Taliban Signs 30-Year-Contract With 3 Qatari Companies For Jabal Siraj Cement
The Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum signed a 30-year contract with three Qatari companies for the cement project in Jabal Siraj district of Parwan province.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum signed a 30-year contract with three Qatari companies for the cement project in Jabal Siraj district of Parwan province.
At the signing ceremony of the contract, Shahabuddin Delawar, Taliban’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum, said that more than USD 220 million will be invested in this project.
The contract was signed on Thursday, October 12.
Delawar added that about five thousand people will be directly employed in this project and about 1.5 million tonnes of cement will be produced annually due to the project.
The Jabal Siraj cement factory was founded in 1957. It subsequently changed to a state-owned enterprise and has since operated under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.
On the International Day of the Girl Child, Thomas West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that Afghan girls are facing the most extraordinary repression in the country.
West urged the international community to listen to the voice of Afghan girls, because a "safe and bright future" for Afghanistan depends on them.
On social media platform X on Thursday, he wrote, "Nowhere else is half a population of middle and high schoolers denied an education."
According to him, this will have an impact on mental health, families, society and the economy of Afghanistan.
Tom West has stated that the Taliban are responsible for oppressing Afghan girls.
He stressed that the international community should continue to support Afghan girls.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of power in 2021, the group has imposed extensive restrictions on Afghan women and girls.
Currently, girls are prohibited from attending schools beyond the sixth grade and they are also barred from higher education.
The United Nations has marked October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon will meet in the Bishkek city of Kyrgyzstan on Friday.
The Russian president’s adviser said that during the two presidents' meeting, the security of the region and the situation on the Tajikistan border with Afghanistan will be discussed.
TASS news agency reported on Wednesday that in addition to other issues, Putin and Rahmon will also talk about the status of Moscow’s 201 military base in Tajikistan.
Russia believes that the 201 military base in Tajikistan located near Afghanistan’s borders is one of the key factors of stability in the region.
After the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Russia equipped its military base in Tajikistan with modern equipment to strengthen border protection.
Emomali Rahmon has repeatedly warned that terrorists are actively present on the borders of Afghanistan and are trying to penetrate into Tajikistan and Central Asia.
Earlier, the National Security Committee of Tajikistan announced that three terrorists were targeted and killed on the border with Afghanistan. Tajikistan announced that these people were members of the "Jamaat Ansarullah" and intended to carry out terrorist attacks in this country.
It is believed that the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon will take place before the meeting of the Council of Heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
This is Vladimir Putin's first foreign trip after the issuance of his arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court. This warrant was issued because Putin has been accused of committing war crimes and kidnapping Ukrainian children.
The President of Russia is also going to visit China next week to attend the third "Belt and Road" Forum for International Cooperation.
Kyrgyzstan and China are not members of the International Criminal Court, which was established to prosecute war crimes.
Senior Taliban officials visited Balkh province on Wednesday to inaugurate the first phase of the Qosh Tepa Canal.
During the inauguration ceremony, the Taliban Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob said, "Neighbours should not worry, we will never violate the rights of our neighbours in using the water of the Amu Darya."
Media outlets affiliated to the Taliban reported that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi, the two deputy prime ministers of the Taliban; Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group’s interior minister; Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the deputy foreign minister, and a number of other senior officials of this group also participated in the inauguration ceremony.
Referring to the "concerns of Afghanistan's neighbours" regarding the use of Amu Basin water, Mullah Yaqoob said, "We want to have our rights. That’s why, no one should create an obstacle."
The Taliban’s minister of defence added, "The Qosh Tepa Canal was a dream that became a reality."
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said that the purpose of the construction of the Qosh Tepa canal is not to harm anyone, "rather its only purpose is a proud Afghanistan, the self-sufficiency of Afghans and the use of natural resources in a better way”.
Taliban’s interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani also said, "After numerous problems, the first phase of the Qosh Tepa Canal has been completed by Afghan engineers."
The Taliban's interior minister added that although the Taliban's existing budget did not suffice for the Qosh Tepa project to be implemented fully, the process is being implemented as a result of the Taliban's "strong will".
Meanwhile, Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs, emphasised that this group will complete the Qosh Tepa canal work "in any possible way". Hanafi also said that the neighbouring countries should not worry that the Taliban "seems to push the Amu Darya completely [toward the Qosh Tepa Canal]”.
This Taliban official added that the Taliban government respects the rights of its neighbours and urges them to respect the rights of Afghanistan.
Earlier, the president of Uzbekistan warned that the Taliban is building the Qosh Tepa water transfer canal, and this could fundamentally change the water balance in Central Asia.
The Taliban said that more than seven billion Afghanis have been allocated for the construction of the canal and that it will take six years to build it.
Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan quoting Taliban officials, reported that 2,445 people died in the aftermath of Saturday’s earthquake in Herat province.
Citing the Taliban’s ministry of public health, Doctors Without Borders reported the number of wounded at least 2,440 people.
At the same time, the World Food Programme in Afghanistan on Wednesday announced that more than 2,000 people died, and thousands were injured as a result of the earthquake on Saturday.
The casualties of Saturday's earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 increased even as at least three other earthquakes jolted western Afghanistan on Wednesday morning. The US Geological Survey stated that the magnitudes of the earthquakes were 6.3, 5.0, and 4.1, respectively.
So far, the exact number of casualties of the earthquakes on Wednesday has not been reported. However, the Taliban media reported that one person was killed and around 170 injured were taken to hospitals following the earthquake.
Saturday's earthquake in western Afghanistan, especially in Herat, destroyed several villages, especially in Zindajan district. The Taliban governor in Herat said that more than ten villages in this district were destroyed.
During the past five days, several earthquakes have struck western Afghanistan, especially Herat province.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that 90% of the victims of Saturday’s earthquake in Herat are women and children.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office in a statement announced that it does not support anyone seeking political change through violence in Afghanistan.
The UK foreign office stated that there is no alternative, but pragmatic engagement with the Taliban government and the British government is currently following this policy.
This is the first time that the UK has recognised the Taliban's rule as "Afghanistan’s administration” and sent a conciliatory message for the group.
It is not clear who and which organisation, the statement has targeted. However, the statement mentioned that no one is allowed to use UK’s territory to seek "political changes through violence" in Afghanistan or to plan, recruit for, incite or finance terrorism in Afghanistan.
Since the return of the Taliban to the power, several groups have initiated armed resistance against the Taliban. These groups have declared their intent to pursue this conflict until the beginning of political negotiations and the establishment of a legitimate government in Afghanistan.
The UK government’s statement added, “Political change sought through armed violence or incitement of violence that amounts to an offence in UK law can be subject to investigation.”
It added that any kind of violence is not in the interest of Afghanistan or the international community, and they deplore violent attacks of all kinds.
The Taliban has repeatedly expressed that western countries do not support the armed resistance against the group interpreting it as a sign of international acceptance of the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan.
Earlier, Tobias Ellwood, a British parliament member, called for engagement with the Taliban, which caused a controversy and led to his resignation.
