45 Clashes Between Taliban & Neighbouring Countries in 3 Years, Afghanistan Security Watch

According to the Trump administration's national security advisor, more money in the hands of the Taliban will cause more people to suffer in Afghanistan.

The United States has provided more than $2.5 billion in aid to Afghanistan over the past three years. Although the aid is sent to Afghanistan under the guise of humanitarian aid, critics claim that the Taliban benefits from it in the form of taxes from aid organisations and the creation of aid institutions belonging to the group.

Speaking at a meeting of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held at George Washington University on Thursday evening, McMaster said that what has happened in Afghanistan over the past three years was completely predictable. Among other things, he pointed to the core nature of the Taliban, the group's repressive spirit and its links to terrorist organisations.

The former senior US military official also called the US policy towards the war in Afghanistan flawed and said that the US strategy was incomprehensible in light of the realities in Afghanistan.

"Specifically, I want to point out the distinction that the Obama administration said that the Taliban is not the main problem, but al-Qaeda is the main problem," McMaster said.

He also said that drawing a clear line between al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations was an illusion, and that this illusion is still held by a number of US officials in the country's intelligence agencies.

The former US National Security Advisor also questioned the process of Doha peace talks between the United States and the Taliban, saying that these talks discredited Ashraf Ghani's government.

McMaster also accused the Trump administration of "colluding with the Taliban," which gave the group concessions, including halting airstrikes on the Taliban.

The Doha Agreement was signed during Trump's presidency and brokered by Zalmay Khalilzad, his special envoy for Afghanistan, in February 2020. According to US officials, this agreement paved the way for the fall of the previous Afghan government.

The former US national security adviser said, "In my opinion, the situation in Afghanistan and the collapse of the security forces were self-inflicted. It was based on an illusion, based on a self-inflicted story to justify the withdrawal from this country."

McMaster called the Taliban's resistance indigenous, rather than perceived as part of a jihadist-Salafi group, and the "useful and effective role of Pakistan" as part of these illusions.

He described the Doha peace agreement as a document of American surrender that was implemented by Biden head to heart. According to him, Biden did not have so much faith in any of the Trump administration's agreements except the Doha agreement.

The organisation said that Fahim Azimi should not have been imprisoned for defending the right to education. The Taliban had arrested Azimi on charges of "helping the girls of the robotics team leave" and organising protests.

Amnesty International announced the release of the education activist on Thursday.
The Taliban has not yet commented on the release of Fahim Azimi.

Azimi, along with fellow education activist Sediqullah Afghan, was arbitrarily arrested by the Taliban on October 17, 2022, at their office in the Karte 4 district of Kabul. Sediqullah Afghan was released on April 9 of this year during a Taliban amnesty marking Eid al-Adha.

Over the past year, human rights organisations have called for the release of this girls' education activist from the Taliban's prison.

Khalilzad acknowledged that the final stage of the withdrawal was a disaster, but stressed that the main reason was a lack of intelligence.

According to Khalilzad, US officials did not anticipate that the Afghan government would simply collapse or that its military would be fundamentally disintegrated before US troops leave.

Michael McCaul has previously blamed 15 US officials, including Zalmay Khalilzad, for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He mentioned President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, the secretaries of defence and foreign affairs, and Zalmay Khalilzad.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy for the Afghan peace talks, wrote on Wednesday night, in response to Michael McCaul's remarks on social media platform X that he had not commented on the Taliban's adherence to their commitments and respect for basic human rights.

Zalmay Khalilzad said that the Doha agreement had nothing to do with human rights and instead focused on a safe military withdrawal, preventing the Taliban from attacking US forces and preventing terrorists from using Afghan soil against the United States.

He clarified that President Biden decided not to make the US withdrawal from Afghanistan conditional on an intra-Afghan political agreement, and he feared that with the prolongation of intra-Afghan negotiations, the Taliban's attacks against US forces would resume.

McCall claimed that Zalmay Khalilzad had assured that the Taliban would abide by their commitments and respect human rights.
However, Khalilzad emphasises in his statement that he did not make any comments about the Taliban's adherence to their human rights obligations during his tenure.

"When I was asked in various congressional committees whether I trusted the Taliban to fulfil their commitments on military issues and terrorism, I replied that we were talking about international relations, an arena where no one could be trusted, especially the Taliban," he wrote.

Zalmay Khalilzad also wrote that the peace talks were not a matter of trust, and that the agreement that was negotiated was based on conditions, not trust. He added that the agreement makes the fulfilment of US commitments conditional on the Taliban fulfilling their commitments, and this issue must be continuously evaluated and confirmed.

US House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said that the Doha agreement between Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban was a slap in the face to the Afghan government. He called the agreement a mistake by Zalmay Khalilzad, which had a negative impact on the morale of the previous Afghan government, adding that Khalilzad "negotiated with the Taliban and left out the Afghan government”.

These countries announced that they condemn human rights violations in Afghanistan, especially gender discrimination against women and girls by the Taliban.

The countries said that they do not politically recognise the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate leaders, according to the Associated Press.

Recently, the foreign ministers of Germany, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands have warned that if the situation of Afghan women and girls does not change, they will file a complaint against the Taliban with the International Court of Justice. The four countries stressed that the violation of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan must stop.

In a statement on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the four countries condemned the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Afghanistan, especially gender discrimination against women.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that more than 20 countries have now backed the plan.

At the same time, Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, called on other countries around the world to declare their support for the legal measures taken by these four countries.

"The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands may be the beginning of a path to justice for the Taliban's gross human rights violations against Afghan women and girls," Abbasi said.

Mélanie Joly added that the Taliban has consistently violated international law. On Thursday, Canada's foreign minister wrote on social media platform X that the Taliban has forced Afghan women and girls to remain silent.
Joly added that Canada firmly supports the women and girls of Afghanistan.

The foreign ministers of Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands issued a strongly worded statement on Wednesday condemning the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Afghanistan, particularly gender discrimination against women. They threatened the Taliban with legal action.

The statement, published in New York on Wednesday, said that the Taliban's decrees and restrictions have systematically removed Afghan women and girls from public life.

They have warned that the Taliban must be held accountable for gross and systematic human rights violations and non-compliance with Afghanistan's international obligations.

According to them, Afghanistan is responsible under international law for violating its numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands have officially announced to the Taliban that they are "obliged to put an end to these violations," citing the convention.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been ratified by 189 countries, making it one of the most popular human rights treaties of the United Nations.

Afghanistan joined the convention in 2003.
The foreign ministers of the four countries also emphasised on joint action against the Taliban's policies towards women in separate statements after the publication of this announcement.