Nowroz Is Part of An Afghan’s National Identity, Says Former FM

The Taliban spokesman said that the group has seized "weapons, and explosives" from these ISIS members.

While the Taliban regularly reports about operations against ISIS members inside Afghanistan, the group's foreign minister recently claimed that ISIS does not exist in Afghanistan.

In a conversation with the Taliban-controlled national television, Amir Khan Muttaqi said that those ISIS members who are fighting with the Taliban are "foreigners" who entered Afghanistan from outside the country.

At least two deaths and 20 injuries have been confirmed so far in Afghanistan.

Bilal Karimi, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban, confirmed that so far two dead and 20 wounded have been admitted into healthcare centers in Afghanistan. However, he has not specified the locations where these casualties have been reported from.

Pakistani media reported that nine people have been killed and more than 100 people were injured in Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Due to media restrictions and censorship in Afghanistan, there are no accurate figures of casualties and damages in Afghanistan due to Tuesday’s earthquake.

According to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 jolted northern Afghanistan on Tuesday evening and caused a strong tremor throughout the country and parts of northern Pakistan.

This earthquake was located at a depth of 194 km and its center was in the Hindu Kush mountains near Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.

After the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, Badri had been appointed as the Acting Minister of Finance of the Taliban.

Earlier, there were rumours about Badri's resignation from the Ministry of Finance. He is said to have resigned due to a dispute over revenue with Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Before Badri, Abdul Qahir, was in-charge of the Taliban-controlled Central Bank of Afghanistan.

In a message, on the occasion of Nowroz, Massoud added that the women's stance is a base for resistance against the Taliban's ideology.

The NRF leader stressed on the continuation of resistance against the Taliban. He said that the Taliban’s acceptance of democracy and civil liberties is the pre-condition to negotiating with the group.

Even though the NRF’s armed resistance against the Taliban has slowed down, Massoud emphasised his political achievements during the Nowroz message. He referred to his efforts to increase international pressure on the Taliban.

Massoud considered the domestic protests and the gathering of political forces outside the country as part of the general resistance of the Afghan people against the Taliban.

Ahmad Massoud asked his critics to put aside differences without referring to a specific person or group.

Already WFP had announced that it had to reduce its lifesaving assistance to four million Afghans in March due to the fund shortfall.

“With severe hunger hitting nearly 20 million Afghans - six million of them one step away from famine - the international community must prioritize the basic needs of the most vulnerable people of Afghanistan,” it said in a statement.

WFP had mentioned that it could only support four million Afghans as opposed to 13 million in April this year.

“The country is at the highest risk of famine in a quarter of a century and WFP’s food assistance is the last lifeline for millions of Afghans. The reduction of food assistance comes when Afghans are emerging from another freezing winter and are already worn-down from battling one crisis after another. Unless humanitarian support is sustained, hundreds of thousands more Afghans will need assistance to survive,” said Hsiao-Wei Lee, WFP Country Director in Afghanistan.

Last year, WFP supported 23 million people – 12 million of whom were women and girls and distributed more than one million metric tons of food and US$326 million in cash or vouchers to help families survive.