14 people killed, 13 wounded in Afghanistan last week

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Pakistani military bombed Khost province and carried out airstrikes in Paktika and Kunar provinces last week, killing nine people.

Also last week, the minister of industry and commerce visited India and Turkey, and Afghan officials said that the situation of Afghan refugees in neighboring countries was worrying.

Last week’s major events:

• Pakistani airstrikes: IEA to respond at right time
• Azizi visits India; discusses trade relations
• Azizi at ECO meeting: Kabul ready to host next meeting
• Maulvi Kabir: Afghan refugees’ situation in host countries worsening
• EU seeks Afghan refugees’ safe, respectful return

Casualties:

Last week, 14 people were killed and 13 others were injured in various incidents in Afghanistan.

Last week, the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Pakistan bombed a civilian house in the Garbuz district of Khost at midnight, killing nine people, including women and children.

He also claimed Pakistan carried out additional airstrikes in Paktika and Kunar provinces, leaving four people injured.

According to reports, five people lost their lives and nine others were injured when old unexploded ordnance went off in Kandahar and Balkh provinces.

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

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

Pakistan’s attack on Afghanistan

According to reports, after the attacks in Khost, Paktika and Kunar provinces last week, Mujahid condemned the attacks on his X-Page and said Afghanistan considered the defense of its air and land and people as legitimate right and will give necessary response at the appropriate time.

He wrote that these attacks were a violation of Afghanistan’s territory and a clear violation of all international norms accepted by Pakistan.

Following the attacks, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said many of the victims were children and called for respect for international law to protect civilians.

Similarly, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights, Richard Bennett, also said respect to international law and the protection of civilians was crucial, and that Pakistan and the parties involved should return to the negotiating table.

Former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad also condemned the Pakistani airstrikes, saying that targeting civilians and the potential for a wider conflict would not resolve the problems between the two countries.

The International Human Rights Commission (IHR) also said that attacks on areas where civilians lived and caused heavy casualties were considered serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian principles.

Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said at the graduation ceremony of the Special Commando Forces that no country would be allowed to “aggress Afghanistan”, no country should look at the territory and sovereignty of Afghanistan with a negative eye and should not test the patience of Afghans.

According to reports, last week, Afghan Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, in a meeting with the Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires, said that Afghanistan wants relations with regional countries, especially Pakistan, based on mutual respect, and Pakistan should prioritize dialogue and stability instead of coercion and instability.

Last week, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, former High Peace Council Chairman Dr. Abdullah and some other politicians also strongly condemned the Pakistani airstrikes.

Azizi visits India and Turkey

Afghan Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi travelled to India on a five-day visit last week.

A statement from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that the purpose of the visit was to expand trade relations and imports and exports between the two countries.

Azizi held talks with Indian government officials and the private sector on investment in Afghanistan, especially in the pharmaceutical sector.

According to reports, last week an Afghan company signed a $100 million agreement with an Indian company in the pharmaceutical sector.

Azizi also visited Turkey last week to attend a ministral meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member countries.

Azizi announced at the meeting that Afghanistan was ready to host the organization’s next meeting in Kabul.

He also discussed increased trade cooperation with his Turkish counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting.

According to reports, last week, a high-ranking Iranian delegation, including 65 people, led by the governor of Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province, Gholam Hossein Mozaffari, arrived in western Herat province via Islam Qala port.

The delegation met with Afghan officials and businessmen to discuss expanding cooperation in the field of trade, strengthening border trade, facilitating transit, and evaluating joint economic opportunities between Herat and Khorasan Razavi provinces.

The governor of Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province said that Tehran wanted to increase imports from Afghanistan and meet the needs of its market.

These developments come when trade routes with Pakistan have been closed for almost a month now, and the Afghan Ministry of Finance has said that the suspension of trade with Pakistan has not had a negative impact on Afghanistan’s trade process; and the World Bank has announced that despite the closure of trade routes with Pakistan, Afghanistan’s exports in October increased by 13 percent compared to September this year and by 3.7 percent compared to October last year.

Refugees

Mullah Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, said Pakistan and Iran forcibly deported 7,361 Afghan refugee families, totaling over 39,000 people, last week

Last week, Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs Maulvi Abdul Kabir met with UNDP Crisis Bureau Director Shoko Noda.

Kabir said the problems of the returnees had increased with the arrival of winter and the situation of Afghan refugees remaining in neighboring countries was also of concern.

In this meeting, Shoko Noda said that the issue of Afghan refugees was a priority for the United Nations Development Program and noted that she was working on a permanent solution to the problems of Afghan refugees.

Similarly, last week, Kabir, in a meeting with Turkish Ambassador Cenk Onal, emphasized the principled approach to Afghan refugees in the country and called obtaining Turkish visas important in preventing illegal entry to the country.

Similarly, Kaja Kallas, current EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in a meeting with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, said that the return of Afghan refugees to their country should be carried out safely, respectfully, and in accordance with international norms.

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