Six people killed, four injured in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): China, Russia and Brazil last week asked the international community to remove sanctions on Afghanistan and the US to unfreeze the country’s assets.

The United Nations envoy and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) last week said it will be “nearly impossible” for the international community to recognize the Taliban government as long as restrictions on women and girls remain in place in Afghanistan.

But Afghan officials say they have met all the conditions for recognition of their government by the international community.

Last week’s major events

• UN links IEA recognition with lifting restrictions on women
• Takkal: World be realistic, conditions of recognition fulfilled
• China, Russia, Brazil want Afghan assets freed, sanctions lifted
• Caretaker government welcomes some parts of UNSC report
• Pakistan: Interaction to prevent humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan
• Netherlands, EU pledge 27m euros in aid to Afghanistan

Casualties

Six people were killed and four others were injured in separate incidents of violence across the country last week.

Unidentified gunmen killed one person in Parwan, one person in Sari Pul, three people in Badghis and one child in Jawzjan and injured his mother.

A man shot and injured three people with a traditional rifle in Parwan.

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, four people were killed and nine others were injured in different incidents across the country.

Before the regime change in August 2021, hundreds of civilians, insurgents and security forces would get killed and wounded in violent incidents.

UNSC meeting

Last week, the United Nations Security Council held a special meeting that insisted on continuous humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and asked the caretaker government to do away with restrictions on women and girls.

The powerful body once again emphasized on the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

China’s representative in the meeting emphasized on interaction with the caretaker government and asked the UNSC sanctions committee to take Taliban leaders off the sanctions list for better interaction with the Islamic Emirate.

Representatives of China, Russia and Brazil asked the US to unfreeze Afghanistan central bank’s assets and called on other countries to remove sanctions to improve the economic situation of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan on Thursday welcomed some parts of the United Nations General Secretary’s special envoy’s statement, saying the Islamic Emirate (IE) was committed to international norms and obligations that were not in contrary to Islamic Sharia and Afghan cultural values.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement said: “We welcome some parts of the statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which acknowledged positive changes in Afghanistan, such as effective ban on drugs, macroeconomic stability, prevention from corruption, access of girls to education in some areas, regular revenue collection, payment of salaries, significant improvement in security and concerted efforts against Daesh.”

The press release also said Roza Otunbayeva in her statement attempted to reflect the complicated realities of Afghanistan in contrast to the recent report of the Sanctions Committee monitoring team and the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, which was full of errors and designed to reflect political agendas of some actors.

The United Nations envoy to the country and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said it will be “nearly impossible” for the international community to recognize the Taliban government as long as restrictions on women and girls remain in place in Afghanistan.

Roza Otunbayeva told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that the new rulers had asked to be recognized by the UN and its member nations, “but at the same time, they act against the key values expressed in the United Nations Charter”.

She said the economy “remains stable” with inflation down and exchange rates steady – due in part to a reduction in high level corruption.

UN Special Coordinator and Independent Assessor visit

Last week, UN Special Coordinator and Independent Assessor Feridun Hadi Sinirlioglu met with senior officials of the caretaker government in Kabul.

The officials told Sinirlioglu the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had neutral position in international rivalries and politics and would never take sides and desired positive interaction with the world in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

They asked the US to unfreeze Afghanistan’s foreign reserves. They said Daesh was not active in Afghanistan and the group might have limited albeit hidden supporters. They said showing Daesh a big threat was tantamount to propagating for it.

Feridun said he held talks with various UN member countries and felt that the international community was eager to improve engagement with the Islamic Emirate as the war had ended, peace and stability returned, corruption eradicated and important achievements had been made, especially in the field of security.

Inclusive government, interaction

US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stressed the need for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

Both leaders discussed Afghanistan situation in addition to other issues during a meeting, White House in a statement said.

“The leaders emphasized the importance of formation of an inclusive political structure and called on the Taliban to respect the human rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, and to respect freedom of movement,” the statement said.

Biden and Modi also reiterated their strong support for a peaceful, secure, and stable Afghanistan.

On the other hand, the US State Department said the recognition of the current regime of Afghanistan depended on the behavior of the Taliban leaders towards Afghan women.

Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesperson for the State Department, told a press conference that if Taliban authorities do not respect women’s rights, they will not only make Afghanistan fall behind but also undermine the international legitimacy of this country.

Patel said that the US has several tools to hold the Taliban accountable for their treatment of women and girls, which is a crucial part of their stated desire for international acceptance and legitimacy.

“Until they allow half of their population the same rights, benefits and access as the other men have, they are holding Afghanistan’s future back and they continue to stand in the way of their desire for international acceptance and legitimacy,” Patel said.

The United Nations envoy to the country and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said it will be “nearly impossible” for the international community to recognise the Taliban government as long as restrictions on women and girls remain in place in Afghanistan.

Roza Otunbayeva told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that the new rulers had asked to be recognized by the UN and its member nations, “but at the same time, they act against the key values expressed in the United Nations Charter”.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said to avoid humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, international interaction with the country was important, but asked the caretaker Afghan government to respond positively to the international community’s demands.

Recently the deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an interview with Pajhwok had asked the world to be realistic as the Islamic Emirate had fulfilled all conditions for recognition and was ready to interact with the world.

However, he said they would not tolerate interference in Afghanistan’s internal matters and pressure to change policies.

Criticism, reactions of Islamic Emirate

Last week, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said the Islamic Emirate was facing increasing challenges to its authority primarily from Daesh and various resistance groups.

In its quarterly report, the US watchdog said the UNSC in February 2023 warned that Afghanistan remained the primary source of terrorist threat for central and south Asia, with several terrorist groups including Al Qaeda, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and IS-K enjoying “a greater freedom of movement” in Afghanistan owing to the absence of an effective Taliban security strategy.

However, Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the SIGAR report as propaganda, saying the Afghans lived in complete peace and no one was allowed to use Afghanistan’s soil against others.

The SIGAR report claimed Daesh continued its campaign against the Islamic Emirate and remained the most serious threat to the Taliban’s rule, with an estimated strength of between 1000 and 3000 fighters.

The report said the Islamic Emirate’s takeover reportedly emboldened the TTP and its affiliated groups to step up attacks against Pakistan while using Afghanistan a base of operation.

Also, UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett in his report on human rights in Afghanistan to the 53rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva said: “Grave, systematic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of Taliban ideology and rule, which also gives rise to concerns that they may be responsible for gender apartheid.”.

However, the caretaker government in reaction accused the United Nations and western countries of spreading propaganda against it.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, tweeted that that the UN, western institutions and governments had launched a propaganda against IEA.

He wrote: “Richard Bennett’s report on the situation in Afghanistan is a part of this propaganda.”

Humanitarian aid

The Netherlands has announced a 25 million euro donation to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund for 2023 and the European Union has pledged 12 million euros to support the most vulnerable people in Afghanistan in areas of livelihood and food.

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