Taliban Asks Pakistan To Remove Afghan Goods From “Sensitive List”

Sep 7, 2023, 14:48 GMT+1

Nooruddin Azizi, Taliban’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, said that the goods of Afghan businessmen in transit to Pakistan are on the "sensitive list".

During a meeting with Ubaid Ur Rehman Nizamani, Charge d'Affaires of the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul, Azizi stressed that Afghan businessmen's goods at the Karachi port has also been processed with delay.

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Afghanistan Has Again Become Haven For Terrorism, Says NRF Leader

Sep 7, 2023, 14:03 GMT+1

Afghanistan has once again become a haven for global and regional terrorism, said Ahmad Massoud, the leader of National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF).

Massoud, during the memorial ceremony at the British Parliament of Ahmad Shah Massoud, former Afghan jihadi commander, warned that the international community should not ignore the threat of terrorism in Afghanistan.

The British Parliament recently held a programme to honour Ahmad Shah Masoud, a former anti-Taliban commander.

In a virtual address, Massoud repeated his father, Ahmad Shah Masoud’s, warning of terror attacks emanating from Afghanistan.

According to the NRF leader, his father in the French Parliament had warned about the impending threat of terrorism from Afghanistan and stressed that the September 11 attack proved his predictions about terror threats.

He added that a similar threat stemming from terrorism and extremism once again endangers the world, and the international community should not ignore it.

Massoud added that this threat is not limited to the borders of Afghanistan and will penetrate the entire world.

In another part of his speech, the NRF leader said that Ahmad Shah Massoud believed that political legitimacy comes from the people and his suggestion for Afghanistan as a country that is religiously, ethnically and linguistically diverse, was to establish a pluralistic and decentralised system; where power is distributed among citizens in a fair and equal manner.

According to Massoud, the lack of such a vision and approach has once again turned Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban, into a ticking time bomb for bigger conflicts in the future.

He added that Ahmad Shah Masoud had the ability to unite all the people of Afghanistan against the Taliban and other terrorist groups. The country needs such a leader now, he said.

During the commemoration of Ahmad Shah Massoud, a number of British Parliament members and Afghans in this country asked the international community to stop supporting the "misogynist Taliban".

Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated on September 9, 2001, by two Arab suicide bombers who portrayed themselves as journalists.

Iranian President Orders Smooth Facilitation Of Trade With Afghanistan

Sep 7, 2023, 12:13 GMT+1

On Wednesday, Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi called for the expansion of economic relations between Iran and Afghanistan.

During a meeting in South Khorasan province, Raisi said that barriers preventing trade with Afghanistan must be removed.

According to Iranian media outlets, he called the exchange of goods between Iran and Afghanistan an opportunity for both countries and said that "the shared border is an opportunity for both sides”.

The Iranian president pointed to the activation of border markets and ordered the governor of South Khorasan and Iranian officials to not miss the opportunity.

At the same time, Raisi stressed that the Iranian government should facilitate the country's private sector to work in the mining field.

Iran, like other countries, officially does not recognise the Taliban. Nevertheless, it has hosted Taliban diplomats within the Afghan embassy in Tehran and maintains economic relations with the group.

In July, Iran’s Customs agency announced that since the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan, the total value of trade between the two countries has reached $1.6 billion.

Supporters of Inclusive Govt Using It As An Excuse To Create Obstacles, Says Taliban’s FM

Sep 7, 2023, 11:31 GMT+1

Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s Foreign Minister, indirectly pointed to those who call for the formation of an inclusive government and said that they are creating obstacles in the way of the group’s government under this “pretext”.

Muttaqi added that so far, no definition or example of an inclusive government has been provided.

Ahmad Zia Takal, deputy spokesperson of the Taliban’s foreign ministry quoted Muttaqi on social media platform X and wrote, "In the last 20 years, the occupiers, martyred and imprisoned Afghans who opposed the occupation in the name of terrorism."

Taliban’s FM said that so far, no specific definition and example of terrorism and inclusive government has been provided.

It is not clear where Muttaqi made these statements.

In the past two years, the Taliban has not complied to the repeated demands of the international community and neighbouring countries to form an inclusive government.

No country recognises the Taliban government yet. Formation of an inclusive government and ensuring the rights of citizens are among the prerequisites of the international community for the recognition of the Taliban.

Earlier, Muttaqi indirectly criticised the Iranian government for insisting on formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan. Without mentioning Iran, he sarcastically said that the Taliban has fewer prisoners than the number of executions carried out in those countries. He added, "Do you have an inclusive government?"

In response to his remarks, Rasoul Mousavi, Iran’s assistant foreign minister, told the group not to run away from its international responsibilities. On his X social media platform, Mousavi wrote, "An inclusive government in Afghanistan guarantees peace, stability, security and sustainable development.”

He added that the formation of an inclusive government was sought in the UN Security Council’s Resolutions 2513 and 2593 and the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries including Iran, Pakistan, China, and Turkmenistan called for the same.

Former Senior Security Officer Killed in Mazar-e-Sharif City

Sep 7, 2023, 10:05 GMT+1

On Thursday, Faiz Askaryar, former deputy commander of the Police District 8 of Mazar-e-Shairf city, was killed by armed men in the Karte Sulh area of the city.

His relatives told Afghanistan International that Askaryar "had no animosity with anyone”.

According to them, he was killed at his residence.

Askaryar’s relatives said that he had received a "certificate of amnesty" from the Taliban.

Taliban officials in Balkh have not reacted to the killing of this former police officer.

Since the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan, hundreds of former security forces members have been killed either by the Taliban or mysteriously by unknown gunmen.

International organisations have repeatedly expressed concern over the killing of former security forces of Afghanistan.

Earlier in a report, the United Nations stated that despite the general amnesty of the Taliban, during the past two years, 800 cases of human rights violations against former security forces have been recorded.

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that there have been at least 218 recorded cases of government officials and former security forces members killed by unidentified perpetrators, with no arrests made in connection with these incidents.

This organisation said that it has recorded cases of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, and ill-treatment in 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

Taliban Holds Conference on Afghanistan’s Commercial & Economic Relations

Sep 6, 2023, 15:57 GMT+1

The Taliban held a conference about "Afghanistan's commercial and economic relations" in Kabul.

Taliban-affiliated media outlets reported that the conference was held in the presence of Mullah Baradar, the group’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Afghan businessmen and a "delegation of US businessmen".

It did not provide details about the US delegation, but said that a member of the delegation is supposed to report to the US Congress about the current situation in Afghanistan.

Taliban also claimed that this delegation came to Kabul to invest in Afghanistan.

Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), which is under Taliban’s control, reported that members of the delegation are working to release the foreign exchange reserves of Afghanistan and lift sanctions on the Afghan banking system.

During this meeting, Baradar said that with the provision of investment opportunities in Afghanistan, not only Afghans, but also foreigners can invest in the country.

He added that Taliban has created an "inter-ministerial" committee aiming to facilitate the activities of local and foreign investors.

Baradar claimed that after the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan, the economic situation in the country has improved.

This Taliban official claimed that there have been improvements in Afghanistan's economic situation, while according to aid organisations, at least 20 million people in the country are facing acute hunger.