Taliban Begins 4-Day Vaccination Programme in 16 Provinces of Afghanistan

Reacted to Afghanistan International’s news regarding the same, Rasoul Mousavi, Iran’s assistant foreign minister, indirectly said that Khalilzad is in no position to talk about US policies against Iran.

Mousavi asked the former US envoy for Afghanistan what good he had done with the United States’ policies in Iraq and Afghanistan and said that now he has no right to talk about US policies against Iran.

Khalilzad, who had severed as a US special envoy for Afghanistan, had said that reducing Tehran's capabilities is the only way to prevent the Islamic Republic from building nuclear weapons.

Mousavi quoted Afghanistan International’s report regarding Khalilzad’s stance and said, “Thank God for creating our enemies from fools.”

The human rights organisation stressed that after taking power in August 2021, those arrested by the Taliban have been mainly employees of the previous government, including members of the previous security and defense establishment.

Rawadari added that dozens of civil activists, journalists, and human rights defenders have been arrested and subjected to violence and mistreatment.

According to the rights watchdog, the Taliban have arrested hundreds of other people on charges of cooperation and membership with the National Resistance Front (NRF), dozens of women who protested the group’s policies, and several Salafi believers across the country.

AIHRC also stressed that an illegitimate government with no governance capacity has caused more poverty and an economic crisis in Afghanistan.

The commission added that the collective approach of the international community towards Afghanistan is highly important for Afghan women’s rights.

The commission urged for more humanitarian aid for Afghans and stressed that the international community should establish clear and efficient monitoring mechanisms for the distribution of aid across the country.

Earlier, the Taliban had reported that the ministers of defense and interior and the director of the group’s intelligence agency had discussed the security of the TAPI project with Uzbekistan officials.

TAPI is a natural gas transmission pipeline from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, which kicked off in Kabul in August 2016.

Security challenges have always been one of the main issues for the implementation of the project in Afghanistan.

The previous government of Afghanistan had repeatedly announced that the Taliban would pose a security challenge to the implementation of TAPI in Afghanistan.

Haji Zaid, the spokesman for the Taliban governor in Kandahar, on Friday, quoted Amina Mohammed, the Deputy UN Secretary-General as saying that the UN "is fully committed to improving and strengthening the Taliban's relations with the international community”.

The Taliban also quoted Mohammed in their statement and wrote that the United Nations continues to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

However, the statements that the Taliban attributed to Mohammed have been in clear contradiction with the statement that the United Nations published at the end of the UN delegation's visit to Kabul.

The UN statement stressed that "this delegation directly issued a warning to the Taliban regarding the recent decree banning women from working in national and international non-governmental organisations”.

According to the UN statement, Mohammed said, "My message was clear. While we recognise the important exemptions made, these restrictions present Afghan women and girls with a future that confines them in their own homes, violating their rights and depriving the communities of their services."

While in their statements from the UN delegation meetings, the Taliban has said that the UN delegation spoke about continuation of humanitarian aid without any conditions, the organisation’s statement quoted Mohammed as saying, “The effective delivery of humanitarian assistance is predicated on principles that require full, safe and unhindered access for all aid workers, including women.”