Those Undermining Taliban ‘Deserve Death,’ Says Taliban Minister

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Nadeem

VOA Afghan Service
March 15, 2023

A high-ranking Taliban official told a gathering of Afghan judges this week that the group outlaws any public opposition to the Taliban or its policies.

“All those who undermine the [Taliban’s] regime, whether that is via tongue, pen or practically undermining it, are considered rebellious and deserve death,” said the Taliban’s acting minister of higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadim, who spoke Sunday at the graduation ceremony of the Taliban’s judges and Islamic jurists in Kandahar.

He added that the Taliban would ‘suppress’ all those who are, according to him, “making problems for the people of Afghanistan based on foreigners’ agendas.”

Nadim’s remarks contradict the Taliban’s spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid’s assurances that their government’s policy will be open to criticism and will listen and answer “any questions or objections with patience.”

So who is correct and what is the Taliban’s official policy on public dissent?

It’s still difficult to say.

In recent months, some prominent Taliban leaders have publicly disagreed with official policies issued by the group’s supreme leader.

The Taliban’s acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani criticized Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, for “monopolizing power,” adding that the “situation can no more be tolerated.”

The Taliban, who seized power following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2021, has formed an all-male government drawn from the group’s fighters despite promising to form a more inclusive administration.

But that has not led to a more coherent policy-making process, as various Taliban officials continue to contradict each other publicly.

Human rights watchdogs say regardless of what the Taliban has stated as official policy, the group’s actions have violated human rights, and suppressed minorities and political dissidents.

The Taliban have rejected the accusations.

Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, in his new report released last month, said that the Taliban government continues to fall back on using fear and repression to suppress Afghan communities.

“There is very little tolerance for differences, and none for dissent,” Bennett said.

Human rights violations

“The Taliban have mounted a ustained attack on human rights, persecuting minority groups, violently clamping down on peaceful protests, suppressing women’s rights and using extrajudicial executions and disappearances to spread fear among Afghans,” said an Amnesty International report released last year.

In an exclusive interview with VOA Afghan service, Bennett said that the Taliban’s repression of women is “a crime against humanity,” and individual members of the Taliban can be held accountable for it.

The Taliban has imposed strict restrictions on women, banning them from getting high a school or college education, prohibiting them from outside work and long-distance travel, and barring them from gyms and public parks.

“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights and it has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. mission in Kabul on March 8.

VOA Afghanistan Service contributed to this report.

8 Taliban Fighters Killed By NRF Troops In Baghlan

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8am: Local sources in Baghlan say that as a result of the war between Taliban and the National Resistance Front (NRF), 8 Taliban fighters and 2 forces of this front were killed. On Tuesday night, this conflict took place in Taghank village of Pol-e-Hesar district of Baghlan. The clash between Taliban fighters and NRF troops occurred after Taliban launched house-to-house inspections at Pol-e-Hesar in Andrab, sources add. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan Showcases the Danger of Firearms Registries

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NRA: The Taliban also went door to door, confiscating firearms during this time under the guise of keeping people safe, as one Taliban spokesperson told Reuters. Such action is a hallmark of totalitarian, oppressive governments. Now, the Taliban is reportedly using records of firearms owners as a method to track who worked with Americans during our country’s time in Afghanistan to then “target them for retribution, according to a U.S. government report.”  Click here to read more (external link).

India is teaching the Taliban how to run an economy

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Quartz: In its effort to stay engaged with the Taliban, India has invited officials of the Afghanistan government to attend a crash course on its culture, legislation, and business climate. The four-day virtual course, Immersing with Indian Thoughts, began yesterday (March 14). India’s ministry of external affairs has organized the course through the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode under the aegis of the India Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC), a bilateral assistance programme of the Indian government. Click here to read more (external link).

Thousands of Afghan Refugees ‘arbitrarily detained’ in UAE: HRW

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Khaama: The United Arab Emirates was accused of arbitrarily detaining between 2,400 and 2,700 Afghan refugees in a miserable accommodation for more than 15 months, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday. Many Afghan refugees who escaped to the UAE in August 2021 were eventually relocated to the US, Canada and other countries; however, “between 2,400 and 2,700 Afghan asylum seekers remain arbitrarily detained in the UAE,” according to HRW. Click here to read more (external link).

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Bangladesh U19s levels ODI series 1-1 against Afghanistan U19s

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Ariana: Bangladesh Under-19s defeated Afghanistan Under-19s by 63 runs in the second ODI in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to end the two-match series 1-1. Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh posted 231 runs before they were all out after 49.3 overs in Abu Dhabi. Mohammad Shihab James was their top-scorer with 98. He was followed by Paevez Rahman Jibon who made 48. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Counterterrorism Commitments Face Growing Doubts

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Akmal Dawi
VOA News
March 14, 2023

Despite conspicuous differences with the United States over many issues, Russia, China and Iran appear to share Washington’s concerns about terrorism threats from Afghanistan as they call on the de facto Taliban regime to fulfill counterterror promises.

Alleged terrorist groups based in Afghanistan have plotted and executed attacks against Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, according to U.S. officials. More than 20 armed groups claim to have a presence in the landlocked country.

Of particular concern is the active presence in Afghanistan of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an insurgent group that has claimed several terrorist attacks in Pakistan over the past few months.

Last week, senior diplomats from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan gathered in Tashkent to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

“The participants, pointing out that all terrorist groups based in Afghanistan continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global security, strongly called on the current de facto Afghan authorities to take more effective measures to eliminate terrorist groups in the country,” read a statement from Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Even though the Taliban committed not to host terrorists that wish other countries harm and not to allow training or recruiting or fundraising in their territory, all of that is happening,” Thomas West, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, told TOLOnews channel last week.

When negotiating U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2019-2020, the Taliban committed to taking swift action, in areas under their control, against groups and individuals that threaten the security of any country. Then the Taliban, an insurgent group, had control over no province or city in Afghanistan.

Now running a country with porous borders with six neighbors, having no established army and suffering international sanctions, the Taliban appear unable to meet U.S. and regional counterterrorism expectations, experts say.

“The Taliban did promise to stop militants from using Afghan soil to threaten any country, and they are obviously not fulfilling that pledge: everyone can see that TTP fighters are sheltering in Afghanistan and attacking Pakistan,” Graeme Smith, an expert with the International Crisis Group (ICG), told VOA. everyone can see that TTP fighters are sheltering in Afghanistan and attacking Pakistan,”

Domestic terror

The Taliban deny harboring terrorist groups inside Afghanistan and reiterate their commitment to preventing security threats to other countries.

Despite downplaying persistent threats from the so-called Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and other armed opposition groups as insignificant and manageable, the Taliban have largely failed to prevent terror attacks inside Afghanistan.

Last week, the Taliban’s governor for the northern Balkh Province was killed in a suicide attack claimed by the ISKP. In December, ISKP claimed killing a district policy chief in the northeastern Badakhshan province.

Both the Taliban and ISKP say they are engaged in an Islamic war against each other.

ISKP has also targeted religious minorities and other vulnerable groups under the Taliban rule, killing hundreds of people across Afghanistan last year, the U.N. has reported.

Between November 14 and January 31, “The United Nations recorded 1,201 security-related incidents, a 10% increase from the 1,088 incidents recorded during the same period in 2021–2022,” the U.N. secretary-general said in a report to the Security Council on March 8.

Al-Qaida

For almost three decades, the United States has voiced concerns about the presence of al-Qaida militants and leaders in Afghanistan, from where they allegedly masterminded attacks against U.S. interests around the world.

In search of al-Qaida leaders, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and engaged there in what is referred to as the longest foreign war in U.S. history.

Last year, a U.S. drone strike killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul.

Dodging the blame for sheltering al-Zawahiri in violation of their counterterror promises, the Taliban refuse to confirm that the al-Qaida leader was indeed found and killed in Kabul.

Even al-Qaida has not yet declared its new leader because of “sensitivity to Afghan Taliban concerns not to acknowledge the death of al-Zawahiri in Kabul,” according to a U.N. report in February.

U.S. officials say al-Qaida’s new leader, Saif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces officer, is sheltered in Iran — an allegation Tehran has strongly repudiated.

While the U.S. and Taliban accuse each other of violating certain parts of the agreement that their representatives signed in February 2020 in Doha, Qatar, it is unclear how the parties should address disputes and what consequences violations of the deal may bear.

“The two sides have expressed interest in dialogue for the sake of ensuring better implementation of the deal,” said Smith of the ICG. “We have advocated for a revival of the Doha process to make sure that both the U.S. and Taliban have a shared understanding of the agreement and a common vision for what they hope to achieve through its implementation.”

Related

Afghanistan’s musicians in Portugal tell of ‘cultural genocide’

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AFP: ‘When Taliban reached the gates of Kabul, it was clear that we should get out,’ recalled Anim director Ahmad Sarmast, who did everything possible to evacuate the students and staff of the music institute. ‘Afghanistan is a silent nation,’ the 61-year-old said. ‘When a country’s music is banned, an entire nation is silenced,’ added Sarmast, who lost some of his hearing in an attack by the Taliban in 2014 when they were rebel fighters. Click here to read more (external link).