Taliban sources confirmed on Wednesday that the group's national ulema meeting, scheduled for today (June 29), has been postponed. The reason for the postponement of the meeting has not been announced. Anonymous source said that the meeting would be held on Thursday (June 30).
The Taliban have not issued any official statements regarding the meeting.
Around 3,000 people from across Afghanistan have been invited by the Taliban to a gathering of Islamic clerics, expected to be held at the Loya Jirga Hall. Three representatives--mostly clerics--from each village have been invited, sources said and added that the meeting will last for three days.
The Afghanistan Central Bank, controlled by the Taliban, banned online trade of foreign exchange in the country and declared it “illegal”. Saber Mohmand, the Central Bank’s spokesperson warned that violators will face prosecution.
“There is no instruction in the Islamic law to approve it”, he told Bloomberg.
Since Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, the collapsing economy in the country has forced Afghans to use Forex (Foreign Exchange Market) or digital currencies, in other to keep their money out of Taliban’s access.
Even though, there is no information about the number of active users of Forex in Afghanistan, Mohmand said that “millions of dollars” are being traded mainly in Sara-e-Shahzada, the biggest exchange market in the capital of Afghanistan. The order comes as the Taliban is trying to reintegrate Afghanistan’s devastated economy.
Lack of recognition of this regime has caused loss of international assistance in Afghanistan which had accounted for over 40 percent of Afghanistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) previously.
Mullah Baradar, Taliban’s deputy prime minister visited earthquake-hit provinces of Paktika and Khost on Tuesday, a week after the disaster struck the region on June 22. Taliban’s office of first deputy PM announced that Baradar took 53 million afghanis in cash along with them.
This cash aid will be distributed transparently by the commission of disaster management of the Taliban, the office added.
According to Taliban’s statement, Mullah Baradar promised victims that the government will cooperate with the people, oversee that their houses are rebuilt, send in more economic aid and help them return to their normal life.
Pictures shared show Khalil Haqqani, Taliban’s minister of refugees and one of the senior members of Haqqani network members, along with Mullah Baradar. This is for the first time that Mullah Baradar and Khalil Haqqani have been seen together in the past 10 months, ever since there were reports of their dispute in the Arg (presidential palace of Afghanistan).
Meanwhile, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that they have appealed for USD 110 million for emergency aid for the victims of the earthquake in Afghanistan for the next three months. It added that 362,000 people have been affected in Khost and Paktika provinces.
Social media users have launched a fundraising campaign in support of 1,500 families displaced from Balkhab district to Yakawlang district of Bamyan province. The families, who are in dire economic conditions, have been displaced due to the recent clashes in Balkhab district.
As the Taliban launched their offensive in Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pol province, hundreds of locals reportedly fled from their homes to the mountains or to neighboring districts and provinces.
Local sources in Bamyan confirmed to Afghanistan International that the displaced from the Balkhab war are now living in the province without shelter, water, or food.
Social media campaign organizers have emphasised that the affected citizens of Balkhab war need food, medicine, and shelter.
Over the past few days, Taliban has sent thousands of troops to Balkhab district in Sar-e-Pol province to suppress Mawlawi Mahdi, the group’s only Hazara commander. After three days of fighting, Taliban officials said that the group took control of the Balkhab district and the offensive was over.
However, a number of human rights groups have expressed concern about the possibility of civilians being killed by the Taliban in Balkhab district. Amnesty International had said that it is deeply concerned about the summary executions and civilian casualties by the Taliban forces in the district.
As the clashes began, there were reports of Taliban killing civilians in Balkhab. However, a Taliban spokesman said that no one had been "oppressed" and that "propaganda about civilian casualties in Balkhab was untrue".
Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesperson, said that in Balkhab, "people live in peace and security".
The Taliban’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, during a phone conversation with Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s Foreign Minister, said that his country is committed to begin flights between Afghanistan and China.
He also added that the visa issuance process will soon resume for Afghan businessmen.
Yi also expressed condolences for the deadly earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan. China had earlier announced that they will provide humanitarian aid worth USD 7.5 million for victims of the earthquake in Khost and Paktika provinces.
Even though China has not recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan, it has still maintained good relations with the group's officials at the highest level.
Taliban’s foreign ministry quoted Wang Yi as saying, “China is against sanctions on Afghanistan". Yi was also quoted appreciating the role of the Taliban’s embassy in Beijing for strengthening the relation between both the countries.
The United Nations Security Council, of which China is a member, has imposed sanctions against the group due to it being included in the terrorist groups' list of this organization. Recently, this council decided to extend the travel exemption of Taliban leaders temporarily.
Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has suspended over 500 employees of kindergartens of this ministry without notice, most of whom are women and the only breadwinners of their families.
Some of these employees said that the Taliban suspended them from their jobs instead of firing them to prevent them from protesting. According to the Taliban’s written decree, due to organizational shortcomings, 517 positions in the kindergarten directorate are on hold. Of these, 311 suspended positions were of teachers.
The date on the document shows that it had been sent three weeks ago on June 6 from the hiring directorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to the Directorate of Kindergarten.
One of these employees told Afghanistan International that they have been suspended without any notice. According to the source, most of the employees that have been suspended are women and the only breadwinners of their families and are now facing a difficult situation.
Earlier, the Taliban had fired or suspended employees of former government in different departments too. However, the group says that instead of firing them, their employment has only been put on hold and if needed, they will be absorbed into the system again.
At the same time, these employees said that the Taliban uses this method to prevent them from protesting.
