Afghanistan |
Explosion rocks a New Kabul Bank branch in Kandahar, injuring 8 |
2024-03-22 |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] An explosion occurred on March 21 at a branch of New Kabul Bank in the Afghan city of Kandahar. Eight people were injured, crisis24 portal reported. garda.com. The department is located near the city police building. According to the police, the explosion was aimed at people who came to the bank to collect their salaries. All of them are members of the Taliban (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation). So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the explosion. As Regnum reported, in early February, an explosion occurred near the headquarters of a political party in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Eight people died. The incident occurred the day before the parliamentary elections. Related: New Kabul Bank: 2018-05-28 Bank director and 3 workers shot dead by own guard in Uruzgan province New Kabul Bank: 2017-06-23 At least 34 killed in southern Afghanistan bombing New Kabul Bank: 2014-12-18 Helmand Attack Ends with 7 Killed Related: Kandahar: 2024-03-21 Two terrorists killed, as many injured in North Waziristan IBO Kandahar: 2024-03-21 Eight terrorists 'sent to hell' as security forces foil attack on Gwadar Port Authority colony Kandahar: 2024-03-11 CM Bugti announces 'general amnesty' for Baloch separatists willing to join mainstream politics |
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Afghanistan |
Resurgent al-Qaida training camps latest black eye from Biden Afghanistan withdrawal |
2024-02-25 |
[JustTheNews] UN report claims al-Qaida now has eight training camps in Taliban-controlled country. Two reports released just days apart are providing stark new evidence of the lasting consequences of President Joe Biden’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and his administration’s dealings with the Taliban ever since. The United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reported late last month that the terrorist group al-Qaida, though weakened from its heyday in the early 2000s, has reconstituted as many as eight training camps and five religious training schools known as madrassas on Afghan soil under the Taliban’s rule while also increasing its propaganda operations and recruitment. “The relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remains close, and the latter maintains a holding pattern in Afghanistan under Taliban patronage,” the report stated bluntly. “Regional States assess that the presence of Al-Qaida senior figures in the country has not changed and that the group continues to pose a threat in the region, and potentially beyond.” You can read the full report here. While the UN report blamed the Taliban for its hosting of al-Qaida, the Biden administration continued to send massive humanitarian dollars to the Afghan regime, in many cases through the UN and global charities, according to a separate report from an American watchdog. John Sopko, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, reported a few days after the UN report was issued that the United States accounted for all but $300 million of the $2.9 billion in humanitarian aid sent to the Taliban since the withdrawal of American troops in August 2021. Most of it, he noted, came in cash. “The U.S. is the largest international donor, having provided about $2.6 billion in funding for the UN, other PIOs, and NGOs operating in Afghanistan since August 2021,” the report noted. “More than $1.7 billion of that funding came from State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support humanitarian activities.” You can read Sopko's report here. Experts said the flow of cash to help the Taliban while it allows al-Qaida to flourish sends a dangerous message to bad actors, and much of it is routed through the very UN that issued the report. “America is the biggest funder of this thing. So the United States taxpayer is disproportionately on the hook paying for these activities,” former Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates said recently. And coupled with the billions in high-tech weaponry Biden left behind in Afghanistan, the dynamic is creating heartburn in Congress. “This administration has a history of giving money to terrorist organizations, abandoning $80 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan so the Taliban can run around with our M4s and our Blackhawks, and all of our equipment. They have an American last agenda,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told the Just the News, No Noise television show last week. The Taliban, of course, claims it does not harbor al-Qaida and that the UN report was “propaganda.” "There is no one related to al Qaeda in Afghanistan, nor does the Islamic Emirate allow anyone to use the territory of Afghanistan against others," the Taliban said in a statement. But U.S. officials told Just the News they have significant intelligence of al-Qaida’s presence and reconstitution inside Afghanistan since the Taliban overthrew the democratically elected government as U.S. troops were withdrawing in 2021. They noted that when U.S. drones killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022, he was living inside a Taliban Cabinet member’s guest house in Kabul’s diplomatic district. U.S. officials added they are concerned by al-Qaida’s resilience, especially since American intelligence efforts have less visibility inside Afghanistan since the bungled withdrawal. The UN report, culled from intelligence from its various member nations, said that while al-Qaida does not have the capability to command and conduct long-range terror attacks like 9/11 right now, it is clearly showing signs of expansion and regional reach after years of diminishment from the Bush to the Trump years. “Al-Qaida was reported to have established up to eight new training camps in Afghanistan, including four in Ghazni, Laghman, Parwan and Uruzgan Provinces, with a new base to stockpile weaponry in the Panjshir Valley,” the report said. “Some camps might be temporary. “Five Al-Qaida madrasas operate in Laghman, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan and Parwan Provinces,” it added. “The group maintains safe houses to facilitate the movement between Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Provinces of Herat, Farah and Helmand, with additional safe house locations in Kabul.” Equally troubling, the Islamic State terrorist group is also showing resiliency in several regions of the world, particularly Afghanistan, the UN warned. “Member States assessed that, despite the recent loss of territory, casualties, and high attrition among senior and mid-tier leadership figures, ISIL-K continued to pose a major threat in Afghanistan and the region,” it noted. Related: Ghazni: 2024-02-22 Taliban execute two murderers by machine-gunning them through the spine in front of thousands of spectators at football stadium Ghazni: 2023-10-04 Taliban Close Gates of Two Private Schools in Ghazni Due to ‘Shaved Beards of Educators’ Ghazni: 2023-10-03 Daily Evacuation Brief October 2 - 3, 2023 Related: Laghman: 2024-02-22 Taliban execute two murderers by machine-gunning them through the spine in front of thousands of spectators at football stadium Laghman: 2024-01-09 Reports of Poppy Cultivation in Badakhshan Concerning: Fitrat Laghman: 2023-11-28 Daily Evacuation Brief November 27, 2023 Related: Parwan: 2024-01-09 Taliban detains group of women at Khair Khana, Kabul Parwan: 2023-11-28 Daily Evacuation Brief November 27, 2023 Parwan: 2023-11-28 At least 10 Taliban members killed in attacks, Front Freedom claims Related: Uruzgan: 2023-09-30 Sirajuddin Haqqani in Panjshir Stresses Trust-Building Uruzgan: 2023-09-28 Taliban’s Disruption of Aid Programs Push Hazaras To the Brink Uruzgan: 2023-09-25 The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan: The Taliban have killed 17 Hazaras in Uruzgan Province in the Last Two Years Related: Panjshir Valley: 2023-01-16 Afghanistan: The Taliban's punishment of women is an act of desperation Panjshir Valley: 2022-11-07 Taliban reveal burial place of founder Mullah Omar, nine years after death Panjshir Valley: 2022-09-15 Taliban are “looking into” a video circulating on social media that appears to show its fighters executing captured members of an Afghan insurgent group Related: Kunar: 2024-01-04 Ex-MNA Mohsin Dawar survives gun attack in North Waziristan Kunar: 2023-10-06 Daily Evacuation Brief October 6, 2023 Kunar: 2023-09-29 Daily Evacuation Brief September 29, 2023 Related: Nangarhar: 2023-09-24 Daily Evacuation Brief September 24, 2023 Nangarhar: 2023-09-20 Over 100 Afghan Security Outposts Built Along Durand Line Nangarhar: 2023-09-17 On eve of 9/11 Anniversary, U.S. officials continue to downplay Al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan Related: Nuristan: 2023-10-05 Daily Evacuation Brief October 5, 2023 Nuristan: 2023-09-24 Daily Evacuation Brief September 24, 2023 Nuristan: 2023-09-20 Over 100 Afghan Security Outposts Built Along Durand Line Related: Herat: 2024-01-22 PTI-backed NA candidate among 10 injured in Karachi 'attack' Herat: 2024-01-09 Afghanistan Exports Nearly $2 Billion Last Year: MOCI Herat: 2023-12-15 The West is furious: China renamed Tibet |
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Afghanistan |
Sirajuddin Haqqani in Panjshir Stresses Trust-Building |
2023-09-30 |
Trust? An interesting concept, under the circumstances. [ToloNews] The acting Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network.... , called for trust-building between the people and the interim government. Playing Good Talib/Bad Talib. His visit to Panjshir was the first since the Islamic Emirate came to power.Then he did a "Trust Fall" and nobody caught him. So he had everyone in the room executed "Such meetings will be normal among us so I will feel he is my brother. Then the challenges and problems which exist among us, will solve themselves," he said. Haqqani in a visit to Panjshir told the gathering that the doors for the leader of Panjshir are opened based on a "guarantee by the people of Panjshir." Haqqani said that the people of Panjshir should not consider themselves strangers and that they will be provided with all Sharia rights. "You have remained very loyal to your leaders. For your people's sake (people of Panjshir) and because of your people's guarantee, all doors have been opened for them (out-of-country leaders of Panjshir)," he said. Some of the participants talked about the negative impacts of the 20-year presence of western countries in Afghanistan. "We have sustained severe damages from our politicians who made us victims. They have ignited fighting among us," said Qiamuddin Hanif, head of the Ulema council for Panjshir. "In more than 20 years, malicious propagandashas been injected into the minds of people by the enemies of the Islamic government," said Rohullah Rohani, a religious holy man. Related: Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-08-20 IEA has more than 400,000 security forces: deputy PM Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-08-10 Taliban rejects Pakistan’s accusations, says 18 Pakistani fighters killed last year Sirajuddin Haqqani: 2023-08-05 Germany arrests Syrian man accused over 2013 Tadamon massacre Related: Panjshir: 2023-09-25 The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan: The Taliban have killed 17 Hazaras in Uruzgan Province in the Last Two Years Panjshir: 2023-09-16 'They Deserve Some Peace': U.S. Envoy Rejects Support For Anti-Taliban Factions In Afghanistan Panjshir: 2023-09-16 Taliban Detain Four Former Government Soldiers in Parwan |
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Afghanistan |
Taliban’s Disruption of Aid Programs Push Hazaras To the Brink |
2023-09-28 |
[KabulNow] Residents in Afghanistan’s central Daikundi province accuse the Taliban authorities of misappropriating foreign aid assistance from Hazara-populated areas to the ones they prefer. Unexpectedly. Ali Daryab, an activist in Daikundi, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, said that the Taliban have diverted aid to Pashtun areas in the neighboring provinces, such as Ghazni and Uruzgan.Jan Mohammad, also an alias, a resident of the provincial capital Nilli, said that the Taliban’s governor, Aminullah Obaid has distributed ration cards to Pashtuns, mostly Taliban fighters, who move into Nilli from other areas only to receive assistance, including cash handout, and then return to their original homes. |
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Afghanistan |
The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan: The Taliban have killed 17 Hazaras in Uruzgan Province in the Last Two Years |
2023-09-25 |
[8am] Following the recent killing of two Hazara ...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets... individuals in the Khas Uruzgan district of Uruzgan province, the National Resistance® Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan has asserted that, in the past two years, the Taliban ...Arabic for students... have been responsible for the deaths of 17 Hazara residents. The National Resistance® Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan issued a statement on Saturday night, September 23, denouncing this act by the Taliban as a "systematic massacre" of Shia and Hazara people. The statement by this council reads: "In the recent incident, two individuals named Haji Hassan and Ali Khan, who were father and son, were brutally martyred and beheaded in the Tangi Mami area of Joye- Naw region in Khas Uruzgan district of the province. Prior to that, on September 12, a person named Sayed Amir Alawi suspiciously lost his life in the Joye- Naw region." According to this statement, armed local individuals, with Taliban support, have set farms, and houses on fire, cut down trees, and looted the belongings of the people in this region. The National Resistance® Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan continues to remind that Taliban members are also engaged in suppressing residents in Panjshir province, and the Andarab districts of Baghlan province. This council calls for investigations into the committed crimes and immediate actions to prevent similar events in Afghanistan by international bodies, especially the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office in Kabul. This comes as two days ago, Muhammad Mohaqiq, the leader of the People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, claimed that Talibs had killed a father and son in the province of Uruzgan. The Taliban have not made any statements regarding this matter yet. Related: Khas Uruzgan district: 2020-04-09 15 civilians martyred and wounded as a result of US and internal forces brutality in Zabul and Uruzgan Khas Uruzgan district: 2020-04-07 39 Taliban militants killed, wounded in Uruzgan and Zabul airstrikes Khas Uruzgan district: 2019-10-06 Special Forces kill, detain 18 Taliban militants; destroy caches of weapons in 4 provinces |
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Afghanistan |
Islamic Emirate Leader Visits Nimroz Province |
2023-09-25 |
[ToloNews] Zabiullah Mujahid, the front man of the Islamic Emirate, reported a visit of Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Islamic Emirate, to Nimroz province. Mujahid told TOLOnews that during this trip the leader of the Islamic Emirate met with religious scholars, elders, and residents of the province and heard their problems and demands. "He assessed Nimroz's state and closely observed government operations there. He said that the complaints of people should be carefully considered. In the area of service delivery, he provided guidelines. The trip was ended last night," the front man said. Meanwhile, ...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his shoulder. Ow!he exclaimed, with feeling...... some religious leaders and elders in Nimroz said that they had discussed the difficulties that the people of this province are currently facing, and the leader of the Islamic Emirate promised to address those challenges. "I was sitting close to him. On behalf of the council of Ulema and influential people, I shared Nimroz's difficulties with him, including those related to the Kamal Khan Dam, the center's own issues with a shortage of water, storms, and other issues that haven't yet received attention. We hope that with his arrival, a new page will be opened for the people of Nimroz," said Subhanullah Sediqi, a member of the Provincial Ulema Council of Nimroz. "We shared with him the issues that we have at the level of roads, hospitals, municipality and city cleanliness, traffic, and other problems in the water sector," said Habibullah Rahimi, Khatib of Nimroz Jame Mosque. According to some political analysts, this kind of trip of the bigwigs of the Islamic Emirate is important for addressing people's problems. "There are many questions for people that the head of the Islamic Emirate is not actually present, or from the perspective of the politicians, there are rumors that people has less faith in him. It is good that he visits the provinces," said Safiullah Arabzada. Previously, the leader of the Islamic Emirate visited Uruzgan Province and ordered the officials of the province to address the challenges of the province based on Islamic Sharia. Related: Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-09-09 MoI Recruits 74,000 people in Military, Civil Sectors Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-06-06 Islamic Emirate Leader Meets With Provincial Education Leaders Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada: 2023-03-04 Islamic Emirate Leader Meets With Ministers, Clerics |
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Afghanistan |
Daily Evacuation Brief August 21-22, 2023 |
2023-08-22 |
Daily Evacuation Brief | August 22, 2023 [AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS
CONFLICT TRACKER
NEXT 24 HOURS: No Threats Reported Daily Evacuation Brief | August 22, 2023 LAST 24 HOURS
CONFLICT TRACKER:
NEXT 24 HOURS: No Threats Reported |
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Down Under |
Australia's Most Decorated War Veteran 'Responsible for Murder': Judge |
2023-06-06 |
[ToloNews] Australia's most decorated soldier was "complicit in and responsible for the murder" of three Afghan men on deployment, a judge said, elaborating on his finding against the former SAS special forces corporal in a blockbuster defamation trial. Ben Roberts-Smith, holder of the Victoria Cross and other top military honours, was also "not an honest and reliable witness in ... many areas" and a bully toward other Australian soldiers, Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko said in his full judgement released on Monday. Besanko on Thursday threw out Roberts-Smith's defamation case against three Australian newspapers which had accused him of unlawful killings in Afghanistan. Besanko said the media outlets had proven substantial truth in their reporting, ending a case which lifted the veil of secrecy over the elite SAS. Australian civil courts require a lower threshold to prove accusations than criminal courts do. Roberts-Smith has not been charged with any offences and has not commented since the ruling. His lawyer was not immediately available for comment. "I can say no more!" Roberts-Smith has since quit his job as a television executive. Besanko delayed releasing reasons for his judgement until Monday to allow the Australian government time to ensure it did not inadvertently divulge national security secrets. "I have found that the applicant (Roberts-Smith) was complicit in and responsible for the murder of EKIA56 ... in 2009 and the murder of Ali Jan at Darwan on 11 September 2012 and the murder of the Afghan male at Chinartu on 12 October 2012," Besanko said in his 736-page civil court judgment. Roberts-Smith was accused by the newspapers of ordering a lower-ranking soldier to shoot dead an "older Afghan male", identified in the case as EKIA56, to "blood the rookie", he said. In addition, Besanko said: "I find that in a compound in Chinartu ... the applicant, through an interpreter ordered (an un-named person) to shoot an Afghan male who was under detention". A soldier who was there "shot the Afghan male in circumstances amounting to murder. The applicant (Roberts-Smith) was complicit in and responsible for murder," the judgment said. Besanko found Roberts-Smith engaged in a "campaign of bullying" against another Australian soldier, including what he called a "death threat" when Roberts-Smith said: "if your performance doesn't improve on our next patrol, you're going to get a bullet in the back of the head." He also said Roberts-Smith was not a reliable witness in one of the country's longest-running defamation cases and had reasons to lie. "The applicant has motives to lie, being a financial motive to support his claim for damages in these proceedings, a motive to restore his reputation which he contends has been destroyed by the publication of the articles and significantly, a motive to resist findings against him which may affect whether further action is taken against him," Besanko said wrote. "I find that the applicant was not an honest and reliable witness in ... many areas," he added. Roberts-Smith, 44, was seen as a national hero, with his portrait hanging in the Australian War Memorial, for his actions during six tours of Afghanistan from 2006 to 2012 and military citations. A 2020 report found credible evidence that members of Australia's Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) killed dozens of unarmed prisoners in the lengthy Afghan war. Only one soldier has been charged. The Australian government is looking for "a way forward" to compensate families of victims of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, the defense minister told legal advocates, the Guardian reported. Officials continue to warn about the complexity of the compensation issue, one of the key outstanding recommendations from the Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces soldiers, according to the Guardian. TOLOnews reached out to some family members of the victims in Uruzgan provinces, where the Australian soldiers were settled under the command of ISAF/Resolute Support forces. The residents claim that hundreds of people were either killed or maimed in night raids being conducted by Australian forces in Uruzgan. |
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Down Under |
Australian soldier loses war crimes defamation case |
2023-06-02 |
[DW] In 2018, media reports alleged decorated SAS veteran Ben Roberts-Smith was involved in the murder of six unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan. A contentious trial filled with allegations of murder, domestic violence, witness intimidation and war crimes saw one of Australia's most decorated soldiers lose a landmark defamation case against major newspapers on Thursday. Ben Roberts-Smith, a former member of Australia's elite Special Air Services (SAS) regiment, had sued three newspapers — the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, and the Canberra Times — over reports published in 2018 that alleged his involvement in the unlawful killing of six unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan. The reports had painted the former special forces corporal as someone who violated the moral and legal rules of military engagement, he claimed. The Australian court dismissed the case saying the newspapers had substantiated many of their allegations as "substantially true." For varying degrees of "substantially" and "true", including "none" The Taliban ...Arabic for students... group, the Islamist de facto ruler of Afghanistan before the 2001 US invasion as well as since August 2021, said the incidents investigated by the Australian court were all but a "small part" of the many alleged crimes which took place during the 20-year war. The group's administration front man Bilal Karimi was cited by the Rooters news agency as saying foreign forces had committed "uncountable crimes" throughout the war. He added that the group did not trust any court globally to follow up all crimes. AUTHORITIES LOOK INTO ILLEGAL CONDUCT BY SOLDIERS In March, Australian police charged the first veteran in connection with an alleged killing in Afghanistan, following the Brereton investigation that identified potential illegal conduct by 19 Australian special forces soldiers during the conflict. Oliver Schulz, a former SAS trooper, faced a murder charge for the death of an Afghan individual shot in the Uruzgan province in 2012. The Australian police, in collaboration with the Office of the Special Investigator established in 2021, are actively working to build cases against elite SAS and Commando Regiment troops who served in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2016. Over the course of 20 years, more than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan until the withdrawal in 2021, with 41 casualties suffered during the mission. US FEAR SAS 'TAINTED' The United States had previously cautioned that allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers in Afghanistan could hinder cooperation with Australia's Special Air Service Regiment. General Angus Campbell, Australia's defense force chief, revealed that he had received a letter in March 2021 from the US defense attaché in Canberra, suggesting that the elite SAS may have been "tainted" by the war crime allegations highlighted in the Brereton report. The report contained "credible information" indicating that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians, the letter said. It also warned that these allegations could trigger a US law that prohibits military collaboration with units associated with grave human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. violations. |
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Afghanistan |
US Has Suspended Assistance Operations in Ghor: Miller |
2023-05-27 |
[ToloNews] The US Department of State spokesperson said that Washington has suspended operations in Ghor province following "evidence of continued attempts by the Taliban ...Arabic for students... " to divert assistance. I’m shocked. Not that the Taliban would steal it, but that the Biden administration would actually show some spine. Speaking to news hounds in Washington D.C., the US State Department’s Spokesman Mathew Miller also said that the World Food Program halted distribution in two districts of Ghazni province from January to April, when local officials attempted to interfere in distribution."In April, another US government partner suspended activities in Uruzgan province after the Taliban issued demands to provide transportation support to Taliban representatives ... We have been very clear. We don’t provide funding for the Taliban and we have a very strict monitoring and compliance process in place for the partner with which we do work," he said. "The Islamic Emirate has the control of the whole country. And there is no doubt that they also have access to this money," said Seyar Qureshi, an economist. Miller said that the State Department and US Agency for International and Development (USAID) worked with all partners to provide basic needs assistance to the people of Afghanistan. "The State Department and USAID continue to work with the World Bank, with the UN, with NGOs and other implementing partners and like-minded governments to provide humanitarian basic needs assistance to the people of Afghanistan. Not to the Taliban," Miller said. This comes as the Ministry of Economy (MoE) said that the suspension of some aid by the US will damage Afghanistan. "The suspension of aid will damage the people of Afghanistan and it will cause livelihood challenges and so we demand that the US release the money of the people of Afghanistan," said Abdul Latif Nazari, the deputy Minister of Economy. "The reduction of aid by the US is kind of a pressure tactic on the Taliban and it can also be because of the lack of a formation of an inclusive government which is in favor of the US and West," said Sayed Masoud, an economist. Earlier, speaking to the US House Oversight Committee, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconciliation (SIGAR) John Sopko testified that he cannot say whether the US assistance is currently not "funding the Taliban." Related: Ghor province: 2023-03-22 Grenade Blast Kills Mother, Five Children in Afghanistan’s Ghor Ghor province: 2023-03-14 3rd Round of Polio Vaccinations Begun in 31 Provinces Ghor province: 2022-10-16 Woman Kills Self Before Taliban Stones Her to Death for Running Away from Home Related: World Food Program: 2023-05-17 UN Gives up on Women’s Rights in Afghanistan World Food Program: 2023-05-16 Grain Deal roundup: Five countries asked the EU to extend the period of restriction of Ukrainian grain imports World Food Program: 2023-04-18 US embassy car fired upon in Sudan, almost 2,000 known casualties across the country Related: Ghazni province: 2023-01-02 Appointed to Settle The pasture Dispute Between The Kochi and Hazara Communities in Southen Ghazni Province-Afghanistan Ghazni province: 2022-09-25 Taliban Destroy the Poppy Fields After Collecting the Harvest Ghazni province: 2022-06-01 The Taliban Makes Mullah Hibatullah’s Name Mandatory to Be Mentioned in Friday Prayer Sermon |
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Afghanistan |
MoI: '4000 Hectares' of Poppy Fields Destroyed |
2023-05-09 |
[ToloNews] The counter-narcotics department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said that so far it has destroyed 4,000 hectares of poppy fields in the country. Hasibullah Ahmadi, head of the MoI, added that the process of destroying poppy fields is ongoing in Badakhshan, Kunduz, Takhar and Faryab provinces. "About 4000 thousand hectares of land have been cleared of drug cultivation in the center and provinces of the country," Ahmadi noted. The Kabul Security Command reported that after the Islamic Emirate returned to power, more than 1,000 people were arrested in connection with drug trafficking and its sales in the capital. "1000 suspects have been arrested and turned over to the law in Kabul. These were the narcotics sellers and smugglers," said Kabul security department front man Khalid Zadran. Some farmers whose poppy fields have been destroyed asked the current government to provide them with alternative crops. "We ask the current government to provide us with an alternative to opium cultivation and help us because our children are dying of hunger," said Wali Mohammad, a resident of Uruzgan. The counter-narcotics department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), said that based on the surveys of recent years, there are between 3.5 million and 4 million drug users in the nation. The MoI has recently begun a new survey on the matter. |
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Down Under | ||
Former Australian Soldier Charged for War Crimes in Afghanistan | ||
2023-03-21 | ||
[KhaamaPress] Based on the results of a murder investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, a former Australian Special Air Service (SAS) member was charged with murder on Monday. According to a statement released by the Australian Federal Police, a 41-year-old man has been arrested in New South Wales and charged with the war crime of murder. "It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan", the statement said. The probe, carried out by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), was set up in 2021 to investigate the alleged war crimes. The report said that 19 current and former members of the SAS and Commando Regiments who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016 are the subject of criminal investigations. The investigation has led to several arrests, but Schulz is the first. According to the statement, the maximum sentence for the crime is life imprisonment. The man has been arrested and placed in jail until his court date. An alleged helmet cam footage of Schulz, identified as Soldier C, shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in Uruzgan province in 2012 was aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in its documentary Four Corners in 2020. Almost 30,000 Australian military soldiers served in Afghanistan during the country’s 20-year tenure until the withdrawal two years ago. At least 41 Australian soldiers have bit the dust while fighting in the US against hard boy organizations. The Australian Defense Force (ADF) has stated that an unrestrained "warrior culture" among the soldiers is to blame for these crimes.
He was arrested on Monday in New South Wales (NSW) and has been remanded in custody. The investigation was carried out by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), the body set up to investigate alleged war crimes following a four-year inquiry led by an Army Reserve major general and NSW Supreme Court judge Paul Brereton. The Brereton Report - released in 2020 - found there was "credible evidence" that Australian elite soldiers unlawfully killed 39 people during the Afghan war. It said 19 current or ex-special forces soldiers should be investigated by police over killings of "prisoners, farmers or civilians" from 2009 to 2013. This is believed to be the first arrest linked to that inquiry. | ||
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