Mohammad Mohaqiq
8am: Mohammad Mohaqeq said the Taliban and the ISKP in Afghanistan are so intertwined that it is difficult for people to distinguish between the two. The remarks come as hundreds of people have been killed and injured in recent bloody attacks on religious and educational institutions, especially those affiliated with the Hazara religious and ethnic group. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Ariana: That means more than 6,400 journalists lost their jobs, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Mette Knudsen, said at a ceremony in Kabul Saturday to mark World Press Freedom Day that falls on May 3. She said that four out of five women journalists are no longer working. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Disputes between Kuchis (Pashtun nomads) and the sedentary population living in central Afghanistan have been one of the most critical and complicated issues in the last twenty years. The issue has usually led to armed conflicts and widespread protests in the past. Governments, however, have never been able or willing to address it. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Local sources say the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has boosted opium markets and has encouraged poppy farmers to increase production and turn more lands into poppy cultivation fields. Click here to read more (external link).
Putun meeting with permanent members of Security Council (via videoconference)
Michael Hughes
AOPNEWS
April 29, 2022
President Vladimir Putin told Russia’s Security Council that while the situation in Ukraine is the country’s top national security issue, Moscow must also address possible threats emanating from Afghanistan and elsewhere in Central and South Asia.
Violence in Afghanistan has been on the rise highlighted by an Islamic State mosque bombing that killed over 50 earlier in the day. Meanwhile, anti-Taliban resistance groups, including former government officers, have been popping up all over the country and clashing with regime forces.
During a video conference on Friday, Putin said from a national security view Russia is obviously focused on events in Donbas. However, he also indicated that Russia’s national security is not only about the situation in Ukraine.
“We also have other issues that are of great interest from the point of view of national security, including in the southern sector,” Putin was quoted as saying in a readout issued by the Kremlin. “Today, therefore, we will discuss this issue in respect to the events in Afghanistan and generally in that region.”
Putin made the comments to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense chief Sergei Shoigu in addition to Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Intelligence head Sergei Naryshkin, among others who were on the call.
In February, right before Moscow launched its military operation next door, a U.S. defense intelligence contractor told Afghan Online Press that Russia is focusing too much attention and resources to counter Ukraine and NATO when the real threat is coming from Central and South Asia with terror groups making advances in the region.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, has repeatedly warned about the flow of jihadists throughout Central Asia – especially since the Taliban came to power.
Russian defense officials soon after the fall of Kabul in August said Moscow is concerned that the destabilization of the situation in Afghanistan increased the risk of exporting terrorism and drugs to the territory of the CSTO states.
Russian Permanent Representative to the CSTO Mikael Agasandyan told Sputnik that the organization must take preventive measures to counter possible threats.
Last week, the head of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO RATS), Ruslan Mirzaev, described the situation in Afghanistan as “stable tension.” SCO is a political, economic, and security alliance comprising India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China. Afghanistan is one of four observer states in the SCO.
Just days after the fall of Kabul, Russia and its partners conducted military drills in states neighboring Afghanistan. In October, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Third Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Department Director Alexander Sternik said the drills – between Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia – were critical to countering “radical forces” operating in the region amid the “alarming” situation in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Moscow has been pursuing a dual process with the government in Kabul. While Russia has sternly warned about instability pouring over Afghan borders, it has also boosted diplomatic relations.
For example, in early April, Moscow handed over the Afghanistan Embassy in Russia. In addition, earlier this week, Lavrov said Moscow would move towards full diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government if they form an “inclusive” government.
This is in line with comments Putin made at the end of last year during an annual press conference, underscoring Russian recognition of Taliban rule would be based on including representation of all ethnic groups in the leadership of Afghanistan. He then also noted that there were security concerns related to the possible penetration of extremists into Russian borders.
In February, Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told Sputnik that Moscow and the Taliban have a “good relationship” and the radical movement hopes the interaction “continues to grow.”
It is also worth noting that Russia hosted the Taliban for talks in Moscow in October in a bid to avert a humanitarian disaster after the militant group overran Kabul. The proceedings included officials from China, India, Iran and Pakistan also attended.
Another interesting factor is Moscow’s closer ties with Islamabad in recent years, a turnabout from the Cold War days. It remains to be seen, however, if Pakistan will have the same type of influence over the Afghan Taliban now that they are rulers again.
However, Moscow might be severely disappointed if they genuinely expect an inclusive government to arise in Kabul. And, Russia will be even more dismayed when the Taliban fail to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist breeding ground.
Russia certainly had mixed feelings about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. From one perspective no longer could Washington use Afghanistan as a “listening post” in Central Asia. And Russia must be relieved that no surrounding states have agreed to host American bases for over-the-horizon anti-terror operations.
On the other hand, some in Russia fear the Taliban may not live up to the counterterrorism assurances they provided in the Doha accord signed with the Americans in 2020.
Navbahor Imamova
VOA News
April 29, 2022
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN — Defying Taliban demands, authorities in Uzbekistan say dozens of aircraft flown into their territory as the former Afghan government collapsed last summer are the property of the United States and will not be returned to the interim government in Kabul.
The decision is likely to complicate efforts by the Uzbek government to engage with the Taliban and ultimately develop trade routes through its southern neighbor to Pakistan and the Indian Ocean.
Afghan air force personnel flew almost 50 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to Uzbekistan in mid-August as former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and Taliban forces overran the capital, Kabul. Several more aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters were taken to neighboring Tajikistan to prevent them from falling into Taliban hands.
Taliban leaders have since insisted that the aircraft are Afghan property and demanded them back.
Addressing an Afghan air force ceremony in Kabul in January, Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob said his government would never allow the aircraft to be seized or used by its northern neighbors.
“I respectfully call on [Uzbekistan and Tajikistan] not to test our patience and not to force us to take all possible retaliatory steps [to retake the aircraft],” Yaqoob said without elaborating.
But Ismatulla Irgashev, a senior adviser to Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, told VOA during a recent interview in Tashkent that the aircraft would not be going back to Kabul.
“The U.S. government paid for them,” said Irgashev, his nation’s most senior diplomat dealing with Afghan matters. “It funded the previous Afghan government. So, we believe it is totally up to Washington how to deal with them.
“We’ve kept this military equipment in agreement with the U.S. and have told the Taliban so.”
The escape of the pilots with the aircraft marked one of the Taliban’s few setbacks during the chaotic period that marked their complete takeover of Afghanistan.
Little has been said since about the issue, in part because of the sensitivity of the issue in Uzbek-Afghan relations and the reluctance of officials on all sides to discuss it.
But U.S. defense officials confirmed to VOA that both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have no plans to give the aircraft to the Taliban.
“The aircraft continue to be the subject of regional security engagement with the governments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,” a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson, Army Major Rob Lodewick, said when asked about the fate of the planes and helicopters.
As of August 21, 2021, there were 46 aircraft in Uzbekistan and 18 in Tajikistan, the official said. These included Mi-17 UH-60 helicopters as well as PC-12, C-208, AC-208 and A-29 fixed-wing aircraft.
A U.S. defense official, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive subject, that the U.S. has “gotten eyes” on the aircraft in the two countries and said that they technically belong to the U.S. military services that procured them for the Afghan security forces.
What ultimately happens to the aircraft, though, has yet to be decided.
“[The Department of Defense] is still determining final disposition options,” the official said, noting there is interest from government agencies inside the United States, as well as from foreign partners. “This isn’t going to be finalized for some time.”
Despite the mystery surrounding the fate of the former Afghan aircraft, U.S. officials have long expressed confidence that they would not be handed over to Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.
“It’s safe to assume that they will not be sent into Afghanistan to be used by the Taliban,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in January in response to a question from VOA. “But as to what they end up doing and where they end up going and who ends up with them, we are still working our way through that decision-making process.”
Unofficial estimates from the region say about 500 to 600 Afghans were aboard the aircraft that flew to Uzbekistan and another 140 to 150 flew to Tajikistan.
The pilots all were transferred to the United Arab Emirates in September and November last year and are being resettled in the United States.
Ayaz Gul in Islamabad and Jeff Seldin in Washington contributed to this report.
Roshan Noorzai
VOA News
April 29, 2022
WASHINGTON — Afghanistan lost two more local radio stations in April, as economic hardship hits the country’s media community.
The stations – Paktia Ghag, in Paktia province, and Sadai Maimana, in Faryab province – cited financial constraints in announcing the closure.
“We were not able to pay either the electricity bill or our expenses,” Zabiullah Ayoubi, managing editor of Paktia Ghag, told VOA.
For Ayoubi the closure is the end of an era. He worked at the station for 14 years, but says that since the Taliban seized control in August, he and his colleagues have not been paid.
Unless the economic problems are resolved, the station will remain shuttered, Ayoubi said.
More than 40% of Afghan media outlets closed between the Taliban takeover in August and the end of last year, according to media groups Reporters Without Borders and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association.
A joint survey by the media rights groups found up to 60% of journalists, around 6,400 people, lost their jobs in that period.
Taliban media guidelines and restrictions, coupled with economic hardship since the takeover, have impacted the finances of the media sector.
Previously, media could rely on international organizations for support, and private companies and the government for advertising revenue. But those sources have dried up.
Overall Afghanistan is facing a devastating humanitarian and economic crisis, the United Nations says.
The Taliban also ordered media organizations to share advertisements before airing them.
In an April 15 letter, viewed by VOA, the Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture said that media outlets are “obliged” to share advertisements that have “political, security or social aspects” with the ministry.
Revenue lost
Without financial assistance, local media will not survive, says Zahid Shah Angar, founder of the Suli Paigham radio station in the eastern province of Khost.
“Except the state-run radio and TV stations in the province, others do not have the means to sustain themselves, and they will definitely shut if there is no financial assistance,” Angar added.
Programs funded by donors and non-governmental organizations in agriculture, health, democracy and other sectors were key sources of revenue for media outlets. Private companies also provided paid advertising.
“Unfortunately, we do not have any of these sources now,” Angar said.
For eight months, his station has been unable to pay its 22 employees, Angar said. “We lost all our income sources.”
Additionally, four women who worked for the station stopped coming to work.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has said that women can still work, but Angar said, “Our female colleagues are not willing to continue.”
“Even if our female colleagues are willing to work, we will not be able to pay them,” he added.
For others in media, the economic fallout was a shock.
Sefatullah Zahedi, owner of Radio Sakoon in Helmand province, invested $30,000 in establishing his radio station.
“I did not expect that something like this would happen,” he said. “I was thinking that the international community has invested here and will give us advertisements, projects and (sponsor) shows. But the opposite happened.”
Radio Sakoon’s office in the capital Lashkar Gah, was damaged in the fighting and Zahedi had to spend $10,000 on repairs.
Now he faces more problems: paying the rent and salaries.
“I am spending from my own pocket. I pay the rent, salaries, utilities, food and the internet,” Zahedi said.
Some of the journalists in the province who lost their jobs work for him on a volunteer basis.
“I told them that instead of doing nothing, they can work with me. I told them that we have a place, food, and the internet. Because they did not have anything else to do, they came to work with us.”
Zahedi said four radio and three TV stations ceased operation in Helmand since the Taliban’s takeover.
Call for assistance
Economic problems are one of the main reasons media outlets are closing, says Hujatullah Mujadidi, vice president of the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association.
“Unfortunately, the system collapsed and the international organizations halted their financial support. The government and private companies also stopped giving ads.”
He and other Afghan media organizations have been calling on international organizations to support media, and for the Taliban to ensure media freedom, and greater access for journalists.
If media outlets are not supported, Mujadidi said, “We will witness the closure of more outlets, and it will result in silencing freedom of expression and a loss of jobs.”
“It will be a catastrophe for media in Afghanistan.”
This story originated in VOA’s Afghan service.
Ariana: “It is a major concession for the Taliban (IEA). It facilitates their bid to gain international legitimacy. It is a preliminary step,” said Aziz Ma’arij, an expert on international relations. Click here to read more (external link).
BBC News: Lt Gen Sami Sadat said that eight months of Taliban rule has convinced many Afghans that military action is the only way forward. He said operations could begin next month after the Islamic Eid festival, when he plans to return to Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).