UN holds crucial Afghanistan talks in Qatar, without Taliban

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Al Jazeera: The Taliban has not been invited to a United Nations-organised conference on Afghanistan in Doha, with the Afghan group governing the South Asian country saying that the two-day meeting would be “ineffective” without its participation. Envoys from the United States, China and Russia, as well as major European aid donors and key neighbours such as Pakistan, are among the representatives from about 25 countries and groups called to the two days of closed-door talks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the Qatari capital on Monday. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Taliban Shut Down Stadium in Bamiyan After Insulting Athletes

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8am: Local sources told Hasht-e Subh that officials of the Taliban’s virtue and vice department in Bamiyan on Sunday, 30 April, blocked the stadium after deeming the futsal players’ uniforms as inappropriate. One of the witnesses, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the officials insulted and humiliated the athletes with “aggressiveness and profanity” about why they did not wear “Afghan and Sharia-compliant” clothing. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Commander’s Son Murders Young Girl in Ghor After Failed Rape Attempt

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8am: Sources told Hasht-e Subh on Saturday, April 29, that the son of a Taliban commander and another fighter in his group shot and killed a young girl on Thursday night, April 27, in the Sad-Seyah area of Firozkuh, the center of Ghor province, after they failed to rape her. It is worth mentioning that Taliban commanders and fighters have been accused of sexual assault in several provinces of Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).

UN Set to Host Crucial Afghanistan Meeting

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
April 30, 2023

ISLAMABAD — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has renewed a call for Afghanistan’s Taliban to remove curbs on women’s rights to work and education as he prepares to convene a meeting of envoys from several countries Monday to discuss the situation in the strife-torn nation.

The two-day closed-door gathering in Qatar’s capital, Doha, will discuss a “common way forward” on how to engage with the Taliban in the aftermath of their latest edicts banning Afghan women from working with the U.N. and other aid organizations.

“Reversing all measures that restrict women’s rights to work is key to reaching the millions of people in Afghanistan that require humanitarian assistance,” Guterres tweeted late Saturday.

“Afghans urgently need emergency aid. Women are essential to ensure it’s delivered,” he said. He reiterated female humanitarians bring life-saving services to Afghan women and girls.

U.N. officials say the restriction on female aid workers has dealt a blow to humanitarian operations in the country where millions of Afghans are just a step away from famine-like conditions.

Special representatives from various countries and international organizations will attend the Doha meeting, but Guterres “has not extended an invitation to the de facto [Taliban] authorities,” his spokesperson told reporters Friday.

“The purpose of the meeting is to reinvigorate international engagement around common objectives for a durable way forward on Afghanistan and to reach a sort of unity or commonality of the message, such as human rights, particularly on the issue of women and girls, inclusive governance, countering terrorism, drug trafficking,” Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the secretary-general, said.

Dujarric declined to share the list of participants. He did not disclose the venue of the huddle in the Qatari capital.

The Taliban regained power in August 2021 as the United States and NATO troops departed Afghanistan after almost two decades of involvement in the war.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive chief of the fundamentalist Taliban, has since barred girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade and most women from working across the impoverished nation.

Akhundzada has rejected international calls for ending curbs on women and girls, saying he will not allow any foreign interference in his Islamic governance.

On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned the restrictions on women and called for their urgent reversal.

The Taliban foreign ministry rejected the call and described the ban on women working with the U.N. as an “internal social matter of Afghanistan.”

Controversy

The Doha meeting has been marred by controversy over whether it will also discuss the recognition of the Taliban government.

The controversy stemmed from U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at a seminar in April at Princeton University, where she suggested recognition would also be on the agenda.

“We hope that we will find those baby steps to put us back on the pathway to recognition … of the Taliban,” Mohammed said.

Her comments have since forced the U.N. to repeatedly clarify that “recognition is not an issue on the table.”

Washington has dismissed as “unacceptable” any talks on the subject at Monday’s meeting.

“What I would say is that any kind of recognition of the Taliban is completely off the table,” said U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel.

On Saturday, about two dozen Afghan women staged a protest in Kabul, demanding the U.N. not formally recognize the Taliban government at Monday’s meeting. They said doing so would amount to violating women’s rights.

Protesters chanted they would fight and die for taking back their rights, accusing Guterres of “lobbying for Taliban recognition.”

Dujarric dismissed suggestions Friday that the U.N. intends to leave Afghanistan due to restrictions on its female staff.

“There is a review going on, on how we do our work. But we’re trying to walk a fine line, which will need to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid,” he said.

Related

Health ministry marks World Malaria Day in Kabul

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Ariana: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) says more than one million cases of malaria were reported in 34 provinces of Afghanistan in 2022. Marking World Malaria Day in Kabul under the title “Time to Deliver Zero Malaria, Invest, Innovate, Implement” Habibullah Akhundzada, deputy minister of public health, said that last year, 90 percent of malaria cases were recorded in eastern provinces such as Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Nuristan. Click here to read more (external link).

In Spontaneous Protest, Afghan Women Urge World Not To Recognize Taliban

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
April 29, 2023

A group of Afghan women on April 29 staged a spontaneous march in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in defiance of Taliban security forces to urge the international community not to recognize the militant group that returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

Since taking power after the exit of international troops, the de facto Taliban rulers have imposed a series of restrictions on Afghan women, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs.

About two dozen women marched in Kabul on April 29 ahead of a summit in Doha on May 1 that the United Nations says will discuss a “durable way forward” for Afghanistan.

“The United Nations will hold a meeting in Doha and they have not invited any women. They want to hold a meeting to recognize the (government) of the Taliban,” Julia Parsi, one of the protesters, told RFE/RL.

“Recognition of the Taliban — a violation of women’s rights,” and “We will fight and we will die for our rights,” the protesters chanted during the minutes-long march that was not suppressed by Taliban security forces.

No country has recognized the Taliban government as legitimate since the radical militant movement’s return to power.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said last week that the Doha summit could take into consideration some “baby steps” on a path to a conditional recognition of the Taliban.

“There are some who believe this can never happen. There are others that say, well, it has to happen,” Mohammed told a conference in the United States.

“The Taliban clearly want recognition…and that’s the leverage we have,” she added.

Earlier this month, the United Nations ordered its 3,300 employees in Afghanistan not to report to their offices for two days as the UN mission in the war-torn country sought further clarification after Taliban rulers appeared to extend a ban on Afghan women working in UN offices.

With reporting by AFP

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.

Related

Islamic State Khorasan Province Is a Growing Threat in Afghanistan and Beyond

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The Diplomat: The situation in Afghanistan is beginning to feel eerily similar to the pre-9/11 era, with the Taliban in control of the country and reunited with al-Qaida and the Haqqani Network. Within Afghanistan’s borders, a witch’s brew of terrorist and insurgent groups is metastasizing. The Taliban are actively fighting against Islamic State militants, but the Taliban have yet to demonstrate the same competence as a counterinsurgent force as they did as an insurgency. A scorched earth approach in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces has pushed some locals to join the Islamic State’s ranks rather than eliminating the threat. Click here to read more (external link).