KABUL (Pajhwok): Nearly a dozen people, mostly foreign nationals, were killed and wounded in attacks by unidentified gunmen in central Bamyan province last week that saw periodic clashes erupting between Afghan and Pakistani border forces.
Last week, Russia said the Islamic Emirate posed no threat to it and China invited interim Kabul officials to participate in the Trans-Himalaya Forum, established in 2018 to foster enhanced collaboration among regional nations on geographical connectivity.
Last week’s major events:
- IEA supreme leader pays rare visit to Kabul last week
- Periodic clashes erupt between Afghan and Pakistani forces
- Iranian officials, UNAMA head discuss upcoming Doha meeting
- Zamir Kabulov: Interim Afghan govt poses no threat to Russia
- Chinese envoy invites Maulvi Kabir to attend Trans-Himalaya Forum
- Japan gives Afghanistan $6.9m in aid for vaccines
Casualties
Last week, 19 people lost their lives and another 23 were injured in separate incidents of violence across the country.
Also last week, Afghan and Pakistani forces clashed for four days intermittently along the Durand Line in two districts of southeastern Paktia province.
Five civilians were killed and 10 others were injured in firing by Pakistani forces yesterday, a government official told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Without elaborating, the source said Pakistani forces also suffered casualties in retaliation from Afghan forces.
In Kabul last week, three armed robbers were killed and a fourth injured during a clash with police in Karta-i-Mamorin area. An armed thief, who shot and injured a civilian and an official in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province, was killed.
Three Spanish tourists have been killed and a fourth injured in a gun attack in central Bamyan province, says the foreign ministry in Madrid.
In Kabul, the Ministry of Interior said without giving details three foreign tourists and one Afghan citizen had been killed in an armed attack in central Bamyan province yesterday.
It said four foreign nationals and three Afghans were also injured in the overnight shooting in the capital of Bamyan.
Reuters quoted the Spanish foreign ministry as saying the consular emergency unit had been fully mobilised and the victims and their families were being assisted.
Local officials in Balkh and Badghis said two people had been killed by unknown gunmen.
According to reports, one deminer, an employee of Holotrust demining organization, was killed and another injured when an old landmine exploded in Uruzgan.
In Balkh, a blast caused by an old mortar shell killed a minor girl and injured a boy in Helmand. Two brothers were killed and another person was injured in a rocket blast in Balkh.
Note: These figures are based on reports reaching Pajhwok Afghan News. Some incidents might have gone unreported or sources did not provide exact figures.
In the previous week, 12 people had been killed and eight others injured in various incidents in Afghanistan.
Hundreds of civilians, insurgents and security forces would get killed and maimed every week in the country before the regime change in August 2021.
Supreme leader visits Kabul
A source told Pajhwok Islamic Emirate supreme leader Sheikh Haibtullah Akhundzada visited Kabul last night and addressed a seminar organized for governors and police chiefs by the Ministry of Interior.
It was the supreme leader’s second visit to Kabul since the IEA takeover.
Statements about Afghanistan last week
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri and United Nations representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva had discussed the upcoming meeting in Doha. The UN representative stressed the need for coordinating the position of regional and world countries on stability and aid expansion to Afghanistan.
Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, said the interim Afghan government posed no threat to Russia, India and other neighbours.
President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy saw no threat to regional countries from the caretaker government.
In an interview with TASS news agency, he said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had drawn important political conclusions after fighting against US and NATO forces for two decades.
Kabulov, who held consultations on Afghanistan with Indian diplomats in New Delhi, believed IEA would not like to see any harm to relations with neighbours.
Russia no longer viewed the Taliban movement as an enemy, the envoy remarked. “The Taliban openly say they trust Russia as the former Soviet Union’s successor.”
Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Kabulov and Indian officials talked about development assistance for the welfare of Afghans.
In this regard, IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan wanted good relations with all countries and complete trust in every diplomatic field. There is a positive opinion about Afghanistan in the region, which is in the interest of Afghanistan and the region.”
Chinese Ambassador to Kabul Zhao Xing met deputy prime minister for political affairs Maulvi Abdul Kabir and said joint cooperation and relations between the two countries could help solve problems.
The Chinese ambassador extended an official invitation to the deputy PM to participate in the Trans-Himalaya Forum
Acting Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi met Uzbekistan Minister of Transport Ilham Makhkov and the country’s special representative Asmatullah Ergashov and discussed with them bilateral political and economic relations, regional connectivity, transit projects, trade between the two countries and joint investment.
Muttaqi also met Japanese ambassador to Afghanistan Takeyoshi Kuramaya and said Afghanistan’s Interactions with the world had increased.
Continuity of aid
Japan donated $6.9 million to Afghanistan for vaccination of children and women against various diseases.
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