ICC World Cup 2023 trophy reaches in Kabul
Khaama: The ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 trophy has reached Kabul as part of its global tour ahead of the tournament in October. In Kabul, the trophy will visit various venues, allowing cricket enthusiasts to see it up close. This is the second time the Cricket World Cup trophy has been brought to Afghanistan for display. The trophy was brought to Afghanistan for the first time in 2015 and was displayed at various locations. Click here to read more (external link).
US denies leaving military equipment behind in Afghanistan
Kirby
Ariana: A top US official said on Wednesday no military equipment had been left behind by American forces in Afghanistan, in response to a question about reports that $7 billion worth of weapons reportedly were abandoned in the war-torn country when US forces withdrew in August 2011. The comments by John Kirby, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communication, came days after Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said US military equipment left behind during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan was now “emerging as a new challenge” for Islamabad as it had enhanced the fighting capabilities of the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Arab News reported. Kirby said the former Afghan National Security Forces, and not the US, abandoned that equipment. Click here to read more (external link).
Pakistan-Afghanistan Border Shutdown Stalls Trade Convoys
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
September 7, 2023
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s main border crossing with landlocked Afghanistan was closed for a second day Thursday after deadly clashes between security forces from the two countries.
Residents and transporters said the abrupt closure had stranded hundreds of truck convoys on both sides carrying commercial goods through the busy Torkham border point of transit for trade and travelers.
Pakistani and Taliban authorities in Afghanistan confirmed that both sides had held talks to try to defuse the tensions and “prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future,” but the border crossing remained closed Thursday, suggesting the dialogue failed to make headway.
The armed clashes erupted on Wednesday when Taliban guards began building a new border outpost near Torkham in violation of mutual agreements and ignoring repeated warnings to stop the work, said Pakistani officials.
Residents in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, where Torkham lies, told VOA the clashes killed two Taliban guards and wounded about a dozen Afghan civilians.
Officials in both countries have declined to discuss any details about casualties, if any.
A provincial government spokesman in Jalalabad, Nangarhar’s capital, acknowledged in a statement that Taliban forces were digging a security trench when they came under attack from the Pakistani side.
Business leaders in both countries urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to urgently reopen the border crossing, saying many trucks are loaded with perishable goods, including fresh fruit and vegetables.
“The traders are suffering heavy losses after the border in Torkham was closed on Wednesday following a firing incident there,” Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Reuters.
The closure of the border crossing has also impacted the handling of commercial goods at the southern Pakistani port of Karachi, which provides Afghanistan access to international markets.
The Torkham border crossing has increasingly become a vital transit route for Pakistan to export and import commercial goods from landlocked Central Asian countries through Afghanistan.
However, allegations that the Taliban are not doing enough to prevent anti-Pakistan insurgents from using Afghan soil for cross-border terrorist attacks have strained bilateral relations in recent months.
Pakistani officials said the latest such attack occurred on Wednesday when a large group of heavily armed militants stormed two security outposts in the northern Kalash valley near the Afghan border.
The military said that the ensuing fierce clashes had killed four soldiers and 12 “terrorists,” suggesting the assailants had come across the border from Afghanistan.
“Thanks to our alert forces, the terrorist attack on military posts near the Pak-Afghan border in Chitral was repelled with heavy casualties on the terrorist side,” Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. He named the district where Kalash lies.
“Sadly, 4 brave soldiers embraced Shahadat (martyrdom). Our resolve to eradicate terrorism remains unshaken, and all our citizens stand firm with us,” Kakar said.
The outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, claimed responsibility for launching the deadly raid. The group is a known offshoot and has pledged allegiance to the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Pakistani authorities say the TTP has intensified cross-border terrorism from sanctuaries in Afghanistan with “greater freedom” since the Taliban takeover of the neighboring, war-torn country two years ago.
The Afghan Taliban have repeatedly denied that the TTP or other militant groups are using their territory.
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Pakistan: Clashes Near Afghan Border Kill 4 Soldiers, 12 ‘Terrorists’
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
September 6, 2023
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Wednesday that a “large group of terrorists” had stormed its security outposts close to the border with Afghanistan, prompting fierce clashes that killed four soldiers and 12 assailants.
The early morning militant raid targeted two Pakistani posts in the northern mountainous Kalash border valley at an elevation of 1,670 meters (5,480 feet).
A Pakistani military statement said its soldiers had repulsed the attack, noting the assailants were “equipped with [the] latest weapons.” It suggested that the militants had come across the border from Afghanistan.
The banned Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, claimed responsibility for the raid earlier. The group said its fighters had inflicted heavy casualties on Pakistani soldiers and seized their weapons while overrunning the posts.
TTP often issues inflated claims about its extremist activities.
The Pakistani military said its forces had previously detected “terrorists’ movement and concentration” in several Afghan border areas opposite the Kalash region and “timely shared” it with Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities.
The statement said the Taliban government “is expected to fulfill its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”
Taliban authorities in Afghanistan did not immediately comment on Pakistani assertions.
TTP, listed as a global terrorist outfit by the United States and the United Nations, is a known offshoot and close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in Kabul two years ago.
Pakistani officials say TTP and other insurgent groups have fled and taken shelter in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led NATO troop withdrawal in August 2021. They say the insurgents enjoy greater freedom of movement to plot cross-border terrorism after the Taliban takeover of the war-shattered country.
Over the past two years, the increased TTP-led insurgent violence has killed more than 1,500 people in Pakistan. This year alone, more than 500 Pakistanis, mostly security forces, have died in militant attacks. They included at least 220 soldiers and officers, according to official data.
The Taliban deny the charges, saying no one can use Afghan soil to threaten other countries, including Pakistan.
Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar repeatedly claimed this week that some of the equipment left behind by the U.S. military in Afghanistan has ended up with groups such as TTP.
“This surge in terrorism is happening because the fighting capacity of these outfits has been enhanced,” Kakar told Islamabad-based international journalists on Monday.
The prime minister said that Islamabad was in close contact with Kabul to enhance bilateral security cooperation to combat the threat of cross-border terrorism.
The Taliban “are in a phase of transformation. I feel that room and space should be given to them,” Kakar said when asked whether the de facto Afghan authorities are helping his country to counter the TTP-led threat of terrorism.
The Taliban’s Hajj Selection Process: Exposing Widespread Corruption
8am: In the 2023 pilgrimage season, social media featured numerous images of Taliban leaders, suggesting that thousands of their members had simultaneously journeyed to Mecca. Recent discoveries from the western part of the country, as reported by Hasht-e Subh Daily, indicate that hundreds of Taliban members performed the pilgrimage without following the usual selection process and lottery. This group includes provincial governors, district chiefs, commanders, militants, and heirs of Taliban fighters killed in wars. Notably, the Taliban handpicked all the teachers exclusively from their ranks to participate in this pilgrimage process. Despite some technical questions, participants emphasize that the Taliban prioritize two criteria: “war experience” and “proficiency in Pashto language.” Sources reveal that beyond facilitating their journey for Hajj, the primary motivation for this action is to amass significant financial gains. Allegedly, these individuals not only received their regular salaries but also obtained $1,000 upon their return and continued to receive 1,800 Saudi Riyals during their stay in Saudi Arabia. All of this unfolded while tens of thousands of people, particularly elderly individuals nationwide, eagerly awaited their opportunity or even a lottery chance to embark on the pilgrimage. Click here to read more (external link).
Tajikistan Says Three Militants Killed Crossing Border From Afghanistan
By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service
September 6, 2023
Tajikistan said it killed three members of a “terrorist group” who had crossed into the country from neighboring Afghanistan. The incident, announced on September 6 by the KDAM security service, was the second this year in the Central Asian country. The three crossed overnight on August 30, intending to “commit a terrorist act ahead of the Tajik national holiday” on September 9, the Kabar news agency quoted the KDAM as saying. The three, identified as natives of Tajikistan, were killed early on September 5. It wasn’t immediately possible to confirm the statement. The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has stoked fears of instability in Tajikistan.
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 Denies Afghanistan Sending Female Athletes To Asian Games
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
September 6, 2023
Taliban officials have rejected reports that Afghanistan will send female athletes to the Asian Games in China later this month, saying all 133 athletes in the delegation being sent are male.
In reaction to a report on Reuters early on September 6, Ahmadullah Wasiq, the head of physical education and sport in the country, said in a written statement to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that it was not true that 17 athletes on the team were female.
Two years since it overran the country and ousted the Western-backed Afghan government, the hard-line Taliban has failed to live up to promises of moderation and has instead severely curbed women’s freedoms, waged a brutal crackdown on dissent, and reintroduced their brutal form of justice.
The Taliban’s theocratic de facto government has imposed restrictions on every aspect of life in Afghanistan, including people’s appearance, freedom of movement, right to work or study, and access to entertainment.
The result has been the crushing of female sport in the country, prompting many prominent women to flee the country.
The International Olympic Committee warned Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers in December that allowing women and young girls safe access to sport was a condition for the country’s representation at the 2024 Paris Games.
Reuters quoted a September 6 statement by Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee that claimed that the country would send “a female group sports team comprising a total of 17 phenomenal women athletes.” It added that they would compete in three sports: athletics, cycling, and volleyball.
Wasiq said the statement quoted by Reuters on participation in the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8, was not issued by the National Olympic Committee.
In a July report, UN experts said that the situation of girls and women in Afghanistan was the worst in the world and added that systematic restrictions on women and girls could amount to “gender apartheid.”
With reporting by Reuters
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.
Tolo News in Dari – September 6, 2023
Continued Arbitrary Arrests: Taliban Detain Two Students in Front of a School Gate in Kabul
8am: Sources on Wednesday, September 6, spoke with Hasht-e Subh and revealed that these two students are named Mohammad Anwar and Naser. The Taliban detained them four days ago in front of the gate of “Khalilullah Khalili” School in the eleventh district of Kabul and transferred them to the custody of the group’s Intelligence Unit 40. These two students are originally from the Omarz and Tawakh areas of Panjshir province but currently reside in Kabul city. It is worth noting that in recent days, the Taliban have intensified the arrest of civilians in Kabul and the northern provinces of the capital. Click here to read more (external link).