining contract with the former Afghan government in 2007, though the project never started.
The recent oil deal signed with the Taliban “is the same one CNPC [China National Petroleum Corporation] reached back in 2011. The regime asked the Chinese to sign a new deal, or the project would not be allowed to continue,” Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, told VOA.
China is still concerned about instability in Afghanistan and is unlikely to invest in mining there in the near future, she said.
Targeting Uyghurs
Accused of torturing minority Muslim Uyghurs in indoctrination camps, Chinese communist leaders have voiced concerns about allowing safe havens for Uyghur militants in neighboring Afghanistan.
“China’s main concern is possible arms sale to Uyghurs and the group reorganizing to establish tactical partnerships with other militants,” said Ahmad, the former Afghan ambassador.
The Taliban say no terrorist group will be allowed to use the Afghan territory against other countries, including the Uyghur dissident group, the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement.
“Within the Taliban, the Haqqani faction manages Uyghur affairs, and they have traded certain concessions to the Chinese in exchange for surveillance systems and cash,” Ahmad said.
Under an agreement made with the United States in 2020, the Taliban pledged they would not permit safe havens for al-Qaida and its affiliates in areas under the group’s control — a commitment U.S. officials say the Taliban broke by hosting former al-Qaida leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in downtown Kabul.
“[The] Taliban’s religious conviction determines it cannot abandon its Muslim brothers,” Sun said.
Condemned and sanctioned by the Western countries, the Taliban regime appears desperate for approval from regional countries in exchange for mining deals and security assurances.
By Abubakar Siddique
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 25, 2023
Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers are keen on showcasing their government’s military prowess by frequently displaying repaired helicopters and planes from the country’s inventory of aging aircraft.
But the once ragtag militant group that relied on small arms, rocket launchers, roadside bombs, and suicide bombers to wage war for a quarter century is struggling to get its dreams of building a modern air force off the ground.
On May 21, two pilots were killed after their U.S.-made helicopter crashed in the northern province of Samangan. The MD-530 multi-mission military aircraft was on patrol when it plunged to the ground after hitting an electricity pylon, according to the Taliban.
It was the latest of at least five verified military aviation accidents recorded since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. All involved helicopters from the previous government’s patchwork fleet of mostly U.S.- and Russian-built aircraft, with pilot error considered the likely causes.
While the Taliban has shown it can make use of helicopters and some leftover planes in response to humanitarian disasters or for show, it is seen as being far from re-creating a functional air force capable of securing the skies in the event of foreign incursions or domestic insurgencies.
“I don’t see the Taliban air force as something to worry about,” said Amin Tarzi, director of Middle East Studies at the U.S. Marine Corps University. “If anything, it can become more symbolic.”
Tarzi, an Afghanistan expert, says that the Taliban would need to conduct a significant amount of training for pilots and develop strategies for communication and coordination with ground forces, to build a viable air force.
“Despite the Taliban propaganda, this air force won’t become a major threat to anyone in the region,” he said. “For whatever reason, they think the air force makes you a more formidable or formal force.”
In November, Taliban military officials claimed to have repaired some 70 helicopters and military planes. Taliban officials said their amnesty scheme for former Afghan military pilots and ground crews attracted more than 40 pilots and technicians to return and work for the Taliban’s Defense Ministry.
The Taliban inherited more than 100 aircraft, most of which were inoperable, when it returned to power.
The Western-backed Afghan republic had 162 aircraft. Of these, 131 were airworthy just before the government’s collapse in August 2021, according to the U.S. Special Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
Some 25 percent of the aircraft were flown to neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as Taliban fighters advanced on Kabul. Dozens more were rendered inoperable as Western forces headed for a final exit. Fearing Taliban reprisals, hundreds of former pilots and ground crew fled Afghanistan.
Tarzi says that even before the United States indicated it wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan by signing a peace agreement with the Taliban in February 2020, the Afghan Air Force was an anemic institution. He pointed out as critical deficiencies its overreliance on Western support, a lack of discipline, and an incapability to operate independently.
“The idea that the Afghan Air Force was intact and operational was erroneous,” he said.
Afghanistan’s first modern air force emerged under King Zahir Shah in the 1960s with Soviet aircraft. During the Soviet occupation, the pro-Moscow socialist government established a formidable air force with hundreds of Soviet jets, cargo planes, and helicopters.
But the air force split into several rival aviation units controlled by warring warlords. During the Taliban’s first stint in power in the 1990s, its air force possessed some jets and helicopters operated by Afghan pilots and technicians who had defected to the group.
Author Lukas Muller’s book, Wings Over The Hindu Kush, documents the history of the Afghan air force between 1989 and 2001. He says that currently only a small number of Taliban fighters serve in the air force, which is mainly manned by pilots and technicians trained by the United States and its allies. Some were even trained during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
The Taliban is attempting to train new pilots but has not released figures showing the number of pilots and technicians it has, suggesting a shortage of qualified personnel.
Muller says that, based on photos and videos, the Taliban now has approximately 50 operational planes and helicopters.
“They consider their air force a crucial part of their military strength and openly boast about their accomplishments in repairing additional aircraft,” he said.
The Russian-made Mi-17 transport helicopter, in several subtypes, is the most widely used Taliban helicopter. The group also has a small fleet of airworthy U.S.-made Black Hawk multi-mission helicopters, as well as U.S.-made MD-530s. Some A-29 attack fighters, a turboprop plane provided by the United States to the former Afghan government for air support and training, are believed to be serviceable. And the Taliban also possesses Russian Antonov transport planes and U.S. C-208 and AC-208 cargo aircraft.
Muller said that while the Taliban has utilized its planes and helicopters for transporting troops, military and humanitarian cargo, and regime officials, the actual deployment of combat aircraft remains unverified.
He says that the Taliban has not deployed its combat helicopters, such as the MD-530s or Russian-made Mi-35s, to actively engage opposition forces in the northern province of Panjshir, which has been a hotbed of anti-Taliban armed resistance.
“In essence, the Taliban’s air force has yet to prove itself in combat,” he said.
Taliban leader Mullah Baradar with Pakistan’s former ISI Chief Faiz Hameed
8am: Pakistan is renowned for its founding and backing of the Taliban, having more sway over the group than other countries in the region and the West. This influence is derived from the leverage Pakistan has in its relationship with the Taliban. Many of the Taliban’s leaders and officials who were trained in Pakistan have homes and businesses there. In addition to the political, technical, and educational support they have received from the Pakistani army and intelligence for many years, the Taliban have strong ties with certain non-governmental organizations in Pakistan, including extremist parties, religious conservatives, and schools. These connections provide the Taliban with financial aid, weapons, and combat strength. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The question here is whether the current conflict over Hirmand water is serious? And do the threats from Iranian officials and lower-ranking Taliban fighters signal the seriousness of the conflict? – The answer to the two questions above is “no.” Engaging in a military conflict is not beneficial for either Iran or the Taliban. It appears that verbal tensions and issuing warnings also serve domestic consumption for both sides. Although an Iranian military commander stated that the Taliban group is smaller than the one they attacked, the reality is that Iran, considering its internal problems such as inflation, labor protests, the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, the JCPOA, the nuclear energy issue, the shadow of ISIS in its neighborhood, and its similarities to the Taliban, does not see a reason to attack and lacks the capacity to do so. The warning about water is also issued to manage public opinion in Iran and quell the protests of the people of Sistan and Baluchestan. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Iran Related News
Khaama: Afghanistan reported the third case of the poliovirus of 2023 as the health authorities detected it in Nangarhar province. A new polio case from the Nazyan district of Nangarhar province has also been reported, affecting a 30-month-old male child. With this, there have been three confirmed polio cases in the nation so far this year, all of which are from the province of Nangarhar. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Health News
Akmal Dawi
VOA News
May 24, 2023
WASHINGTON — Months after banning Afghan women from work for the United Nations and other aid agencies, Taliban authorities have told aid workers that new guidelines allowing women to return to humanitarian work are almost complete.
“Taliban leaders in Kandahar said ‘guidelines’ that will allow women back to work & resume girls’ education are ‘nearly completed,’” Jon Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), tweeted on Wednesday after meeting Taliban officials in their stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
The Taliban have not said when the new rules will go into effect. It is also unclear whether the new guidelines will permit women to return to jobs in public service.
A Taliban official who met Egeland said aid agencies should expand their operations because “corruption and insecurity have been completely terminated” in Afghanistan.
Immediately after seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban fired almost all female government employees except in the health and education sectors. No woman serves in the Taliban’s interim cabinet.
The Islamist leadership has also closed secondary schools for girls for nearly two years, though it has said the ban is temporary and will be lifted after new guidelines are completed.
Until the new guidelines are announced, some female aid workers could return to work under an interim solution.
“We have initial agreement of looking for interim solutions so that our brave professional female colleagues can come back to work,” Egeland said in a video adding that the NRC would not work with male-only staff.
Since the ban on women’s work, the NRC has downgraded its activities in Afghanistan by 40%, Egeland said.
Huge funding gaps
In addition to sparking widespread international condemnation, the ban on women’s work has also adversely affected humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, the U.N. warned about “huge funding gaps” disrupting critical aid work in the country.
To assist over 28 million vulnerable Afghans, some of whom face starvation, the U.N. has asked donors for $4.6 billion this year. As of May 24, less than 8% of the appeal ($353 million) has been fulfilled.
The United States has contributed about $35 million to the appeal this year, second only to Japan’s $61 million contribution. Last year, the United States was the largest donor to the Afghanistan appeal and gave over $1.2 billion.
Earlier this year, Thomas West, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, warned that aid to Afghanistan would be reduced for various reasons.
In response to global criticism of their misogynistic policies, Taliban officials insist their denial of women’s basic rights is an internal Afghanistan matter and that it should not be “politicized” to cut off aid to the country.