Pakistan Holds Talks With Afghan Taliban On Countering Terror Threat From Afghan Soil
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has said that it is holding talks with the Afghan Taliban on combating the threat of terrorism from Afghan soil.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has said that it is holding talks with the Afghan Taliban on combating the threat of terrorism from Afghan soil.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson of the ministry, expressed concern about the unification of terrorist groups on Afghan soil and its transformation into a regional threat.
In her weekly press briefing on Thursday, December 5, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that issues related to terrorism are important in the talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Pakistan and Afghanistan discussed the dimensions of the fight against the threat posed by Pakistan from terrorist elements who have found hideouts and sanctuaries inside Afghanistan," she said.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch also expressed concern about the unification of terrorist groups on Afghan soil and their transformation into a regional threat.
In that case, she said, Pakistan would like to take immediate and effective action against these terrorist groups.
Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the international Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday met with a number of Afghan women activists and said that they would hear good news about Afghanistan soon.
Khan expressed hope that the decisions of the Hague court would "alleviate some of the pain of Afghan women".
Referring to human rights violations in Afghanistan this week, Karim Khan said that he would soon apply for an arrest warrant for those involved in human rights violations.
Recently, Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Luxembourg, and Mexico referred the case of Afghanistan, especially the violation of women's rights in this country, to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The International Criminal Court also confirmed that it had received the case.
The court is also expected to issue arrest warrants for some Taliban leaders involved in "systematic violence" against women and "the prevailing gender apartheid in Afghanistan".
In a meeting with Afghan women activists in The Hague, Karim Khan once again referred to the countries' requests, saying, "Soon you will hear news about your country”.
Human rights activist Horia Musadiq was quoted as saying that the chief prosecutor of the Hague court said, "He hopes that the court's decisions can alleviate some of the pain and suffering of the Afghan people, especially Afghan women, and that those responsible for the crimes will be brought to justice."
The Hague prosecutor has refused to name the Taliban, but the group has a case that Karim Khan and his team are handling because of its policies that have completely deprived Afghan women of their rights.
Past Crimes
On Thursday, a number of Afghan activists met with Karim Khan. Horia Musadiq, one of the participants, told Afghanistan International that during the meeting, she called for an investigation into the crimes and violence of the past 20 years.
She said that in order to investigate the crimes committed over the past 20 years, whether by the Taliban or by NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, a special tribunal should be established similar to the war crimes tribunal in the former Yugoslavia.
Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, also posted a photo of Afghan women activists meeting with Karim Khan at the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters in The Hague on Thursday, and wrote, "The prosecutor announced that he would soon request an arrest warrant."
Afghan women's activists are in the corridors of the criminal court seeking to hold the perpetrators of serious crimes in Afghanistan accountable, she said.
Despite repeated calls by the international community, human rights organizations, and especially Afghan women to lift restrictions imposed on women in Afghanistan, the Taliban has increased these restrictions over the past three years.
After banning girls from studying above the sixth grade, the Taliban banned the education of girls and women in higher education centres and universities, and in the latest move, closed the only remaining educational institution, namely medical institutes, to girls.
Espen Barth Eide, Norway's foreign minister, announced that he would not accept the group's representative as Afghanistan's ambassador to Oslo due to the Taliban's treatment of women.
He said that his country's relations with the Taliban would decline and the Taliban's demand to take over the Afghan embassy in Oslo would not be accepted.
However, Espen Barth Eide said on Thursday that his country would accept only one "Afghan official" to handle "consular affairs, visas and other urgent issues".
He did not specify whether the Afghan official belongs to the Taliban administration or will hand over consular affairs to one of the diplomats of the former government.
Norway closed the Afghan embassy in Oslo on September 12 at the request of the Taliban. For the past three years, the Afghan embassy has been run by diplomats loyal to the former Afghan government.
After the closure of the embassy in Oslo, there were reports that Norway was planning to hand over the embassy to the Taliban.
"We have made it clear to the Taliban that this is not possible," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said, AFP reported. "Recently, new restrictions have been imposed in Afghanistan, which have specifically affected Afghan women and girls," he added.
The Taliban leader this week closed private and public medical institutes to girls and women. Medical institutes were the only institutions where women continued to be trained in midwifery and nursing.
Norway is one of the few European countries that has had relations and cooperation with the Taliban since the beginning. However, the Taliban's extensive restrictions on women have caused the country to reconsider its relations.
Many human rights organisations and some countries have called the Taliban's increasing restrictions on women and girls a clear example of crimes against humanity and gender apartheid.
The Taliban's Ministry of Refugees announced on Thursday that the Pakistani police have arrested nearly 800 Afghan refugees in recent days on charges of participating in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political demonstrations.
The Taliban has said that Afghans have not participated in the recent protests, but Pakistani police continue to harass Afghan refugees.
Earlier, Pakistani officials had said that Afghan refugees had participated in the PTI protests. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said at a news conference that 19 Afghan refugees had been arrested for attending demonstrations in Islamabad.
The Pakistani interior minister also said that from December this year, all Afghan refugees in Islamabad must have a residence permit in the capital or else they will be deported from Islamabad.
The Taliban's Ministry of Refugees has said that the number of detainees is about "800 people”.
The ministry said in a statement that no Afghans had participated in the demonstrations.
The Taliban has asked the Pakistani government not to use Afghan refugees politically.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada labeled foreign organisations in Afghanistan as "spies" during a meeting in Kandahar and called for their closure.
According to sources, a number of members of the Taliban's cabinet opposed the request, and no final decision has been made on the matter yet.
The Taliban leader has summoned members of the group's cabinet to Kandahar for an emergency meeting.
According to information received by Afghanistan International, Hibatullah Akhundzada expressed concern about the activities of foreign organisations in Afghanistan, in addition to various issues.
The Taliban leader has claimed that foreign organisations in Afghanistan are doing "intelligence work" and should be shut down.
Sources said that members of the Taliban's cabinet have opposed Hibatullah Akhundzada's request, saying that it is "not possible to make a decision in one day”.
Members of the Taliban's cabinet have said that the group's intelligence agency is currently active and will take action in case of any observation of espionage activity by foreign organisations.
In addition, the Taliban's cabinet has argued that the closure of foreign organisations will increase the distance between the international community and the group.
‘Deepening Divisions Within Taliban’
Sources told Afghanistan International that Mullah Hibatullah's recent order to close medical institutions for girls has exacerbated divisions within the group.
According to information received by Afghanistan International, a number of members of the Taliban's cabinet have opposed Mullah Hibatullah's decision.
According to our source, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's deputy prime minister for economic affairs, is among those who are unhappy with Mullah Hibatullah's recent decision. In this regard, Mullah Hibatullah had summoned the cabinet members to Kandahar to gain their support.
Another source told Afghanistan International that Mullah Hibatullah had consulted with the ministers of higher education before issuing the decree on the closure of medical institutions for girls.
The Taliban's spokesman confirmed that the Kandahar meeting was held in the presence of the group's leader. The Taliban has not officially commented on the details of the meeting so far.
A number of women and girls protested in front of the Taliban governor's office in Herat on Thursday over the closure of medical institutes.
The protesters called for women's right to education and said that they wanted to make their voices heard. Videos provided to Afghanistan International show that dozens of women and girls participated in the protest.
After the Taliban's severe crackdown on women's protests, women once again took to the streets of Herat and emphasised on the provision of justice and women's right to education.
These women carried slogans calling for the reopening of educational centres for women and called on the international community and human rights institutions to pay attention to the restrictions and prohibitions imposed by the Taliban against women.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban tried to disrupt the protest, but the protesting women continued their demonstrations.
After the closure of medical education centres by the Taliban, girls in a number of provinces protested against the Taliban's move.
Meanwhile, sources in Takhar told Afghanistan International that the Taliban’s intelligence agency arrested a number of girls on Thursday for protesting.
The recent order of the Taliban leader to close medical training centres for women has also provoked widespread reactions from international organisations and women's rights activists.
They called this decision another step towards the elimination of women from society and called on the Taliban to provide the ground for women's education in accordance with international commitments.