Taliban Army Chief Calls On Iran, Pakistan To Stop Oppression Of Afghan Refugees

Gohar stressed that UNHCR is a "silent spectator" in the face of these actions. She urged the organisation to defend the rights of vulnerable Afghans, especially women and children.

On Monday, January 6, Bushra Gohar, a human rights activist and former member of Pakistan's parliament, reacted to the detention of Afghan refugees in Islamabad by publishing notes on the social media platform X.

The arrests appear to have been ordered by Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and should be stopped immediately, she said.

Gohar stressed that Afghan migrant women, children and the elderly should be released from detention centers immediately.

The former member of Pakistan's parliament referred to the United Nations as a "silent spectator" and called on the organisation to defend the rights of vulnerable Afghans, especially women and girls.

"Please explain why this inhumane repression against Afghan families living in Islamabad has begun. Women, children and the elderly are rounded up by police trucks. Many of them have valid documents or are in the process of receiving documents."

Bushra Gohar also stressed that after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, families have been forced to flee the country.

Bushra Gohar is a Pakistani politician and one of the senior leaders of the National Democratic Movement. She was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.

Pakistani police have recently resumed house-to-house searches to detain and deport Afghan refugees. Pakistan's move has been met with strong reactions from human rights organisations.

Baghaei said that since the planning of the construction of water dams in Afghanistan, the issue has been on the agenda of the Islamic Republic's follow-up.

According to IRNA news agency, in response to a question about the construction of dams in Afghanistan, Baghaei said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the custodian of the country's diplomacy, has pursued the issue of supplying Iran's rights from the border and shared rivers as one of its fixed agendas."

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson added that the history of pursuing the issue of Iran's water rights from the Harirud border river dates back to the early 2010s.

Baghaei said at a press conference, "Since the planning for the construction of a number of dams inside Afghanistan was made, the issue was put on the agenda of the Islamic Republic of Iran's follow-up, and our objections in this regard were also recorded."

"The water that has flowed from Afghanistan to Iran over thousands or millions of years creates rights for all parties on both sides of the border," the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Baghaei said that in some cases, Iran has "specific documents and agreements”. Citing customary international law and taking into account "environmental considerations and, perhaps more importantly, the principle of good neighbourliness", he added, the Islamic Republic expects the Taliban to consider this issue "seriously".

According to Baghaei, Alireza Bikdeli, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to Kabul, is following up on the issue of the dispute over water rights, and in Tehran, "we are using all the facilities we have to follow up on the issue”.

Iran's water rights from the rivers on the border and shared with Afghanistan, especially in recent years when the construction of dams along the Helmand River has increased, has become a serious issue and in some cases a source of tension between the Islamic Republic and the former Afghan government, as well as the Taliban government.

Officials of the Islamic Republic have described the construction of water dams, including Salma, Pashdan, and Bakhshabad dams, as a serious threat to the downstream areas, including Khorasan Razavi, as well as Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The Helmand River is one of the main sources of water supply in the eastern regions of Iran, especially in Sistan and Baluchestan province. According to the 1972 treaty, Afghanistan is committed to securing Iran's share of water rights from the Helmand River.

The Pakistani government had started detaining Afghan refugees in Islamabad on Friday.

The Taliban's media office in Nangarhar on Monday, January 6, wrote on social media platform X that many of those who were arrested and then deported to Afghanistan also had legal documents.

The Taliban has said that many of these people were held in Pakistani police custody for one to two months.

The Taliban report states that these individuals were handed over to the group in Torkham after their release.

Reports in Pakistan indicate that in the past four days, the harassment and detention of Afghan migrants and asylum seekers in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, has intensified. On the other hand, the Taliban's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations has announced that Islamabad police have arrested 127 Afghans during an operation.

According to reports, Pakistani police forces have arrested and imprisoned dozens of Afghan refugees, including women and children, in the operation.

The fate of the recent detainees remains unclear.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Monday expressed concern over Pakistan's airstrikes on Barmal district of Paktika in response to media queries.

"We have taken note of media reports of airstrikes on Afghan civilians, including women and children," Jaiswal said. "We unequivocally condemn any attack on innocent civilians."

"It is a long-standing practice for Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its internal failures," he said.

Pakistani airstrikes killed at least 46 people, including several women and children, in Barmal district of Paktika.

The Indian newspaper "Times of India" wrote that Pakistani airstrikes on seven villages, especially the village of Laman, caused significant casualties, wherein five members of a family were killed in the strikes.

After these attacks, tensions on the border increased, and the Afghan Taliban, along with their Pakistani allies, launched attacks on the border posts of Pakistani forces.

Referring to the Taliban's non-compliance with Afghanistan's commitments, Maleki said that the Taliban has neither a parliament nor a government.

Maliki told ILNA news agency on Sunday that neighbouring countries do not have a positive perception of the Taliban government. According to him, "If we look at what is currently happening in the so-called Taliban rule with a regional attitude, it does not give good feedback for neighbouring countries."

The member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian parliament said that today's rulers of Afghanistan are treating Iran, Pakistan, and some neighbouring countries and the region in a way that was unprecedented in the previous governments of Afghanistan.

"There was interaction with the previous governments of Afghanistan on every issue, which affected the relations of the countries given the position that Afghanistan had, but we have seen something different during this period when the Taliban took over the sovereignty of this country," he said.

He called the issue of water rights the biggest challenge in Iran's relations with the Taliban and said, "Unfortunately, the Taliban does not adhere to the rules, contracts and historical treaties between the two countries."

In a part of his remarks, Maleki expressed concern over the Taliban's construction of dams.

"I believe that the construction of dams in Afghanistan is questionable, I believe that any action should be taken in the atmosphere of partnership between the two countries, which is not the case today, of course, it is natural that the Taliban does not have a parliament or a government, nothing is in place in this government," he said.

Referring to his talks with the Iranian president and foreign minister, he said that the water issue is on the government's agenda.

Taliban officials recently inaugurated the Pashdan Dam in western Afghanistan. Some Iranian officials have expressed concern about the Taliban's dam construction, saying that the purpose of the dam construction in the western region is specifically to limit the flow of water to Iran.