At Least Three Killed, More Than 20 Wounded In Afghan Blasts

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
September 18, 2021

Reports from Afghanistan say three explosions have killed at least three people and wounded 19 others in the capital of the eastern province of Nangarhar, in what was described as the country’s first deadly attack since the Taliban gained control of most of the war-torn country more than a month ago.

Witnesses and a member of the Taliban-led government were quoted as saying that at least one of the blasts in the city of Jalalabad hit a vehicle carrying Taliban fighters.

Women and children were said to be among those wounded.

The blasts were caused by roadside bombs, a source in the province told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity. The source said three civilians were killed and an unspecified number of Taliban fighters were injured.

Photos allegedly taken at the site of the blast showed a pick-up truck with a white Taliban flag surrounded by debris as armed fighters looked on.

No other details were immediately available.

Earlier in the morning, a sticky bomb exploded in the capital, Kabul, wounding at least two people, police officials said.

The target of the Kabul attack was not immediately clear, but local media reported that it occurred in an ethnically Hazara-dominated area in police district 13, in the western part of the city.

The Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, ousting the internationally backed government and promising to restore security to the violence-wracked country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts.

Nangarhar is the heartland of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group’s local branch, Islamic State-Khorasan, which is an enemy of Afghanistan’s new rulers.

An anti-Taliban resistance front is also active in Panjshir, a rugged mountain valley located about 100 kilometers northeast of Kabul.

During a visit to Tajikistan on September 18, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that Tehran will “will not allow terrorist organizations and IS to set up next to our border and strike other countries and the region.”

“The presence of IS in Afghanistan is dangerous not only for Afghanistan but also for the region,” he said.

Iran, which shares a 900-kilometer border with Afghanistan, did not recognize the Taliban during their first stint in power between 1996 and 2001.

But Tehran has recently said that the Sunni militant group must be “part of a future solution” in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s new rulers have formed a government led by hard-line Taliban veterans and composed by men almost entirely to the Pashtun ethnic group.

“A government belonging to only one ethnic or political group cannot solve Afghanistan’s problems,” Raisi said, calling for a government with representation for all Afghans.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said he had launched talks with the Taliban — whose leadership has historically had close ties with its southern neighbour — to try to persuade the militants to form a government that includes Tajiks, Uzbeks, and members of the mainly Shi’ite Hazara minority.

Reflecting widespread disappointment over the recently announced Taliban-led government that left out women and minorities, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on September 17 saying that the group needs to establish an inclusive government that has “the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women” and upholds human rights.

The resolution also extended the mandate of the UN mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA, for six months, and delivered a clear message that the 15 council members will be watching closely events in Afghanistan.

With reporting by dpa, AP and AFP
This story also includes reporting by Radio Azadi correspondents in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Pakistan’s Shameful Glee at the Taliban’s Rise

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Mohsin Dawar via The Diplomat: Pakistan has played an active role in creating, facilitating and supporting the Taliban over the decades, a fact that the state has stopped denying. But it has done so at the very heavy cost of the lives of thousands of Pakistanis and hundreds of thousands of Afghans. Pakistan continues to play with fire, and we fear that it will eventually be consumed by the flames. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Shootout in Palace Sidelines Leader Who Dealt With U.S

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Baradar

Bloomberg: The man the U.S. and its allies hoped would be a moderate voice in Afghanistan’s Taliban government has been sidelined after a dramatic shootout in the presidential palace in Kabul, according to people with knowledge of the matter… Khalil ul Rahman Haqqani rose from his chair and began punching the Taliban leader… Click here to read more (external link).

Out with Ministry of Women’s Affairs and in comes Ministry of Preaching and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

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Imran Khan: Pashtuns are 75% of population in Afghanistan

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Putin censures US legacy of ‘complete economic, social devastation’ in Afghanistan

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Putin

Press TV
September 17, 2021

The US-led coalition’s 20-year presence in Afghanistan brought nothing but economic and social devastation to the war-torn country, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Speaking at a joint meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Friday, Putin stressed that “the weapons are perhaps the only thing that the Taliban received after the West’s twenty-year military presence in Afghanistan. In fact, there is nothing good about this. Otherwise, the country found itself in a state of complete economic and social devastation.”

Earlier this month, the Russian leader had criticized the Western presence in Afghanistan, saying that the 20-year occupation had resulted in “sheer tragedies and losses” for the United States and the Afghan people alike.

He noted at the time that the American presence in the region was “to impose their norms and standards of life in the broadest sense of this word, including the political organization of society.”

“This is a zero result, if not negative.”

Moscow has been critical of the US policy in Afghanistan, where Washington’s military engagement cost over $80 billion, and hundreds of thousands of lives.

However, as the US and its allies withdrew troops from the war-torn country, the Taliban quickly regained footing in the country and ousted the government of the now runaway President Ashraf Ghani in mid-August.

U.S. Says Deadly Drone Strike In Kabul Was ‘Mistake’

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McKenzie (file photo)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 17, 2021

U.S. General Kenneth McKenzie says a deadly drone attack by U.S. military outside Kabul airport in the last days of the U.S. evacuation “was a mistake” and apologized for the loss of innocent lives.

McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the attack killed as many as 10 civilians, including seven children, not extremists as the military said in assessing the attack shortly after it occurred on August 29.

“It was a mistake and I offer my sincere apology,” McKenzie said at a briefing on September 17.

He added that he now believes that it unlikely that the vehicle hit by the drone strike or those who died were Islamic State militants or posed a direct threat to U.S. forces at Kabul’s airport.

The military believed it had accurate information that the car that was hit posed an imminent threat. He noted that the attack was carried out amid threats from Islamic State and three days after a suicide bombing killed 13 U.S. soldiers and more than 170 Afghans outside an airport gate.

Investigative reports by The Washington Post and The New York Times in recent days quoted explosives experts who refuted the military’s claims that the drone strike hit a car that was laden with explosives.

McKenzie said the Pentagon is considering reparations for the families of the people killed and is in consultations on how to proceed with that.

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Afghan Schools To Reopen For Boys Amid Apparent Reinstitution Of Moral Police

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 17, 2021

The Education Ministry of the Taliban-led Afghan government says middle schools, high schools, and madrasahs for males will reopen on September 18, with no mention of when girls in those classes will return amid indications that the department of women’s affairs is undergoing a radical change.

The order from the Education Ministry applies to boys and teenagers from grade six and above and their teachers according to a statement on September 17. There was no reference to girls in the statement.

Students in lower grades have already been told to return to school.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in 1996-2001, girls were not allowed to attend school and women were banned from work and education.

After toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul a month ago, the hard-line Islamist group suggested it had changed, including in its attitude toward women and girls.

Many Afghans were taken aback when last month the Taliban-led government announced that female university students could continue their studies but only in gender-segregated classes and if they wore a niqab — an Islamic veil that covers the face – and abaya — a loose-fitting and all-covering robe.

For 20 years university students of both genders studied in joint classes and did not have to abide by a dress code.

Meanwhile, in Kabul on September 17, workers replaced a sign for the department of women’s affairs with one indicating the ministry would revert to the role it played in the earlier Taliban government as its moral police.

A sign for the building was covered by a replacement in a mixture of Dari and Arabic reading Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, according to photographs and witnesses quoted by Reuters.

Female employees said they had been trying to report to work in the building for several weeks only to be told to return to their homes, according to videos filmed outside the building seen by Reuters.

The gates of the building were locked on September 16, one of the women said.

A Taliban spokesman did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters said.

During the Taliban’s earlier rule its Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice became known as the group’s moral police, enforcing its interpretation of Shari’a law that included a strict dress code and public executions and floggings.

A list of cabinet posts announced by the Taliban on September 7 included an acting minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice and made no mention of a department of women’s affairs. No women were included in the list of senior government positions.

This story includes reporting by Radio Azadi correspondents in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.

With reporting by dpa and Reuters

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Taliban behead Afghan man in front of his family

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The Taliban Are Hunting Down Any Afghan Tied to Western Organizations

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Taliban Militants in Kabul

National Review: The Taliban are methodically collecting as much information about the Afghan population as possible, looking for anyone who has, in their eyes, been tainted or corrupted by Western influences or values. Hiding Afghan allies of the U.S. are now wondering if it is worth it to try making the dangerous journey to sneak into Pakistan — although that option offers a separate plethora of deadly risks. Click here to read more (external link).