Export of “Islamic Revolution” Disastrous for Afghanistan, Says Former Spy Chief

“There are signals that the Taliban are indifferent to more than 50 per cent of the population,” he said referring to the ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education and growing restrictions on women’s rights and added, “Taliban are willing to risk international isolation. Such a scenario can lead to mass migration and a domestic environment conducive to terrorist organizations, as well as greater misery for the Afghan population. That’s why we have to engage,” he declared. He stated that “continued qualified engagement” was the most realistic way of helping the Afghan people.

Stressing that “patience is running out” for many in the international community when it comes to effectively engaging with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers, the Taliban, Potzel said that the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has monitored a steady rise in security incidents by terrorist groups and others.

“Our earlier warnings about the capabilities of Islamic State Khorosan Province (ISKP) were dismissed by the Taliban”, he told ambassadors.

“But ISKP has demonstrated in the last few months alone that it can carry out assassinations of figures close to the Taliban, attacks against foreign embassies, as well as fire rockets across Afghanistan’s border to attack its neighbours - all while maintaining its long-standing sectarian campaign against Shia Muslims and ethnic minorities,” said Potzel.

Armed clashes are continuing between Taliban security forces and armed opposition groups in the Panjshir, Baghlan, Kapisa, Takhar, and Badakhshan provinces, the UN envoy continued while calling for an investigation into allegations of extra-judicial killings there.

Despite some positive developments over the past few months, the Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan said that they have been “too few and too slow and they are outweighed by the negatives”.

Potzel stated that the per capita income has collapsed to 2007 levels – erasing 15 years of economic growth – and said that the country’s economic situation “remains tenuous”.

Moreover, a continued lack of political inclusivity and transparency in decision-making leave most Afghans without any government representation, he said. “There are no consistent mechanisms for citizens to provide feedback to the authorities and little indication that the Taliban wish to even hear any,” the UN envoy said.

National Resistance Front (NRF), the main anti-Taliban resistance force in Panjshir, has not reacted to the report so far.

The spokesperson of the Taliban police command in Panjshir has said that light and heavy weapons have been seized in the operation.

The National Resistance Front has been fighting against the Taliban mostly in the mountains and valleys of Panjshir province.

He said that Taliban fighters and a Pakistani officer at midnight entered the United Nations compound in Kabul city after capturing it in 1996 and killed Najibullah and his brother Shapoor Ahmadzai.

Dr Najibullah had taken refuge at the United Nations Compound when Kabul fell to the anti-Soviet Mujaheedin in 1992.

On the 26th anniversary of Dr Najibullah's death, Khattak said that in the 1990s, Pakistan had dispatched the Taliban to destroy Afghanistan as a country and a nation, and for the first step, they killed Najibullah.

This former member of Pakistan's senate said that Najibullah wanted an advanced and free Afghanistan, therefore, he had become a national hero for most Afghans.

Khattak added that during their reign in Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Taliban turned the country into a hub for foreign terrorist groups and a playground for major players.

Referring to the current situation in Afghanistan, Khattak urged the world to support the resistance against the Taliban.

He emphasised on the continuing restrictions on Afghan women and girls’ rights, stating that more restrictions will have lasting detrimental consequences for the recovery and stability of Afghanistan.

He urged the Taliban to review the mahram and Islamic hijab directives and to clarify their recommendatory, non-mandatory nature, so as to facilitate women and girls’ participation in education, employment and all other areas of daily life.

He stated that women reported an increase in the informal policing of women by families, communities and employers, who often acted out of fear of potential consequences for not adhering to gender-specific directives.

In his report, the UN Secretary General also stated his serious concern regarding the apparent impunity with which members of the Taliban continue to carry out extrajudicial killings, torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary arrests and detentions of former government officials and former Afghan National Defence and Security Forces members, and individuals accused of affiliation with ISIL-K and the National Resistance Front. He called on the Taliban to uphold their public commitments regarding respect for human rights, in particular the general amnesty, and hold those responsible for human rights violations to account, while taking the necessary steps to prevent their reoccurrence.

The lack of mechanisms for inclusivity, consultation and representation in the de facto administration continues to raise concern, the report stated. “The current policy direction of the Taliban may sow the seeds of future instability, especially if the needs of the Afghan people are not addressed, their rights are curtailed, and the country’s diversity is not adequately reflected in governance structures,” it added.

The report also stressed that the security situation reveals a worrisome trend in recent months, particularly the series of attacks by ISIL-K, recurring armed opposition clashes with Taliban de facto security forces and the continuing presence of foreign terrorist groups in Afghanistan. It called on the Taliban leadership to engage in a serious counter-terrorism dialogue to strengthen international cooperation in countering these threats, while complying with obligations under international law.

Touching upon the topic of media freedom, he stated that the continued pressure placed by the Taliban on journalists and civil society activists is cause for alarm.

The report despite highlighting the human rights violations, also called on regional and international organisations, as well as the international community, to consider scaling up financial support to meet basic needs for the Afghan population such as for the provision of food, medical and clothing needs, educational and vocational training, and to support the deployment of health and education personnel in detention facilities.

Guterres said that the humanitarian response plan remains only 41.8 per cent funded, with a shortfall of some $2.59 billion, despite pledges of about $2.4 billion that were made in March and called upon donors to renew their support so that the life-saving response is scaled up and delivered ahead of the winter season.

The Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister added, "As soon as possible, education will be provided and the gates of schools will be opened for everyone." Stanikzai urged the Taliban not to discriminate in disseminating education.

He stressed that in order to ensure justice and national unity, education should be provided to everyone.

The Taliban official added that depriving Afghan girls of education increases the rifts between the Taliban and Afghan citizens.

He asked the officials of the Taliban’s Ministry of Education to resolve issues that have caused the school gates to remain closed for girls.

As per reports, the Taliban leaders have difference of opinion regarding the education of girls in high schools. It has been reported that Nurullah Munir, the former minister of education of the Taliban, was dismissed because of his views in favour of the opening of girls' high schools in Afghanistan.