Baghlan Province Residents Block Northern Highway To Protest Against Taliban
Sources have informed Afghanistan International that on Tuesday, residents of Baghlan province closed the northern highway in protest against the Taliban.
Sources have informed Afghanistan International that on Tuesday, residents of Baghlan province closed the northern highway in protest against the Taliban.
According to these sources, residents of the Dahana-i-Ghori district staged demonstrations and blocked the Balkh-Samangan highway.
Images received by Afghanistan International indicate that some individuals are present on the road and have ignited fires.
Sources claimed that ongoing floods and the destruction of agricultural lands in the province prompted the protests as people are asking the Taliban to construct a canal to prevent further destruction.
Recent floods in various provinces have resulted in both human and financial losses.
Sources in Baghlan reported that even several hours after the protest began, Taliban authorities are yet to arrive at the scene.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced that their fighters killed a Taliban member and injured two others during an attack on a Taliban outpost in Baghlan province.
AFF stated that the operation took place on Monday evening, targeting a Taliban police command outpost in Pul-e-Khomri city.
According to the front's statement, no AFF members suffered any harm during the operation.
AFF stands as one of the armed factions opposing the Taliban, engaging in offensives against the group across various provinces, notably in northern Afghanistan.
Taliban officials typically refrain from commenting on such incidents.
Sources close to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Hezb-e-Islami party, informed Afghanistan International on Monday that several Taliban members visited Hekmatyar's residence and prohibited him from delivering speeches and holding political meetings.
Hekmatyar's son did not confirm or deny the issue.
According to sources, after Hekmatyar made statements regarding the US drones occupying Afghanistan's airspace, some Taliban officials visited his residence and deemed his remarks contradictory to their principles.
During a gathering with some of his party members on Eid, Hekmatyar mentioned that US drones were patrolling Afghan airspace, saying that Afghanistan's airspace was under occupation. He expressed his refusal to accept any form of US presence or occupation in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban to refute statements made by the US Special Representative, Tom West.
Hekmatyar stated, "Tom West mentioned in the US Congress that there is an active intelligence presence in Afghanistan. Such a statement is not ordinary but rather the words of a responsible individual."
He further mentioned that West claimed that the US has provided two billion dollars to the Taliban and the group is fulfilling their promise. The leader of Hezb-e-Islami emphasised that the Taliban should have rejected the statements made by this American official.
Although it remains unclear which statements of the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Hekmatyar was referring to, US officials have previously indicated that the US is monitoring the activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
The US government has conducted numerous attacks in Afghanistan with the assistance of drones operating in Afghan airspace, and the Taliban are unable to prevent these aircraft from entering Afghan airspace. In one such drone strike, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaeda was killed in Kabul.
US Republican representatives in Congress have criticised the Biden administration for losing the ability to monitor and carry out operations against terrorist groups in Afghanistan following withdrawal of all forces from the country.
Reports of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's meetings being banned and even facing a form of "house arrest" have also circulated on social media.
The Pashto section of Afghanistan International reached out to Habiburrahman Hekmatyar, the son of the leader of Hezb-e-Islami. Without confirming or denying the news about his father, he wrote, "Encountering challenges and fluctuations in the political struggle while advocating for truth against tyranny and lawlessness is natural."
Tensions between Hekmatyar and the Taliban have recently intensified. In the latest incident, the Taliban evicted him from his residence in Darulaman area of Kabul, where he had been residing since the signing of the peace agreement with the government of Ashraf Ghani, claiming that the property belonged to the Ministry of Defence.
Hekmatyar has consistently voiced criticism against the policies and leadership of the Taliban.
Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), under Taliban control, reported quoting Iran's Deputy Ambassador to Kabul, that the Iranian government does not allow anyone in Iran to engage in political activities against the Taliban.
As per the RTA, Seyyed Hassan Mortazavi, Iran’s Deputy Ambassador, made this statement during a meeting with Maulawi Abdul Kabir, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban.
It added that Mortazavi told Abdul Kabir that Iran is trying to create a positive interaction between regional countries and the Taliban.
According to the Taliban, the Iranian diplomat has also called for further expansion of relations between Kabul and Tehran.
Following the Taliban's takeover of power in Afghanistan, Iran was one of the first countries to strengthen its political and economic ties with the Taliban.
The Iranian government, shortly after the Taliban’s takeover, handed over the Afghan embassy to Taliban representatives in Tehran and subsequently strengthened its diplomatic and commercial relations with the group.
This Iranian official cited Iran's lack of support for the political activities of opponents, even though a source close to the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) told Afghanistan International on April 6 that Iranian police had arrested three members of the front on charges of joining ISIS.
On April 6, Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, Iran’s law enforcement forces spokesperson, said that they have apprehended "senior member and operational commander of ISIS" named "Mohammad Zakir" (known as Ramesh) and two other members of the group in Mahdasht city, Karaj.
Participants at the International Women Peace Security Forum in Kosovo informed Afghanistan International that the Taliban prevented four women from travelling to Kosovo at Kabul Airport.
These women were scheduled to attend a conference to receive the Kosovo Courage Award.
On Monday, the Kosovo Medal of Courage was awarded to several Afghan activists.
A participant told Afghanistan International that Taliban officials thwarted the travel of the four invited women to Kosovo.
During her speech at the forum, Zahra Nader, editor-in-chief of Zan Times, said that her colleagues were barred from travelling by the Taliban. Nader highlighted that some Afghan women, who were invited to the summit, were absent today due to the Taliban's restriction on females travelling without a male guardian. They are permitted to travel only when accompanied by a man.
One of the forum participants informed Afghanistan International that the women who were prevented from travelling are Adela Yadegar, an employee of Forum for Afghan Women; Mahnaz Baluch, an employee of the International Organisation for Migration’ Negina Ahmadi, an employee of the Just for Afghan Capacity and Knowledge Institute, and Freshta Yaqubi, an employee of the Organisation for Sustainable Aid in Afghanistan.
According to the source, while the Taliban permitted the invited men to travel at the airport, they intervened to prevent the women from departing before their flight.
As of now, Taliban officials have not commented in this regard.
It is not the Taliban's first attempt to prevent Afghan women from traveling; previously, the group hindered a group of girls from traveling to the United Arab Emirates for education in 2023.
Taliban has imposed a ban on girls' education beyond the sixth grade and has placed restrictions on women's employment across various sectors.
The Taliban announced that due to heavy rainfall and mountain slides, the Samangan-Balkh highway has been closed to traffic since Sunday night.
Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), now under Taliban control, reported, citing officials of the group in Samangan, that efforts to reopen this highway have commenced.
According to reports, severe rainfall and recent floods have resulted in significant human and economic damages.
A Taliban spokesperson for the Ministry of Disaster Management said on Monday that, due to rain and flooding in the provinces, 33 people have lost their lives and 27 have been injured. Additionally, he noted that 606 houses have been destroyed, and 200 livestock have perished.