Two Al-Qaeda Branches Offer Condolences Over Haqqani's Assassination

The office said that poverty and unemployment have seriously affected almost half of the Afghan population, especially women.

OCHA said in a statement on Tuesday, December 17, that in 2025, 21 million people will face water and health shortages, 14.8 million people will face acute food insecurity, 14.3 million people will face limited access to health services, and 7.8 million women and children will need food assistance.

"Unemployment, family debt and poverty remain widespread, affecting almost half of the population, and are even more pronounced for women, especially female-headed households," OCHA said in a statement.

The UN office also said that in addition to the economic crisis, the Afghan people are exposed to increasing legal restrictions imposed by the Taliban. According to OCHA, these restrictions increase protection risks for all people, especially women, girls and other vulnerable groups.

The UN agency has warned that political developments in Afghanistan's neighbouring countries increase the risk of a crisis of repatriation of Afghan refugees.

If the law is approved by President Vladimir Putin, Russia will be the first member of the Security Council to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups.

The new move by the Russian parliament is good news for the Taliban, which is eagerly waiting for recognition from the international community.

Currently, no country in the world has recognised the Taliban government, which entered Kabul in August 2021. However, Russia has gradually established ties with the group, who Vladimir Putin called Moscow's ally in the fight against terrorism in July.

The Russian House of Representatives, or Duma, approved the draft law on Tuesday, December 17. The draft law was presented by some members of the Russian State Duma after Russian National Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Kabul and said that Taliban's name could be "temporarily" removed from Russia's list of terrorist groups.

Under the new law, the Kremlin can temporarily suspend the ban on terrorist groups. It could also pave the way for Russia's normalisation of relations with Syria's new rulers.

Russian Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Monday called for the removal of Syria's Tahrir al-Sham group from Russia's list of banned terrorist groups. The Islamist group, led by rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, ended more than half a century of rule by the Assad family in Syria by launching a massive offensive against Syrian government forces this month.

Previous Russian laws did not provide for the temporary suspension of the activities of banned organisations.

The Interfax news agency previously wrote about a draft law approved by the Russian parliament today, according to which "the activities of certain prohibited organisations in accordance with Russian law may be suspended for a limited period of time at the request of the Prosecutor General or his deputy and by a court order”.

If the law is signed into law by Vladimir Putin, Russia will be the first member of the Security Council to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist groups.

China has also accepted the Taliban ambassador but has not yet officially recognized the Taliban government.

Other members of the Security Council have conditioned official relations with the Taliban on respect for women's rights. However, the Taliban have ignored the demands of Western countries by issuing discriminatory decrees against women.

Dickson called on the Taliban to fulfill their international obligations in the field of human rights.

The chargé d'affaires of the British Embassy in Afghanistan met with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, during a visit to Kabul. A statement from the embassy said that Dickson spoke with Stanekzai about the next round of the Doha summit, which will be held by the United Nations.

The chargé d'affaires of the British embassy has expressed his country's support for the UN's independent assessment of Afghanistan, calling it the best way to integrate Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban into the international system.

Dickson said that if the Taliban adheres to human rights requirements, there are many areas for interaction and cooperation with the group. "There are many potential areas for cooperation, but the UK should see positive movement by the Taliban in maintaining its international human rights obligations," the chargé d'affaires of the British embassy added.

One of the major human rights violations of the Taliban is the imposition of severe restrictions that the group imposes on Afghan women. In a statement issued after his meeting with Stanekzai, the British embassy chargé d'affaires said that the UK is deeply concerned about the closure of medical institutes to educate Afghan women and girls.

Referring to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report, Dickson said that the new restriction has been imposed while Afghanistan ranks ninth in the world in women mortality due to pregnancy and childbirth.

"This will threaten the lives and health of countless women and girls who are deprived of vital medical care, as well as their children," she added.

In addition to a number of Taliban ministers, Dickson also held talks with Afghan women, officials of non-governmental organisations, the private sector, and foreign political representatives, according to a statement from the British embassy.

The Chargé d'Affaires of the British Embassy stressed on the importance of NGOs to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

According to the statement, Afghanistan is one of the largest recipients of UK aid, with the country providing more than 14 billion AFN (£161 million) in aid to Afghanistan.

An informed source told Afghanistan International that the former president also spoke with Afghan political leaders in exile about the start of intra-Afghan talks.

The sources did not provide further details about Karzai's meetings, but said that "the beginning of a national dialogue in order to represent the national will, to get Afghanistan out of isolation and to continue humanitarian aid to the Afghan people" was the focus of the former president's talks with officials of the four countries and Afghan politicians abroad.

Karzai's office in Kabul has not yet released anything about his trips.

Karzai's visit to Germany, Britain, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates comes at a time when the Taliban's insistence on the group's strict policies, especially towards women, has intensified criticism from the international community, and in a recent meeting of the Security Council, the Security Council called for an end to these policies.

Hamid Karzai is one of the few Afghan leaders who has remained in Afghanistan since the fall of the previous government. The Taliban has imposed restrictions on Karzai's travel from time to time. However, the former president of Afghanistan has repeatedly called for the reopening of universities and schools to girls.

In this meeting, the Taliban leader has decided on various issues, from burning human hair, allocating land for an industrial city, exporting and importing, to reforming "bad customs”.

The Taliban's office of deputy prime minister for economic affairs on Tuesday issued a statement saying that 20,000 acres of land in each province should be allocated for the establishment of industrial zones in three provinces of Nangarhar, Kandahar and Balkh.

The Taliban leader has allocated 10,000 acres of land for Kunduz province to establish an industrial park. In addition to Kabul, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Balkh and Kunduz provinces, he has allocated 1,000 acres of land for each province. The Taliban leader has also allocated 10 to 50 acres of land for small industries in each province.

According to the Taliban's statement, Mullah Hibatullah has ordered that the lands along the highways allocated for the construction of mosques be handed over to the private sector.

The Ministry of Agriculture has been asked to prepare a comprehensive plan for the effective use and leasing of government lands to the people.

The Ministry of Mines and the National Development Company should prepare a plan for the Hajigak iron mine and submit it to Mullah Hibatullah for approval.

The Taliban leader also said that in provinces where "human hair has been confiscated by security officials", the Taliban's Interior Ministry should propose a plan to Mullah Hibatullah about burning it.

Mullah Hibatullah said that government agencies should formulate procedures for all goods that are prohibited or authorised by the Ministry of Finance. According to the Taliban leader's decision, those who smuggle iron will be imprisoned from six months to two years.

The Taliban leader has also tasked several of the group's ministries with pinpointing out "bad customs" throughout Afghanistan. The Taliban has said that these customs are not allowed in terms of Sharia, and to prevent it, they should prepare a method and then submit it to Mullah Hibatullah for approval.

The Taliban did not provide details about the time and place of the meeting.