Trump Asserts Afghanistan Crisis Wouldn't Have Occurred Under His Presidency

However, Afghan activists criticised the meeting, accusing the Taliban of obstructing polio vaccination efforts in recent years.

On Saturday, 20 July, the WHO Director-General wrote on X that in his meeting with Jalali, they discussed the health situation in Afghanistan and emphasised the need to intensify efforts to eradicate polio. He affirmed that the organisation continues to support the people of Afghanistan, especially women and children.

The Taliban's Ministry of Health stated that Jalali discussed health issues and further coordination with international organisations regarding the control of infectious diseases and the prevention of polio.

"Moral Decline of the World Health Organisation"

This meeting faced severe criticism from human rights activists and former Afghan officials. Fawzia Koofi, a former member of parliament, stated that taking a photo with a Taliban representative who has issued 85 decrees restricting and violating women's rights signifies the "moral decline" of the WHO.

Khoshal Nabizada, former head of public health in Kabul, wrote on X that the Taliban have obstructed the eradication of polio. He noted that polio has been eradicated worldwide except in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but over the past two decades, the Taliban have prevented polio vaccination on both sides of the border.

Nabizada added that UN agencies received millions of dollars in additional resources under the pretext of ensuring the security of polio vaccination campaigns through the Taliban's influence.

He stated that over the past two decades, hundreds of polio vaccinators and health workers have been killed by the Taliban. Such ceremonial meetings, he argued, reflect the double standards of both the Taliban and the United Nations. According to him, neither the Taliban believe in eradicating polio, nor does the United Nations believe that the Taliban will cooperate in these efforts.

Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan's representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council, responded to the meeting by saying, "Having a meeting with the unrecognised, UN-sanctioned Taliban for humanitarian purposes is one thing, but proudly posing for a propaganda tool for them is vile and an affront to millions of people of Afghanistan under their tyrannical rule and the gender apartheid they commit."

Afghanistan International has obtained a letter from the Taliban's Minister of Public Health stating that he would be attending a meeting in Switzerland about the establishment of polio centres from 8 to 25 July.

In this letter, Noor Jalal Jalali appointed Mohammad Ishaq Sahibzada as the acting head of the Ministry of Public Health. Jalali specified that the acting head of the ministry does not have the authority to transfer, dismiss, or hire employees. This comes as the Taliban leader recently appointed Sahibzada as the Acting Minister of Public Health.

According to the reports, this railway would connect Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. The Aktau News Agency reported on Sunday that the officials discussed the possibility of constructing a new Torghundi-Herat-Kandahar-Spin Boldak railway line.

The report also stated that Turkmenistan has reached an agreement with the Taliban regarding the establishment of a logistics centre in Torghundi border in Herat city, with plans to begin construction in the near future.

Representatives of the Taliban at the meeting expressed their readiness to cooperate in the transit of goods from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Pakistan.

While no country has officially recognised the Taliban, some Central Asian countries maintain diplomatic and economic relations with them.

Saeedi has worked as a producer for private television networks and has been a member of the Afghanistan Filmmakers Association.

Close associates of Saeedi confirmed that he was detained by Taliban intelligence agents on Sunday.

Friends of Saeedi told Afghanistan International that he had no political activities and was engaged in cultural work.

The Taliban have not yet commented on the detention of Sayyed Rahim Saeedi, and it remains unclear why this filmmaker was detained.

Informed sources added that the Taliban detained Saeedi and his son, Sayyed Waris Saeedi, from Khushhal Khan Mina in the fifth district of Kabul city. According to these sources, the Taliban blindfolded Saeedi and his son and transferred them to an unknown location in a military vehicle.

Relatives of the filmmaker told Afghanistan International that the Taliban released Rahim Saeedi's son two days after their detention, but Rahim Saeedi remains in Taliban custody with no information available about his condition.

Sayyed Rahim Saeedi has worked for over 15 years in various capacities for private television channels.

Previously, the Taliban have also detained and imprisoned several civil rights activists and cultural figures for various reasons.

On Saturday, July 20, the ministry stated that among these returnees, 729 were from Pakistan and 3,504 from Iran.

According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees, these migrants returned to Afghanistan through the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Islam Qala, and Pul-e-Abrisham crossings.

The information provided by the Taliban indicates that most of these returnees are Afghan families residing in Iran and Pakistan, including children and women.

While the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees claims that these migrants returned to Afghanistan voluntarily or under coercion from Pakistan and Iran, Afghan migrants have previously reported to Afghanistan International that they were detained by police in these countries before being forcibly returned.

This comes amid reports that both Pakistan and Iran have intensified the expulsion of undocumented Afghan migrants, with the Taliban Ministry reporting the return of over a thousand Afghan migrants from these countries each week.

He emphasised that the Pakistanis played a double game in the fight against the Taliban; part ally and part hidden enemy.

He testified on Friday, July 19, at the first meeting of the commission investigating the US war in Afghanistan.

He stated that the US successfully defeated al-Qaeda and its safe havens in Pakistan with the help of the Pakistani military, but lost the war to the Taliban.

According to him, the main reason for this loss was the US' failure to eliminate Taliban safe havens in Pakistan.

Vickers explained that while the Pakistani military leadership supported the US in destroying al-Qaeda, they viewed the Taliban as a strategic tool to establish a government in Afghanistan that would serve Pakistan's interests.

Vickers also criticised the US counterterrorism strategy in Afghanistan, stating that it was flawed.

He said that the US failed to focus on its primary goal of combating terrorism while trying to build a nation in Afghanistan. He acknowledged that the US acted too late in creating a reliable and effective security force and subsequently wasted significant funds on building "wrong" security forces.

Vickers stated that the US transferred security responsibilities to the Afghan government too late.

In another part of his testimony, Vickers claimed that both Trump and Biden preferred failure over supporting the Afghan government.

According to Vickers, the Afghanistan war was a long conflict that needed to continue with support for the Afghan government.

He added that in the short term, it would have been impossible to win with 150,000 troops alone, but with a few thousand military advisors, support for the Afghan government, and continued air strikes to prevent the Taliban from growing and capturing cities, failure could have been avoided. Instead, he said, they chose to accept failure.

The first meeting of the commission investigating the US war in Afghanistan took place on Friday, July 19, at the US Veterans Administration in Washington.

The meeting was attended by several diplomats, former US and Afghan officials, and researchers, including Nader Nadery and Halima Kazem from Afghanistan.

The commission, comprising 16 commissioners, emphasised that it will engage with all those involved in the Afghanistan war to provide a comprehensive overview and recommendations for future US policy and strategies.

Established by the US Congress in December 2021, the commission is tasked with conducting a thorough review of key US decisions in various areas, including the military, intelligence, foreign aid, and diplomatic involvement in Afghanistan from June 2001 to August 2021.