UN Security Council Extends UNAMA’s Mission; Approves Assessment Team For Afghanistan

According to the assessment of the US General who addressed the US senate on Thursday, ISIS will not be able to carry out terrorist attacks on American soil in the near future. However, he said that hundreds of American citizens abroad are vulnerable to attacks by the group.

American civil and military officials said after leaving Afghanistan that the United States has the ability to conduct over the horizon operations in Afghanistan.

However, General Kurilla warned about the widening presence of ISIS in Afghanistan and admitted that after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, the US forces have rarely conducted operations against terrorists in Afghanistan.

In the US Senate Armed Forces Committee, the US General admitted that the intelligence capability of Washington in Afghanistan has decreased drastically after the withdrawal of the country’s troops in August 2021. However, he expressed hope that by investing in increasing the power of high-altitude surveillance technologies, such as drones that can monitor areas for days and weeks, this intelligence gap can be filled.

"Right now, 80 percent of my time is spent on gathering information from high altitudes in the region," he said.

Qomi added that the Taliban and Iranian authorities have also discussed the opening of the Khaf-Herat railway.

Qomi stressed that the increase in commercial activities at Chabahar port and the removal of transit barriers at border terminals were among the other main topics of negotiations between the Taliban and Iranian authorities.

The Iranian ambassador called these discussions "fruitful".

Earlier, the Taliban reported that Nooruddin Azizi, the Minister of Trade and Industry of the group, had met with local Iranian officials in Dogharon, Khorasan, Sistan & Baluchistan and Chabahar port on Tuesday.

In recent weeks, Taliban officials have repeatedly visited Iran. On Monday, the Taliban’s minister of refugees visited Iran too.

McCaul stated that the State Department has failed to comply with the committee’s investigation and is not replying to the committee’s document requests.

“The State Department continues to obstruct my committee’s investigation into the Afghanistan withdrawal and we will not tolerate it. The American people deserve answers on the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal,” he said.

He added that he is prepared to issue a subpoena in the event the State Department fails to cooperate with the committee’s document request.

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, has launched an investigation over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. On March 8, Chairman McCaul held a hearing examining the administration’s disastrous emergency evacuation from Afghanistan. Then, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price had said that the department was fully cooperating with the investigation.

Somaiya Walizada, a member of the jury of AFJC, said that this year the title has been jointly awarded to these three journalists.

Walizada added that the jury selected Yaqubi for the documentary "Mosafer Darya" which tells the story of illegal migration of photographer and filmmaker, Barat Ali Batoor to Australia, who had documented his long journey from Afghanistan to Australia.

Hanif had been selected for the award because of his reports about the earthquake victims of Paktika province and Wafa has been awarded for continuing to pursue journalism despite restrictions imposed by the Taliban.

The Journalist of the Year Award ceremony was held on Wednesday in Brussels.

In a message sent to the award ceremony, Yaqubi said that Afghanistan under the Taliban reign has transformed into a silent country which increases the responsibility of journalists and media outside Afghanistan to continue their professional journalistic work despite challenges regarding access to information inside the country.

The Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on journalists and media outlets since August 15, 2021. During this time, many media outlets have shut down and media workers have fled Afghanistan.

Ahmadi said that the Taliban fighters intended to search people’s houses in one of the villages, but they faced resistance from two of the NRF forces.

Local sources confirmed the clash on Tuesday night in Andarab district of Baghlan province to Afghanistan International. However, sources didn’t provide precise information regarding the casualties of the incident.

Ahmadi said that these two members who clashed with the Taliban fighters were brothers and former members of Afghanistan national police and army.

Taliban officials didn’t comment in this regard.