The National Resistance Front (NRF) announced that while Afghanistan commemorates the 34th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the country is currently too under the reign of a terrorist group.
NRF emphasised on the formation of a democratic, moderate Islamic system in Afghanistan.
According to the NRF, such a system should be based on people’s vote, and must respect the freedom of people, especially women in Afghanistan.
Both the previous governments of Afghanistan and the Taliban honour this day, but Afghanistan is still mired in war and conflict.
The Taliban, which seized power for the second time on August 15, 2021, have imposed severe restrictions on social and political life of the people of Afghanistan and have limited their freedoms.
This group has excluded women from social life and have banned their right to education and work.
While these restrictions have been met with protests of women groups and international criticism, the Taliban have reacted with violent crackdown of these protests and have ignored these international demands.
Mullah Yaqoob, the Taliban’s defense minister, said that the group should avoid arrogance and pride and respond to the legitimate will of the people. Yaqoob asked the Taliban leadership to preserve the Taliban political system.
The Taliban’s defense minister was speaking at a gathering on the 34th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan and emphasised that there is no alternative to the Taliban regime.
He stressed that the group must unite people around the Taliban political system.
The Taliban’s Defense Minister said that if someone does not want the current political system of the group, they should provide an example of what kind of system they want. However, he added that the people should support the Taliban regime.
Mullah Yaqoob stated that any front that wants to create instability should know that the people of Afghanistan are now awake.
He addressed the opponents of the Taliban and said that instead of threatening them, they should participate in the development of Afghanistan.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister of Taliban, too, addressed the gathering and said that the government of the Taliban has made significant progress in the country. He added that Afghanistan's soil has not been used against any country.
Referring to the concern of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries about the presence of ISIS in northern Afghanistan, Muttaqi said that these countries should not threaten the Taliban.
Muttaqi added that if an ISIS member is identified, he will be destroyed.
Mullah Yaqoob’s call to maintain the Taliban regime comes even as Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister of the group, recently criticised the Taliban leadership.
Haqqani had said that the current situation of the Taliban regime is not acceptable and they should prevent monopolisation of power.
Shahabuddin Delawar, the Taliban’s minister of mines and petroleum, said that the Taliban regime must value people’s desires for its survival. Delawar added that anyone within the ranks of the Taliban, including ministers, must support the legitimate will of the people.
The Taliban’s minister of mines and petroleum was addressing a gathering which celebrated the 34th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, in Kabul.
Delawar’s criticism is the latest in a series of criticisms of the supreme Taliban leader from senior members of the group over the past few days.
The Taliban Minister of Mines and Petroleum also said on Wednesday that freedom is won by the people and lost by the leaders. According to Delawar, gaining freedom is as important as persevering it.
In recent days, criticism of the decisions of the Taliban leadership has increased from senior members of the group in Kabul. Earlier Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister, criticised the leadership of the group in a speech in Khost province. He accused the Taliban leadership of monopolising power in Afghanistan and said that the current situation is unacceptable.
Several Afghan citizens told Afghanistan International and have reported on social media that Taliban has banned celebration of Valentine's Day. The Taliban ministry of promotion of virtue and prevention of vice have asked the public in Kabul not to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
One and a half years after the Taliban’s return to power, celebrating Valentine’s Day, like some other occasions, has become a dream in Afghanistan.
During the era of republic Afghanistan, the shopping malls in Kabul and other cities of Afghanistan had been selling gifts for Valentine's Day, and young men and women bought flowers, sweets and gifts for their loved ones.
Last year and on the first Valentine's day after the Taliban’s return to power, the group did not show much opposition to buying gifts and celebration of the day.
However, this year, reports from Kabul indicate that the Taliban members have put in place heavy presence of the group’s fighters across the city and have warned the public not to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) announced that of the 28 million people in need in Afghanistan, 23 million have been prioritised to receive aid. UNHCR added that if the organisation receives enough funding, it is possible to support the people.
The United Nations urged countries to respond to the call of the organisation to support the people of Afghanistan.
The United Nations has requested 4.6 billion dollars to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
After the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, more than 90% of the Afghan people have been facing severe economic and food crisis.
Afghanistan International has gained exclusive access to a recent speech of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, in which he widely criticises Taliban members. Lashing out, Haqqani said that now in the Taliban everyone only thinks about their personal interests.
The speech, which has received many reactions, had been delivered in the stronghold of the Haqqanis in Khost province. During the speech, Haqqani said that in contrast to now, during the time that he calls the Jihad of the Taliban, religion remained firm by religious scholars.
The Taliban’s interior minister added that some people [Taliban members] think that now "jihad is over and they have to work for themselves”.
Haqqani criticised the members of the group and said that they have forgotten the interests of people.
According to Haqqani, Taliban members do not think about "what service they can provide to the people" after they get appointed to positions in the Taliban regime.
In his speech, Haqqani added, "We reached our goals with many sacrifices. Now, the responsibility has been placed on our shoulders and it requires patience, morals, and proper behaviour and engagement with the people."
Addressing the Taliban, he stressed, "Let's not behave in such a way that people hate religion."
This Taliban senior official urged members of the group not to be arrogant and understand others. He also said, "We are all questioned because of extremism. This [extremism] is not worthy of us.”
Haqqani emphasised that the behaviour of the Taliban members will make everyone hate them. According to him, people's hatred against the Taliban "is not limited to one person”, but to the entire group.
Sirajuddin Haqqani also asked the Taliban members to have good engagement with the people. He asked the group’s officials not to abuse their "positions in the government", otherwise people will criticise them.
Haqqani said, "There should not be rifts between the people and the government."
The Taliban’s interior minister also reminded the audience that he did not achieve his current position "by flattery and begging others". Haqqani said that he lost his "youth" on this path and has faced many challenges. However, he said that "many others have jobs and lives a luxurious life”. Haqqani didn’t specifically mention any person, but it seems that he pointed out to many Taliban leaders.
The Taliban’s interior minister added that some people in the Taliban regime give themselves the right to challenge the regime of this group based on their "theories".
Without naming anyone, he said, "Some people want to make the regime unpopular and monopolise it, and they are proud of their work." However, Haqqani, added that the current situation is not acceptable.
This senior Taliban official said, "Our responsibility is something else. We have to mobilise people and bring them closer to us."
Sirajuddin Haqqani said that he doesn't want to name a specific country, but in many meetings, "foreigners have said that they don't want to repeat the past experience and apologised for their mistakes”.
He stressed that the West and its supporting countries "accept their mistakes. We also communicate to them what they have done to our people”.
Haqqani added, "We don't want to experience the past and want to engage with the world.”
At the same time, the Taliban interior minister stressed that they are faithful to their commitments in the Doha agreement.
Haqqani added that the Taliban have adhered to the commitments they made in the Doha talks. However, he mentioned the implementation of only one part of the Doha agreement wherein it has been stated that "Afghanistan will not be a threat to any country”.
The other section of the agreement on intra-Afghan dialogue, has been ignored by the Taliban, despite continued pressures from international community. But, Haqqani said that the Taliban are "faithful" to their commitments and have proven it.
He added that on the first day of the Taliban's arrival in Kabul, "If we had broken our commitment, we would not have left a foreign soldier alive around the [Kabul] airport."
Sirajuddin Haqqani said in Khost province that if they don’t receive support from the world, they have to reach out to Afghan businessmen and private sector to join hands and change the situation of Afghanistan.
Haqqani stressed that we should "rely on our own resources" and "not wait for anyone else’s support”.
He asked the people of Khost to start building a hospital for themselves.
The Taliban's interior minister said that he felt "ashamed" to face the people. He added that only in the Ministry of Interior of the group, 5,000 applications are submitted by people every day.
"I'm ashamed, but we're not powerless," he said. “We will use our resources for the welfare of these people."
Haqqani said, "If we want people not to doubt us and not distance themselves from us, we must pay attention to them."
These statements of the Taliban's interior minister in Khost has caused a ripple among a number of senior members of this group. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Taliban, said at Kabul University on Sunday, without naming anyone, that if there is any criticism, the leader should not be disrespected.
He added, "If someone criticises the Amir [supreme leader], a minister, or a deputy minister, Islamic ethics requires that he should not insult him and convey the criticism to him in a way that no one else hears."