8am: Taliban officials say that the three months salaries of the government employees will be paid at once. However, the Taliban haven’t cleared that under which conditions the three months salaries will be paid. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Economic News
Tolo News: A motorcycle training camp was launched by the Afghanistan Motorcycle Federation in Kabul on Saturday. The head of the Afghanistan Motorcycle Federation said that the reason for launching the training camp was to prepare the athletes for the upcoming national and international competitions. Click here to read more (external link).
NBC News: The last two of more than 270 students, faculty and staff from Afghanistan’s only music school have left the country in the wake of the Taliban takeover, the institution’s founder said on Thursday. “It was extremely emotional,” the Afghanistan National Institute of Music’s founder and director Ahmad Sarmast said of students he greeted at the airport in Doha on Tuesday. “They just couldn’t stop crying and I was crying together with them.” Click here to read more (external link).
Mohammad Nader Alemi
Tolo News: Mohammad Nader Alemi, a psychiatrist and head of the mental health department of Mazar-e-Sharif hospital, was killed after being abducted and held for two months. Balkh doctors said Alemi had worked as a psychiatrist for 40 years and was the founder of the first private psychiatric hospital in Balkh. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Crime News
Taliban Militants in Kabul
8am: Although people expected to see no more explosions under Taliban rule, this has increased contrary to expectations. However, residents of Kabul are deeply concerned about the escalation of the bombings, saying that the security forces of the Taliban-led government are not successful in securing the people. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Sakhi Murad and Abdul Khaliq came to Herat from Ghor and Badghis provinces. Due to poverty, the two fathers have decided to sell their children for money. Sakhi Murad moved to Herat two years ago due to war and insecurity in the village of Chehelgazi in the Dolina district of Ghor province. He now lives without shelter in the Jalilabad area of Karkh district of Herat province. The United Nations has previously warned of widespread poverty and hunger in Afghanistan; A challenge that has never been taken seriously by the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).
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Ariana: Local officials and residents of Kunduz province said Thursday that the number of drug addicts in the province has risen sharply in the past few months, largely due to poverty. Kunduz hospital officials said in the past three months, 91 addicts have been treated at the hospital. Click here to read more (external link).
1/5 The Taliban’s letter to Congress earlier this week misconstrued the facts re Afghanistan’s economic & humanitarian crisis. Afghanistan was unfortunately already suffering a terrible humanitarian crisis before mid-August, made worse by war, years of drought, & the pandemic.
— U.S. Special Representative Thomas West (@US4AfghanPeace) November 19, 2021
Tolo News: In a series of tweets, West said the US officials had made it clear to the Taliban years ago that taking power by force would result in non-humanitarian aid cut. “US officials made clear to the Taliban for years that if they pursued a military takeover rather than a negotiated settlement with fellow Afghans then critical non-humanitarian aid provided by the international community – in an economy enormously dependent on aid, including for basic services – would all but cease. That is what occurred,” he said. Click here to read more (external link).
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AP: More than 28,000 Afghans have applied for temporary admission into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons since shortly before the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan and sparked a chaotic U.S. withdrawal, but only about 100 of them have been approved, according to federal officials. Click here to read more (external link).
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By RFE/RL Gandhara
November 19, 2021
Germany has sent high-ranking diplomats to Kabul to meet with the Taliban for the first time since the militia group took power in Afghanistan.
The German Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country’s special representative for Afghanistan, Jasper Wieck, and ambassador-designate Markus Potzel met on November 18 with high-ranking officials from the Taliban government. The delegation was accompanied by Dutch special representative Emiel de Bont.
“Both sides highlighted the importance of continued operational contacts on issues where practical cooperation is both necessary and possible, in particular to address the humanitarian plight of the Afghan people,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Western governments are looking for ways to engage the Taliban and address the country’s dire humanitarian situation but want to avoid direct support for the new government, which is not internationally recognized.
Similar to other countries, the German Embassy in Kabul was evacuated in mid-August as the Taliban took control of the capital.
The Foreign Ministry said Taliban officials committed to providing humanitarian workers safe and unhindered access to people in need, while Germany and the Netherlands reaffirmed their readiness to provide the Afghan people with extensive aid as winter approaches.
The diplomats also brought up the issue of women’s rights and education, including additional support for the education and health sectors. Under the Taliban, most girls in grades seven through 12 are banned from attending school and most women in civil service are prohibited from working.
The Taliban government “expressed their understanding that equal access for girls and boys to education is a national necessity for Afghanistan,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The diplomats told the Taliban that Germany and the Netherlands were ready to find ways for the salaries of employees in the health and education sectors to be paid directly through international organizations. Since coming to power, the Taliban has struggled to pay the salaries of civil servants.
The Taliban also committed to a previously announced general amnesty for anyone affiliated with the toppled internationally backed government and former security forces. They also repeated a pledge for free passage for all Afghans who want to leave the country.
“We have taken note of the pledges. Further engagement depends on their implementation,” the Foreign Ministry said.
With reporting by dpa
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