Iran's Interior Minister Nominee Calls For Halting Afghan Migrants’ Entry

Jerry Dunleavy criticised the committee for not sufficiently addressing the deaths of 13 US soldiers in Kabul.

The ISIS suicide attack on the Abbey Gate of Kabul Airport on August 26, 2021, resulted in the deaths of at least 182 people, including 169 Afghan civilians and 13 US soldiers.

The attack occurred while US forces were in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Dunleavy criticised Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for failing to hold the Biden administration accountable for the attack despite a Republican majority in the Congress and the discovery of evidence.

Dunleavy believes that the Biden administration is responsible for the "horrific" events related to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and their "dangerous global fallout”.

In his resignation letter, Dunleavy accused McCaul and his team of failing to fulfil their duty to investigate the Biden administration's failures, particularly regarding the Abbey Gate explosion.

In explaining his resignation on X social media platform, Dunleavy stated that McCaul and the House Foreign Affairs Committee failed to meet their promises to the families of the soldiers killed at Kabul Airport, known as the "Gold Star” families.

Dunleavy, who has been involved in the investigation, said he could no longer be part of the process due to his conscience, which would not allow him to remain silent.

He also criticised the lack of serious questioning of witnesses, including Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation. Dunleavy believes Khalilzad was not honest in his explanations regarding the Taliban.

Dunleavy added that mishandling Khalilzad in the investigation of the US withdrawal has sent a misleading message to other involved parties. According to Dunleavy, Khalilzad was clearly unsuccessful in his dealings with the Taliban.

Although Dunleavy is not a member of Congress, he was the senior investigator for the House Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and has authored a book on the subject.

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.