Taliban Announces Start of Kam Air’s Direct Flights To Saudi Arabia

The organisation said that 114,000 people who were affected by the recent earthquake in Herat need life-saving health care.

In a statement on Thursday, WHO stated that over 90 percent of the casualties in the Herat earthquake comprise women, girls, boys, and other vulnerable communities.

According to the organisation, at least 40 health centres in nine districts of Herat have been damaged resulting in disruptions in accessing health services for 58,000 people.

Earlier, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that a total of USD 93.6 million is needed to deal with the Herat earthquake victims in different sectors.

The World Food Programme had also announced that it needs 19 million dollars for emergency aid to assist tens of thousands of Herat earthquake victims.

The United Nations said that more than 43,000 people were directly affected by the Herat earthquake and more than 3,330 houses were destroyed.

Earlier, Rahmon said that due to security threats, Tajikistan needs hundreds of security installations on the border with Afghanistan.

Asia Plus News Agency of Tajikistan reported on Thursday that new outposts have been set up in the districts of Lakhsh, Shamsuddin Shahin, Roshan, Ishkashom, Murghob, and Khorog.

According to this report, Rahmon had ordered the construction of all new outposts on the border with Afghanistan.

The president of Tajikistan, during a meeting with his country's soldiers in the border region, emphasised on strengthening border protection.

Earlier, Kheireddin Osman Zuda, head of the Centre for Strategic Studies of Tajikistan, announced that the number of outposts of the country on the Afghan border exceeded 100, and some of them were built with the help of international organisations.

Tajikistan, which is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, has repeatedly asked Central Asian countries to create a "security belt" around Afghanistan.

According to Tajik officials, terrorists are actively present on the borders of Afghanistan and are trying to penetrate into Tajikistan and Central Asia.

The founding members of the front stressed that they would work to "liberate Afghanistan from the occupation of the Taliban, drive out extremist groups" and work for the welfare of Afghan citizens.

Sami Sadat, the leader of the Afghanistan United Front, said that in August 2021 when the Taliban took over power, Afghanistan once again fell into the hands of the perpetrators of the September 11 attack.

He said that currently, about 16,000 al-Qaeda members receive military training in Afghanistan, and their leaders meet and travel freely in the Middle East.

Sadat claimed that in October 2021, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the person in charge of Al-Qaeda's international operations at the time, inspired by the "success of the Taliban," decided to "reconcile" Shia and Sunni terrorist groups in the Middle East and focus on their enmity with the United States.

According to this military officer of the previous Afghan government, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban work together in the training and military exercises of "terrorists" and prepare them for attacks in Africa, the Middle East, and even Europe.

According to Sadat, currently, the former base of American forces near Kandahar Airfield has become a training centre for suicide bombers.

He said that Al-Qaeda has a close relationship with the Taliban and now the Ministry of Defence of the group uses Al-Qaeda members for military training of its forces.

Sadat said, "Afghanistan is currently a haven for dozens of terrorist groups and they are preparing for overseas operations."

He stated that with the Taliban gaining power, terrorism in Afghanistan has gained opportunity, space, and inspiration. Sadat said that the Taliban are setting up hundreds of schools, brainwashing children, and preparing them for overseas operations.

Referring to the humanitarian situation and increased migration from Afghanistan, he said that the Taliban are indifferent to their own people, but they are a "good host" for international terrorism.

Sadat added that as citizens of Afghanistan, "we cannot sit idly by this situation”.

He said that he wants "a united Afghanistan under one flag, with the inclusion of all minorities and a constitutional order".

The leader of the Afghanistan United Front emphasised that he is in favour of forming a legitimate government in a peaceful way and "if possible, through dialogue and participation of the Taliban in the elections". However, Sadat said that if the Taliban do not want to hold these elections, resorting to "force" will be necessary.

Referring to the previous government, Sadat said that Afghan soldiers didn’t "lack will and courage", but "rather, the United States and the Afghan armed forces failed because of failed policies”.

After the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan, several political organisations have been created by exiled political leaders and former government officials.

While making such statements, he also said that “hypocrites” are fanning differences between Iranian people and Afghan immigrants.

According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), on the sidelines of the Iranian cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Vahidi explained, "Iran helped these people and gave them facilities so that their students could go to schools. However, some people are trying to turn the good relations between the people of the two countries into a challenge, and this is definitely the design of the enemies of the two countries."

Meanwhile, the Iranian interior minister admitted that some Iranian citizens have concerns about organising the immigrants. He stressed that these concerns are legitimate, and refugees should be organised.

Vahidi previously blamed the "enemy's intelligence services" for Iranian society’s anti-Afghan immigrant rhetoric following the increase in harassment of Afghan immigrants in Iran.

The authorities of the Islamic Republic always hold the intelligence services of other countries responsible for all the anomalies and protests in Iran.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, thousands of Afghans fled to neighbouring countries, including Iran.

On Wednesday, this organisation said that it has to use the current extremely limited budget to provide food aid to the earthquake victims.

This UN-affiliated organisation added that it is trying to send emergency food aid to 100,000 people in the region.

In a statement, WFP wrote that disasters like earthquakes put a lot of pressure on communities that were living in absolute poverty.

As a result of the earthquake in Herat on October 7, more than two thousand people died and many villages were razed to the ground.

Following the deadly earthquake, Herat province and its neighbouring areas in other provinces of Afghanistan witnessed aftershocks in recent days, which caused fear and concern among the citizens.

WFP added that approximately 25,000 buildings have been destroyed and survivors are currently sleeping in tents next to the rubble of their homes and are afraid of more earthquakes and aftershocks.

According to UN officials, more than 90% of those killed in the earthquake were women and children.

The earthquakes occurred during the day when majority of the men in the area were working outside their homes.

At the start of this year, this UN organisation had to decrease the number of families receiving their aid. Consequently, severe funding shortages lead to the exclusion of 10 million people across Afghanistan from receiving essential food assistance, putting their lives at risk.

The WFP has also said that it needs USD 400 million to provide food aid to vulnerable communities in Afghanistan next winter.

This organisation has said that it will allocate food aid to support communities that need urgent help due to snow and landslides, as well as to Afghan women.

In recent days, a number of countries announced their readiness to help the Herat earthquake victims.