Not Aware of Presence of Al-Qaeda Leader in Kabul, Says Taliban

According NRC due to last week's floods in Afghanistan, 1,720 houses were destroyed and 3,073 houses were damaged, 12 wheat mills were destroyed and 28 bridges had collapsed. At the same time, over five kilometres of asphalt roads had also been damaged.

NRC estimates that around 18,000 people have been affected by the recent floods in Afghanistan.

In a statement, Neil Turner, the country director of NRC in Afghanistan, acknowledged that the situation in rural Afghanistan was already critical before the flooding. He said that the economic crisis following the Taliban takeover last year has pushed many Afghan farmers into severe debt.

According to him, crops were wiped away and winter was just around the corner and that these communities have zero time to recover.

The statement added that according to the assessment of the United Nations Food Program, Afghanistan is among the six countries whose population is at catastrophic risk of hunger that requires immediate attention.

At the same time, he stressed that the international community should take urgent measures to reduce the damage caused by the current economic restrictions imposed on Afghanistan.

Wang Yu, Chinese ambassador in Kabul, quoted Hua Chunying the country’s spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter as saying that there should not be double standards in the fight against terrorism.

Yu also quoted Chunying as saying that the fight should be against all forms of terrorism.

US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday night that the US killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, in a drone strike in Kabul last Sunday. The killing of al-Zawahiri in Kabul has caused widespread international reactions.

In a statement, the council said, "Taliban has turned Afghanistan into the capital of terrorism and a safe haven for cross-border terrorists."

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in an American drone attack in Sherpur area of Kabul city on Sunday.

The Council which consists of several senior Afghan leaders and political parties stressed that the killing of al-Zawahiri eliminated all optimism regarding the change in the nature of Taliban.

The Council has emphasized that the Taliban returned to power because of a complex conspiracy and has turned Afghanistan into the "capital of terrorism".

The Council added that the Taliban has taken the Afghan people hostage by providing safe haven to international criminals.

Earlier, the US State Department issued a statement saying that the Taliban severely violated the Doha agreement by sheltering the leader of Al-Qaeda in Kabul.

According to this council, the Taliban's relationship with other terrorist groups has created a real threat to Afghanistan, the region, and the world.

This council has asked the international community to stand by the Afghan people and refuse to cooperate with the Taliban.

Niklasson wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the Taliban had reiterated their commitment at the Tashkent conference that Afghanistan would not become a safe haven for terrorists.

He said that the Taliban had said last week that they are in full control of the Afghan territory in order to convince countries to receive aid for Afghanistan.

He asked the group if the Taliban was unaware, unable or unwilling to take action against the al-Qaeda leader. According to reports, the al-Qaeda leader had been staying at a house owned by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network and the Taliban's interior minister, in Kabul.

Zadran said that members of the Taliban had been targeted from a house in the area during a special operation.

According to him, the house has now been surrounded by Taliban forces.

In the videos published on social media, sounds of gunfire exchange can be heard in district 3 of Kabul.