12 killed, 8 wounded in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): Last week, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) noted its engagement within the framework of humanitarian approach and constructive dialogue with Afghan officials.

Russia hoped the Kabul-Moscow interaction could lead to regional stability.

Key events of last week:

• OIC: Want continued engagement with IEA
• Russia: Kabul-Moscow interaction key to regional stability
• Kabul denies Bisham attack planned in Afghanistan.
• 340m afs projects put into service in Kabul, Laghman
• UN, China announce $3.1m in aid to Afghanistan

Casualities

At least 12 people were killed and eight others wounded in various incidents of violence across Afghanistan last week.

Local officials said unidentified gunmen shot dead a man in Badghis, a father and son in Faryab, a mother and her two children in Kapisa.

According to reports, a student gunned down his teacher inside a school in Baghlan, a man killed his brother in Nangarhar, while one child was killed and five others were wounded as a restul of a landmine blast in Zabul.

Three people were killed and three others injured as a result of a clash between residents and security personnel over a piece of land in Nangarhar province.

Qureshi Badloon, deputy director of information and culture, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “The clash erupted on Thursday evening in the Kabul Camp area of Jalalabad due to a land dispute.”

“Local Kochi residents tried to stop the construction of a retaining wall around 250 acres of land that belongs to the Nangarhar Customs Department. Three people were killed and three others injured in the clash,” he added.

Meanwhile, some sources claimed that security forces opened fire on the Kochis.

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

In the previous week, 10 people had been killed and nine others injured in different incidents of violence in Afghanistan.

Before the regime change in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, hundreds of civilians and members of warring parties were killed and injured every week.

Engagement with IEA

Last week, OIC Secretary-General Hissein Taha noted the organisation continued its engagement within the framework of its humanitarian approach and constructive dialogue with Afghan officials.

Russia’s Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov, in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Maulvi Abdul Kabir, said cooperation and interaction between IEA and Moscow could lead to stability in the region and Afghanistan’s economic uplift.

At a meeting here on Sunday, the two sides also conferred on ways of further cementing bilateral relations between Moscow and Kabul.

Pakistani claim spurned

Pakistan Army spokesman Ahmad Sharif told a news conference in Islamabad that the suicide attack on Chinese engineers was planned in Afghanistan and the bomber was an Afghan citizen.

Five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver had been killed in the suicide bombing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bisham sub-district on March 26.

But the Ministry of Defence rejected the Pakistan army’s claim. MoD spokesman EnayatullahKhawarazmi scorned the allegation as baseless and far from true.

The MoD spokesman wrote on his X handle: “The killing of Chinese citizens in a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area, which is under tight security of the army, shows the weakness of Pakistani agencies or their abetment of the attackers. In both cases, responsibility rests with the Pakistan government.”

He claimed: “We have strong evidence of Daesh militants infiltrating into Afghanistan from Pakistan and Pakistan’s territory being used against us.”

Fundamental projects

Last week, the construction of a 12-storey commercial market on one acre of land began in the Mirwais Maidan (Kota-i-Sangi) area of Kabul, with an investment of $4.5 million. A similar market was completed at a cost of 60 million afghanis in the Deh Afghanan locality of the capital.

In Laghman, with the financial support from the World Bank, a number of projects costing 280 million afghanis were put into service.

The projects included the construction of 57 kilometres of new roads, reconstruction of 370 kilometres roads, paving of 4.5 kilometres of streets, construction of a more than 7,000 metres long retaining wall and 280 kilometres canals.

In Kabul, a private factory — Shifa Milli Pharma Cetical, for the first time, exported 1.8 million bottles of serum worth $580,000 to Iraq.

Continuation of humanitarian aid

The Chinese embassy in Kabul provided over $100,000 in cash assistance to the Afghan Red Cross Society (ARCS) to support flood victims in the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) allocated $3 million for the construction of shelters for returning Afghan refugees this year.

sa/mud