8 killed, 3 injured in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): Last week, Russia called the UN-led Doha meeting on Afghanistan important to revive close and constructive cooperation between the international community and Afghan authorities.

The United States said their representatives committed to participation once they secured clarity regarding the agenda and, more importantly, confirmed that there would be meaningful engagement at the conference with Afghan women and members of Afghan civil society.

IEA chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says they will participate in the third UN-convened meeting for the sake of interaction with the international community and solving existing problems in the country.

Last week’s events:

• Doha talks: Our aim is interaction with world: Mujahid
• Envoys from 30 countries, instituions invited to conference
• Kabulov: Doha huddle to play constructive role between IEA, world.
• IEA scorns Pakistani defence minister’s threat
• Nicaragua names ambassador to Afghanistan
• UN: Opium production down by 95pc; IEA: 115,000 addicts rehabilitated
• Australia gives Afghanistan $2.6 in aid.

Casualties

Last week, eight people were killed and three others wounded in different incidents of violence across Afghanistan.

The intelligence department said two alleged militants were killed during an operation by security forces in northern Baghlan province.

It said: “Our operatives killed two militant commanders Abdul Samad and Hamza during an operation in Nahrain district on Friday.”

The militants had spoken in a video clip on the third day of Eid-ul-Adha of militant presence in the province and fighting against the government.

The commander of the 4th platoon of 209th Al-Fath Brigade was mistakenly killed by his son in northern Sar-i-Pul province. In Parwan, armed robbers snatched a taxi car and killed its driver.

According to reports, unidentified gunmen killed a civilian in Farah, while a man was arrested for allegedly killing his wife in the Khulam district of northern Samangan province.

A man gouged out his son-in-law’s eyes with a knife in southern Kandahar province. One man was found dead and another killed due to personal enmity in Ghazni.

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

According to sources, 10 people were killed and three others injured in Afghanistan in the previous week.

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

Doha conference

The UN-led meeting, to be attended by special envoys for Afghanistan and other officials, is scheduled for June 30 and July 1 in the capital of Qatar.

A delegation from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led by Zabihullah Mujahid, will participate in the Doha meeting.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo will chair the third meeting on Afghanistan in Doha on June 30 and July 1.

Last week, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a press conference: “Both our special representative for Afghanistan, Tom West, and our special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights Rina Amiri will be attending the Doha meeting.”

“But I should note they only committed to participate once they secured clarity regarding the substantive agenda and, more importantly, confirmed that there would be meaningful engagement at the conference with Afghan women and members of Afghan civil society,” he added.

Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said the Doha meeting would be useful in reviving close and constructive cooperation between the international community and the Afghan authorities.

A delegation from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led by Zabihullah Mujahid, will participate in the two-day conference.

Mujahid told reporters in Kabul the interim government hoped the Doha meeting would lead to solving the country’s existing problems.

He commented: “Our trip does not mean enmity with any side, we intend interaction with the world and want to take advantage of every single opportunity for the development of the country.”

Mujahid urged the international community not to leave Afghanistan alone and assist the Afghans in areas where they deserved assistance.

He said the Doha huddle was aimed at conveying IEA messages, not at making decisions.

Prior to this, Minister of Foreign Affairs Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi discussed the agenda of the meeting and related issues with UNAMA head Roza Otunbayeva in Kabul.

Pakistani threat, Kabul’s reaction

Last week, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed in an interview that members of the Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan were hiding in Afghanistan.  If necessary, he warned, they would attack TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan.

But the interim government spurned the Pakistani minister’s remarks regarding attacks on TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Kabul wrote on its X handle: “The Pakistani defence minister’s remarks are an attempt to muddy the water. We call on the Pakistani leadership not to allow anyone make such provocative statements.”

The ministry warned: “Anyone violating our borders on any pretext will be held responsible for the consequences.”

The head of the IEA political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, said: “We won’t allowy anyone to harm us. We neither harm anyone nor allow anyone to harm us.  We do not interfere in anyone’s internal affairs; as per our policy.

“Any adventurer, before looking at our proud land with ill intentions, should thoroughly study the history of invaders and consider consequences.”

Nicaragua ambassador

Nicaragua has named Mishael Campbell as its ambassador to Afghanistan. “We thank the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, that people, that government, for the blessing they have given to our comrade Campbell,” Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo said.

Opposition figures in Vienna

The Vienna conference is attended by a number of opponents of the IEA and ex-government officials who left the country before and after the IEA takeover.

Participants of the fourth round of the Vienna conference, which started Monday in Austria, called for the formation of a government based on the will of the people of Afghanistan and intra-Afghan talks.

Referring to the Vienna conference, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) official Zakir Jalali wrote on X those who had no plan for the country and enjoyed no domestic support but hoped for global backing were doomed to fail.

Jalali wrote: “Such desperate figures don’t know they are no more welcome in the field of politics and no one is ready to count on them or accept such meaningless utterances.”

Opium production

In its annual report on narcotics, a large part of which is allocated to Afghanistan, the UN said there had been a 95 percent decrease in opium production in the country.

In Kabul, the Ministry of Interior said on World Anti-Narcotics Day that since the re-establishment of IEA, more than 217,000 hectares of land with poppies had been destroyed, 115,000 addicts rehabilitated and 1,315 drug production labs destroyed.

Continuation of aid

Australia announced $2.6 million in aid to Afghanistan last week.

sa/mud

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