Seek Full Implementation of Doha Agreement, Says Prominent Taliban Member

Mar 1, 2023, 09:30 GMT

Anas Haqqani, a prominent member of the Taliban, said that the Doha agreement resulted into the end of a prolonged conflict and urged for the full implementation of it.

In the meantime, Taliban’s mines and petroleum minister, Shahabuddin Delawar, stressed that in opposition to the Doha agreement, the US violates Afghanistan’s air space.

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Taliban Members Start Mission At Afghan Consulate General in Istanbul

Feb 28, 2023, 14:31 GMT

The Taliban foreign ministry announced that the group's members have officially started working at the Afghan consulate in Istanbul. The ministry said on Tuesday that they provide consular services to Afghans outside of Afghanistan.

The Taliban foreign ministry has also stated that the group’s diplomatic relations with Türkiye is of "special importance".

The Taliban have added that the presence of thousands of Afghan refugees in Istanbul adds to the importance of this city.

On Monday, sources told Afghanistan International that the Turkish government has asked three former Afghan diplomats in Istanbul to hand over their diplomatic cards.

Earlier, the ministry of foreign affairs of the Taliban had issued a letter and announced the end of the mission of these three diplomats.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Zakir Jalali, the adviser of Taliban Foreign Minister confirmed that Gulmat Khan Zadran, the representative of the group, had taken control of Afghan consulate in Istanbul.

Over 300 Employees of Afghan Parliament Ask Taliban To Issue Passports Free of Charge

Feb 28, 2023, 12:41 GMT

Around 340 employees of the secretariat of the former senate of Afghanistan have requested the Taliban to issue passports to them, free of charge. In a letter to the Taliban Prime Minister, the signatories have said that due to poverty they are unable to pay the passport fees.

They said that they had to leave Afghanistan due to poverty and unemployment.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the parliament of Afghanistan has been dissolved and the employees working in the two bodies have lost their jobs.

In their letter, the signatories have stressed that they have applied to the government jobs, but they have not received any answer.

They said that after the dissolution of the parliament, they became unemployed and during this time they have sold all their household items to provide for food and other needs for their children, but they could no longer afford this situation.

In the letter, the Prime Minister of the Taliban has been asked to issue family passports free of charge so that they should be able to migrate from Afghanistan.

These former Afghan republic state employees said that they are committed to "serving the country", but they are not given a chance.

After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Afghanistan had been dissolved and the administrative staff of these two houses have become unemployed.

Leaked Audio File Attributed to Late Massoud Calls Iran Weak & A Hypocrite

Feb 28, 2023, 11:02 GMT

An audio file attributed to the late commander, Ahmad Shah Massoud, is being circulating on social media in which he calls Iran “weak and a hypocrite”. Massoud’s views of Iran has been leaked two days after the transfer of affairs of the Afghan embassy to the Taliban.

In the audio file, Ahmad Shah Massoud talks about the perspective of regional countries regarding anti-Soviet Jihadi parties of Afghanistan.

Although the exact time of recording the audio file is not clear, it seems that this file has been recorded during the years of resistance against the first Taliban regime between 1994 and 2001.

Ahmad Shah Massoud, who seems to be giving a lecture to his aides, said that Hizb-e-Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is a favoured party for the government of Pakistan. He added that the Shia anti-Soviet jihadi parties are favoured by Iran, and the Dawat-e-Jihad party led by Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf and Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan led by Hekmatyar are favoured by Saudi Arabia.

According to Ahmad Shah Masoud, the western countries do not trust Jamiat-e-Islami. He said that if they work and trust anyone it would be King Zaher Shah.

Zaher Shah had been living in Rome, the capital of Italy, when the audio tape had been recorded.

Massoud stressed that Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan did not have strong allies among the international community. He was a prominent member of Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan.

In the audio file, Massoud said that "among the foreign countries, only one partner remains, which is very weak, hypocritical and dubious, and that is the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He further added that the Iranian government "sometimes says yes and sometimes no”.

Massoud clarified, "The conversation of the Iranians was that we accept Jamiat as the leading party in Afghanistan's future issues, and we tell the Shiite parties to follow Jamiat."

In his discussion, Ahmad Shah Massoud expressed doubts about the promise of the Islamic Republic and said, "I don't know how sincere they are in these statements."

Leaking this audio file belonging to Ahmad Shah Massoud, 22 years after his assassination could be a sign of the deteriorating relations between the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, had previously criticised the Islamic Republic of Iran's hand over of the Afghan embassy to the Taliban in an unprecedented manner.

In a statement, the Front called the handover of Afghan embassy in Tehran to the Taliban questionable.

Ashraf Ghani’s Decisions Aided Collapse of Afghan Army, Says SIGAR

Feb 28, 2023, 09:40 GMT

The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has assessed collapse of the Afghan security forces. According to SIGAR, corruption, dependence on US army, and Ashraf Ghani’s ethnocentric appointments impacted morale and capabilities of security forces.

Despite years of training and supply of modern warfare by the US, the Afghan army lost the ability to resist the Taliban insurgents and collapsed when the withdrawal of all US forces was underway.

The fall of the well-equipped Afghan army has raised many questions and in the last year and a half Afghan and foreign civil and military officials have been talking about it.

In the SIGAR report, Ashraf Ghani's government has been criticised for not reducing the dependence of the Afghan army on American forces and for not having a "national security strategy" for the post-foreign forces era.

SIGAR stressed that former President Ashraf Ghani often replaced commanders of the National Army and appointed people loyal to him based on ethnicity, which led to the politicisation of the army.

SIGAR believes that while corruption had weakened the Afghan army, there had not been any political will to fight it.

SIGAR has also criticised the United States for keeping the army dependent on foreign forces.

According to SIGAR, after signing the Doha agreement with the Taliban in 2020, the international forces airstrikes decreased and the Taliban started taking control of more territories in Afghanistan. SIGAR believes that the Afghan army had not been used to fighting the Taliban without air support.

On the other hand, it became difficult for the Afghan army to equip the troops on the battlefield because it did not have enough air support capabilities.

In 2019, the US conducted nearly 7,500 airstrikes across Afghanistan, and it facilitated the Afghan army to advance in the battlefields and take control of more territories.

According to SIGAR's assessment, the Taliban utilised the tactical, leadership, and logistical weaknesses of the Afghan army. The group also focused on media and social media in psychological warfare against the Afghan security forces and weakened more the morale of the soldiers.

SIGAR added that despite spending 90 billion dollars in 20 years, the US built an army in Afghanistan whose structure had been similar to the US army. However, the Afghan army lacked the facilities, leadership, and skills available in the US army.

Only Child From Afghan Family of 9 Survives Boat Tragedy in Southern Italy

Feb 27, 2023, 15:05 GMT

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced that of an Afghan family of nine members only a child has survived after a boat full of refugees sank in southern Italy. The total casualties from the boat tragedy has reached 61 people and identity of victims has not been determined yet.

Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan announced that more than 20 victims are Pakistani citizens.

According to the Italian authorities, there are 12 children among the victims.

The boat, which had been carrying refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, had left Turkey in the past week.

According to the Italian authorities, about 200 refugees had been on board, of which 81 people have been rescued and about 30 people are still missing.

The German Embassy in Afghanistan said that after the recent tragedy in Bulgaria where 18 Afghan refugees have died, another human tragedy has been the sinking of the boat in Italy where several Afghan citizens have lost their lives.

According to reports, the wooden boat sank on Sunday after hitting a rock.