Latest Development in Afghanistan

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Taliban hold military parade with US-made weapons in Kabul in show of strength

Reuters
November 14, 2021 -

A military helicopter is pictured during the Taliban military parade in Kabul, Afghanistan, on November 14, 2021. — Reuters


Taliban forces held a military parade in Kabul on Sunday using captured American-made armoured vehicles and Russian helicopters in a display that showed their ongoing transformation from an insurgent force to a regular standing army.

The Taliban operated as insurgent fighters for two decades but have used the large stock of weapons and equipment left behind when the former Western-backed government collapsed in August to overhaul their forces.

The parade was linked to the graduation of 250 freshly trained soldiers, defence ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi said.

Members of Taliban sit on a military vehicle during a military parade in Kabul, Afghanistan, on November 14, 2021. — Reuters

The exercise involved dozens of US-made M117 armoured security vehicles driving slowly up and down a major Kabul road with MI-17 helicopters patrolling overhead. Many soldiers carried American made-M4 assault rifles.

Most of the weapons and equipment the Taliban forces are now using are those supplied by Washington to the American-backed government in Kabul in a bid to construct an Afghan national force capable of fighting the Taliban.

Those forces melted away with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani from Afghanistan — leaving the Taliban to take over major military assets.
Taliban officials have said that pilots, mechanics and other specialists from the former Afghan National Army would be integrated into a new force,

which has also started wearing conventional military uniforms in place of the traditional Afghan clothing normally worn by their fighters.

Members of Taliban sit on a military vehicle during amilitary parade in Kabul, Afghanistan, on November 14, 2021. — Reuters

According to a report late last year by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), the US government transferred to the Afghan government more than $28 billion worth of defence articles and services, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, night-vision devices, aircraft, and surveillance systems, from 2002 to 2017.

Some of the aircraft were flown into neighbouring Central Asian Countries by fleeing Afghan forces, but the Taliban have inherited other aircraft. It remains unclear how many are operational.

As the US troops departed, they destroyed more than 70 aircraft, dozens of armoured vehicles and disabled air defences before flying out of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport following a chaotic evacuation operation.

 

[ghazi52]

Kabul mediating between Pakistan govt, TTP but no agreement yet: Afghan FM

APP
November 14, 2021

In this file photo, Afghanistan's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi addresses a press conference in Kabul. — AP


The Afghan Taliban are mediating between Pakistan and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but no agreement has been reached so far, said Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday.

In an interview with BBC News Urdu, the official representing the regime in Kabul said the Afghan Taliban were acting as mediators on the desire of both the parties in Pakistan.

Muttaqi said the two sides had not yet reached an agreement, but the process has had a "good" start, leading to the announcement of a month-long ceasefire.

He hoped that the process would not encounter any obstacles in the future and that relations between the government and the TTP would improve.


Daesh

Speaking to the BBC, in what the publication said was his first interview with a female journalist, the Afghan minister said that Daesh (the militant Islamic State group) was a threat to Afghanistan.

"However, the Taliban government has eliminated it from a major part of the country," he said.

“Isolated incidents can take place anywhere in the world. Previously, 70 per cent of Afghanistan was under the control of the Islamic Emirate. Now, the Taliban have purged these areas of the presence of Daesh," he said, adding that they were present in areas ruled by the former Kabul government.

After the Taliban took over, Daesh started surfacing in these areas but the Taliban government took effective measures to "control" them and confine them to certain areas, he said.

"Isolated (terrorist) incidents occur at some places such as mosques, which can also take place anywhere in the world,” he said.


Ties with India

When asked about relations with New Delhi, the Afghan official said that Afghanistan did not want conflict with any country, including India.

"We do not want Afghanistan to have a conflict with any other country or to have challenges arise that could affect our nation, therefore, we will continue to work on this issue," he said.

When asked whether there was a reaction from China or Pakistan on Afghanistan's close ties with India, Muttaqi referred to recent meetings held in Moscow.

"When we participated in the Moscow conference, the representatives of India, Pakistan and several other countries were also present. We had a positive conversation and will hopefully not oppose any country,” he said.


Women's rights and education

The Afghan official also dispelled the impression that women were being excluded from different fields.

"Women have 100 per cent inclusion in the health sector. They are also teaching in the education sector. [...] They are working in each and every one of those sectors where they are required," he claimed.

"We have no such policy to deny women of their rights in any field,” he remarked. He said that the Taliban government had not fired any female official who had worked under the previous government.

"Their salaries as well as opportunities for education and employment were also not affected," he said.

However, Muttaqi conceded that educational institutions in some areas of Afghanistan remain closed, citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason.

"Educational institutes are closed in no province. Educational institutes are open across the country," he said, adding that schools had been divided into three categories.

"All of the boys’ schools throughout the country are open while girl's schools are open till class six," he said. The Afghan minister stated that higher education institutes were open in some provinces, but not all.

So far, 75pc of schools have been opened, he said, adding that officials were continuously making progress in this regard.


Inclusive govt

During the interview, Muttaqi said that the Taliban government had fulfilled the international community's demand for an inclusive government, which represented all stakeholders in Afghan society.

Asked what the group's future course of action would be if the world did not recognise the Taliban, he said that the group was moving forward in its relations with the world and hoped that those ties would strengthen in the future.

He claimed that since the Afghan government consisted of representation from all areas and ethnicities, the world should recognise it.

“The incumbent Afghan government comprises staff and workers from the previous set-up that come up to approximately 500,000 people. If the world had recognised the previous government as an inclusive government, then why don't they do the same with us,” he asked.

“If they mean a cabinet representing all areas, then we have a minister from Panjshir. People from Badakhshan, Faryab, Kandahar, Nangahar and Kabul are also present [in the cabinet]. Therefore, every country has its own definition of an inclusive government," he said.

He said that the Taliban will continue to make efforts to make the government even more inclusive and grant the people their rights.

 

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Afghanistan's food crisis a 'legacy' of previous government: Taliban


AFP
15 Nov 2021

KABUL: Afghanistan's food crisis is a "legacy" of the previous government, the Taliban deputy health minister said Monday, as he accused the international community of failing to keep its promises of aid.

The UN has warned that around 22 million Afghans or half the country will face an "acute" food shortage in the winter months due to the combined effects of drought caused by global warming and an economic crisis aggravated by the Taliban takeover.

"There is a very important problem that has been left over as a legacy from the former regime, and that is malnutrition," Deputy Health Minister Abdul Bari Omar said at a press conference in Kabul.

He cited World Food Programme figures showing 3.2 million Afghan children under the age of five will be acutely malnourished by the end of the year, and said the previous US-backed government did not do enough to avert disaster.

"For twenty years, the health sector has remained dependent on foreign aid. No basic work has been done ... so the healthcare infrastructure and its resources could survive," he said.

Foreign donors and non-governmental organisations have financed everything, he continued, adding: "No factories have been built, the domestic resources haven't been utilised."

The Taliban overthrew the previous US-backed government on August 15 following a lightning offensive into the capital.

The international community then froze the aid on which the country's economy so heavily relied.
"How we can provide services if the foreign resources are curtailed and the international organisations cut their aid?" Omar said.

"The World Bank, EU, and USAID (the US development agency) do not fulfil the promises they made to the people of Afghanistan," he said.

"Organisations made commitments to the people of Afghanistan, and made promises to mothers, children, and the needy. Their slogan was to keep health services away from politics, but when the (regime) change took place, unfortunately, they all ended up with a political agenda," he said.

The food crisis comes after Afghanistan has already been devastated by more than four decades of conflict.

 

[ghazi52]

Afghanistan central bank to sell $10m to support currency

Reuters
16 Nov 2021

KABUL: Afghanistan’s central bank said it would sell $10 million through an auction to banks and foreign exchange dealers on Tuesday as it seeks to support the afghani currency from a sharp fall in recent days.

With the abrupt withdrawal of foreign support following the Taliban victory in August, Afghanistan’s economy has gone into freefall, putting a severe strain on the banking system which has set weekly withdrawal limits to stop a bank run. Some $9 billion in central bank reserves held outside the country have also been frozen by the United States, despite growing calls for them to be released to help ease the financial squeeze that is strangling the economy.

According to a money exchanger in the main Sarai Shazada exchange, the afghani was quoted at 93.80 to the dollar. That compared with a price of 91.20 four days ago. The central bank invited eligible banks and foreign exchange dealers to bid in the sale. It said all successful bids had to be cleared in full by the end of the day.

“We assure our esteemed compatriots that the functioning of the country’s banking system will soon
return to normal and that the stability of the afghani will be maintained,” the central bank said in a announcement.

 

[ghazi52]

Afghanistan will compete to be on par with others: Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen says it is Taliban's "priority to serve people and resolve their economic problems"

By Web Desk
November 15, 2021

Suhail Shaheen. Photo: AFP

Public service and finding solutions to people's economic issues is what the Taliban government prioritises after the "restoration of independence and establishment of Islamic government," Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said Monday.

Shaheen Tweeted that the Taliban-led Afghanistan will strive to "become on par with" other countries in the field of security, economy, education and development.

"After [the] restoration of independence and establishment of Islamic government, our priority is to serve people and resolve their economic problems. This country will compete to [be] on par with others in the field of security, economy, education and development, Insha Allah," Shaheen wrote.


Afghanistan, which was already struggling with the after-effects of the 20-year-long war, was hit by a severe crisis when the Taliban toppled the US-backed former Afghan government in a lightning strike in August.

The ousting of the former government lead to the donors holding back billions of dollars in assistance for the freefalling economy that depended on aid.

In a meeting of the Troika Plus, hosted by Pakistan last week, the Taliban government in Afghanistan was given a clear message to uphold its international legal obligations, including universally accepted principles of international law and fundamental human rights.

As foreign capitals had complained of distributing humanitarian aid, the Troika called on the Taliban to ensure unhindered humanitarian access, including by women aid workers, for the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan to respond to the developing crisis.

The Taliban were also asked to work with fellow Afghans to take steps to form an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of all Afghans and provides for equal rights of women and girls to participate in all aspects of Afghan society.

In this regard, it was emphasised that access to education for women and girls at all levels is an international obligation and the Taliban were encouraged to accelerate efforts to provide for full and equal access to education

 

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Kabul passport office suspends work as demand crashes system
Reuters
17 Nov 2021

KABUL: The Kabul passport office has been forced to suspend operations after equipment used for issuing biometric documents broke down under the pressure of processing thousands of applications a day, the head of the office said.

Worries about the future of Afghanistan under the new Taliban government and a gathering economic and humanitarian crisis that threatens millions with joblessness and hunger have fuelled an exodus, with thousands crossing the border every day.

Alam Gul Haqqani, director of the passport department, said as many as 15,000-20,000 people a day were camped outside the office in Kabul, five or six times more than the office was able to handle, with many sleeping on the pavement overnight.

Many were forced to come back day after day after failing to file their application and the biometric machines regularly broke down as they processed the documents, causing further delays, he said.

“To stop people suffering this and to avoid disturbance, we have decided to stop the activities of the passport department activities for a few days,” he told Tolo News television on Monday night, adding that the office would re-open soon.

On Tuesday, the interior ministry said 60 people, including a number of members of the passport department, had been arrested for using forged or fake documents to obtain a passport. There have also been growing complaints of people being forced to pay bribes to officials to get their applications approved.

International flights have slowly begun operating again with regular services from Kabul to Dubai and Islamabad offered by state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines and privately owned Kam Air, in addition to charter services from other carriers.

 

[ghazi52]

Taliban appeal to US Congress to release Afghan assets

• Say economic turmoil at home could lead to trouble abroad

AFP
17 Nov 2021

KABUL: The Taliban called Wednesday on US Congress members to release Afghan assets frozen after their takeover of the country, warning economic turmoil at home could lead to trouble abroad.

In an open letter, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the biggest challenge facing Afghanistan was financial insecurity, "and the roots of this concern lead back to the freezing of assets of our people by the American government".

Washington has seized nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, and the aid-dependent economy has effectively collapsed -- with civil servants unpaid for months and the treasury unable to pay for imports.

Concerned nations have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, but are reluctant to commit funds unless the Taliban agree to a more inclusive government and to guarantee the rights of women and minorities.

"I present to you our compliments and would like to share a few thoughts on our bilateral relations," Muttaqi wrote, noting that 2021 was the centenary of Washington recognising Afghanistan's sovereignty.

In measured understatement, he added: "Akin to other world countries, our bilateral relations have also experienced ups and downs."

'Mass migration' threat

Muttaqi said Afghanistan was enjoying stable government for the first time in over 40 years -- a period that started with an invasion by the Soviet Union in 1979 and ended with the withdrawal of the last US troops on August 31.

"Practical steps have been taken towards good governance, security and transparency," Muttaqi wrote.

"No threat is posed to the region or world from Afghanistan and a pathway has been paved for positive cooperation."

Muttaqi said Afghans "understand the concerns of the international community", but that it was necessary for all sides to take positive steps to build trust.

He warned, however, that the economic situation could spark a mass exodus.

"If the current situation prevails, the Afghan government and people will face problems and will become a cause for mass migration in the region and world which will consequently create further humanitarian and economic issues," he said.

Muttaqi said the United States risked further damaging its reputation in the country "and this will serve as the worst memory ingrained in Afghans at the hands of America".

"We hope that the members of the American Congress will think thoroughly in this regard," he added.

"I request... so that doors for future relations are opened, assets of Afghanistan's Central Bank are unfrozen and sanctions on our banks are lifted."

 

[ghazi52]

Afghan girl footballers reach UK on Kim Kardashian West-funded flight


By Caroline Hawley
Diplomatic Correspondent

The girls and their families arrived in Pakistan in September after receiving threats from the new Taliban regime

A group of Afghan girl footballers have flown into the UK, the culmination of an extraordinary rescue effort that began after the Taliban seized power.

The costly operation brought together an unlikely cast of characters, from Muslim sports-people to spies, philanthropists, and a Hasidic rabbi.

The girls - aged between 13 and 19 - arrived from Pakistan overnight.

Their flight was chartered by a Jewish aid organisation and was paid for by the US star, Kim Kardashian-West.

"It's Mission Accomplished," said Khalida Popal, former manager of Afghanistan's national women's team, who co-ordinated their rescue from Denmark. "I'm so happy and so proud of these girls. They were traumatised. They've been through so much and managed to stay strong. Now they can start a new life and breathe freedom."

Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, President & Founder of the Jewish aid group, the Tzedek Association, expressed his relief. "As the son and grandson of Holocaust survivors, a time when righteous non-Jewish people stepped up to the plate to help save so many Jewish people, I know in my heart that we must be there for others in their time of need at a time when their very lives are at risk," he said.

The teenagers, mostly from the Afghan provinces, all feared for their lives when the Taliban captured their cities. Some of their families had received death threats.

"People were searching houses for them" Ms Popal told the BBC.

Kim Kardashian-West paid for the girls' flight from Pakistan to the UK

Terrified, they made their way to Kabul and were due to be evacuated to the Gulf state of Qatar at the end of August.

They were almost within sight of the airport when they were pulled off their buses because of security warnings. Two hours later, the airport was struck by a suicide bomb, killing more than 180 people.

So they went into hiding.

10 days later, following intense lobbying on their behalf, they were given the personal permission of the Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, to cross the border.

But they only had temporary Pakistani visas.

With the clock ticking, a frantic effort to find them a new home began.

The girls had the support of Leeds United Football club chairman Andrea Radrizzani. They also had the ear of the UK government - through a chain of former interpreters for the British military and influential veterans. Last month, they were granted visas.

 

[ghazi52]

Afghan officials meet German, Dutch diplomats


The Frontier Post

KABUL (Tolo News): The first and second deputies of the prime minister met diplomats from Germany and the Netherlands on Thursday in Kabul, said a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
“The deputies of prime minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar today before noon met with representatives of the Netherlands and Germany and delegates accompamying them at the ARG (presidential palace),” said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate in a series of tweets. According to Samangani, the Afghan officials discussed biliteral relations with the German and Dutch envoys.

Baradar once again stressed the need to release Afghanistan’s bank assets. “The frozen assets belong to the people of Afghanistan and we want the international community to pay attention to the economic challenges in Afghanistan,” he said. Markus Potzel, the German envoy, reiterated his country’s continued humanitarian support to Afghanistan. Potzel pledged that Germany would provide 600 million euros of aid to Afghanistan.

The Afghan officials called for the extension of relations between Afghanistan and Germany and the Netherlands. The representative from the Netherlands was not named by the Islamic Emirate in their release. “We will not allow any one to use Afghanistan’s soil against the region and the world. We will make efforts to prevent the cultivation and smuggling of opium and we are trying to provide alternative economic schemes in cooperation with the international community for the farmers,” Samangani wrote on Twitter. The second deputy of the prime minister called on the envoys to urge their countries to invest in Afghanistan.

 

[ghazi52]

Officials in Islamabad said that Pakistan would train Afghan aviation personnel in air traffic control and airport operations.

The Afghan government requested the assistance during a recent visit of its foreign minister to Islamabad, Pakistani officials said.

Afghanistan’s Interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made his first visit to Pakistan last week and discussed enhanced trade, cross-border movement and regional connectivity with top officials.

The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement earlier this week that the two sides also agreed Pakistan would provide professional training to Afghan aviation personnel.

 

[ghazi52]

World to ‘gradually accept’ Taliban govt ‘by default’

Official says nobody wanted to abandon Afghanistan this time


Kamran Yousaf
November 21, 2021



The international community is gradually moving towards "by default recognition" of the Taliban government in Afghanistan as Pakistani and Qatari efforts asking the world, particularly the Western countries, to remain engaged with the new rulers of the war-torn country are fast gaining steam.

"The world, including the West, is slowly moving towards recognising the Taliban government by default," said a senior Pakistani official, who is dealing with the Afghan situation.

There are already signs that the US and European countries want to stay engaged with Afghanistan. However, these countries are trying to maintain a fine balance between engaging with the Taliban and catering to their domestic audiences. At this stage, that does not favour a formal recognition.

“Unlike during the previous Taliban regime when Pakistan was the only country to have maintained a diplomatic mission in Kabul, this time 15 foreign missions are already operating in the Afghan capital,” the official claimed, explaining that this highlighted the fact nobody wanted to abandon Afghanistan this time.

Even the US has diplomatic presence in Afghanistan through the Qatari Embassy in Kabul.

Qatar and the US signed an agreement that would allow Doha to represent Washington's interests in Afghanistan.

Like Pakistan, Qatar is also pressing the international community not to abandon Afghanistan.

It appears that the US is paying heed to these calls. American officials are now directly engaging with the Taliban government as US Special Representative Thomas West met with acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Islamabad earlier this month along with top diplomats from Pakistan, Russia and China.

However, the official said there was a difference in the approach of the US and that of the other countries in the Troika Plus.

"The US doesn't want to take responsibility of Afghanistan anymore, while China and Russia want Washington to clear the mess it was responsible for," he added.

The approach of European countries, however, is different and more pragmatic. Many European countries are willing to support Afghanistan and are concerned that its economic collapse would hurt their interests.

Germany and the Netherlands have even pledged to give salaries to the Afghan teachers and doctors.

The official claimed that some European countries, including the UK and Germany, wanted to be part of the Troika Plus forum.

The Troika Plus comprises Pakistan, the US, China and Russia and has emerged as the most important international platform on Afghanistan.

In its latest meeting held in Islamabad recently, the Troika Plus members met the Afghan interim foreign minister and conveyed to him clearly that the Taliban government needed to fulfil the commitments it had made with the international community.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the four countries asked the Taliban to form more inclusive and representative government, ensure the protection of women rights – particularly girls’ education, and cutting ties with terrorist groups.

The acting Afghan foreign minister, however, insisted that the Taliban government represented all groups and said they would never ask US President Joe Biden to invite his predecessor Donald Trump into his administration.

A Pakistani official acknowledged that the Taliban had to accommodate the concerns of the international community if they wanted the world’s cooperation.

As the winter is setting in, half of the Afghan population is facing starvation as the World Food Programme is seeking urgent assistance for them.

 

[ghazi52]

Afghan Taliban begin paying salaries to govt employees

By AFP
November 20, 2021

A money changer holds afghani banknotes at a currency exchange market. — AFP

KABUL: Afghanistan's Taliban authorities said Saturday they had begun paying government employees who had not received a paycheck since the group seized power and triggered a major financial crisis.

Most government employees have yet to return to work and many had not been paid for months even before the Taliban captured power, especially rural workers.

"We are going to start paying salaries from today. We will pay three months' salaries," Ahmad Wali Haqmal, spokesman for the finance ministry said at a press conference.
Haqmal said salaries will be paid for the period starting August 23, adding that some government employees will be paid even for the month before the Taliban took power.

The payment will be made through the country's banking system which Haqmal said had not been "paralysed" since the fall of the previous government.

"It just needs time to operate normally," he said.

The government employees will still be unable to access their full salaries.

Since August, Afghanistan's banking sector has collapsed, and those with money in the bank have struggled to access their funds as branches curtailed withdrawals to $200 to $400 a week.

The financial crunch was aggravated after Washington froze about $10 billion of assets held in its reserve for Kabul and deteriorated further after the World Bank and International Monetary Fund halted Afghanistan's access to funding.

Foreign donors led by the United States provided more than 75% of the public expenditure under Afghanistan's previous 20-year Washington-backed government.

The rapidly worsening situation has forced Afghans to sell their household goods to raise money for food and other essentials with the local currency crashing and prices skyrocketing.

Meraj Mohammad Meraj, the spokesman for the government's revenue department, said the authorities were in a position to pay salaries after earning revenues of 26 billion Afghanis (around $277 million) in the past two and half months.

"Only 20 to 25% of the economy was operational [...] Not all sectors are currently operational," Meraj said at the press conference.

He added that the authorities will introduce a new Islamic tax to fund aid projects for poor people and orphans.

 

[Meengla]

DW's Franz Marti has been living in Kabul and was there when the turbulent events happened in August 2021. He is one of those very few Western journalists who not only has the courage to be 'on the ground' and has been speaking his mind, often saying a contrary narrative of the Western audience. Here he is acknowledging the help Russia, China, and Pakistan, along with America is providing. May F. Marti live a long, prosperous life.

 

[Meengla]

Poor Afghanistan. Already had enough war-lords, foreign-backed 'leaders', foreign militants, and the Taliban and have added Daesh in the mix! It is clear that Taliban are going after Daesh with strongly, often using very brutal tactics. Anyway, the whole article is worth reading. Overall, a good development for the region and the world: ISIS/Daesh is the worst of the worst. I just hope this is wrapped up soon.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/22/taliban-isis-afghanistan/

Taliban sends hundreds of fighters to eastern Afghanistan to wage war against Islamic State


By Susannah George
November 22, 2021 at 3:49 p.m. EST



JALALABAD, Afghanistan — The Taliban has expanded its shadowy war against the Islamic State branch in Afghanistan, deploying hundreds more fighters to this eastern province in an increasingly violent fight and critical test of the group’s counterterrorism abilities after the U.S. troop withdrawal.

More than 1,300 additional Taliban fighters have been deployed to Nangahar province in the past month with orders to increase the tempo of operations, according to Taliban security officials. Taliban night raids against suspected Islamic State-Khorasan members are on the rise, and many of the hundreds arrested have disappeared or turned up dead, according to Jalalabad residents and Taliban fighters.
“The fight is difficult, and yes sometimes it is brutal, but we have to eradicate Daesh not just for Afghanistan, but for the entire world,” said Qari Nurullah Fateh, a Taliban fighter under the group’s intelligence wing in Jalalabad. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State commonly used in Afghanistan. “If someone doesn’t surrender to us, we kill them.”


Fateh’s unit carries out multiple search operations for Islamic State suspects in Jalalabad most nights from sunset until early morning prayers. Previously, the fighters would only leave base once or twice a week. Fateh estimated that seven to 10 Islamic State suspects are arrested in Jalalabad every week and about six are killed.
The Taliban crackdown has sent shock waves through the province and is emerging in Islamic State recruitment propaganda calling on Nangahar residents to rise up and resist. It is unclear how many new fighters have joined the Islamic State’s ranks, but since the Taliban takeover the group has strengthened, become more active and expanded its presence to nearly every Afghan province, according to United Nations assessments.
The wave of Islamic State attacks here and across Afghanistan is the first sustained challenge to the Taliban’s grip on security since the group took control of the country in August. But the escalating fight in Nangahar risks overstretching limited Taliban resources and further alienating many Afghans.


The Islamic State began attacking Jalalabad within weeks of the Taliban takeover. Local Taliban commanders initially responded by killing several accused collaborators and hanging their bodies along main roads and at busy intersections.
“This was a very effective way to respond,” said Fateh, the Taliban fighter in Jalalabad. “It was a lesson to the people that this is what happens if you join Daesh. We wanted to show them the consequences.” Two other elite Taliban fighters confirmed Fateh’s account.

“Myself, I strung up two of the bodies,” Fateh said, estimating other Taliban fighters hung about 40 more. Dozens of accused collaborators were beheaded. He said the punishments were carried out in accordance with Islamic law and were approved by Taliban provincial leadership.
But since the brutal killings, violence has only increased, according to data collected by local health officials. And some Jalalabad residents and former Afghan government officials warn that the Taliban’s approach to restoring order will fan Islamic State recruitment efforts.

Community leaders in Nangahar have pleaded for the Taliban to end the killings, warning “otherwise we cannot stop our youth from joining the [Islamic State] and the beginning of a very brutal era,” said Abdul Sayed, a London-based researcher of extremist organizations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, citing statements released via public WhatsApp groups.


At a recent news conference, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid downplayed the threat, saying the Islamic State does not have any support among Afghans and the group has “largely been dealt with.”
But Khalil Hamraz, the spokesman for the Taliban’s directorate of intelligence, acknowledged at the same conference that the Taliban’s military takeover of the country inadvertently bolstered Islamic State ranks. Taliban attacks on prisons across the country freed jailed Islamic State members who now threaten security in Afghanistan, he said.
“During the victory of the Islamic Emirate, many Daesh prisoners unfortunately managed to escape,” he said, but in the months since, Taliban fighters have arrested about 600 Islamic State suspects and defused deadly explosives.

Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan are estimated to number between 2,000 and 3,500 — just a fraction of the approximately 70,000 fighters in the Taliban’s ranks.


The Taliban has engaged in battles with the Islamic State for years. In 2019, Taliban fighters helped clear much of Nangahar of Islamic State-held territory, in parallel with a massive U.S.-led operation in which the United States closely supported Afghan government forces with waves of airstrikes. U.S. officials said they did not partner with the Taliban but said Taliban-led offensives on the ground against the Islamic State were critical to its success.
Islamic State attacks across Afghanistan sharply declined the following year, but U.S. officials warned that the group could easily regroup if counterterrorism pressure isn’t applied after the U.S. withdrawal.
Orders to kill
Even with specialized equipment and elite counterterrorism units, U.S.-backed Afghan government forces struggled for years to control Nangahar. Home to formidable terrain, profitable smuggling routes and mineral deposits close to Kabul, the province is key real estate for militant groups looking to move fighters and munitions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“These Taliban fighters are not familiar with the province, and they have no way to check the intelligence they receive about [Islamic State] targets,” said a Jalalabad resident and former civil society activist, who, like others in this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. “So they just go after anyone they suspect, kill them and say that person was Daesh.”
He said he knows dozens of families whose homes were raided and who cannot find their loved ones. Those who are imprisoned by the Taliban and released, he said, often endured days of torture.

Fateh, the Taliban fighter assigned to the group’s intelligence wing in Jalalabad, said the top Taliban intelligence commander for Nangahar, Mohammad Bashir, signs off on all targets before a raid is launched and has the final say in all sentences delivered to captured suspects.


“Dr. Bashir tells us Daesh is like a virus that will not just infect Afghanistan, but other countries.” Fateh said, referring to the 45-year-old commander. “So the less dangerous people we bring to prison, but the most dangerous are the ones we have orders to kill on the spot.”
Bashir declined multiple interview requests. Bilal Karimi, a deputy Taliban spokesman, would not comment on whether a Taliban court has ruled that accused Islamic State members should be hung in public or beheaded.
“However, I can say many of the [Islamic State] members have been killed in armed clashes,” he said.
Most suspects detained for trial are brought to Jalalabad’s intelligence compound, Fateh said. If they are sentenced to death, they are executed and their bodies are dumped in the street outside the building, he said. In other cases, accused Islamic State members are walked into an open field on Jalalabad’s outskirts and shot.


“We always inform the neighborhood elder so they can tell the family where to collect the body for burial,” he said. “We never desecrate the dead. That is wrong. It’s against Islam.”
Violence spikes
Muhammad Tahir Mubaris, who commands a Taliban unit that was recently moved from Ghazni to Jalalabad, said extensive networks of Taliban informants will ultimately help the group achieve what the United States couldn’t: the complete defeat the Islamic State in Afghanistan.
“It’s because the people trust us. Daesh has no support here,” he said, leading a patrol convoy through central Jalalabad traffic on a recent day this month. Unlike the United States, he said, Taliban raids don’t alienate local populations.

“We saw how the Americans conducted night raids. It showed us the wrong way to fight,” he said, referring to U.S.-backed operations that drew criticism from human rights groups. “We don’t just break into a house and destroy everything. This is our country; we respect the culture.”

 

[ghazi52]

Taliban talks with US and EU representatives on November 27-29

Written by The Frontier Post

DOHA (Agencies): The Ta-liban movement that came to power in Afghanistan will hold talks with representatives of the United States and the European Union in the capital of Qatar on November 27-29. This is stated in a message published on Wednesday on the official page of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” (IEA, the name of the state used by the Taliban) on Twitter.

“IEA Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki will meet with representatives of the US, EU and other parties in the capital of Qatar on November 27-29,” the message says.

It states that during the meetings in Doha “political issues, the release of Afghanistan’s bank reserves, humanitarian aid, issues related to education and the health sector, and other related topics will be discussed.” The Foreign Minister of the interim Taliban government “will be accompanied by representatives of the ministries of education and health, finance, the Central Bank of Afghanistan and [the Taliban-formed] security structures.”

Also, Taliban spokesman Suheil Shahin told RIA Novosti that the Taliban wants to discuss with the United States in Doha the recognition of the interim government of Afghanistan formed by it, the participation of the United States in the reconstruction of the country and the unfreezing of accounts.

“We are open to having positive relations with them (with the US – ed.). They can take part in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, invest in our country, unfreeze the reserves of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, recognize the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the self-name of the political system Taliban – ed.), because it is important for the relationship and their investment in the country. These are the topics that will be discussed, “Shahin said.

“Due to the freezing of these funds, our people are faced with… humanitarian problems… The sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries on the Afghan people lead to a deterioration… of the humanitarian situation in the country and have a negative impact on people,” he said. Shahin.

“We need to move from talking to practical actions. We are ready to talk with them (with the United States – ed.) And have an understanding about positive relations and cooperation with the United States,” Shahin said.

Earlier, Washington was informed that the US special envoy for Afghanistan Thomas West will arrive in the capital of Qatar next week, where he will discuss with the Taliban leaders the fight against terrorism on Afghan territory.

In October, Taliban officials held several meetings with US diplomats in Doha.