Taliban's Budget Still Pending Approval Even After 3.5 Months
A senior official from the Taliban's Ministry of Finance informed Afghanistan International that even after three and a half months, the budget for the new year has not yet been approved.
A senior official from the Taliban's Ministry of Finance informed Afghanistan International that even after three and a half months, the budget for the new year has not yet been approved.
This source said that according to the financial affairs of Afghanistan's budget units and according to financial laws, the budget for the new year should have been approved three months ago.
However, as per the source, the budget has not yet been set.
The source, who preferred not to be named, added that the amount of the national budget and the share of ministries is still unclear.
The Taliban's Ministry of Finance recently sent a written document to the office of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, a copy of which has reached Afghanistan International.
In this document, it has been stated that the budget has not yet been approved, and this ministry wants to pay the employee’s salaries under a special allocation this month.
Sources in Paktia informed Afghanistan International that several doctors at the regional hospital have initiated a strike in protest against the behaviour of Mullah Khair Mohammad Mansoor, the Taliban's head of public health in the province.
The doctors are also protesting against the lack of salary as well as employment of relatives of this Taliban official.
They allege that Mansoor, without the permission of the Ministry of Public Health, has arbitrarily dismissed specialised hospital staff and hired his unqualified relatives.
They also indicated that this Taliban official has delayed doctors' salaries for months, causing frustration among hospital staff.
A list of doctors who have resigned due to these actions by Mullah Mansoor has reached to Afghanistan International.
According to sources, the strike has led to serious issues for patients in the hospital.
Additionally, following the resignation of female doctors, male doctors have taken over duties in the maternity ward. According to sources, all doctors at the regional hospital of Paktia are considering resigning, but some of them have been prevented and threatened by Mullah Mansoor.
Afghanistan International has learned that Mullah Mansoor lacks medical education and is currently a twelfth-grade student at Paktia Night School.
Sources within the Taliban's public health office in Paktia have provided Afghanistan International with a list indicating that during Mansoor's tenure, no positions have been publicly announced, and Mansoor's relatives with high salaries have been appointed to vacant positions.
Additionally, Ali Gul, who serves as the head of Zazai Aryub Hospital in Paktia province, is also the brother of Mullah Mansoor. He has appointed his niece and nephew to medical positions under his control within the hospital.
According to information available with Afghanistan International, Mullah Mansoor’s brothers have been appointed as hospital vaccinators and COVID sample transporters, receiving high salaries.
Some medical institutions in Paktia, which financially support medical personnel under Taliban oversight, express frustration with Khair Mohammad Mansoor's appointments. They declined to be named in the report due to security concerns.
Public health officials have confirmed the doctors' strike to Afghanistan International and stated that a delegation from the Taliban's Ministry of Public Health has traveled to the province to negotiate with the doctors.
The regional hospital of Paktia is one of the main healthcare facilities in the southeastern region of Afghanistan, catering to patients from Khost, Paktia, and Paktika provinces. Established with modern equipment during the previous government's tenure, the hospital currently employs approximately 300 healthcare workers.
Afghanistan International has learned that Taliban officials have seized the personal assets of several leaders and officials of the former Afghan government.
According to sources, Taliban officials have plundered the assets of Mir Rahman Rahmani, Atta Mohammad Noor, and other former officials.
With the rapid fall of the previous government and the Taliban's return to Afghan cities in the summer of 2021, many Afghan politicians abandoned their assets and left Afghanistan; a significant number of political leaders did not wish to live under Taliban control due to their staunch stance against the group.
Abdul Rashid Dostum, Karim Khalili, Yunus Qanooni, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Salahuddin Rabbani, Rahmatullah Nabil, Atta Mohammad Noor, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, and Mohammad Ismail Khan are among the leaders who left Afghanistan following the fall of the previous government.
According to information received by Afghanistan International, Taliban officials have seized the assets and homes of several of these politicians.
Afghanistan International has obtained information indicating that Manan Omari, one of the founders of the Taliban group, has "seized" the house and vehicles of Mir Rahman Rahmani, the former Speaker of the Afghan Lower House of Parliament.
Meanwhile, Idris Anwar, the Taliban's deputy governor in Parwan, has taken over the house and assets of Amanullah Guzar, a jihadi commander, and his brothers.
Information indicates that the houses of Ghulam Bahauddin Jailani, the former Minister of State for Disaster Management, have been seized by Qari Sadiq, the Taliban's intelligence chief in Parwan.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the guesthouse of Atta Mohammad Noor, a leader of one of the factions of Jamiat e Islami, has been seized by the Taliban governor in Balkh, and his garden has been taken over by the Taliban's security chief in the province.
Information shows that the Taliban in Parwan have converted the house of Jan Ahmad Haqjo, a former commander, into the headquarters of the Second Security District of the province.
The Taliban's mayor in Mazar-e Sharif has plundered the house and garden of Fazluddin Ayar, the former governor of Parwan.
However, the Taliban had previously stated that they would return the properties and assets of former government officials to their owners.
Contrary to this claim, however, the group has, since gaining power, seized the houses and assets of several political figures and former officials, converting them into military bases for their personnel.
This group had previously seized the house and vehicles of Ismail Khan, a former jihadi leader in Herat city.
According to our information, Sufi Gardizi, a Taliban member, is living in Mohammad Mohaqiq's house. Some sources said that the Taliban had also seized the house of General Murad Ali Murad.
Reports indicate that two months after gaining control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban destroyed the house of Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghan National Security, in Maidan Wardak province.
Photos of Nabil's house have been circulated, showing it reduced to ruins.
Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, brother of former President Ashraf Ghani, said in 2022 that Ibrahim Haqqani, a senior member of the Haqqani network, had "seized" Ashraf Ghani's house.
Fazl Ahmad Manawi, the former Minister of Justice of Afghanistan, also announced in 2022 that the Taliban had burned down his house and library in Panjshir province. Manawi told Afghanistan International: "There were many old and valuable books there."
Recently, the Taliban evicted Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hizb-e-Islami, from his residence and office in Kabul. The Taliban claimed that Hekmatyar was living on government land. They accused him of seizing government land, but Hekmatyar argued he was residing there based on an agreement with the previous government.
While the Taliban continues to seize land and assets of former officials, the group has established a commission to prevent land grabbing.
The exact number of houses and assets of political leaders and former government officials that have fallen into the hands of the Taliban is not currently known.
Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, has lauded Russia's deliberation on excluding the group from its roster of terrorist organisations, labelling the gesture "a prudent and realistic action”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry disclosed that the proposal to remove the Taliban from the nation's terrorist organisations list is currently under assessment.
According to reports from Taliban-operated National Radio on Tuesday, Mujahid stated that the Taliban “has been a movement dedicated to Afghanistan's independence, accurately reflecting the aspirations of the Afghan populace”.
He underscored the practicality of Russia's potential delisting of the Taliban, urging other nations to adopt a realistic stance towards the group.
Despite Mujahid's assertions that the Taliban are the "authentic representatives" of the Afghan people, the international community is yet to formally recognise the regime as Afghanistan's legitimate government. Moreover, several recognised political factions within Afghanistan continue to question its legitimacy.
Nonetheless, Mujahid expressed optimism that other countries' willingness to engage with the Taliban could lead to commendable outcomes.
He further suggested that acknowledging the real situation regarding the Taliban could foster trust between the group and international entities, potentially catalysing substantial progress in the global political and diplomatic fields.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan announced that the country hosted the 19th edition of the meeting of National Security Advisors of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday.
According to the ministry, combating terrorism, extremism, separatism, and drug trafficking are among the focal points of this two-day meeting.
Kazakhstan's media reported that Iran would join this meeting for the first time as a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
The Islamic Republic News Agency also reported that Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, departed for Astana on Tuesday morning, at the invitation of his Kazakh counterpart to participate in the meeting of the secretaries of the National Security Councils of the SCO member countries.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, observer countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Mongolia, and Belarus were invited as guests to this meeting.
Aibek Smadiyarov, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, stated that as part of this meeting, discussions are expected on pressing international issues within the responsibility zone of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, including joint combat against terrorism, separatism, and extremism, illicit drug, and psychotropic substances trafficking.
Smadiyarov mentioned that fighting transnational organised crime, cooperation in international information security, and further interaction with the United Nations and regional security organisations like the Collective Security Treaty Organisation will be among the topics discussed at the meeting.
He added that at the end of this meeting, it is expected that the national security advisors of the SCO member countries will sign a document regarding joint approaches to further develop multilateral cooperation and focus on regional and international security.
Habib-ur-Rahman Hekmatyar, the son of the leader of Hizb-e-Islami, criticised the Taliban's authoritarian behaviour and described their treatment of Afghans as similar to that of ISIS.
In an interview with Afghanistan International, he stated that the Taliban only accept their own members and view others as either submissive or as having fled the country.
Speaking to Afghanistan International, he mentioned that the Taliban will not change and will remain as they are, considering the stance of this group's officials as "unpleasant”.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's son explained the recent conflicts between the Taliban and the leader of the Islamic Party, elucidating why Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who had previously supported some of the Taliban's political positions, is now not favouring the group.
Hekmatyar added, "ISIS says only their way is right and principled. Anyone who follows my path is a heaven-dweller, and anyone who doesn't follow me is a hell-dweller. They have declared war against everyone."
The son of the former jihadi leader stated that the Taliban "call only themselves Muslims and consider others to be in error”.
Habib-ur-Rahman Hekmatyar has made harsh criticisms against the Taliban following the eviction of his father, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, from his residence by the Taliban's orders.
The Taliban claimed that the residence of the Islamic Party's leader was built on government land and he was not entitled to it.