Iran's Special Representative for Afghanistan Corrects Stance on NRF

According to Bakhtar News Agency, a Taliban-affiliated media group, these military vehicles have been repaired by Taliban’s 215 Azam Corps’ technical team.

Taliban’s Ministry of Defense said that the US had destroyed some of its military equipment during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US Congress in a report said that after their withdrawal from Afghanistan, they left military equipment worth USD 7 billion in the country.

The United States are mostly concerned about their equipment left in Afghanistan for three reasons, i.e., usage of the military equipment for violent actions by the Taliban; terrorist groups getting access to the equipment; and Russia and China’s access to this advanced equipment, who have close relations with the Taliban.

Earlier, several international organisations have suggested that Taliban may have sought China and Russia’s help for repairing the inoperative equipment.

According to Bahrami, who was speaking on the anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he has not yet seen any signs amidst the approach and operations of the NRF which depicts that it is being influenced by Western countries.

Speaking on the occasion of the first anniversary of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, Bahrami said that the NRF consists of former Mujahedin and security forces of Afghanistan.

Earlier, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's representative for Afghanistan, stated that the US seeks to destabilize Afghanistan by forming the NRF.

Qomi, had called the resistance in Afghanistan a lie and claimed that the US is organising 7,000 people on Afghan soil, for use in future programmes.

Iranian media quoted Qomi as saying, "The US is trying to create sectarian conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis, as well as between ethnicities in Afghanistan."

Qomi had also claimed that "part of the intelligence organisation of the former government had hands in the explosions across the country”.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has not recognised the government of the Taliban, and in the past year, the border forces of Iran and the Taliban have had military clashes in Nimroz province several times.

However, despite the tension between the two sides over Iran's claim of the Helmand River, Iranian and Taliban officials have tried to improve their relations.

Independent sources are yet to confirm the death of Mawlawi Mehdi.

Mawlawi Mehdi was the only Hazara commander of the Taliban who was briefly appointed as the head of the Taliban's intelligence in Bamiyan province after this group took control of Afghanistan.

After being removed from this position, he went to his hometown in Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province.

He announced to have parted with the Taliban due to discrimination against Hazaras and Shias of Afghanistan.

Later, he mobilized hundreds of his armed followers in Balkhab district and fought against the Taliban, but Taliban suppressed Mehdi’s forces.

Following the military operations of the Taliban in Balkhab, the United Nations announced that 27,000 residents of this district had been displaced due to the conflicts.

A number of human rights organisations reported that the Taliban killed civilians during their military operations in Balkhab.

The Taliban has not yet commented on the issue.

Some sources said that there were clashes reported in the area and a stray bullet hit the girl and she was killed.

This comes even as the Taliban has been accused of killing civilians in Panjshir province.

On Monday, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan claimed that operations had been launched against the Taliban across Panjshir province. They claimed that many Taliban members have been killed and 40 members of the group have been arrested.

The briefing, The Rule of Taliban: A Year of Violence, Impunity and False Promises, documents gross human rights violations under a year of Taliban rule. The human rights organisation stated that the Taliban has been persecuting minority groups, violently clamping down on peaceful protests, suppressing women’s rights and using extrajudicial executions and disappearances to spread fear among Afghans.

The briefing also highlights the broken promises made by the Taliban who had initially promised to uphold women’s rights and even provide amnesty to former government officials. However, the rights group stated that the Taliban has been torturing civilians, undertaking revenge killings and forced evictions of opponents of the group.

“A year ago, the Taliban made public commitments to protect and promote human rights. Yet the speed with which they are dismantling 20 years of human rights gains is staggering. Any hopes of change have quickly evaporated as the Taliban seek to govern through violent repression with full impunity,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Director.

Mishra added that arbitrary detentions, torture, disappearances, summary executions are daily routine and women and girls, without rights, are facing a bleak future, deprived of education. The briefing elucidated that the Taliban have subjected women to increasing violence since they took power. Sometimes as a way of punishing their family members. Dozens of women have been arrested and tortured for holding peaceful protests demanding their rights, amid mounting restrictions that have stripped away their freedoms, it stated.

Amnesty International called on the Taliban to immediately stop committing gross human rights violations and crimes under international law. It also asked the group to urgently restore, protect and promote the rights of Afghan people.