US Funding For Afghanistan Suspended

A member of the council said that in addition to Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, 12 Taliban cabinet ministers are from Kandahar province.

Mahmood Hasan, the former head of Hajj and Religious Affairs in Panjshir province, warned the Taliban at the conference, held in Kabul on Monday, January 27, that the consequences of the current situation created by the Taliban are uncontrollable.

In a harsh tone, he called on Taliban leaders not to confine power to Kandahar. Mahmood Hasan told the Taliban to end the monopoly of power in Kandahar and include representatives of other provinces and ethnic groups in power.

The council member said, "We heard that 12 ministers, including Amir al-Momineen Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, are from Kandahar. This is not justice. This is not fairness and equality. Give power to the tribes and people of Afghanistan in the true sense of the word, whether it is a ministry, a directorate or administration."

The cleric called the Taliban's monopoly of power in Kandahar a form of bigotry and said that "bigotry has no place in religion".

He called for the return of power to the people and called on the Taliban to consider justice and include "all people and all ethnicities" in the government.

Addressing the Taliban, the cleric said, "Give the people their rights. The monopoly of power is not right in any respect. Establish an inclusive government that includes all the people of Afghanistan. This is the demand of the people of Afghanistan. Regardless of what foreigners say."

‘Invite Jihadi Leaders’

The member of the Council for the Support of Jihadi-Islamic Values said that before the Taliban, there were powerful jihadi figures in Afghanistan who he said were rooted among their people. He specifically mentioned Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, Mawlwi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi, Mawlwi Yunus Khalis, Mawlwi Jalaluddin Haqqani, Ahmad Shah Massoud, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abdul Ali Mazari, Mohammad Mohaqiq and Ismail Khan, who, according to him, "were mujahideen and worked, and were also rooted among their people and nation".

Without providing an explanation, the cleric addressed the Taliban, saying, "Don't shake this foundation, they are rooted in their people, ask for them."

The member of the Jihadi Council in Kabul added, "When the Mujahideen were fighting, the Islamic Emirate was not born. How can you not take these people into account?"

He called on the Taliban to bring reforms and "get the Afghan people out of this situation," calling for the formation of a government in Afghanistan in which all Afghans can see themselves.

The cleric pointed to a specific case and said that when a Taliban officer "sees the Tazkira, he behaves very rudely. Reforms should come. We say that the monopoly of power in Kandahar should be broken, this is its philosophy. Otherwise, there will be no reforms."

The member of the Jihadi Council warned that if the Taliban do not bring reforms, it will be difficult for the Taliban to reap the consequences.

The Taliban's Supreme Court said in a statement on Tuesday, January 28, that it had sentenced a man in Paktika to 39 lashes and six years in prison.

The court also announced that the group's primary court in Aliabad district of Kunduz province sentenced another person to one year in prison and sentenced him to 39 lashes.

Statistics from the Taliban's Supreme Court and statements by the group's officials in various provinces show that the Taliban has publicly flogged nearly 600 people and executed six others last year.

Despite strong opposition from international human rights organisations, the Taliban has continued to carry out corporal punishment of defendants across Afghanistan.

Afghan women are living "in one of the darkest periods in Afghanistan's history", and Afghan women's lives have turned into a nightmare after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the movements said.

In their letter, they called on the first lady of the United States to put diplomatic and economic pressure on the Taliban, support educational programmes for Afghan girls and women, and facilitate the refugee process for Afghan women.

More than 30 women's protest organisations and movements on Tuesday, January 28, in an open letter to First Lady Melania Trump, called for attention to the situation of Afghan women and girls inside and outside the country.

In this letter, the protesting women discussed the situation of Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban, saying that women's human rights have been violated in this country and they have been deprived of their basic freedoms.

The letter states, "The Taliban has issued anti-women decrees banning girls' education and depriving millions of girls of their right to education. This crisis will confront the future of the country with economic, social and cultural problems."

The protesting women also expressed concern about the situation of ethnic minorities and the Taliban's repression of Hazaras, Tajiks, and Uzbeks, saying that many families have been forced to leave their homes due to these pressures.

In this letter, the first lady of the United States has asked the US to put pressure on the Taliban using diplomatic and economic means.

Supporting the education of Afghan girls through the establishment of a special fund abroad, the establishment of online schools, and the support of refugees, especially Afghan women and girls, are other demands of the protesting women.

Women's protest movements have said that the United States can ensure the safety of women's rights activists in cooperation with international organisations.

The letter to Melania Trump reads, "We, Afghan women, are in one of the darkest periods in the history of our country, the world should not forget us. We need justice, support, and global attention. You can play a key role in attracting international support for Afghan women."

"We stand with our [Afghan] allies," he said when he arrived at the Pentagon in response to a question about the fate of Afghan refugees eligible for transfer to the United States.

Hegseth began his work as the US Secretary of Defence at the Pentagon on Monday, US time.

In an interview with reporters, Hegseth referred to the bracelet that belonged to a US soldier killed in Afghanistan and claimed that he wears it "everyday".

Trump's executive order to suspend all US immigration programmes has put the process of relocating US Afghan allies in a difficult position.

According to the Associated Press, there are currently about 15,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan eligible for transfer to the United States.

On Monday, January 28, CNN quoted Anna Lloyd, an official with the Task Force Argo, as saying that 3,000 Afghan refugees eligible for transfer to the United States are in a camp in Qatar and another 500 in Albania are waiting to travel to the United States. In addition, thousands more are still inside Afghanistan.

Lloyd also said that the suspension of US immigration programmes and the cancellation of foreign aid by the new US president has put Afghan refugees in third countries, especially the Qatar camp, in a critical situation.

According to the NGO Task Force Argo, Afghan refugees in camps in Qatar do not even have access to toilet paper and children's hygiene supplies.

Although Trump's US immigration programme has not been suspended, Lloyd said that most of these migrants are unable to travel to the US due to flight funding cuts.

CNN, citing two sources in the Trump administration, reported that discussions are also underway within his administration about what can be done to exempt Afghans who have helped the United States abroad from Trump's order to suspend US immigration programmes.

Outside the government, a number of US senators, pro-immigrant organisations, including the Argo and AfghanEvac Task Force, human rights organisations, and US war veterans in Afghanistan are working to resume the process of relocating eligible Afghan refugees to the United States.

Alireza Bekdeli said that recognition is a legal process based on international law and has its own characteristics.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with the Taliban's prime minister, foreign and defence ministers, as well as a number of Afghan businessmen, during his one-day visit to Kabul on Sunday. Araghchi is the first Iranian foreign minister to visit Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in the past three and a half years.

In these meetings, he emphasised that a new chapter in relations between Iran and Afghanistan will begin. However, this visit was also met with criticism inside Iran.

The Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper wrote, "The supporters and encouragers of this trip either do not have a complete knowledge of the region and are not aware of the consequences and complications of the Taliban's rule, or they are lobbying and paving the way for the Taliban, or they are pursuing personal or group interests, and in general, they do not have a heart for Iran and Iran's national interests."

The newspaper strongly criticised the Taliban, writing, "A rebellious, violent, and backward group that lacks internal legitimacy and acceptance, and has destroyed all ethnic and religious groups and minorities, and does not respect the most basic rights of women, and does not tolerate negotiations, does it deserve a visit at the level of the foreign minister?"

In an interview with ISNA news agency, Iran's ambassador to Kabul responded to these criticisms, saying that interaction with neighbours is part of humanitarian principles.

"If there is a need for a reason for the relationship between two neighbours in the same apartment, the neighbouring countries should also look for reasons for their relationship with each other," he said.

He added that Iran's interaction with Afghanistan is based on securing the mutual interests of the people of the two countries. "The issue of recognition of the Taliban regime is a different discussion that should be addressed in its place," he said.

‘Situation of Iranian Women in Afghanistan’

Abbas Araghchi also met with some Iranian citizens during his visit to Kabul. According to the Iranian ambassador, most of the Iranians living in Afghanistan are women who are married to Afghan men and live in the country due to family ties.

Referring to the precarious situation in Afghanistan, Bekdeli said, "The economic problems caused by years of war and conflict have also affected the lives of Iranian citizens. We are trying to reduce the economic problems of these people.”

Iran has close ties with the Taliban, and in addition to expanding economic cooperation, efforts have been made to establish "intelligence channels" between the two sides. The Islamic Republic is concerned about the activities of ISIS and other opposition groups in Afghanistan, and the Taliban is also concerned about the movements of its opposition fronts in Iran.

However, the Islamic Republic has extensive influence over the Taliban government, especially in the group's leadership circle in Kandahar.

Expanding economic relations, managing border security issues, addressing the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran, combating terrorism and narcotics, and managing water resources are among the most important issues of Iran's attention in relation to Afghanistan.