Coffee shops ordered to shut down in Nimroz
Ariana: Local authorities in Afghanistan’s southwestern province of Nimroz have decided to shut down coffee shops in the province in order to avoid the ruination of the younger generation. Local residents, however, said that dozens of people will become unemployed with the closure of coffee shops. “I invested $20,000 to establish a coffee shop. The Islamic Emirate is telling us to shut down, but we don’t have the capital to make a new investment. We already face dues on electricity and rent,” said Nisar Ahmad, a coffee shop owner. Click here to read more (external link).
The Real Winners Of The US War In Afghanistan
Inkstick: A year after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the world is still coming to terms with the full extent of the costs of that war — not only the budgetary costs, but also the lost human lives, the destruction of health facilities and other infrastructure, and the impacts on the environment. At first glance, it seems like a war in which everyone lost. Yet, one small group did not: the contractors who received funding from the US Department of Defense. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban foreign ministry calls on US to stop drones patrolling in Afghan airspace
Muttaqi
Ariana: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) [Taliban] said Wednesday the United States’ practice of using drones to patrol Afghan airspace was in violation of the Doha Agreement and of international law and requested Washington to stop. According to Muttaqi, so far the world still does not have a clear definition of terrorism. The IEA also said a big achievement was the eradication of Daesh. Muttaqi said no proof has been provided by the US that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was in fact killed in a drone strike in Kabul in June. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – September 6, 2022
51 Thousand Civilians Killed in US War in Afghanistan: China
File photo
8am: The Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian tweeted on Tuesday that 51 thousand of civilians have been killed in the US war over the past 20 years in Afghanistan. According to Lijian, 69,000 security forces of the Afghan government and 2,448 American soldiers have also been killed in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
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‘Afghanistan has gone back to the dark ages’: Ahmad Massoud
Massoud
Indian Express: A year after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Ahmad Massoud — the founder and leader of National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, the key opposition to the Taliban — says the country has moved several steps back on all fronts. In an exclusive interview to The Indian Express from an undisclosed location, the 33-year-old son of legendary fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was known as the Lion of Panjshir, talked about the situation in Afghanistan under Taliban, Pakistan’s role in supporting the Taliban and terrorist groups, and how he wants help from India in military logistics and the resistance from guerrilla fighters within Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).
HRW Cites Alarming IS-K Attacks On Afghan Minorities, Taliban Failures To Protect Them
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 6, 2022
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned of repeated attacks on religious minorities in Afghanistan by a local affiliate of the militant group Islamic State and the ruling Taliban’s failure to protect those communities.
It points to “numerous brutal attacks against members of the Hazara community” by fighters loyal to the so-called Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) as victims “go to school, to work, or to pray, without a serious response from the Taliban authorities.”
The IS-K has claimed responsibility for at least 13 attacks on Hazara, a mostly Shi’ite ethnic minority, and killed at least 700 people in those and several other attacks to which it is linked, HRW said in a September 6 report.
“The Taliban have an obligation to protect at-risk communities and assist the victims of attacks and their families,” HRW quoted its Afghan researcher Fereshta Abbasi as saying.
The international community doesn’t recognize the Taliban-led government and has consistently and bluntly criticized it for alienating Hazara and other religious, tribal, and ethnic minorities since it took over most of Afghanistan as the UN-backed government and U.S.-led international troops fled in mid-2021.
Analysts have long warned that the ultraradical IS-K is trying to undermine the Taliban’s hard-line rule through violence against vulnerable groups and by launching attacks on neighboring countries from Afghanistan.
On September 5, the IS-K claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing near the Russian Embassy in Kabul that killed at least six people, including two embassy employees.
HRW listed multiple attacks claimed by IS-K including on a high school, mosques, and more random targets.
It cited a report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) as saying recent attacks on Shi’ite gatherings in Kabul alone have killed or injured more than 120 people.
Hazara have faced particularly intense and consistent discrimination from successive Afghan governments for over a century, HRW said.
HRW urges the IS-K, the Taliban, and others to comply with international humanitarian law. It says Taliban authorities should prosecute for grave abuses and “protect at-risk minorities…and ensure their rights to access education and worship without fear.”
The rights group also says the Taliban should protect the rights of women and engage with at-risk communities and NGOs.
It also say foreign governments that engage with the Taliban should urge better minority protection from Kabul and all countries should “suspend forcible returns to Afghanistan and should look favorably on applications for asylum” and other forms of international protection.
Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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Ministry: US Proposes Online Education for Young Afghans
Tolo News: The acting minister of education, Noorullah Munir, held a meeting with Ron Mac Cammon, chief of the United States Educational Development Program, and said in a tweet that the US group is considering making an online education program for Afghan children and young people in remote areas. However, some lecturers at the university said that due to a lack of electricity and a lack of telecommunication services in remote areas, this does not seem practical. Click here to read more (external link).
A Library Looted by Taliban in Panjshir
8am: Sources said to Hasht-e Subh on Tuesday (September 6th) that this library was established by Najm Organization in Abdullahkhel valley, Dara district, Panjshir province. At least 10,000 books, 30 computer bases, printers and televisions were said to be looted from this library. Previously, the Taliban looted the property of a health clinic in Panjshir province. Click here to read more (external link).