11 killed, 4 injured in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): Russia last week removed the name ‘Taliban’ from the list of banned groups, a move welcomed by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

Also last week, a high-level delegation from Islamabad arrived in Kabul after a delegation from Kabul went to Islamabad at a time when Pakistan has started forcibly deporting Afghan refugees amid criticism from international organizations and countries.

Last week’s key events

• Russian Supreme Court suspends ban on Taliban
• UNAMA criticizes qisas verdicts; IEA wants such criticism avoided
• Muttaqi: Kabul and Islamabad should resolve issues through talks
• IFRC: Refugees’ forced deportation worsening humanitarian situation
• MoFA: Deplorable treatment of Afghan refugees in Pakistan must end
• Washington Post: US weapons reach militants’ hands in Pakistan; IEA says US weapons safe in Afghanistan
• Zamir Kabulov: Russia-Afghan business forum in May

Casualties

Nearly a dozen people were killed and four others were injured in separate incidents of violence in Afghanistan last week.

Local officials in Kapisa province said a man shot and killed three people, including his wife, and injured himself, a man in Nangarhar killed his wife, and a father shot and killed his son in the same province.

Last week, three people were shot dead in Kandahar, and three children lost their lives and three others were injured in a landmine explosion in Badakhshan.

In the previous week, seven people had been killed and ten others injured in separate incidents in Afghanistan.

Before the regime change in August 2021, hundreds of civilians, insurgents and security forces would get killed and maimed every week.

Russia removes Taliban name from banned groups

Last week, the Russian Supreme Court last week suspended the ban on the Taliban movement with immediate effect.

According to reports, the Russian Supreme Court suspended the ban in order to pave the way for normal relations between Moscow and Kabul. A judge of the Russian Supreme Court made the decision behind closed doors.

Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi and Russian ambassador to Kabul called the development an important for strengthening relations between the two countries.

Similarly, Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also called the removal of the Taliban name from banned groups an important step and expressed hope for expanded political and economic relations with Russia.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin had adopted the right policy towards Afghanistan.

This comes when Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, has said that a major meeting between Russia and Afghanistan will be held on the sidelines of the Kazan Forum.

Delegations from Kabul and Islamabad meet amid refugee crisis

Last week, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, arrived in Kabul and met with Afghanistan’s Deputy Defense Minister Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi and attended the seventh meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) between the two countries.

Muttaqi in a meeting with Mohammad Sadiq said that both countries should resolve their issues through dialogue.

Last week, Afghanistan’s acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi visited Pakistan.

According to reports, he discussed with Pakistani officials strengthening trade cooperation, resolving transit problems and assessing the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Pakistan has started the second phase of forced deportation of Afghan refugees, with hundreds of families returning to the country every day through Torkham and Spin Boldak crossing. The returning refugees are complaining about their mistreatment by Pakistani police.

Muttaqi in a meeting with Pakistan Chargé d’affaires  in Kabul Obaidur Rahman Nizamani expressed regret over the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and their mistreatment and called for a change in this situation.

Similarly, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Afghanistan Arafat Jamal, urged Iran and Pakistan not to forcibly deport Afghan refugees.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) also expressed concern over the conditions created by the influx of deportations of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, saying that the forced deportation was further worsening the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

This comes as Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Kabul today leading a delegation.

US weapons falling into militants’ hands

The Washington Post reported last week that some US weapons in Afghanistan had fallen into the hands of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and other militants  and are being used in attacks and sold.

However, Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, rejected the report said American weapons were safe in Afghanistan.

However, he said these weapons had been available on the black market in the past. “This does not mean that everyone who has American weapons must have received them from Afghanistan.”

He said: “The supply and logistics convoys of the occupying forces from Karachi and other ports would pass through Pakistan and many times these containers had been broken and their weapons and equipment reached the black market in Pakistan.”

Fitrat added that all military ammunition and weapons in Afghanistan were safely and securely stored and any kind of their smuggling had been prevented.

Qisas verdicts

Last week, four people were publicly executed in Ghazni, Farah, and Nimroz provinces after being convicted of murders by the Supreme Court.

The United Nations Human Rights Office called the executions a violation of human dignity, and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that the death penalty violated the fundamental right to life and must be abolished.

In response, the Supreme Court said the United Nations Human Rights Office’s statement was unfair as those executed were murderers of innocent people.

“This is our religion, our legal system, and the demand of our people. Islam is the true religion and we are obliged to practice it. No foreign party has the right to interfere in our Sharia,religion, and judiciary.”

In response to UNAMA’s statements, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The boldness to criticize the provisions of Islamic Sharia is an irresponsible, contrary to UNAMA’s mission, and intolerable, and it should not be repeated.”

ma