Severe Funding Constraints Cut Assistance to 4 Million Afghans, Says WFP

However, on International Day for Mine Awareness & Assistance, OCHA stressed that more than 4,150 identified hazards remain, posing a lethal threat to communities, in particular children in Afghanistan.

In previous reports, according to the United Nations, 150 people are killed by land mines in Afghanistan each month. Eight out of every 10 victims are children who inadvertently pick up an unexploded ordnance, some of which resemble toys.

Decades of conflict have littered Afghanistan with land mines and other explosive remnants of war. As a result, today the country is one of the most contaminated in the world. Without de-mining, Afghans harmed by decades of war cannot build themselves a safe future in their country. Without effective de-mining operations, farming cannot happen, internally displaced people cannot return to their villages, and education cannot be effective as children cannot go to school.

The Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) was established in 1989.

However, in both cases, there has not been any independent source to confirm the Taliban’s accounts of the operations.

Independent sources have only confirmed explosions and gun fire had been heard in Zaranj city, but it is not clear who the Taliban forces targeted in the operations.

Mohammad Asif Waziri, the spokesperson of Taliban police in Balkh province, claimed on Monday that the Taliban forces have killed six ISIS members in a military operation in Nahar-e-Shahi district.

The Taliban has not released more details about the attack or the details of the dead men.

Mersad, a media outlet leaning towards the Taliban, reported that this operation was carried out in Street 13 of the Engineer Mehdi area.

Earlier, the Taliban had also claimed to have killed ISIS fighters who were involved in the attacks on Chinese citizens and the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and Nimroz provinces.

Due to severe restrictions imposed on independent media and journalists by the Taliban, it is not easy to confirm or deny the group’s claims, particularly when they wage operations against targets across the country. The group pressurises the media outlets that present different accounts than the Taliban’s narrative on incidents in Afghanistan.

According to the sources, several employees of the Taliban’s governor office in Balkh province, who had worked with the previous government of Afghanistan too, had been detained due to suspicions of regarding the killing of Dawood Muzammil, the former Taliban governor for Balkh province.

However, on Sunday, the Taliban intelligence agency released the "confessions" of a man who is said to have been involved in the assassination of Muzammil.

Even after the arrest of the suspect by the Taliban, these employees who were arrested on March 9 haven’t been released.

Sources close to the families of the arrested people said that they have repeatedly visited the government offices of the Taliban, but haven’t been able to meet these arrested individuals.

These sources said that over the past 24 days, the families of the detainees have not been given any information about their health condition and whereabouts.

Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the former governor of the Taliban in Balkh, was killed in a suicide attack in his office on March 9. The Islamic State – Khorasan (IS-K) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Following the attack on Muzammil, sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban intelligence operatives had arrested more than 30 employees of the governor’s office.

The sources had stressed that some of the detainees had been injured in the explosion too.

According to a statement by the Taliban Central Bank, the limit of withdrawing funds from corporate accounts has changed from 40 thousand dollars per week to five percent of the total bank deposit.

The Central Bank announced the increase in the limit of withdrawal of funds from bank accounts as an improvement in the performance of Afghan banks.

After their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban reduced the limit of withdrawal of funds from personal accounts to 200 dollars on a weekly basis.

This restriction had been imposed to prevent the outflow of cash from the country and the bankruptcy of private banks.

After the Taliban’s return to power, many were concerned about the future of Afghan banks and the security of bank deposits, and most bank deposit holders rushed to banks to withdraw their funds.

The Taliban has not yet reacted to the detention of this Badakhshani civil activist.

According to the sources, the 34-year-old activist had been arrested on Thursday and transferred to an unknown location.

On Thursday, Osmani's family received a short call in which the activist informed them about his detention by the Taliban.

However, his family has not been able to contact him again since the past four days.

Sources close to Osmani's family said that the family members of the activist have contacted the Taliban offices regarding their son, but have been mistreated by the Taliban members.

The Taliban did not provide any details about the charges against Osmani.