Taliban Announces Return of 2000 Afghan Refugees From Iran
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced that around 2,277 Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Iran.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced that around 2,277 Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Iran.
The ministry said that these people entered Afghanistan from the Islam Qala border in Herat province on Tuesday.
The Taliban Ministry of Refugees said that nearly 1,000 of these migrants have been referred to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to receive humanitarian assistance.
Over the past few months, the Taliban has always announced the "forced and voluntary" return of Afghan refugees from Iran.
Khairullah Khairkhwa, Taliban’s Minister of Information and Culture, lashed out that not even a single Islamic country has recognised the government of the group in Afghanistan.
Khairkhwa pointed to these countries and said that if the United States, Russia, and China "do not recognise [Taliban], they will not recognise" them.
He called on these countries and asked them to recognise the Taliban government for the sake of Islam.
During a meeting in Takhar, the senior Taliban official addressed the Islamic countries on Monday and said that when the group was engaged in Jihad, they were called "crazy" and no one supported them.
According to him, the issue of recognition of the Taliban is a “test” for Islamic countries.
Referring to the preconditions for the formation of an inclusive government by the Taliban to be recognised in Afghanistan, Khairkhwa said, “Some countries have been ruled by a family for decades, so why has no one objected to them?”
He did not mention any country which is ruled by “a family”, but it seems that he pointed out to some Arab countries, which have been accused of supporting the Taliban.
So far, no country has recognised the Taliban government. The group has been accused of widespread human rights violations, and the international community, including Islamic governments, have criticised the policies of the Taliban, especially towards Afghan women and girls.
The formation of an inclusive government is one of the other demands of the international community for the recognition of the Taliban regime.
The Taliban government consists of members of the group and its senior officials are all Sunni and mostly from the Pashtun ethnic group.
The Taliban has waged an operation on the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) forces in Dawlat Shah district, after AFF’s attack on the Taliban district governor's office in Laghman province.
Local sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban’s operation continues in various regions of Dawlat Shah district.
On Monday night, the Taliban launched the military operation in Gadiala, Manangul and Noya villages of Dawlat Shah district.
On Tuesday, AFF posted on social media platform X that on Monday night, the Taliban launched a "clearance and search operation" in several areas in the district of Dawlat Shah of Laghman to "harass the people". The front said that its forces ambushed the Taliban in two areas.
AFF claimed that its forces have inflicted casualties on the Taliban.
They also confirmed that the clashes have continued in several areas of the district.
Taliban officials have not reacted to AFF’s claims.
Earlier, the Freedom Front had claimed that it had killed at least two members of the Taliban in an attack on the group’s district governor office in Dawlat Shah district. Following the incident, sources told Afghanistan International that senior Taliban officials from the capital of Laghman province visited the area and held an emergency meeting in the district center of Dawlat Shah.
According to the sources, the Taliban arrested three residents of the district after the attack on the district governor's office.
Continuing the hunger strike to highlight the situation of women in Afghanistan, Tamana Zaryab Paryani criticised the indifference of German politicians to the demands of the protesters and likened it to "murder”.
The hunger strike by Afghan activists, over the grave situation of women in Afghanistan, has now entered the fourth day in Germany.
Tamana Zaryba Paryani, who is also on hunger strike, harshly criticised the German politicians' negligence of their demands.
Paryani and other protestors started a hunger strike in Germany, wanting the German government to recognise the gender apartheid of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Sixteen rights activists participated in the hunger strike and have set up a sit-in tent in the city of Cologne, Germany. Paryani said that she will continue her strike until September 15.
Apart from Afghans, activists from other countries have also supported the strike of these activists. An Iranian activist who joined the sit-in told Edris Joya, Afghanistan International’s reporter in Cologne, that the problems and pains of women in Iran and Afghanistan are common, and women rights supporters around the world should protest against the gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
Paryani told Afghanistan International, "Our protests have reached the German politicians, but just as we have had many protests in the past two years while being a witness of all the developments, they somehow have turned a blind eye.”
She described this attitude of the German politicians as "horrible".
Neither the Taliban nor their opposition politicians have reacted to this strike so far. However, Paryani insisted that she will continue the protest until her voice is heard.
Afghan activists abroad are trying to lobby with politicians in various countries to officially recognise the gender apartheid in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. This issue has also been reflected in the recent report by Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur, about the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.
Sources from the office of the former president Hamid Karzai said that the Taliban did not allow an Iranian delegation to meet him in Kabul.
According to these sources, the members of the Iranian parliament wanted to meet Karzai on August 28 in Kabul, but the Taliban refused to allow the meeting to take place.
The Taliban has not yet given an official explanation about the reasons behind preventing this delegation’s meeting with the former president of Afghanistan.
This seven-member Iranian delegation, which traveled to Kabul last week, met with Taliban officials.
Over the past few months, the Taliban has imposed restrictions on cultural centers affiliated with the Islamic Republic in Afghanistan too.
Similarly, the Taliban has imposed restrictions on the political activity and travels of the former president of Afghanistan.
On July 8, sources close to Karzai confirmed to Afghanistan International that the Taliban prevented the former president from visiting Iran, Germany, and China.
Sources said that in one case, the Taliban did not allow Karzai to travel to Berlin to meet the German Foreign Minister.
Sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that the Taliban has imposed new restrictions on former president Hamid Karzai’s meetings with Taliban officials, foreign ambassadors, the public, and his visits inside and abroad Afghanistan.
The Taliban claimed that these restrictions have been imposed to protect Karzai from ISIS attacks.
Karzai had a soft and conciliatory stance towards the Taliban during his presidency and is now in a highly fragile situation.
Sources close to Hamid Karzai said that currently his fate is unknown and he hopes that his situation will change when the political situation transforms in the country.
According to sources, there is no contact between Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and former president Hamid Karzai. Karzai has not made any effort to communicate with Mullah Hibatullah to ease these restrictions.
Even though Hamid Karzai is from Kandahar, Kandahari Taliban do not have any contact with him. On the contrary, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani network and the Taliban's interior minister, has a lasting and warm acquittance with the former president.
According to Afghanistan International’s sources, Sirajuddin Haqqani has visited Karzai's house several times and met him there.
Also, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi; Minister of Mines and Petroleum Shahabuddin Delawar, and Intelligence Chief Abdul Haq Wasiq are among the Taliban officials who have visited former president Karzai.
On some occasions, the Taliban leaders in Kabul have discussed with Karzai regarding some of their common subjects.
These restrictions, which are not limited to Hamid Karzai alone, have been imposed by the Taliban while a number of high-ranking officials of the group have said that they are against the monopoly of power in Kandahar and are in favour of starting a "national dialogue" about the ban on women's education and work and the formation of an inclusive government.
Sources close to Hamid Karzai confirmed to Afghanistan International that on August 30, the Taliban did not allow the former president to meet with a delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Although Karzai travelled to foreign countries and returned several times under the Taliban regime, after his last trip to the United Kingdom, the Taliban imposed an absolute travel ban on him and did not allow him to travel to Germany.
The Taliban’s precondition for allowing Karzai to visit Germany has been for the German foreign minister to meet the Taliban’s foreign minister. According to the Taliban, Karzai is not a representative of Afghanistan to be engaged with.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban authorities have also restricted Karzai’s meetings with the public inside Afghanistan and cited security threats as the reason for imposed restrictions.
Taliban intelligence, which is responsible for the security of Hamid Karzai's residence, has told the former president several times that ISIS is a security threat to him.
Karzai usually informs the Taliban and especially the group’s intelligence agency before leaving his residence. Taliban authorities in Kabul do not have the authority to allow him to leave his house, and it is only the Taliban leader’s office in Kandahar that has the authority to allow Hamid Karzai’s movement in Kabul. Also, the Taliban leader's office allows Karzai’s meetings and travel outside of Afghanistan.
Sources said that foreign and domestic media organisations have contacted Hamid Karzai’s office for interviews, but the Taliban has prevented the former president from speaking to the media.
France 24 TV revealed in June that the Taliban did not allow the reporter of the TV channel to conduct an interview with Hamid Karzai at his residence in Kabul.
The Taliban, especially in Kandahar, has asked Hamid Karzai to refrain from talking about the ban on education and work of Afghan girls and women, inclusive government, and "intra-Afghan dialogue". According to them, those who do not support the Taliban government cannot criticise the group. Therefore, they asked him to live in silence like all ordinary Afghan people.
According to the Taliban, Hamid Karzai is no longer the representative of Afghanistan and cannot meet with Afghans and foreigners.