Taliban Announces the Arrest of Four ISKP Members in Kabul’s Paghman District

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8am: Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman and deputy minister of information and culture, said that on Tuesday night, October 6, Taliban forces carried out a campaign on an ISKP base in the Paghman district of Kabul. According to Mujahid, four members of ISKP group were arrested in the operation, which was carried out by special units of the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).

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Uzbekistan continues to export electricity to Afghanistan

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Ariana: Uzbekistan has continued supplying electricity to Afghanistan without disruptions, the Uzbek Energy Ministry’s press service said Tuesday. This comes after reports emerged that Afghanistan could face winter outages due to unpaid debt to electricity exporting countries, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran. One official told Ariana News on Tuesday that Afghanistan owes its neighbors $62 million. Click here to read more (external link).

First Afghan Refugees Settle in Canada Amid COVID Fourth Wave

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Craig McCulloch
VOA News
October 6, 2021

VANCOUVER, CANADA — Shortly after August’s collapse of the Afghanistan government to the Taliban, the Canadian government announced it would initially welcome 40,000 refugees.

The resettlement is happening amid upheaval in Afghanistan and at the height of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The first refugees to arrive on Canadian soil were immediately quarantined for 14 days in one of five hotels in Toronto. They were then inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines. They are now being resettled in various parts of Canada.

Chris Friesen is the chief operating officer at the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia, a government-funded agency. Friesen has spent 30 years helping immigrants and refugees in Canada and says assisting Afghan refugees is unique.

“What’s the difference between the Afghan movement and other movements is the fact that Canadians, particularly to the armed forces, had spent, many years in Afghanistan,” he said. “There was a personal connection to Afghans and Afghanistan.”

Friesen said most Afghan refugees left quickly with hardly any possessions, presenting unique sets of challenges for resettlement. None of the usual preparatory paperwork was completed before they arrived in Canada, he said.

During quarantine in Toronto, Afghan refugees were also given laptop computers or tablets. This allowed Canadian immigration workers to offer English lessons and children’s programming remotely for access to education.

Among the refugees is Abdul, currently in Vancouver with his family. He is not using his full name to protect relatives still in Afghanistan.

Abdul has a brother in the United States but wanted to come to Canada because of previous connections he had with Canadians.

He spent more than 45 years living in Afghanistan, and worked as a journalist based in Kabul. Working for both Afghan and American media outlets for more than 20 years, he saw the risks due to his profession given how the Taliban mistreated journalists.

“I think my life was in danger. Not only my life, but because of me, my family’s life was in danger,” he told VOA. “And that’s why I was very, I was trying too much to go out because I was in direct threat, even when the government, the ex-government was going on, I was [feeling threatened].”

Abdul arrived in Canada with his wife and children, who range in age from grade school to university. He is hoping to one day help his mother immigrate. He said he and his wife will take some English courses and other classes and will work toward becoming Canadian citizens.

“My family is safe here it is very important for me that the future for my kids is somehow defined,” Abdul said. “They will go to school, inshallah [Arabic for “if God wills”] soon and then they will go to college, [some] who were in at university in Afghanistan.”

Taliban Accused of Killing 13 Ethnic Hazara Afghans

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 5, 2021

ISLAMABAD  — The international rights advocacy group Amnesty International has accused Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban of unlawfully killing 13 members of the ethnic Hazara minority community on August 30, two weeks after the Islamist group seized control of the war-ravaged country.

Eleven surrendering troops from the ousted Afghan government and two civilians, including a 17-year-old girl, were among the victims, the watchdog said in a new report released Tuesday.

The extrajudicial executions happened in Kahor village of the Khidir district in northern Daykundi province, the report said, citing eyewitness testimony.

Amnesty has verified photographs and video evidence taken in the aftermath of the killings, demanding these cruel acts of revenge must immediately be ceased by the Taliban.

“These cold-blooded executions are further proof that the Taliban are committing the same horrific abuses they were notorious for during their previous rule of Afghanistan,” Amnesty International’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said in the report.

VOA has contacted the Taliban for their reaction in response to Amnesty’s findings but could not get a response immediately.

Hazaras, Shi’ite Muslims, account for 9% of Afghanistan’s 36 million population, making them a target in a Sunni-majority country.

The Taliban Islamist group is often accused of persecuting ethnic and religious minorities during the time it was previously in control of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Women were also barred from public life and work while girls were prevented from receiving an education.

But since returning to power in mid-August, the radical group has assured the international community the rights of all Afghans will be protected, announcing a blanket amnesty for all those who served in the Western-backed ousted government.

“The Taliban say they are not targeting former employees of the previous government, but these killings contradict such claims,” lamented Amnesty in its report.

The international community has ignored Taliban calls for granting legitimacy to their rule, saying they are waiting to see if the group lives up to its commitments of protecting human rights, especially the rights of women, and run the country through an inclusive political government.

Humanitarian situation

Meanwhile, the U.N. International Children’s Emergency Fund and the World Health Organization expressed concern Tuesday about the dire state of malnutrition and food insecurity sweeping across Afghanistan.

With winter fast approaching, it is now a race against time to assist Afghan families lacking access to clean drinking water and health and nutrition services, the relief agencies said in a news release.

“Fourteen million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity, and an estimated 3.2 million children under the age of five expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year,” the U.N. statement warned. “At least one million of these children are at risk of dying due to severe acute malnutrition without immediate treatment.”

Afghan cricket team gears up for T20 World Cup

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Ariana: Afghanistan’s T20 cricket squad held a training session in Kabul on Tuesday ahead of the T20 World Cup, which takes place in the UAE and Oman in October and November. “Our aim will be to gain something from this (World Cup), not just participate in it. The boys are also very excited, and are eager to do very well in these matches,” said player Sharafuddin Ashraf. Click here to read more (external link).