2 killed, as many wounded in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): An agreement was signed last week to produce 10,000 megawatts of electricity with an investment of 10 billion dollars. Also last week, Pakistan was criticized for deporting legal Afghans before deadline and SIGAR said aid suspension posed challenges to Da Afghanistan Bank, but the government denied it.

Last week’s major events

• Pakistan deports hundreds of documented refugees before deadline
• IOM urges emergency budget to help returnees
• Pact signed to produce 10,000MW of electricity
• Afghanistan, Tatarstan signs trade agreements.
• Pakistani tourists in Kabul to spread message of peace and brotherhood
• SIGAR: Aid cuts pose challenges to DAB operations
• IEA rejects SIGAR report, economy not reliant on foreign aid

Casualties:

Two people were killed and two others were injured in separate incidents of violence in different parts of Afghanistan last week.

A nurse at a health center in Nangarhar was killed and two others, including her husband, were arrested in connection with the incident.

In Kapisa province, a man killed his brother and injured two others over a land dispute between two members of a family.

However, Pajhwok received no reports of casualties due to criminal and security incidents in Afghanistan in the previous week.

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

Afghan Refugees

Last week, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry gave Afghans with POR cards until September 1 to leave the country, otherwise legal action will be taken against them.

Earlier, the country’s Interior Ministry had announced that the legal validity of all refugee cards would expire on June 30, after which their holders would be considered “illegal” and would have to leave the country.

After Pakistan extended the deadline last week, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said: “The forced deportation of people recognized as refugees for decades is contrary to Pakistan’s long-standing human rights position and is a violation of the principle of non-refoulement.”

Citing officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, international media reported last week that Pakistani authorities had begun deporting Afghan refugees with valid documents ahead of the September 1 deadline.

UNHCR officials said by deporting refugees in this way, Pakistan was violating its international obligations.

This comes at a time when the head of the International Organization for Migration, Mohammad Abdikar, met with Afghan officials last week to assess the skills of returning Afghan refugees and provide them with employment and more assistance, in collaboration with other international organizations.

Afghan officials during these meetings urged host countries to stop forcibly deporting Afghan refugees who should not lose their assets and belongings. They said appropriate conditions should be provided for the Afghan refugees to return with dignity.

More than two million Afghans have been deported from Iran and Pakistan this year, with the majority coming from Iran.

$10 billion in investment in power generation

Last week, an agreement was signed between the Ministry of Water and Energy and the Azizi Group’s “Energy Investment Company” to produce 10,000 megawatts of electricity with an investment of ten billion dollars.

Mirwais Azizi, General Director of the Azizi Group, said that technical teams from the Ministry of Water and Energy and the Azizi Company will visit different regions to begin the survey and design of the projects.

Trade agreements between Afghanistan and Tatarstan

Last week, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that trade agreements worth 183 million US dollars were signed between Afghanistan and Tatarstan in the oil and construction sectors.

Tatarstan Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Vladimirovich Korobachenko said his country was willing to invest in the Panjshir River water transfer project to Kabul city and other areas.

Korobachenko also discussed direct flights between Kabul and Kazan during a meeting with the acting Minister of Transport and Aviation.

SIGAR Report and IEA Response

Last week, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report that the Central Bank of Afghanistan relied on UN aid and the sudden cessation of aid would pose serious challenges to the stability of the currency and the bank’s operations.

SIGAR also identified ‘political isolation, lack of expertise, and the lack of printing or alternative money’ as the main causes of Afghanistan’s economic crisis and claimed that the Islamic Emirate was interfering with international aid.

However, Abdul Latif Nazari, the professional deputy minister of the Afghan Ministry of Economy, rejected the SIGAR report and said that the Islamic Emirate was not interfering with international aid and that the Afghan economy was not currently dependent on foreign aid.

“The Islamic Emirate has not interfered in any way in international aid, and our country’s economy is not so dependent on foreign aid that it would collapse due to the cessation of US aid. The Islamic Emirate has at hands major national and infrastructure projects for self-reliance.”

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