Other Countries Must Accept Afghan Refugees, Says Iran Representative

The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad has confirmed the release of these detained Afghans who had been detained due to their illegal stay in Pakistan.

Haji Nazar Khogyaniwal, one of the activists for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, told Afghanistan International, that these citizens will reach Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province from Quetta city in Pakistan on Thursday.

Manzoor Pashteen, the leader of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement in Pakistan (PTM), said that Afghans are going through a very dire situation and that the neighbouring countries should avoid creating problems for Afghan immigrants.

After the fall of the Afghan government to the Taliban in August 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens have illegally immigrated to Pakistan and Iran.

Last month, 40 Afghan immigrants were released from Karachi police prison with the cooperation of refugee rights activists and leaders of the PTM.

According to sources who spoke to Afghanistan international, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, which is under the control of the Taliban, has not cooperated with the release of Afghan citizens from Pakistani police detention.

According to AI sources, Bahramuddin Nuristani, the former commander of Mandol Nuristan district, died after being tortured in a Taliban prison in Laghman province.

The Taliban had summoned him to consult about the construction of the Nuristan-Laghman highway, but he was imprisoned and killed by the group.

Nuristani was an influential leader in Mandol district.

According to sources, after Nuristani’s murder, residents of Mandol armed themselves on Wednesday and asked the Taliban to hand over the perpetrators of the murder.

Sources said that due to the resident’s anger, the Taliban district governor and the police commander for Mandol did not return to the district center, and other Taliban members also fled the area.

Relatives of this former soldier said that the Taliban severely tortured him in prison.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Beijing enjoys close relations with the Taliban and stressed that his country seeks more engagement of the world with the group.

Earlier, Geng Shuang, the Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, addressed the Security Council meeting and said that the international community must engage with the Taliban in a practical way and help the group form an inclusive government.

Despite these statements, the Taliban claim that they have already formed such a government, which they think represents all ethnic groups in Afghanistan.

However, on the contrary, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, and Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, have repeatedly asked the Taliban to hold a Loya Jirga and facilitate a national dialogue in Afghanistan.

Tom West, the US special representative for Afghanistan affairs, on Wednesday too emphasised on the formation of a political process and the start of intra-Afghan talks.

West while addressing a meeting at a think-tank in Washington, added that the talks should take place at a level where all Afghans must be represented.

West, who has continuously met with the Taliban and former Afghan government officials in the past year, predicted that Afghanistan will face another civil war.

However, West emphasised that Afghans should not rely on the international community and must find their own solutions.

But the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s view is more focused on international community.

Wenbin said, "The international community should continue to engage with the Afghan interim government and increase humanitarian aid.”

Wenbin also stressed that sanctions should not be used as a tool to pressure the Taliban.

Taliban forces, however, dispersed the rally with aerial firing. According to local sources, around 25 Afghan women had staged the protest. Women protesters carried placards that read, "Iranians have stood up, now is our turn" and "Say no to dictatorship from Kabul to Iran”.

This is the second time when Afghan women have expressed their support for Iranian women’s demonstrations. Earlier, they had supported the Iranian people's protests and said that soon "the rule of brothers, fathers and husbands will end”. These women added that they have suffered the same pain which Iranian women are going through.

Women, life, and freedom is the famous slogan of the popular movement which had started in Iran after the Iranian girl Mehsa Amini had been killed in the custody of the morality police of Iran.

The nationwide uprising against the Islamic Republic regime, which started after the murder of Amini across Iranian cities, continues across the country.

Pakistan's chargé d'affaires, however, mentioned the country's aid and support to Afghanistan under the Taliban and said that the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan have positive and good relations. He stressed that the good relations between the two nations should not be undermined by the expression of viewpoints.

Abbas also pointed to other areas of cooperation, such as reducing the visa issuance time for Afghans; facilitating trade between the two countries; and creating exemptions for Afghanistan's exports, and mentioned the allocation of funds for 1,500 Pakistani scholarships for Afghanistan.

The chargé d'affaires of the Pakistani embassy emphasised on Pakistan's cooperation and assistance to Afghanistan and said that Islamabad in September allocated nearly one million dollars for the Muhammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Kabul.

Asad also mentioned that at the UN General Assembly, Pakistan had requested for the release of Afghanistan’s financial reserves and revival of the country’s banking system and said that Islamabad had also urged the international community to provide 4.2 billion dollars in humanitarian and economic aid to Afghanistan, which was requested by the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Abbas expressed these remarks after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern about the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan at the UN General Assembly.

Sharif said in a speech at the 77th UN General Assembly that Pakistan, like other countries in the world, is concerned about the "activity of major terrorist groups" from Afghanistan.

The Taliban's Foreign Ministry has dismissed these claims as baseless and emphasised that Afghanistan soil will not be used against any other countries.

Amir Khan Muttaqi the foreign minister of the Taliban, has said that if anyone uses Afghan soil against other countries, they will be punished.

He added that the stability of Afghanistan is in the interest of the region and there are interest groups that want to keep Afghanistan isolated.

The Taliban's reaction to concerns about the presence of extremist militant groups in Afghanistan comes at a time when Islamic State – Khurasan (IS-K) has attacked Uzbekistan and Tajikistan at least three times since the return of the Taliban to power in August 15, 2021.

On the other hand, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has repeatedly attacked the Pakistani army bases on the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan.