3 people killed, 4 injured in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): The International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor has said he is seeking the arrest of two senior Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) leaders over the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan, inviting strong condemnation from the caretaker government in Kabul.

Last week, UNAMA called the continued ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan a matter of concern. The European Union and Denmark announced $58 million in aid to Afghanistan.

Major events last week

• ICC prosecutor seeks arrest of IEA supreme leader, chief justice
• MoFA rejects ICC prosecutor charges as baseless
• UNAMA: Continued ban on girls’ education a matter of concern
• Stanikzai demands doors of education on girls reopened
• Afghan prisoner exchanged for 2 Americans
• Strengthening relations with Arab leaders discussed
• Afghan delegation talks with Iranian officials alternatives to execution process
• EU, Denmark provide Afghanistan with $58 million in aid

Casualties

Three people were killed and four others were injured in various incidents in Afghanistan last week.

Last week, the Takhar Police Headquarters said that unknown persons killed a Chinese citizen in the province.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning expressed regret over the death of a Chinese citizen in Afghanistan and called on the Islamic Emirate to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Local officials say two bodies were found in Ghazni and Faryab and four children were injured in a blast caused by an unexploded device in Parwan.

Note: These figures are based on reports reaching Pajhwok, some incidents may have gone unreported or sources have provided incorrect figures.

In the previous week, four people had been killed and four others injured in various incidents in Afghanistan.

Before the regime change, hundreds of civilians and people from opposing sides would get killed and injured every week in the country.

IEA response to request from ICC prosecutor

Last week (Thursday), a ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested the court to arrest the leader of the Islamic Emirate, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, over the treatment of women and girls.

The prosecutor accused the two leaders of being responsible for the persecution of Afghan girls and women.

However, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the warrants as “devoid of just legal basis, duplicitous in nature and politically motivated.”

It called the accusations baseless and said that the Islamic Emirate strongly condemns and rejects these accusations.

“It is unfortunate that such baseless allegations are being leveled against the honorable leaders of the Islamic Emirate at a time when Afghanistan enjoys nationwide peace, its people have breathed a sigh of relief … and numerous other miseries and inhumane activities have been eradicated,” the ministry asserted.

“Regrettably, this institution had turned a blind eye to the war crimes against humanity committed by foreign forces and their domestic allies during their twenty-year occupation of Afghanistan.”.

Similarly, Mohammad Nabi Omari, Deputy Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, said that the ICC request was a failed attempt to achieve political goals and added the ICC was not an independent entity.

Girls’ education in Afghanistan

UNAMA said in a statement yesterday (Friday) that it was observing International Education Day with deep sadness and serious concern due to the ban on the education of millions of girls.

On the International Day of Education, UNAMA expressed “profound regret and deep concern” over the continued denial of education for millions of Afghan girls, as the country remains the only one in the world to explicitly bar women and girls from schooling.

UNAMA says it has been 1,225 days—nearly four years—since the Afghan government imposed a ban preventing girls above the age of 12 from attending school.

“It is a travesty and tragedy that millions of Afghan girls have been stripped of their right to education,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.

“No country has ever thrived by disempowering and leaving behind half its population. The de facto authorities must end this ban immediately and allow all Afghan girls to return to school.”

The European Union also called quality education for all essential for Afghanistan’s prosperity and self-reliance.

Similarly, British Minister of State for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, said that Afghanistan was the only country where girls were not allowed to study in middle and high schools.

The Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on this, but in the past, IEA officials have always said the ban is temporary and efforts are underway to resolve the issue.

The Islamic Emirate emphasizes it is committed to providing women and girls with rights enshrined in Sharia law.

However, last week, Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai urged IEA leaders to open the doors of education to girls.

“We call on the leadership again to open the doors of education,” said Stanikzai in a video shared by his official account on the social platform X. “We are committing an injustice against 20 million people out of a population of 40 million, depriving them of all their rights. This is not in Islamic law, but our personal choice or nature.”

Prisoner swap

Last week, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said an Afghan prisoner (Khan Mohammad) in the United States was released from prison and sent to the country in exchange for American citizens as a result of long and fruitful negotiations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States.

The State Department did not disclose the number or names of the Americans released, but it wrote that Khan Mohammad, who was sentenced to life in prison by American courts and was serving his sentence in California, was captured in Nangarhar province nearly two decades ago.

American media reported that two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William McKinty, were released in exchange for Afghan prisoner Khan Mohammad.

Haji Khan Mohammad is a resident of Hadiyakhel in Chaparhar district of Nangarhar. He was captured by American forces in the Farm Hada area of in 2006 and was sentenced to life imprisonment twice while in prison.

Afghan officials meet Arab leaders

Last week, Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that Acting Minister of Interior Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani and Director General of Intelligence Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq visited the United Arab Emirates and met with UAE Head of State Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries, regional stability, Afghanistan’s economic strength, and some other important issues.

In addition, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Kabul Faisal Talq Al-Baqmi met with Acting Minister of National Defense Mawlavi Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid and stressed his country’s commitment to developing bilateral relations and humanitarian, economic, and political cooperation.

Also Maulvi Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid met with Qatari Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul Murdaf Al-Qashouti and discussed with him the economy, trade and further strengthening relations between the two countries.

Supreme Court’s delegation visits Iran

Last week, a high-ranking judicial delegation led by Sheikh Abdul Malik Haqqani, the administrative deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court, traveled to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials. In Iran, they discussed strengthening of judicial and judicial cooperation between with various Iranian officials the two countries, death row Afghan prisoners, alternatives to the execution process, and ways to resolve the closure of bank accounts of Afghan refugees in some cities in Iran.

Haqqani called on Iran to show leniency towards death row Afghan prisoners, share their names with the Afghan government, and prevent mafia groups that kidnap a number of Afghans in Iran and then demand money from their families in exchange for their release.

In addition, the judicial delegation said that it was fully prepared to transfer Afghan prisoners from Iran to Afghanistan and asked that country to start the process as soon as possible after confirming the identities of the prisoners.

Aid

Last week, the European Union announced 52.5 million euros in aid to Afghanistan and Denmark announced 2.8 million US dollars.

ma