2 killed in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Danish Refugee Council chief last week said she would share concerns about Afghan refugees with Pakistani and Iranian officials. Also last week, the Islamic Emirate announced developing a strategy to discourage migration.

The United Nations, citing a survey, said that the vast majority of Afghans considered girls’ education important, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization called for the formation of an inclusive government in Kabul.

Last week’s major events:

• Danish Refugee Council chief to share concerns about Afghan refugees with Pakistani and Iranian officials
• Maulvi Kabir: Strategy to prevent migration developed
• UN.: Most Afghans consider girls’ education important
• Zamir Kabulov: Expanding ties with Kabul to reduce ‘terrorist threats’
• SCO: Inclusive government only way to achieve lasting peace

Casualties

According to reports, two people were killed in separate incidents of violence in Afghanistan last week.

One person was killed in a clash during a wedding ceremony in Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman province, and a young man lost his life in a grenade explosion in Ghazni’s Qarabagh district last week.

Four people had been killed and 14 others injured in separate incidents in Afghanistan in the previous week.

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

Afghan refugees

Last week, Charlotte Slente, the head of the Danish Refugee Council, met with Refugees and Repatriation Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir and called the forced deportation of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan a matter of concern.

She promised to share her concerns with Pakistani and Iranian officials in this regard and raise the problems of Afghan refugees with the relevant countries on the sidelines of the UN Security Council meeting.

Also, UNAMA head Rosa Otunbayeva said in her meeting with Maulvi Kabir that the UN was implementing projects in northern Afghanistan at a cost of $32 million to permanently resolve the refugee problem.

Maulvi Abdul Kabir revealed a strategy had been developed to eliminate the motivation for migration in the country.

He said the Islamic Emirate was making efforts to provide employment to the returnees and find a permanent solution to the migration issue.

Pakistan had set August 31st the deadline for the deportation of Afghans with PoR cards. Afghan refugees living in the neighboring country say that the deportation of Afghans has accelerated after the deadline expired.

Nearly two million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan in the past three months alone, including about 1.8 million forcibly deported.

Girls’ Education

Last week, UN Women citing a survey said 87 percent of men and 95 percent of women in rural Afghanistan supported girls’ education and 95 percent of both sexes backed girls’ education in urban areas.

The organization wrote that more than 2,000 Afghans participated in the survey and “92 percent” said that girls’ education was “important.”

Susan Ferguson, UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan, said that girls were highly interested in education and families also emphasized on their daughters’ education.

The Islamic Emirate has not commented on the UN report, but previously, Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had said that work was underway to obtain a Sharia permit for girls’ education.

Daesh

Last week, Russian special envoy Zamir Kabulov called ISIS or Daesh ‘the most dangerous global terrorist group’, saying that ‘terrorist threats’ could be reduced by strengthening political and economic ties with Kabul.

He said in an interview with Pakistan’s Express Tribune that he believes sufficient support to the Afghan government could curb terrorism on Afghan soil.

Kabulov added: “The main reason for recognizing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is that Moscow wants to establish full political and economic relations with the new Afghan authorities; this decision was also made to address the security concerns of neighboring countries.”

About the IEA recognition by other countries, he said: “China has not yet officially recognized Afghanistan; but it has accepted the ambassador of that country and accepted his diplomatic credentials. Pakistan has also accepted the Afghan government’s representative at the level of ambassador, which is considered a kind of green light for official recognition”.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

Last week, a two-day summit of the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states was held in the Chinese city of Tianjin.

In a joint statement, the SCO members emphasized that the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan was the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability.

The statement said: “The member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization support an independent, sovereign and peaceful Afghanistan that is free from terrorism, war and drugs.”

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has maintained the current government is made up of all strata and tribes of the country and is inclusive.

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