Taliban Warns West Of Fresh Wave Of Refugees If Afghan Sanctions Not Relaxed

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Muttaqi

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 13, 2021

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have warned U.S. and European envoys that continuing to use sanctions as a means to put pressure on the militant group would trigger a new wave of economic refugees.

The acting foreign minister of the Taliban government, Amir Khan Muttaqi, told Western diplomats at talks in Qatar that “weakening the Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone because its negative effects will directly affect the world in (the) security sector and economic migration from the country,” according to a statement published late on October 13.

The United States and the European Union have said they are ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan but want guarantees the Taliban will respect human rights, in particular those of women.

The Taliban toppled the Western-backed Afghan government in August following a blitz offensive across the war-wracked country amid the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces that put an end to the two-decade-long conflict.

Afghanistan’s economy is in free fall with most aid cut off as winter nears, food prices rising, and unemployment spiking.

“We urge world countries to end existing sanctions and let banks operate normally so that charity groups, organizations, and the government can pay salaries to their staff with their own reserves and international financial assistance,” Muttaqi told the Doha meeting according to a statement by his spokesperson.

The EU during its first talks with the Taliban in Doha announced an expanded support package for Afghanistan and its neighbors worth about 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion).

Brussels hopes that donating money to help stabilize Afghanistan and assist countries around it could prevent a repeat of Europe’s 2015 migration crisis, when more than 1 million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East arrived in the bloc.

But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that it would be used to help Afghanistan’s neighbors or given in “direct support” to the Afghan people, bypassing the Taliban government.

“We have been clear about our conditions for any engagement with the Afghan authorities, including on the respect of human rights,” she said on October 12.

With reporting by AFP 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.

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Khan: ‘Taliban of 2000’ Might Return if No Intl Engagement

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Imran Khan

Tolo News: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said if the international community does not lift sanctions against the Islamic Emirate and does not engage with it, there is a possibility that Afghanistan could go back to the 1990s. “Pakistan insists on recognition for the sake of its own interests, because it has been behind all the problems in Afghanistan and is still interfering in Afghanistan’s affairs,” said Sayed Hakim Kamal, a political analyst. Click here to read more (external link).

The Academic Year Ends Soon: Girls’ Schools Are Still Closed

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8am: There are about two and a half months left until the end of the school year, but girls’ schools have not reopened yet. The Taliban did not allow girls’ secondary schools to operate. As the academic year is about to be over, female students are worried about this future and are afraid that they will not be able to go to school anymore. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghanistan Needs an Inclusive Government, Ahmad Massoud Says

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Massoud

8am: On Tuesday, October 12, the National Resistance Front (NRF) by publishing a statement has said that the front calls for the formation of a real inclusive government based on the will and votes of the people, adding that he welcomes the stance of the countries of the world not to recognize the Taliban’s government and the emphasis on forming an inclusive government in Afghanistan, and expects this policy to continue decisively. Click here to read more (external link).

G-20 Leaders to Discuss Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

VOA News
October 12, 2021

ROME — Leaders of the grouping of the world’s 20 largest economies are holding a virtual extraordinary meeting Tuesday on Afghanistan, less than two months after the Taliban took over the country. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who holds the rotating presidency of the G-20, had pressed for the meeting saying Afghanistan is headed for a humanitarian catastrophe.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Tuesday’s closed-door virtual summit on Afghanistan would focus on security, humanitarian aid and human rights in the country. It is being held less than three weeks before the G-20 summit of world leaders to be held in Rome on October 30-31.

Since the Taliban returned to power on August 15, following the U.S. troop withdrawal after two decades of war, there have been growing concerns about the humanitarian situation in the country.

Leaders will hold discussions on how to combat terrorism, how to guarantee freedom of movement, both inside and outside Afghanistan’s borders for Afghans as well as members of nongovernmental organizations, and the condition of women in the country, which Draghi has defined a “priority.”

The Italian prime minister spoke about Afghanistan in a recent interview on Italian state television.

Draghi said that for Italy, the future is about defending fundamental rights, defending the rights of women, and protecting all those who have over the years exposed themselves [to dangerous situations] in order defend these rights in Afghanistan.

A major challenge will be pressing the Taliban on guaranteeing the rights of women, who face discrimination and violence, including their full return to schools and to workplaces and their recognition in political life. Only boys are allowed to attend high school and at present, more than 2 million girls are denied access to education and Afghanistan has one of the lowest female literacy rates in the world, according to the World Bank.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that Afghanistan is facing “a make-or-break moment” as he called on the world to act.

Before the Taliban takeover, international aid accounted for 75% of Afghanistan’s state spending, but governments and international organizations have cut off such funding and frozen Afghanistan’s assets.

Guterres said Monday that banks in Afghanistan are closing and that health care and other essential services have been suspended in many places. He warned the humanitarian crisis, which is affecting half the country’s population, is growing.

“The Afghan people cannot suffer a collective punishment because the Taliban misbehave,” Guterres said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pledged help Monday, saying at an EU ministerial meeting that the “humanitarian and socioeconomic situation in Afghanistan is on the verge of collapse.”

“Today we agreed on having a calibrated approach to give direct support to the Afghan population in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, while certainly not recognizing the Taliban,” Borrell said. “We will deliver the aid through our multilateral partners while respecting our agreed principles of engagement.”

The summit has been extended to the Netherlands, Spain, Singapore and Qatar, which has played an important role in the Taliban’s dialogue with the West.

Afghanistan’s neighbors Pakistan and Iran were not invited to attend the summit and Chinese media reported President Xi Jinping would not take part. But to maximize involvement, various organizations are also joining, including the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Afghanistan’s spiraling economy and the need to provide humanitarian support, also to nearby nations taking in refugees, are central to the meeting.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said he has asked for an “increase in funds for cooperation in Afghanistan to help civilians.” He added that everything must be done to avoid the state from collapsing because, he said, “if Afghanistan collapses, we will face uncontrolled migration to nearby nations with subsequent destabilization in the area.”

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.

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Daesh’s job is to lead Afghanistan into civil war: Nasrallah

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ISIS in Afghanistan

ISIS members in Afghanistan – photo by PBS

Press TV
October 11, 2021

The secretary general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has condemned the Daesh-claimed deadly terrorist attack against a Shia mosque in the northeastern Afghan city of Kunduz, saying the Takfiri terrorist outfit aims to stoke tensions and plunge Afghanistan into a civil war.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made the remarks in a televised speech on Monday, the days after a deadly bomb attack on Afghan worshipers offering Friday prayers at the mosque in the Khanabad Bandar area in Kunduz killed scores of people.

The Hezbollah leader denounced the bombing attack on the Shia mosque in Kunduz, stressing that “the Wahhabi terrorist organization” committed the cringe while the United States “bears responsibility” for the act of terror.
“The US administration and the CIA, and all those, who are involved in supporting Daesh, are responsible for the blood that has been spilled,” Nasrallah said.

Figures and information that emerged before the US’s exit from Afghanistan point to Washington’s role in transferring Daesh’s terrorists from Iraq and the eastern bank of the Euphrates River to Afghanistan, the Hezbollah leader noted.

Nasrallah said, “Daesh’s job today is to create a state of internal tension that leads to civil war in Afghanistan,” adding that “the responsibility of the current authorities in Afghanistan is to protect citizens regardless of their religion or sect.”

More than 150 people were killed in the ghastly attack at Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in the Khanabad area of Kunduz, with a predominantly Hazara population.

‘Iran did all in its power to help out Lebanon’

Separately, the Hezbollah chief turned to the issue of the many fuel shipments that Iran has delivered to Lebanon amid the latter’s economic crisis and despite the American sanctions facing both the countries.
“What more can the Islamic Republic do for Lebanon today?” Nasrallah asked.

He also welcomed the prospect of the Lebanese government’s directly buying the fuel from the Islamic Republic, saying the movement would then hand over the responsibility of the purchase entirely to the government if the latter chose to act on its own initiative.

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Ghani’s Power Monopoly, Fleeing Caused State Collapse: Abdullah

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Ashraf Ghani

Tolo News: Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairperson of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said that former president Ashraf Ghani’s fleeing from the country left Afghanistan in chaos and resulted in the collapse of the government. According to Abdullah, Ghani’s distrust toward political leaders, the fraudulent elections and corruption all paved the way for what happened in August. Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghanistan’s Film Archives Were Saved from the Taliban Once Before. What Now?

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IndieWire: During the Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women and girls were shut out of public life, punishments took the form of public executions, and media was banned. That made the archives of the state-run Afghan Film — featuring scenes of women with their hair uncovered and other vignettes of the country’s past — a fast target of the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).