19 people killed, 4 injured in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): Qatar said it was trying to create a political path between Afghanistan and the international community as Afghan officials stressed good understanding with the world last week, when a Taliban delegation left for Russia to participate in a summit.

Last week’s major events

• Qatar says mediating between Afghanistan, international community
• IEA seeks good understanding, interaction with world
• Afghan delegation attends 14th international economic forum
• Iran uses ‘threatening tone’ to demand its water share
• Mujahid: Islamic Emirate committed to water treaty with Iran
• $40 million fresh humanitarian aid arrives in Kabul
• Afghanistan pledged $8.5 million assistance

Casualties

Last week, 19 people were killed, including eight alleged kidnappers, and four others were injured during separate incidents of violence

According to the intelligence department, the eight kidnappers were killed in clashes with security forces in Kabul and Balkh provinces.

Two young daughters of a prayer leader were killed in a bomb blast inside their home in southeastern Khost province. Two other children were wounded in the blast.

One person was killed when a roadside bomb tore through a tractor in southern Ghazni province. Unknown gunmen killed two persons in Jawzjan and Sari Pul province.

A child was found dead in Paktika, a person killed his wife in Helmand and a person killed his cousin in Parwan province, according to local officials.

One person was killed as two families clashed over a land dispute in Nangarhar. Two people who exchanged sisters in marriages clashed over dowry goods and one person was killed.

According to reports, a clash between Afghan and Iranian border forces left one Afghan civilian dead and another wounded in Nimroz province.

Note: These figures are based on reports reaching Pajhwok Afghan News. Some incidents may have gone unreported or officials provided incorrect figures.

In the previous week, according to sources, ten people were killed and one person was injured in various incidents across the country.

However, before the regime change in August 2021, hundreds of civilians, government forces and insurgents would get killed and wounded every week.

Qatar’s efforts

Qatar is striving to create a political path between Afghanistan and the global fraternity, the Foreign Ministry in Doha says.

Majed bin Mohammad Al Ansari, spokesman for the Qatar’s foreign ministry, told reporters that Doha had been playing an important role as mediator, especially at the end of the US involvement in Afghanistan.

Referring to the recent visit of Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Ansari said important economic issues were discussed during the trip.

On May 12, Al Thani arrived in Kandahar and met officials of the Islamic Emirate, including Prime Minister, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund.

Delivery of aid and dealing with the challenges facing Afghanistan, particularly in economic and humanitarian spheres, were discussed.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), said the meeting in Kandahar pledged cooperation in education, health and economic sectors.

He added the acting PM hailed Qatar’s past assistance, present cooperation and continued cooperation with Afghanistan.

After the visit, top Qatari officials discussed recent developments in Afghanistan and bilateral relations with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Maulvi Abdu Kabir met UNAMA chief Roza Otunbayeva on Monday, a statement from the Presidential Palace said.

Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, acting minister for information and culture and UN secretary-general’s deputy special representative Markus Potzel were also present at the meeting.

The United Nations and the global fraternity were asked to have interaction with the caretaker government and invite its representatives to Afghanistan-related meetings.

UNAMA chief Roza Otunbayeva insisted on understanding and continuation of talks with the Taliban government.

Referring to a UN-led meeting on Afghanistan held two weeks ago in Doha, she said the representatives of the participating countries were willing to continue the aid to Afghanistan and interact with the Islamic Emirate.

She added that future meetings would discuss the continuation of interaction with Afghanistan, combating drugs, preventing negative effects of climate change and strengthening the Amu river’s banks.

Afghanistan’s participation in Russia summit

A high level delegation of the caretaker government attended a three day conference on “Russia and the Islamic World”.

Hafiz Ziaullah Hashimi, spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), tweeted on Wednesday Doctor Lutfullah Khairkhwa, deputy minister of higher education, Nooruddin Azizi, minister of commerce, Maulvi Mohammad Ibrahim, adviser to the prime minister, Dr. Nazar Mohammad Irfan, head of Foreign Relations Department, and Shafi Azam, Economic Department head at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), were part of the delegation.

Opportunities in economic, trade, education and technological fields were discussed at the conference in Moscow.

Azizi said in the meeting that potential for industrialization of Afghanistan could turn the country into an industrial center in the region.

Before this meeting, Azizi met Turkmenistan transport and aviation minister and said Turkmenistan was a safe route for Afghanistan’s exports and transfer of necessary goods, calling for reduced transit and transport charges.

 Iran’s share in Helmand water

Based on reports, Musa Shafiq, Afghan Prime Minister and his Iranian counterpart Amir Abbas Hoaida signed in 1973 an agreement that includes an introduction, 12 articles and two protocols.

Under Article 2 of the agreement, the total amount of water delivered to Iran annually from Helmand is limited to an average flow of 22 cubic meters per second.

Based on Article 3, four metres cubic water per second will be delivered to Iran on as a goodwill gesture.

Last week Iran’s president warned Afghanistan’s rulers not to violate water rights of the Iranian people over their shared Helmand River, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

President Ebrahim Raisi said his government is determined to defend Iran’s water rights.

“We will not allow the rights of our people to be violated,” he said and warned the Taliban to take his words seriously, emphasizing the importance of Helmand River, which flows from Afghanistan into Iran.

Raisi spoke in a Pakistani border town on Thursday, during his first official visit to the neighboring country in 10 years, to inaugurate the first of six markets along the Iran-Pakistan border.

He also urged the Afghan rulers to allow Iranian hydrologists to check the water levels of the river, which originates in the Afghan Hindu Kush mountain range.

However, Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Iranian authorities should first complete their information about Helmand’s water through legal means and then express their request in appropriate words.

He said such statements could affect political atmosphere between the two brotherly and Muslim countries. “This is not beneficial for any side and should not be repeated.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister responded to Afghanistan’s caretaker government’s statement saying that the Islamic Emirate should allow the Iranian technical delegation to visit the region.

Humanitarian aid

Last week, a humanitarian aid package worth $40 million arrived in Kabul and was submitted to a commercial bank .

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said the international community was providing more than $5 million for the returning refugees.

 The King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and the Islamic Development Bank pledged two million dollars in aid for the health sector of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan donated one million dollars worth of food and non-food items.

Luxembourg contributed 350,000 euros to the humanitarian aid fund to help Afghans and Turkey and UNICEF say they will continue to assist the poor, women and children in Afghanistan.

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