UN & EU Provide Educational Opportunities for Afghans in Uzbekistan

In an interview with Afghanistan International on Wednesday, he said that Ashraf Ghani appointed incompetent army officers to head the security institutions of Afghanistan.

The former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army stressed that the Afghan army was well-trained and equipped, however, indirectly he also approved former president’s inner circle’s narrative that the Afghan army collapsed due to global and regional conspiracy and the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

However, in the interview, General Murad blamed the presidential palace for the defeat of the previous government’s army in Afghanistan; a criticism that Ghani, his former Vice-President Armullah Saleh, and other senior aides to the former president rejected.

Murad accused Ghani and his security team of "pulling out experienced and educated generals from the leadership of the Afghan army, police and other security agencies and appointing inexperienced junior and young officers at leading positions of the security and defense forces”.

Ashraf Ghani's government, within the framework of the plan to reform the Afghan security forces, had retired and dismissed hundreds of military personnel and placed some young military personnel at important positions, such as the command of the army corps.

During this interview, Murad did not try to analyse the collapse of the Afghan army from a military point of view and stressed that there was a conspiracy against the security forces inside the government.

He said, "The enemies fought with us during the day and were equipped and financed at night. Even their wounded were dragged from the battlefield.”

OCHA said that with the end of the 20-year war between the Taliban and the previous government, Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban has begun a new period characterised by economic crisis, hunger, malnutrition, a sharp increase in poverty in cities and villages, the collapse of the health system, and repression of the media.

The UN agency explained that the collapse of the previous regime led to the suspension of global aid, which previously accounted for 75 percent of public spending, including maintaining the health system.

According to OCHA, Afghanistan's economic crisis is widespread and more than half of the households have experienced economic shock over the last six months.

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has also acknowledged the economic crisis in Afghanistan.

Mujahid said that any country that has "experienced a long war and invasion will have economic challenges for a while".

At the same time, he said that the Taliban is determined to restore the economic resources of Afghanistan.

However, Qomi added that the Kamal Khan Dam diverts the water to a direction other than Iran.

He said that measures should be taken to stop this diversion, and the Taliban officials told him that they have been taking necessary measures to do the same.

During the previous Afghan government, the Helmand water issue caused tension between Afghanistan and Iran. However, after taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban announced that the group was committed to the Helmand Water Treaty.

Last year, the Taliban released waters of the Kamal Khan dam in Nimroz province.

Qomi has also stressed that the Taliban is willing to cooperate with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Earlier this year, Iran's foreign minister had said that although the Taliban released a part of the waters of the Kamal Khan Dam and "recognised" Iran's claim, the Islamic Republic is not satisfied with the Taliban's level of release of water.

He said that the ban is not permanent and will be resolved.

Haqqani added that security has been ensured in Afghanistan and the world should support this development.

In this meeting, Griffiths emphasised on lifting restrictions on Afghan women's right to education and work.

According to a statement of the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, Griffiths added, "We should not criticise each other's performance because excessive criticism closes the doors to understanding."

Earlier, the United Nations had criticised the Taliban for restrictions on Afghan women's right to work and education, as well as what it considers to be widespread human rights violations.

He was arrested by the Taliban last year too, and was released after several days of torture.

The Taliban have not reacted to the reports of his arrest.

According to the sources, about twelve members of the Taliban raided Shahin's house and transferred him to an unknown location.

Musa Shahin sings songs about Panjshir, a province which is one of the main bases of the resistance forces against the Taliban.

Although the Taliban denies violence against civilians in Panjshir, but in more than a year of the group's rule, it has been reported that civilians have been arrested, tortured and in some cases killed on the charge of "collaborating with the resistance front" in the province.