Violence claims 4 lives in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): Last week, some former British soldiers admitted their colleagues committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Also last week, Afghan officials participated in the 16th Kazan International Economic Forum and also visited Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, Moscow announced that Kabul has nominated an ambassador to Moscow and they are evaluating the candidate.

Key developments of last week:

• Afghanistan,Russia sign five agreements.
• Afghan delegations visit Tatarstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan.
• Zamir Kabulov: IEA has nominated an ambassador to Moscow.
• Suhail Shaheen: France should reopen its political mission in Kabul.
• IOM: In 42 days, more than 128,000 Afghan refugees return.
• Shocking confessions from former British soldiers.
• Decisions made to accelerate CASA-1000 project.

Casualties:

Four people were killed in various incidents of violence across Afghanistan last week.

Local official said a elderly man was killed after a verbal dispute in Takhar, a grandfather was killed by his grandson in Faryab and two children lost their life in a landmine blast in Badghis.

In the previous week, two people had been killed in Afghanistan.

Before the regime change in 2021, hundreds of civilians, insurgents and security personnel would get killed and maimed in clashes and bomb blasts every week.

Afghan delegations visit Tataristan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan

A high-level delegation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led by deputy premier Mullah Ghani Baradar, travelled to the Republic of Tatarstan on Wednesday to attend the 16th Kazan International Economic Forum.

Baradar met President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov on the sidelines of the Kazan forum after attending its official opening session, his office said in a statement.

During the meeting, both sides discussed strengthening bilateral economic and trade ties, as well as opportunities for Tatarstani investors in Afghanistan.

Mullah Baradar said the Islamic Emirate’s foreign policy was independent, positive, neutral, balanced and focused on economic cooperation.

Mullah Baradar extended an official invitation to the President of Tatarstan to visit Afghanistan, considering such a visit a positive step toward strengthening bilateral cooperation.

The first Afghanistan-Russia trade forum was inaugurated on the sidelines of the 16th Kazan World Economic Forum on Friday in Russia.

Mullah Baradar and Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Alexey Overchuk inaugurated the first Afghanistan-Russia trade forum.

At the conclusion of the Afghanistan–Russia forum, five cooperation agre, ements were signed between Afghanistan and Russia in the areas of transportation and transit, trade development, oil and gas, regional trade, and the establishment of an industrial-logistics complex.

Mullah Baradar held a meeting with Mordovian President Artyom Zdunov in Russia.

The 16th Kazan World Economic Forum offered a good opportunity to establish cooperation between the two countries in agriculture, trade, electricity and other fields.

The statement said that Mullah Baradar invited Mordovian investors to invest in the industrial, mining and agricultural sectors in Afghanistan and assured them of all kinds of cooperation and support.

A high-ranking Afghan delegation, led by Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Abdul Bari Omar, travelled to Tajikistan to attend a meeting on a tansnational power project CASA-1000.

CASA-1000 is a 1.2 billion US dollars transmission project designed to transfer power from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan via Afghanistan. Work on the project is nearly complete in the other three countries.

According to DABS, CASA-1000 is the largest regional economic cooperation initiative for transmitting electricity from Central Asia to South Asia via Afghanistan.

Also last week, a delegation led by Acting Minister of Water and Energy of Afghanistan, Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor, traveled to Tashkent to participate in the 5th International Energy Conference of Uzbekistan.

According to reports, the conference focused on strengthening regional cooperation in the energy sector, assessing opportunities for investment in joint projects, expanding the regional energy market, exchanging experiences in green technology transfer, participating in electricity and gas transmission projects in Central Asia, promoting the use of renewable energy, and finding solutions to challenges in water and energy projects.

Diplomatic ties

Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan stated that the Islamic Emirate has appointed its ambassador to Moscow.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, said that the Islamic Emirate has nominated a diplomat to serve as ambassador of the interim government in Moscow.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the 16th Kazan Forum, Kabulov said that Moscow was currently in the process of reviewing the nominee proposed for the Afghan embassy.

Kabulov said: “This nominee is currently undergoing necessary approval procedures within Russian institutions. I hope that once the process is complete, an agreement will be signed.”

Ambassador Mohammad Sohail Shaheen met Jean-Marin Schuh, the French chargé d’affaires for Afghanistan in Doha.

During the meeting, Shaheen urged the French diplomat to consider reopening France’s political mission in Kabul.

The two sides also discussed the current political situation, bilateral relations between Afghanistan and France, humanitarian aid and other topics of common interest.

Afghan refugees

More than 128,000 Afghan returning refugees have been registered in just past 42 days, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.

The deadline set for the deportation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan expired on March 31. Now, Afghan families in large numbers are being forcibly deported from Pakistan on a daily basis.

On its X handle, IOM wrote that it registered more than 128,000 Afghan deportees from Pakistan from April 1 to May 12.

Parliamentary Secretary Mukhtar Ahmad Malik said around three million Afghan refugees were residing in Pakistan.

“Of these, 813,000 hold Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) while 1.3 million possess Proof of Registration (PoR) cards,” he was quoted as saying.

The official emphasised that Afghan wishing to enter Pakistan for medical treatment, education or business purposes were welcome if they had visas and valid documents.

Confessions on war crimes in Afghanistan

Some former members of the British Special Forces have confessed to committing war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, stating that the elite units killed unarmed individuals “while sleeping at night” and even “executed” children who had not yet reached combat age.

The BBC World Service today (Monday) published a report titled “Former British Special Forces Break Silence on War Crimes by Colleagues.”

Giving their accounts publicly for the first time, the veterans described witnessing members of the SAS murder unarmed people in their sleep and execute handcuffed detainees, including minors.

Commenting on the report, Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the IEA, said in an audio message the confessions confirmed the crimes the occupation forces committed in Afghanistan in the past 20 years.

He added American, British and all NATO forces with a military presence in Afghanistan were involved in the massacre of civilians and in repeatedly committing war crimes.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Richard Bennett, has also called for justice and accountability for the victims of these crimes and their families.

sa/ma