8am: On Tuesday, April 25, the WHO tweeted that positive cases of malaria have increased by 45% compared to 2021. The organization stated that approximately 90% of the cases were reported in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, and Nuristan. Click here to read more (external link).
China’s Got Afghan Fever, Again
FP: On paper, at least, Beijing’s latest deal with the Taliban looks impressive: $10 billion for access to lithium deposits, creating 120,000 direct jobs, plus some infrastructure building and repairs thrown in for good measure. But rather than underpinning hope for economic revival, this contract is likely to join other Chinese ventures in Afghanistan that have been signed with great fanfare—for the republic and extremists alike—only to go out with a whimper rather than a bang. China famously signed a $3 billion deal to develop Afghanistan’s largest copper deposit, not far from Kabul, and then unceremoniously decamped once the shooting started. Click here to read more (external link).
US Envoy Says “No Normalization of Relations with the Taliban”
Khaama: Rina Amiri, The US special envoy for women, girls and human rights in Afghanistan, said on Tuesday that the US would not have a normal relationship With the Taliban without respect for human rights. Amiri tweeted, “I have received messages expressing concern regarding recognition of the Taliban. We remain clear. There will be no normalization of relations with the Taliban without respect for the rights of all Afghan, especially women.” Click here to read more (external link).
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Tolo News in Dari – April 25, 2023
Taliban says Vienna diaspora meeting not beneficial to Afghanistan
Zabihullah Mujahid
Ariana: In response to a meeting of a number of Afghans in exile in Vienna on Monday, the Islamic Emirate’s [Taliban] spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Tuesday that such meetings are not in the interests of Afghanistan and that people who attend such events abroad have lost their “prestige” inside the country. Mujahid said political figures should not seek to destroy the current system. He added that participants of the Vienna meeting do not have public support inside Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Over 200 Injured in Road Accident in Afghanistan’s Herat
Khaama: At least 220 people were injured due to road accidents during the three days of Eid-ul-FItr in western Herat Province, the official said. Over Eid, there were twice as many injuries in road accidents as usual. Motorcycle accidents were the leading cause of injury. According to the officials, the reason for accidents could be speed driving, damaged roads, and not following traffic rules. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan: How Australia covered up alleged war crimes of SAS ‘heroes’
Middle East Eye: Justice delayed is justice denied, so goes the saying. In the case of alleged Australian war crimes committed in Afghanistan, it’s not as simple as red tape or the oft-tepid pace of bureaucracy. Rather it is the result of a campaign of politically expedient hero-worship, of command-shirking responsibility and investigators rubber-stamping a litany of cover-ups. In March, 41-year-old former Special Air Service (SAS) trooper, Oliver Schulz, was formally charged with the war crime of murder, a historic first in Australia. No serving or retired military veteran has faced a war crime charge – and in a civilian court no less. It stems from the 2012 shooting of a young farmer, Dad Mohammad, in Uruzgan Province. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – April 24, 2023
Afghan Delegation to Meet in Vienna to Discuss Afghanistan
Massoud
Khaama: The second Vienna meeting will be held on Monday, April 24, to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan. According to a statement released by the Resistance Front, there would be 30 participants, including representatives of political movements, civil activists, former government officials, former MPs, religious scholars, diplomats, and journalists. Meanwhile, the leader of the Resistance Front, Ahmad Masoud, will attend a meeting in support of human rights on the sideline of the conference. Click here to read more (external link).
U.S. taxpayers helping fund Afghanistan’s Taliban? Aid workers say they’re forced “to serve the Taliban first”
Taliban militants dancing (file photo)
CBS News: “We have to serve the families of the Taliban police commanders, governors and other people who they ask us to serve specifically,” one aid worker at UNHCR told CBS News on the condition of anonymity. “Once a Taliban governor told one of our subcontracted aid agencies that 15% of the aid must go toward his guards and other Taliban personnel, and it is now a norm to serve the Taliban first and then serve the ordinary civilians.” Click here to read more (external link).