Afghanistan Freedom Front Criticises Western Countries’ Silence Towards Hunger Strike

The UN member states are expected to discuss the fate of Afghanistan's seat in New York.

Suhail Shaheen, head of the political office of the Taliban in Qatar, said that based on the Taliban leader's order he is working for the recognition of the group.

The UN Credentials Committee is supposed to hold a meeting regarding the fate of Afghanistan's permanent representation at the UN in the near future. The committee had previously refused to hand over Afghanistan's seat in the United Nations to the Taliban.

Currently, Nasir Ahmad Faiq is the representative of the former government of Afghanistan in the United Nations.

In an interview with the Taliban-controlled Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), Shaheen said that he has had meetings with the representatives of different countries and that the Taliban is trying to improve relations with the international community.

The head of the political office of the Taliban in Qatar did not name a specific country, but added that he had met with officials from European Union, Arab and Asian countries.

Shaheen, who is also the Taliban's candidate for the permanent mission of Afghanistan to the UN, said that during the meeting with the representatives of various countries, he discussed important issues which Afghanistan is currently facing.

Shaheen did not provide details of these talks, but the international community has repeatedly asked the Taliban to form an inclusive government and lift restrictions on Afghan women and girls.

So far, no country has recognised the Taliban.

Mohaqiq responded to Taliban’s interior minister's call to return to Afghanistan and said that his return will not be facilitated with such calls.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, Taliban’s Interior Minister, visited Bamiyan province, and publicly asked Hazara leaders, Mohammad Mohaqiq and Karim Khalili, to return to Afghanistan.

However, Mohaqiq told Afghanistan International that the offer is not something new and cannot solve the problems of Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Haqqani asked Mohaqiq, Khalili and other Hazara leaders to return to Afghanistan and live as elders among their people.

The Taliban's interior minister added, "It is not good to live abroad as a tribal elder."

Addressing Khalili and Mohaqiq, Haqqani said that elders are valued and respected in Afghanistan and if they return to Afghanistan, they will be treated with respect.

This senior Taliban official also promised the people of Bamiyan that he would share their demands with the members of the Taliban’s cabinet and the group's leader.

Haqqani described Bamiyan province as a symbol of national unity of the Afghans. He said that the coexistence of Shias and Sunnis with kindness is a good gesture for everyone.

He added that there has been ethnic, sectarian and linguistic prejudice in Afghanistan, but there has never been any sectarian war in the history of Afghanistan.

Earlier, Uzbekistan had denied exporting low-quality fuel to Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Nasir told the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar news agency that the fuel and gas contained in the tankers sent from Uzbekistan were found to be of poor quality after an inspection conducted by the Fuel and Gas Authority at Hairatan Port.

Uzbekistan’s National Oil and Gas Company in a statement on September 4 announced that the fuel sent to Afghanistan is in accordance with European standards, but the Taliban fails to understand this standard.

It has emphasised that the country's products are in accordance with international standards.

At the same time, Nasir added that 7,308 fuel tankers have been imported to Afghanistan in the last four months.

The report by HRW stated that since taking over the country in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed laws and policies intended to deny women and girls throughout the country their fundamental rights because of their gender.

HRW called for coordinated support by concerned governments to bring the Taliban leaders responsible to justice.

The statement mentioned a Human Rights Watch research on Afghanistan since 2021 which has found that the crime against humanity of persecution targeting women and girls has been imposed through various written or announced decrees.

HRW said that these decrees have placed severe restrictions on freedom of movement, expression, and association.

The global rights body added that Taliban has placed prohibitions on virtually all employment; banned secondary and higher education for females; and permitted arbitrary arrests and violations of the right to liberty.

“The Taliban’s cruel and methodical denial of the basic rights of women and girls to remove them from public life has received global attention,” said Elizabeth Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

It urged Taliban authorities to dismantle all forms of repression and discrimination that deny women and girls their fundamental rights.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) defines crimes against humanity as a range of prohibited acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.

Human Rights Watch’s research has found that the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls meets the four requirements for crimes against humanity as set out under the Rome Statute: (1) that the attack is “widespread or systematic”; (2) that the attack is directed against a “civilian population”; (3) that the acts are committed “with knowledge of the attack”; and (4) that the acts are “pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack.”

Karzai’s meet with Pakistan's ambassador comes even as there had been reports that the Taliban had imposed new restrictions on the former president.

It seems that after widespread coverage of the newly imposed restrictions of the Taliban on Karzai, he has been able to begin his public meetings with foreign officials.

Sources close to Hamid Karzai told Afghanistan International on Monday that the Taliban did not allow a delegation of the Islamic Republic to meet him in Kabul.

Earlier, the Taliban had imposed restrictions on Karzai's foreign travels too.

The Taliban claimed that these restrictions had been imposed to protect Karzai from ISIS threats.