Continuing their protests in Indonesia, hundreds of Afghan refugees gathered in front of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Makassar. On Monday, during a protest, they asked the UN to resettle them and end the limbo in which they have been living for years.
After a three-month break, protesters resumed their protests in Makassar city of Indonesia, 10 days ago.
Now, the protests have been extended to several other cities, including Medan and Pekanbaru.
Thousands of Afghan refugees have been protesting in front of the UNHCR office in Indonesia since a year, but according to the refugees, only a few of their cases have been dealt with.
Thousands of Afghan refugees hoping to reach Australia have been living in various cities of Indonesia and have been deprived of their basic rights.
Zamir Kabulov Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan said that border clashes between Iran and Taliban border guards had occurred before too and did not have long-lasting consequences. Kabulov told Sputnik News Agency that the clashes will not turn into a serious confrontation.
Russia is the only country that has reacted to the clash between Taliban and Iranian forces in the border area in Kang district of Nimroz province.
Iranian and Taliban officials said that at least three people have been killed as the result of the clash, including two Iranian border guards and one Taliban member.
Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that Iran and the Taliban have agreed to dispatch a fact-finding delegation for investigating the factors which resulted into the border clash on Saturday in Nimroz.
This news agency claimed that a security source said that the reason behind the starting of the clash had been the skirmish between Iranian border guards and drug traffickers.
This source said that Taliban were unaware of the matter and opened fire on Iranian forces which caused the clash between the two sides.
The Taliban, without mentioning this issue, accused the Iranian border guards for opening fire toward the group's forces.
Two new outposts have been established in Shahrtuz area of Khatlon Province of Tajikistan, which is near the Afghanistan border. On sunday, Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan inaugurated the new outposts and said that Tajik forces will defend the borders with dedication.
The establishment of these outposts assumes significance as in April, Tajikistan’s Committee of National Security had announced that a security force member of this country had been killed in a clash at the Afghanistan border.
National Security Committee of Tajikistan did not announce the identity of the security force member, however, sources told Afghanistan International that it was Kamran Rajabzada, head of border forces of Badakhshan province in Tajikistan, who had been shot dead.
Local sources told Afghanistan International that Rajabzada’s corpse had been handed to his family and buried on April 28.
The establishment of the new two outposts near Afghanistan coincides with the 29th anniversary of the formation of the border forces of Tajikistan.
Tajikistan’s presidency said that the new outposts have been equipped with modern miliary equipment.
On October 14, 2022, Emomali Rahmon, in a meeting with the leaders of Russia and Central Asian countries, had announced that tens of thousands of militants including "suicide bombers" are being trained in Afghanistan. He, then, ordered his country’s security forces that proceedings for confronting with terrorism threats should get increased.
Ahmad Vahidi, Iran’s minister of interior, on Sunday, called the border skirmish with the Taliban in Nimroz as a “brief clash” which had ended quickly. Following the concerns of increasing border tensions, Iranian and Taliban officials have taken on a more conciliatory tone.
On Saturday, two Iranian border guards had been killed in the clash between Taliban and Iran at the Abrisham border in Nimroz province. Taliban also confirmed that one of their members had been killed.
In his new statement, Iran’s Minister of Interior tried to downplay the clash with the Taliban. According to the Iranian media, Vahidi described the border clash with Taliban as “short”.
According to the Tasnim News Agency, Vahidi said, “An appropriate response has been given to the Afghanistan border guards. There was a short clash and has been resolved. Negotiations were also held with the Taliban side.”
Taliban also said that they didn’t want conflict with Iran and the border situation between the two countries is under control.
Taliban and Iran have provided different explanations about this conflict. Taliban’s spokesperson for Ministry of Interior said that this clash began when the Iranian border guards opened fire at the Taliban check post.
However, Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Sunday, wrote that Iranian border guards started shooting when a caravan of drug traffickers entered the country from Afghanistan soil.
Following the recent verbal tensions between the Iranian and Taliban officials over the water rights issue, there were concerns over the rising border clashes. Abolfazl Zohrevand, former ambassador of Iran to Afghanistan, called the military tension between Iran and the Taliban a "very serious war".
He told Entekhab website, “Everything cannot be said in the media, but in general, the Taliban are a destabilizing component in the region. There are worrying trends going on between Iran and Afghanistan.”
At the same time, Qasim Rezaei, successor of Iran’s Commander in Chief and Kioumars Heydari, Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces visited border areas with Afghanistan in Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran.
Tasnim News Agency reported that the clash between Iranian border guards and the Taliban in Nimroz province of Afghanistan has ended. Tasnim reported that officials from Iran and the Taliban held a meeting to assess the reason behind the clash.
Afghanistan International sources said that some of the Taliban fighters and civilians have been injured in this clash.
According to the sources, eight members of a family got injured by mortal shell in Nimroz province.
Another source said that the number of injured is higher than the reported figure.
According to Afghanistan International’s sources, the Taliban also transferred their injured to the hospital. Pictures show several people in front of the Zaranj provincial hospital.
Sources said that the clash lasted for at least four hours.
Pictures also indicated that Iranian border guards used heavy weapons during the attack on Taliban positions. The Taliban has not yet made any comment on the matter.
Earlier too, Afghanistan and Iran witnessed armed clashes at the borders. Haalvsh News Agency in early May reported that an Iranian border guard had been killed in a clash with the Taliban in the Nimroz border region.
After the fourth meeting of the EU and Central Asia Special Representatives and Special Envoys for Afghanistan, the participants stressed on the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and reversal of ban on women and girls.
The meeting, held on May 25-26 in Ashgabat, in a joint statement said that they discussed the economic situation in Afghanistan and how to continue cooperation in assisting the people of Afghanistan.
Special Representatives and Special Envoys for Afghanistan of the European Union, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and the EU Special Representative for Central Asia were the participants.
The joint statement also focused on urging the Taliban to lift all bans on Afghan girls and women restricting their rights to education, work and participation in public life. It said that the bans – beyond being serious human rights violations – are having detrimental effects on the ability of the international community to deliver humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, and need to be lifted for the Afghan economy to prosper, and ultimately for Afghanistan to achieve long-term stability and peace.
The statement said that terrorism, violent extremism, drug trafficking and other illicit cross border activities, will negatively impact the region. The participants called on the Taliban to prevent the Afghan territory from being used as a safe haven for hosting, planning, training, financing or exporting terrorism and violent extremism to other countries.
The participants also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the people of Afghanistan and underlined the importance of the establishment of an inclusive and representative government and of upholding civil, political, social economic and cultural rights of all Afghans.
The statement also expressed grave concerns regarding the increasing erosion of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the dire economic and humanitarian situation.