Senior US Congress Investigator Resigns Over Failure In Afghanistan Withdrawal Probe

On Monday, Trump criticised the current US President Joe Biden's policies toward the Taliban during a public conversation on X Spaces. The Republican presidential candidate for the upcoming US election called the transfer of Afghanistan's funds to the Taliban the greatest folly in US history.

Trump was apparently referring to Afghanistan's assets in the US, which are currently held in a Swiss bank under the supervision of the Afghanistan Trust Fund and are not accessible to the Taliban.

He has previously claimed that the Biden administration left behind US military equipment worth approximately $85 billion in Afghanistan, which has since fallen into the hands of the Taliban.

At the Republican National Convention, where Trump officially accepted the party's nomination for the election, he stated that the Taliban has become the world's largest dealer of US weapons by selling these arms.

The former US president did not specify which countries or groups the Taliban is allegedly selling the weapons to. However, there have been previous reports of US weapons from the Afghan National Army and Security Forces being spotted in Pakistan, Kashmir, and even Palestine.

US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021 following the signing of the Doha Agreement. This agreement was signed by Trump's administration with the Taliban but was implemented during Biden's presidency.

Qani stated that during this confrontation, a woman and two children were killed due to gunfire from the Pakistani border guards.

On Monday night, he wrote on X social media platform that the clash occurred at noon in Torkham after Pakistani border forces opened fire on Taliban border forces.

Qani did not provide an explanation for the cause of the clash. However, earlier, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported, citing Taliban officials, that Taliban members were working on expanding a security post near the border when Pakistani forces opened fire.

Meanwhile, local sources told Afghanistan International on Monday that following the clash between Taliban and Pakistani border forces in the Momand Dara district of Nangarhar, "a woman and her three sons were killed”.

Apparently, they lost their lives after a mortar hit their home in this district.

Neumann said that it’s likely that the US wants to take a forward-looking approach regarding Haqqani.

The Haqqani network, led by Taliban’s current interior minister, was responsible for deadly attacks during the war with the US and the Afghan government. In 2012, the US designated this network as a terrorist group.

Additionally, the US set a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of Sirajuddin Haqqani. This reward is still listed on the US Department of Justice website.

However, the US agreed to Haqqani's travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In June, Haqqani was permitted to travel to the UAE to participate in a security and reconciliation meeting.

On Monday, Neumann told Afghanistan International that the US has not forgiven the Taliban’s interior minister, but the general perception in the US is to move forward.

The former US Ambassador to Afghanistan stated that Haqqani may not be moderate, but is more pragmatic compared to the Taliban in Kandahar.

According to the court's statement, each person received 39 lashes and was sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment.

The statement also mentioned that several Taliban officials and people were present during the punishment.

The Supreme Court did not disclose the identities of the individuals.

The Taliban frequently report public floggings, sometimes several times a week or even daily. In the past week, nearly 10 people have been flogged for various charges in Kandahar, Kabul, and other provinces.

Human rights organisations and the United Nations have repeatedly called on the Taliban to cease public corporal punishment. However, such practices continue under the group's rule in Afghanistan.

During the march, the protestors chanted slogans denouncing "gender apartheid," declaring that the Taliban cannot silence women’s voices through the use of force.

This demonstration was held close on the heels of the third anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.

Identifying themselves as members of the "New Thought Movement," the women’s rights activists marched through the streets of Taloqan, the provincial capital, under the banner of "Women, Life, Freedom”.

The protestors accused the Taliban of enforcing gender apartheid in Afghanistan and called on other women to stand up for their rights against the group.

Meanwhile, Taliban officials are preparing to commemorate August 15 as the day of their "victory over the US occupation and its allies”.

Women’s rights movements, both within Afghanistan and internationally, have issued statements ahead of August 15, marking the third anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, describing it as the "darkest day in Afghanistan’s modern history”.