Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
Tolo News: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday acknowledged there were “some complications” pertaining to the fencing of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border but said that the matter was being discussed with the Islamic Emirate government. “We are not silent. We have fenced the border (with Afghanistan), and it will continue,” Qureshi said in response to a question. Click here to read more (external link).
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Zabihullah Mujahid
Ariana: During an interview with Radio RFE/RL the deputy minister of information and culture and spokesperson of the IEA Zabiullah Mujahid said that the battalion will be part of their special forces and will fall under the defense ministry. “Our Mujahideen, who are in the martyrdom battalions, are also in the army; but they will include Special Forces; all of them will fall under the ministry of defense; these forces will be created in special numbers and will be used for special operations,” Mujahid told RFE/RL. Click here to read more (external link).
Since its emergence as an independent kingdom in 1919, Afghanistan has experienced cycles of internal strife, often reflecting the tension between those pushing for modernization and liberalization (particularly with respect to women’s rights), and tribal and religious leaders fighting for a conservative, traditional Muslim society. Invasions by foreign powers also contributed to decades of continuous violence in the country. In this video, VOA explores the circle of these conflicts over the past century.
Baradar
Tolo News: Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in an interview with Radio-Television of Afghanistan (RTA) on Monday said that the Islamic Emirate will not include members of the fallen republic government in its cabinet. Baradar accused the former government officials of “being corrupt” emphasizing that even including a few of them will harm the integrity of the Islamic Emirate. Click here to read more (external link).
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
January 3, 2021
Pakistan said Monday it was engaging with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers through diplomatic channels to resolve “some confusions” stemming from the installation of a security fence on the porous border separating the two countries.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad that his country was determined to protect its “interests” and continue unilateral fencing Pakistan’s nearly 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan.
The Pakistani chief diplomat was responding to recent attempts by Taliban border forces aimed at preventing Pakistan from building the barrier. The latest such incident apparently happened over the weekend when the Afghan side dismantled a portion of the fence.
“We are not silent. We have installed the fence and, God willing, this effort will continue,” Qureshi stressed. “Afghanistan is our friendly neighbor. We are engaged with them, as some confusions have emerged, and we shall be able to resolve them through diplomatic channels.”
A Taliban Defense Ministry spokesman on Sunday criticized the fencing project, saying Pakistan had “no right to erect barbed wire along the Durand Line and separate the tribes on both sides of the line.”
Successive governments in Afghanistan have disputed the 1893 British colonial-era demarcation. The boundary was the outcome of an agreement between Sir Mortimer Durand, a secretary of the British Indian government, and then-Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan.
Pakistan dismisses Afghan objections, saying it inherited the international border after gaining independence from Britain in 1947. But the differences over the status of the border continue to strain bilateral ties.
The massive military-led construction effort started in 2017 to block illegal militant movement and smuggling. Pakistani officials say more than 90% of the work has been completed.
The fencing project occasionally triggered fatal clashes between Pakistani troops and Afghan security forces of the former Western-backed government in Kabul that the Taliban ousted last August.
WATCH: In a crackdown on sale of alcohol, #Afghan intelligence agents poured 3,000 litres of liquor into a canal pic.twitter.com/CcMxUi5gMP
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) January 3, 2022
AFP: A team of Afghan intelligence agents poured about 3,000 litres of liquor into a canal in Kabul, the country’s spy agency has said, as the new Taliban authorities crack down on the sale of alcohol. Video footage released by the General Directorate of Intelligence showed its agents pouring alcohol stored in barrels into the canal after seizing it during a raid in the capital. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The Taliban forces faced a military response from the Turkmen border forces when they went to the border of Khamab district to check the security situation this morning. For the past month, Turkmenistan has been the third neighboring country to be attacked by Taliban forces. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Residents of the village of Balasour in Iran found two children next to their mother’s body on the border between Iran and Turkey, foreign media outlets reported. Several Iranian and Turkish media outlets, including CNN Turk and Iranwire, quoted officials as saying that an Afghan woman who had tried to enter Turkey illegally died of cold but her two children aged eight and nine survived. Click here to read more (external link).