6 Days After Earthquake, Kazakh Rescue Team Ends Mission In Herat

Oct 14, 2023, 11:24 GMT+1

Kazinform, the news agency of Kazakhstan, reported that the 45-member rescue team from the country has concluded its mission in Herat and is now preparing to return to their homeland.

These rescue workers came to Herat following the deadly earthquake last week.

Kazinform reported that members of the Kazakh rescue team cleared debris of 211 houses and inspected 700 locations.

According to the report, they retrieved the corpse of a child from beneath the debris.

It added that members of the Kazakh rescue team also inspected a camp at the request of local Taliban officials, which had been destroyed after a severe storm.

The completion of work by the Kazakh rescue team means that six days after the Herat earthquake, the chances of finding survivors trapped under the rubble have significantly diminished.

According to the report by Kazinform, quoting sources in Herat, at least 2,445 people were killed as a result of the earthquake and several aftershocks in Herat.

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ISIS Claims Responsibility For Suicide Attack on Shiite Mosque in Northern Afghanistan

Oct 14, 2023, 10:17 GMT+1

Media reports indicate that ISIS claimed responsibility for Friday's attack on the Imam Zaman Mosque in Pul-e-Khomri city of Baghlan province.

ISIS published a statement on the "Amaq" news website declaring that the attack launched by their affiliate claimed the lives of "dozens" of Shias.

In the statement, the group added that one of their suicide bombers "killed 50 Shias and wounded dozens of others".

Earlier, the Taliban police command in Baghlan had said that at least seven people were killed and 15 were injured in the attack on Imam Zaman Mosque in Pul-e-Khomri city. At the same time, local sources in Pul-e-Khomri told Afghanistan International that the death toll of the explosion is higher than what the Taliban has revealed.

The pictures that reached Afghanistan International from inside the mosque also show bodies of several worshipers.

Over the past few years, religious and cultural places, educational centres, and peaceful gatherings of Afghan Hazaras and Shias have been continuously attacked.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for many of these attacks.

Meanwhile, Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, condemned the attack and said that dozens of Shia worshipers were killed in Friday's attack.

While expressing his condolences to the families of the victims of this attack, Bennett called for "prevention, protection, and accountability” for the Shia population in Afghanistan.

On his X social media platform account, he stated that Afghan Shias are still being attacked.

The Taliban announced the deployment of security and intelligence forces to investigate the incident, but did not provide any information regarding the perpetrators or the motive behind the attack.

Pul-e-Khomri city is one of the main centers of Hazaras and Shiites in northern Afghanistan. While the city has not experienced such attacks in recent years, other cities, notably Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, and especially Kabul, have witnessed a series of attacks targeting Hazaras and Shia community members.

Chinese & UN Officials Discuss Situation in Afghanistan

Oct 13, 2023, 15:01 GMT+1

China's Foreign Ministry announced that Yue Xiaoyong, the country’s special representative for Afghanistan, met Feridun Sinirlioglu, the UN Special Coordinator for Afghanistan.

In a statement, the Chinese foreign ministry stated that both sides exchanged views about Afghanistan during this meeting.

However, the statement which was published on Thursday, didn’t provide details of the talks between the two sides.

Before his trip to China, Sinirlioglu on a trip to Moscow met Sergei Vershinin, Russia's deputy foreign minister, and discussed preparing a report on Afghanistan.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement, the report on Afghanistan should be prepared according to UN Security Council Resolution 2679 by November 17 of this year.

Vershinin urged that Sinirlioglu consider the positions of all the countries involved in Afghanistan's issues during the preparation of this report.

Russia and China are permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Minister Blames “Enemy Intel” For Iranian Society Violence Against Afghan Immigrants

Oct 13, 2023, 13:23 GMT+1

Following the increase in harassment of Afghan immigrants in Iran, Ahmad Vahidi, the country’s Minister of Interior, blamed the "enemy's intelligence services" for the violence by the Iranian society against Afghan immigrants.

Vahidi said that after foreign intelligence services’ failure to incite unrest inside Iran, they have been focused on the issue of refugees.

The Iranian officials always hold the other countries’ intelligence services responsible for all anomalies and protests in Iran.

According to the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Vahidi on Thursday during a meeting in the administrative council of Qir-o-karzin, Farashband and Firozabad cities of Iran said, "A mysterious movement has started during this period regarding Afghan nationals that aims to create a conflict between Iranian communities and Afghan immigrants. Enemy's espionage agencies are working on this issue after being frustrated in creating unrest."

He made this statement while Iran has forcibly deported thousands of Afghan immigrants from the country in recent months.

Recently, video clips have been sent to Afghanistan International showing scenes of torture and abuse of Afghan immigrants in Iran.

In the pictures that reached Afghanistan International, a group of people in Qazvin province can be seen attacking Afghan immigrants and their homes with stones and sticks.

Iran's Ham-Mihan newspaper published an investigative report on Thursday, stating that despite the Iranian police announcing the arrest of 19 individuals on charges of attacking the homes of Afghan immigrants, anti-Afghan sentiments have not subsided. On social media, extensive campaigns have been launched, calling for the expulsion of Afghan immigrants.

Ham-Mihan newspaper reported that the origins of these campaigns may be traced back to statements made by Iranian officials concerning the number of Afghan immigrants in Iran.

Officials and members of the parliament of Iran have repeatedly announced the presence of millions of Afghan immigrants in Iran and have warned about them in some cases.

Mohammad Sargazi, one of the Iranian MPs, is among those who criticised the presence of Afghan immigrants in Iran several times and asked the authorities of his country to reconsider accepting Afghan immigrants.

In May, he explicitly called for the expulsion of Afghan refugees from Iran and claimed that more than seven million Afghans live in Iran.

After the takeover of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan, many Afghans fled to neighbouring countries, including Iran.

There is no precise statistics available regarding the number of Afghan immigrants in Iran. However, the Minister of Interior of Iran had recently stated that the Afghan immigrant population exceeds five million in the country.

Explosion Rocks Shia Mosque In Baghlan

Oct 13, 2023, 11:50 GMT+1

Local sources reported an explosion inside a mosque in the second district of Pol-e Khomri city in Baghlan Province. According to sources, the explosion occurred at the Imam Zaman Mosque during Friday prayers.

Sources said that the blast took place inside a Shiite Mosque, killing and injuring several worshipers.

The exact number of casualties due to this explosion is not currently available.

According to sources, this explosion was caused by an embedded bomb. Local sources said that after the explosion, Taliban members rushed to the scene.

Local Taliban authorities have not commented on the explosion so far.

US Allocates $12 Million For Victims of Earthquake in Afghanistan

Oct 13, 2023, 11:30 GMT+1

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said that the organisation has allocated $12 million for immediate humanitarian assistance to help the earthquake victims in western Afghanistan.

The US aid to Afghanistan has been announced at the same time as the appeal made by relief organisations to increase urgent financial resources for the treatment of hundreds of victims of the two earthquakes in the past five days in western Afghanistan.

Reuters reported that the aid will be distributed through external agencies such as the International Organisation for Migration, which includes temporary shelter, blankets, clothes, food, and other items.

The Taliban has provided varying statistics regarding the earthquake's casualties. The group’s Ministry for Disaster Management announced that at least 2,400 people died in the earthquake, but the Ministry of Public Health announced that the number of victims was more than 1,000 people.