Khaama: Ramiz Alakbarov, the Deputy Special Representative of UNAMA on Tuesday in a press conference said that Afghanistan’s gross income has declined by 35 percent, and nearly 700,000 people have lost their jobs over the past 18 months. Mr. Alakbarov added that 65 percent of the people need humanitarian aid, and millions are on the verge of catastrophic starvation in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Third Anniversary of Doha Agreement
Tolo News: Three years ago today, on Hoot 10 (Solar calendar), the United States of America and the Islamic Emirate signed the Doha Agreement. This agreement was signed in Doha, the capital of Qatar, after 18 months of talks between Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US special envoy for the reconciliation of Afghanistan, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the former deputy of the Islamic Emirate’s political office. The agreement, which now Kabul and Washington accuse each other of violating, was signed three years ago on February 29, 2020, during the presidency of Donald Trump, the former US president, in Qatar. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Tolo News in Dari – March 1, 2023
What were Pakistani Security Officials Doing in Afghanistan?
8am: Now that Pakistan‘s support of the Taliban has caused the collapse of the Afghan Government, Islamabad is in violation of international laws as a lobbyist and supporter of this group. However, the Taliban have likely provided Islamabad‘s enemies with a safe haven. Despite this, many politicians in Pakistan and Afghanistan still believe that the activation of the Tehreek–e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the border tensions between the military forces of this country and the Taliban are merely media and propaganda games. Click here to read more (external link).
At least 80 Afghan dead in Italian shipwreck: FM
Khaama: At least 80 Afghan migrants, including women and children, died in the shipwreck off the southern coast of Italy on Sunday, according to the foreign ministry of the Taliban, which announced on Tuesday night. The Afghan foreign affairs ministry said, “With great sadness, we learned that 80 Afghan refugees, including women and children, who were travelling from Turkey to Italy in a wooden boat, drowned and died in the southern sea of Italy.” Click here to read more (external link).
NRF Troops Launch Attack on Taliban HQ in Takhar’s Dashti Qala District
8am: Sources reported that the National Resistance Front (NRF) troops on Monday night launched an assault on the Taliban’s headquarters in the Dashti Qala district of Takhar province in northern Afghanistan. The attack on the Taliban’s command base was confirmed by local sources. The NRF, an anti-Taliban armed group, has been fighting against the Taliban since their takeover of the country in August 2021. A reputable source in Takhar province reported that the NRF targeted a Taliban Ranger vehicle. Click here to read more (external link).
Will China’s latest investment in Afghanistan actually work?
Al Jazeera: Omar Sadr, an Afghan academic and former professor at the American University of Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera that China’s engagement with the Taliban is based more on security rather than economic interests. China is also aware of the Taliban’s limitations and, as a result, has not committed much, Sadr added. The investments under the Taliban deal are significantly less than those announced between 2002 and 2021. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghan consulate in Istanbul handed over to Taliban
Ariana: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) [Taliban] said in a statement on Tuesday that the diplomats sent by the Islamic Emirate to Tehran have officially started their work at the Consulate General of Afghanistan in Istanbul. A number of countries such as Russia, Pakistan, China, Iran and Turkmenistan, which have close relations with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, have accepted the diplomats of the Islamic Emirate. Experts say that handing over the political and diplomatic offices of Afghanistan one after the other to the Islamic Emirate, the Afghan government takes another step closer to recognition. This is while the Afghan embassy in Tehran was officially handed over to the Islamic Emirate on Monday The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has introduced Fazl Ahmad Haqqani as the Chargé d’affaires of Afghanistan in the embassy in Tehran. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Tolo News in Dari – February 28, 2023
US and Ghani government ‘set the stage’ for the collapse of republic: SIGAR
Ariana: In his report to Congress, Sopko said first the decision by the United States to withdraw all U.S. military forces “fundamentally changed the behaviors of the United States, the [Ashraf] Ghani administration, and the Taliban (IEA).” He said many Afghans thought the U.S.-Taliban agreement was an act of bad faith and a signal that the “United States was handing over Afghanistan to the enemy as it rushed to exit the country,” he said adding that “its immediate effect was a dramatic loss in ANDSF morale”. Click here to read more (external link).
Related