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US Destroyed Afghanistan with drugs now controls it's money

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Re: US to stop invading countries - Taliban announce governm

PostAuthor: Anthea » Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:37 pm

Taliban leaders in bust-up

A major row broke out between leaders of the Taliban over the make-up of the group's new government in Afghanistan

The argument between the group's co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and a cabinet member happened at the presidential palace, they said.

There have been unconfirmed reports of disagreements within the Taliban's leadership since Mr Baradar disappeared from public view in recent days.

These have been officially denied.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan last month, and have since declared the country an "Islamic Emirate". Their new interim cabinet is entirely male and made up of senior Taliban figures, some of whom are notorious for attacks on US forces over the last two decades.

One Taliban source told BBC Pashto that Mr Baradar and Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani - the minister for refugees and a prominent figure within the militant Haqqani network - had exchanged strong words, as their followers brawled with each other nearby.

A senior Taliban member based in Qatar and a person connected to those involved also confirmed that an argument had taken place late last week.

The sources said the argument had broken out because Mr Baradar, the new deputy prime minister, was unhappy about the structure of their interim government.

It has been said that the row stemmed from divisions over who in the Taliban should take credit for their victory in Afghanistan.

Mr Baradar reportedly believes that the emphasis should be placed on diplomacy carried out by people like him, while members of the Haqqani group - which is run by one of the most senior Taliban figures - and their backers say it was achieved through fighting.

Mr Baradar was the first Taliban leader to communicate directly with a US president, having a telephone conversation with Donald Trump in 2020. Before that, he signed the Doha agreement on the withdrawal of US troops on behalf of the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the powerful Haqqani network is associated with some of the most violent attacks that have occurred in Afghanistan against Afghan forces and their Western allies in recent years. The group is designated by the US as a terrorist organisation.

Its leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the interior minister in the new government.

Rumours about a fallout have been spreading since late last week, when Mr Baradar - one of the best-known faces of the Taliban - disappeared from public view. There was speculation on social media that he might have died.

The Taliban sources told the BBC that Mr Baradar had left Kabul and travelled to the city of Kandahar following the row.

In an audio recording purportedly of Mr Baradar released on Monday, the Taliban co-founder said he had been "away on trips".

"Wherever I am at the moment, we are all fine," he said.

The BBC was not able to verify the recording, which was posted on a number of official Taliban websites.

The Taliban have maintained that there was no argument and that Mr Baradar is safe but have released conflicting statements on what he is currently doing. A spokesman said Mr Baradar had gone to Kandahar to meet the Taliban's supreme leader, but later told BBC Pashto that he was "tired and wanted some rest".

Many Afghans will feel they have good reason to doubt the Taliban's word. In 2015, the group admitted covering up their founding leader Mullah Omar's death for more than two years, during which time they continued to issue statements in his name.

Sources told the BBC that Mr Baradar was expected to return to Kabul and might appear on camera to deny that any argument had happened.

Speculation remains over the Taliban's supreme commander, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who has never been seen in public. He is in charge of the Taliban's political, military and religious affairs.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's acting foreign minister on Tuesday called for international donors to restart aid, saying the international community should not politicise their assistance.

More than $1bn (£720m) in aid was pledged for the country on Monday, following warnings from the United Nations of a "looming catastrophe".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58560923
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Re: US to stop invading countries - Taliban announce governm

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Re: US to stop invading countries - Taliban announce governm

PostAuthor: Anthea » Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:18 am

104 Dead in violent Iraq protests

The Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman said on Sunday that the death toll from anti-government protests in Iraq rose to 104, including eight security members

“As many as 104 people, including eight security members, were killed and at least 6,000 others injured in ongoing protests in Iraq,” Maj. Gen. Saad Maan told a press conference.

The spokesman noted that protesters also set fire to 51 public facilities and eight partisan headquarters in the mass protests, which entered their sixth day.

He added that a probe was launched to identify whoever targets the innocent demonstrators.

The unrest is the most serious challenge facing Iraq two years after the victory against Islamic State militants.

The chaos also comes at a critical time for the government, which has been caught in the middle of increasing U.S.-Iran tensions in the region.

https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/deat ... e-in-iraq/
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Re: Iraq worse than Afghanistan 104 dead 6,000 hurt in prote

PostAuthor: Anthea » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:23 pm

Afghanistan leaders unhappy about structure of their government.

The Taliban are new to this and there are bound to be disagreements about the structure of their government

The British government also has problems within it's ministerial team - Boris Johnson undertakes a major reshuffle of his government ministers and has sacked 4 of them :))
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Re: Iraq worse than Afghanistan 104 dead 6,000 hurt in prote

PostAuthor: Anthea » Sat Sep 18, 2021 2:24 am

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US admits Kabul drone strike killed civilians

The US has admitted that a drone strike in Kabul days before its military pullout killed 10 innocent people

A US Central Command investigation found that an aid worker and nine members of his family, including seven children, died in the 29 August strike.

The youngest child, Sumaya, was just two years old.

The deadly strike happened days after a terror attack at Kabul airport, amid a frenzied evacuation effort following the Taliban's sudden return to power.

It was one of the US military's final acts in Afghanistan, before ending its 20-year operation in the country.

US intelligence had tracked the aid worker's car for eight hours, believing it was linked to ISIS-K militants - a local branch of the Islamic State (ISIS) group, US Central Command Gen Kenneth McKenzie said.

The investigation found the man's car had been seen at a compound associated with ISIS-K, and its movements aligned with other intelligence about the terror group's plans for an attack on Kabul airport.

At one point, a surveillance drone saw men loading what appeared to be explosives into the boot of the car, but it turned out to be containers of water.

Gen McKenzie described the strike as a "tragic mistake", and added that the Taliban had not been involved in the intelligence that led to the strike.

The strike happened as the aid worker - named as Zamairi Akmadhi - pulled into the driveway of his home, 3km (1.8 miles) from the airport.

The explosion set off a secondary blast, which US officials initially said was proof that the car was indeed carrying explosives. However the investigation has found it was most likely caused by a propane tank in the driveway.

Relatives of the victims told the BBC the day after the strike that they had applied to be evacuated to the US, and had been waiting for a phone call telling them to go to the airport.

One of those killed, Ahmad Naser, had been a translator with US forces. Other victims had previously worked for international organisations and held visas allowing them entry to the US.

The horrific consequences of the US military's miscalculation has drawn questions about the accuracy of future counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan with a US presence no longer on the ground.

But more than that, this catastrophe exposed the dreadful human cost of a war that had been fought largely from the air for years.

That it should take place just as the Americans ended their 20-year occupation will cast an even darker stain on the chaotic US exit.

But for some in the region, it is a particularly stark example of the ongoing dangers of drone warfare.

When the US started to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban managed to seize control of the country within about two weeks in a lightning-fast offensive.

President Ashraf Ghani fled to the United Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, fell on 15 August.

It sparked a mass evacuation effort from the US and its allies, as thousands of people tried to flee. Many were foreign nationals or Afghans who had worked for foreign governments.

There were scenes of panic and chaos at Kabul airport, and some people fell to their death after trying to cling on to the side of US military planes as they took off.

The security situation was further heightened after a suicide bomber killed up to 170 civilians and 13 US troops outside the airport on 26 August. ISIS-K said it had carried out the attack.

Many of those killed had been hoping to board one of the evacuation flights leaving the city.

The last US soldier left Afghanistan on 31 August - the deadline President Joe Biden had set for the US withdrawal.

More than 124,000 foreigners and Afghans were flown out of the country before the deadline. But some people were unable to get out in time, and evacuation efforts are ongoing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58604655
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Re: US admits Kabul drone strike killed innocent civilians

PostAuthor: Anthea » Mon Sep 20, 2021 6:39 pm

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Taliban detail morality police rulebook

The Taliban’s morality police under the ministry of promotion of virtue and prevention of vice will act “moderately” according to a “pocket handbook” of rules, the head of the ministry’s provincial office in Kandahar told The Guardian

In a rare interview with western media, Mawlawi Mohammad Shebani explained to The Guardian that the Taliban’s morality police is structured as a network integrated into the group’s police force with ties to mosques and religious schools.

Since seizing control of Afghanistan on August 15, the Taliban have launched a charm offensive to rehabilitate their hardline image from their 1996-2001 era when men who didn’t pray in mosques where whipped, women’s every day movements were restricted and an extreme interpretation of Islamic law, Sharia, was enforced.

Shebani says the Taliban’s morality police will be different this time around from the previous era because of the creation of a “written code” which will focus on “persuasion not violence.”

However, The Guardian reported that the new Taliban guidelines approved the use of force against the most uncooperative offenders.

The multistep process of handling offenders is detailed as follows: “First, educating them, then pressuring them to change their behavior. If they are still recalcitrant, force may be an option.”

“If still the person continues (the offending behavior), and this can cause a lot of problems, then you can stop him with your hands,” the guidelines said.

The Taliban promised to protect the rights of women. However, the rulebook dictated that women are only allowed to leave their homes when accompanied by a male guardian. Women’s contact with men should also be restricted to immediate close family.

“You should patiently prevent women going outside without hijab, and without a male guardian accompanying her,” according to the handbook.

The rules ordered compulsory prayers to be performed five times a day and had stipulations about beard length for men.

“Some people think we are extremist, but we are not like that. Islam is a religion of moderation, not too much and not too little, everything just right,” Shebani told The Guardian in the exclusive interview.

“We want to inform everyone first about the principles,” he said. “There are some small things we aren’t reacting to, as we don’t want people to be in a panic or feel negative.”

“There won’t be any patrols … we want to emphasize we will not be entering people’s homes, or places they have their gatherings and we will not use violence,” Shebani added.

According to the Taliban’s morality police handbook, the ministry’s men are barred from entering homes even if rules are being broken. “If there are sounds of music, of television, a stereo system, coming out of a house they should be prevented. But don’t enter the house to do it,” the guidelines said.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/worl ... -rulebook-
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Re: Taliban morality police rulebook including beard length

PostAuthor: Anthea » Thu Sep 23, 2021 6:19 pm

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UK's lowest payout for civilian death £104.17

Compensation payments for hundreds of civilian deaths linked to the British armed forces have been revealed for the first time

The Ministry of Defence paid out £688,000 for 289 civilian deaths between 2006-14, an average of £2,380.

But in one case, a family was paid just £104.17, less than others received for the deaths of a herd of donkeys.

The MoD said compensation was set by legal principles, including past and future losses and local customs.

Almost 7,000 compensation claims paid out by the British military during combat operations in Helmand, in Afghanistan, up until 2014 were analysed by the charity Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).

The youngest casualty was a three-year-old boy who, according to records, was "killed by shock" during a British mine clearance operation. At least 16 children were among the 289 civilian deaths.

Using data obtained under Freedom of Information requests, this is the first attempt to scrutinise the impact of British military forces on civilian lives in Afghanistan in this way.

Murray Jones from AOAV said: "The fact that a charity has had to scrutinise this data, rather than the British military themselves, is hugely concerning."

Compensation payments for civilians killed varied widely. In February 2008 a family received just £104.17 for a confirmed fatality and property damage.

There is no more detail given, but it is the lowest recorded sum for a civilian death.

In contrast, British forces paid out £110 for a lost mobile phone in Camp Bastion, £662 for the death of six donkeys after they "wandered on to a rifle range ", and £240 for damage caused to a property by an armoured vehicle.

Other payments linked to civilian deaths include £586.42 for the death of a 10-year-old boy in December 2009.

British forces also paid out £4,233.60 for four children "shot and killed by ISAF (International Security Assistance Force)" in the same month. There is no record of this incident in the English language media.

"So few of these deaths were reported on at the time that these casualties could easily be forgotten," said Mr Jones.

One payment for an incident which did receive media attention was significantly higher. Five Afghan children injured by stray bullets fired from a British army Apache helicopter received £7,204.97.

Overall, £397,000 was paid out by the British for 240 injuries - an average of £1,654.

The largest single payment awarded was £54,347 for a single fatality in Kabul in 2007. No more details of the incident are recorded.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan

The records show that the majority of claims for compensation were rejected. In total 885 claims of death and 285 claims of injury were denied by the MoD.

AOAV said: "It's likely that the deaths recorded are an underestimation of deaths caused by British forces."

The US military also paid out more than 1,600 "condolence payments" between October 2006 and September 2014 for deaths, injuries and property damage.

The payments cost the US nearly $4.9m, according to a report by the Center for Civilians in Conflict.

The MoD said the amount of compensation paid is "determined by legal principles which consider the degree of injury and both past and future losses; settlements also reflect local customs and practice".

"Every civilian death is a tragedy and the UK always seeks to minimise the risk of civilian casualties through our rigorous targeting process, but that risk can never be removed entirely," an MoD spokesperson said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58653492
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Re: UK's lowest payout for civilian slaughter a mere £104.17

PostAuthor: Anthea » Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:04 pm

Taliban hung kidnappers bodies

The Taliban are said to have have hung the dead bodies of four alleged kidnappers in public in the western city of Herat in an apparent warning

The gruesome display came a day after a notorious Taliban official warned that extreme punishments such as executions and amputations would resume.

The men were killed in a gun battle after allegedly seizing a businessman and his son, a local official said.

News agency AP was told a body was hung from a crane in the city centre.

Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, a local shopkeeper, told the agency that four bodies were brought to the square, one was hung there and the three other bodies were moved to other squares in the city to be displayed.

The deputy governor for Herat, Maulwai Shair Ahmad Emar, was quoted by local media as saying that Taliban fighters had tracked the alleged kidnappers down and killed all of them in a firefight.

"We hanged their dead bodies on the Herat squares to be a warning to the other kidnappers," the official was quoted as saying.

The BBC has not independently confirmed the circumstances under which the men were killed.

However, graphic images shared on social media appeared to show bloody bodies on the back of a pick-up truck with a crane hoisting one man up.

Another video showed a man suspended from a crane with a sign on his chest reading: "Abductors will be punished like this."

Since taking power in Afghanistan on 15 August, the Taliban have been promising a milder form of rule than in their previous tenure.

But there have already been numerous reports of human rights abuses carried out across the country.

The Taliban's notorious former head of religious police Mullah Nooruddin Turabi - now in charge of prisons - said on Thursday that extreme punishments such as executions and amputations would resume in Afghanistan as they were "necessary for security".

In an interview with AP, he said these punishments may not be meted out in public, as they were under previous Taliban rule in the 1990s. Public executions were frequently held in Kabul's sports stadium or on the vast grounds of the Eid Gah mosque during the group's five year rule.

But he dismissed outrage over their past public executions: "No-one will tell us what our laws should be."

Turabi - who is on a UN sanctions list for his past actions - added that "everyone criticised us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and punishments".

In August, Amnesty International said that Taliban fighters were behind the massacre of nine members of the persecuted Hazara minority.

Amnesty's Secretary-General Agnès Callamard said at the time that the "cold-blooded brutality" of the killings was "a reminder of the Taliban's past record, and a horrifying indicator of what Taliban rule may bring".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58691824

Bit barbaric, in the UK:

    The offence of kidnapping is taken very seriously and is heard in a Crown Court. There is likely to be a sentence of around eight years in prison
When they are released, kidnappers (as with other criminals) are given a place to live and money to help them restart their lives on the outside

I would love to know what the Teliban punishment for drug dealing is
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Re: UK's lowest payout for civilian slaughter a mere £104.17

PostAuthor: Anthea » Fri Oct 08, 2021 7:37 pm

Deadly attack hits Kunduz

A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz has killed at least 50 people, officials say, in the deadliest assault since US forces left

Bodies were seen scattered inside the Said Abad mosque, used by the minority Shia Muslim community.

More than 100 people were injured in the blast in the northern city.

The Islamic State group said it was behind the attack. Sunni Muslim extremists have targeted Shias who they see as heretics.

IS-K, the Afghan regional affiliate of the ISIS group that is violently opposed to the governing Taliban, has carried out several bombings recently, largely in the east of the country.

Debris and blood stains inside a mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan. More than 300 people are believed to have been attending Friday prayers when the attack happened

An ISIS suicide bomber reportedly detonated an explosive vest as worshippers gathered inside the mosque for Friday prayers.

Zalmai Alokzai, a local businessman who rushed to a hospital to check whether doctors needed blood donations, described seeing chaotic scenes after the attack.

"Ambulances were going back to the incident scene to carry the dead," he told AFP news agency.

Local security officials were quoted by Tolo News as saying that more than 300 people were attending the prayers when the attack happened.

There are fears that the death toll will rise further.

The United Nations said Friday's bombing was a "third deadly attack this week apparently targeting a religious institution" and was part of a "disturbing pattern of violence".

The UN referred to Sunday's bombing near a mosque in the capital Kabul that left several people dead, and an assault on a madrassa (educational institution) in the eastern city of Khost on Wednesday.

A significant threat to the Taliban
Analysis by Secunder Kermani, Pakistan correspondent

While there has been no claim of responsibility so far, this attack bears all the hallmarks of IS-K, the group that targeted Kabul airport in a devastating bombing in August.

The group has repeatedly targeted Afghanistan's Shia minority in the past, with suicide bombers striking at mosques, sports clubs and schools. In recent weeks, ISIS has also stepped up a campaign of attacks against the Taliban.

ISIS targeted a funeral prayer service attended by a number of senior Taliban leaders in Kabul on Sunday, and there have been a spate of smaller attacks in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar, where ISIS previously had its stronghold.

Friday's attack, if it has been carried out by ISIS, would mark a grim expansion of their activities into the north of the country. The Taliban say they have arrested dozens of members of ISIS and are believed to have killed others suspected of links to the group, but publicly they have also played down the threat IS poses.

Many Afghans hoped that the Taliban's takeover would at least herald a more peaceful, if authoritarian, era. But ISIS represents a significant threat to the Taliban's promise of improved security.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan after foreign forces withdrew from the country at the end of August following a deal agreed with the US.

It came two decades after US forces had removed the militants from power in 2001.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58842793
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Re: Afghanistan: Deadly ISIS attack killed at least 50 at pr

PostAuthor: Anthea » Fri Oct 08, 2021 7:49 pm

Suicide bomber kills scores in Afghan mosque attack

    Death toll could be between 70 to 80: health officials
    Islamic State claims responsibility
    Third attack on a religious institution this week
    UN agency concerned about disturbing pattern of violence
A suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunduz province on Friday, killing scores of worshippers in the country's third attack this week on a religious institution.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack that state-run Bakhtar news agency said had killed 46 people and wounded 143. Two health officials told Reuters the death toll could be between 70 and 80.

Video footage showed bodies surrounded by debris inside the mosque, which is used by the minority Shi'ite Muslim community.

The blast, which the United Nations' mission in Afghanistan called part of a disturbing pattern of violence, followsothers in recent days at a mosque in Kabul and a religious school in the eastern province of Khost.

There have been similar attacks in recent weeks, some of which have also been claimed by Islamic State, whose fighters are Sunni Muslims.

The attacks underscore security challenges facing the Taliban, which took over the country in August and have since carried out operations against Islamic State cells in Kabul.

Reporting by Kabul and Islamabad newsrooms; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield and Alasdair Pal; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Andrew Heavens

Link to Article - Photo -Video:

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 021-10-08/
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Re: Afghanistan: Deadly ISIS attack killed at least 50 at pr

PostAuthor: Anthea » Sun Oct 10, 2021 1:04 am

US, Taliban hold talks

Humanitarian situation and the implementation of the 2020 US-Taliban agreement on agenda in talks held in Doha

Senior Taliban officials and United States representatives have discussed “opening a new page” in their countries’ relationship as they kicked off talks in Qatar, according to Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister.

The in-person meetings that began in Doha on Saturday are the first since US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August – ending a 20-year military presence – and the Taliban’s rise to power.

Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, said the focus of the Afghan delegation was humanitarian aid, as well the implementation of the agreement the Taliban signed with Washington last year which paved the way for the final US withdrawal.

The minister said the Afghan delegation had asked the US to lift its ban on the reserves of Afghanistan’s central bank. He added that the US would offer Afghan people vaccines against COVID-19.

The Taliban delegation will later meet representatives from the European Union.

A spokesperson of the US State Department said on Friday evening that the talks were not about recognising or legitimising the Taliban as Afghanistan’s leaders, but are a continuation of pragmatic talks on issues of national interest for the US.

He said the priority was the continued safe departure of Afghans, US citizens and other foreign nationals from Afghanistan, adding that another goal was to urge the Taliban to respect the rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, and form an inclusive government with broad support.

The State Department did not disclose who would travel to the Qatari capital from the US side.

Since the Taliban took power, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), has ramped up attacks on the group, as well as ethnic and religious minorities.

On Friday, an ISKP suicide bomber killed at least 46 minority Shia Muslims and wounded dozens in the deadliest attack since the US departure.

Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim said that the Taliban delegation is in Doha with the hopes of dealing with the hardships of governing, mounting security issues and economic woes.

“It appears that the one of the primary topics of discussion today was the distribution of humanitarian assistance,” she said.

Reporting from Doha, she said expectations of a breakthrough at the talks should be “tempered” because there is still quite a “chasm” between what the US wants and what the transitional government in Afghanistan wants.

Notably absent, Ghoneim added, is Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been the US’s point person in talks with the Taliban for years.

Ghoneim said: “The acting foreign minister says Afghanistan is looking to the international community to help solve its financial woes. You are looking at a country that is heavily dependent on international aid with an evolving humanitarian crisis on the ground.

“It is asking the US lifts economic restrictions, unfreeze its assets or lift restrictions at the Afghan national bank. It says it needs to be able to pay its employees and be able to provide services to the Afghan people,” she added.
Terrorist threat

The US-Taliban agreement of 2020, which was negotiated by the Trump administration, demanded the Taliban break ties with “terrorist” groups and guarantee Afghanistan would not again harbour ‘terrorists’ who could attack the US and its allies.

Ahead of the talks, the Taliban ruled out cooperation with the US to contain armed groups in Afghanistan and warned Washington against any so-called “over-the-horizon” attacks on Afghan territory from outside the country’s borders.

Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Associated Press there would be no cooperation with Washington on going after the increasingly active ISIL affiliate in the country.

“We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” Shaheen said, when asked whether the Taliban would work with the US to contain the ISKP.

The Biden administration has fielded questions and complaints about the slow pace of US-facilitated evacuations from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan since the US withdrawal.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/ ... withdrawal
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Re: Afghanistan: Deadly ISIS attack killed at least 50 at pr

PostAuthor: Anthea » Tue Oct 12, 2021 10:59 pm

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G20 leaders to avert economic catastrophe

Members of the G20 group of major economies have pledged to avert an economic catastrophe in Afghanistan

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country should not be allowed to "descend into chaos".

The virtual summit came as the UN urged world leaders to put billions of dollars into the Afghan economy.

US President Joe Biden stressed that aid should be provided via independent international organisations and not directly to the ruling Taliban.

But so far the money forthcoming has largely been counted in millions, just to provide emergency food and medicine.

Pledges include a promise by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to give €1bn ($1.15bn; £850m) to Afghanistan and to neighbouring countries taking in refugees.

Mrs Merkel, who did not stand for re-election last month and will step down as chancellor once a new government is formed, reaffirmed Germany's pledge of €600m.

"None of us has anything to gain if the entire monetary system in Afghanistan collapses or the financial system collapses," she told reporters.

"Then humanitarian aid can no longer be provided. Of course it's never easy to draw the line, so to speak, but to look on as 40 million people descend into chaos because there's no electricity supply or financial system - that cannot and must not be the goal of the international community."

The takeover of this country has caused a massive shock to an economy that was just about surviving.

Banks were closed for many days after the Taliban seized control, and while many have opened now, accessing cash is still difficult.

Many businesses shut down because their owners fled the country fearing for their lives. Many of those who had jobs haven't received salaries for months.

With no cash in the market, there has been a sharp rise in prices of day to day necessities including food. An already difficult situation created by war and drought has become much worse.

Women who had jobs and supported their families can no longer work and are now entirely dependent on handouts.

In Kabul, hundreds of people are still living in the open in tents with harsher winter months fast approaching.

Development aid given by foreign countries and agencies to Afghanistan, which helped to put cash into the economy, is all but frozen. This, on the ground, means that people who worked on development projects are out of jobs.

The global community faces a tough decision - how to reach the Afghan people, without recognising a Taliban government.

The chancellor said the Taliban must grant access to all UN bodies delivering aid, and stressed the need for the rights and girls and women to be respected.

Mrs Merkel's words were echoed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who was hosting the virtual summit.

He said G20 countries had to have contact with the Taliban but that did not mean recognition of the Islamist group's government.

Not all G20 leaders were present - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent representatives - but Mr Draghi said all participants had agreed on the need to provide more aid.

The leaders also discussed ways to prevent Afghanistan becoming a haven for militants such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the need to provide safe passage for foreign nationals and Afghans hoping to leave Afghanistan.

The summit came as Western and Afghan officials met in Qatar to discuss aid, terrorism concerns and evacuation of foreigners.

These were the first direct talks between the two sides since US troops left Afghanistan and the Taliban took power in August.

'Nothing to eat'

The recent international moves come as Afghanistan faces what aid workers fear is a severe humanitarian crisis.

Afghans have been describing their difficulties to the BBC.

"Nothing can be found, and even if it is available, it's too expensive and not affordable," one retired man said. "I was paid last year and am still waiting on my salary, I have nothing to eat with my children."

Another, a government employee in the northern town of Takhar, complained that officials were lying about the payment of salaries.

"I've received nothing," he said. "What type government is this?  If an employee doesn't go to work, there would be complaints and an investigation. But if he's not being paid, how can he survive?"

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned at a donor conference last month in Geneva that the poverty rate was soaring and public services were close to collapse.

Some 40% of the country's GDP - national output - comes from aid, according to the World Bank.

The US froze $10bn (£7.3bn) of the country's central bank assets after the Taliban captured (retook) Kabul on 15 August.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58887808
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Re: Afghanistan: Deadly ISIS attack killed at least 50 at pr

PostAuthor: Anthea » Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:48 pm

Suicide attack hits Kandahar mosque

The blast in southern Kandahar comes exactly a week after a similar explosion at a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz

More than 30 people were killed and dozens more injured after blasts tore through a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan city of Kandahar.

Pictures from inside the Bibi Fatima mosque show shattered windows and bodies lying on the ground, while other worshippers try to help.

The BBC has been told it was a suicide bombing.

A local reporter quoted by Reuters news agency said eyewitnesses described three suicide attackers.

One reportedly detonated their device at the door of the mosque, with two more setting off theirs inside the building.

"The firing started after we ended the prayers," a man named Ahmadullah told AFP news agency. "Then two, three explosions took place. We were thrown towards the window. Many people, martyred [killed] or wounded, were laying there."

Friday prayers are the busiest congregation of the week, and the building was full of worshippers at the time. At least 15 ambulances were at the scene afterwards, an AFP journalist said.

Taliban special forces have secured the site and have asked people to donate blood to help the victims, Reuters reports.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. But BBC Afghanistan correspondent Secunder Kermani says that IS-K, a local branch of the Islamic State Group, is expected to say it was behind the blasts.

Kandahar is Afghanistan's second largest city and the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban, so an attack in the city by IS-K - which is extremely hostile towards the Taliban - would be significant.

Last Friday, a suicide attack on another Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 50 people. IS-K said it carried out the attack, which was the deadliest since US forces left at the end of August.

IS-K, a Sunni Muslim group, is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant groups in Afghanistan.

It has targeted Afghan security forces, Afghan politicians and ministries, the Taliban, religious minorities including Shia Muslims and Sikhs, US and Nato forces, and international agencies, including aid organisations.

Sunni Muslim extremists have repeatedly targeted Shia Muslims in the past, whom they see as heretics.

About 10% of Afghanistan's population are thought to be Shia Muslims. Many are also part of the Hazara community, the country's third largest ethnic group, who have faced discrimination and persecution for years in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan.

Earlier this month, rights group Amnesty International accused the Taliban of murdering 13 Hazaras, something the group staunchly denied.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan after foreign forces withdrew from the country at the end of August following a deal agreed with the US.

It came two decades after US forces had removed the militants from power in 2001.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58925863
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Re: Afghanistan has one of world's largest lithium deposits

PostAuthor: Anthea » Tue Oct 19, 2021 2:47 pm

Now We Know Why US Wanted Afghanistan

Taliban now control one of the world's largest lithium deposits
freewestmedia.com

Taliban fighters not only took control of Kabul and the Afghan government on August 15. They also gained access to a gigantic deposit of minerals essential for renewable energies, possibly giving China an indisputable edge.

A Bloomberg New Energy Finance Limited report in 2020 highlighted China’s global dominance in the lithium-ion battery supply chain market, due to its grip on raw material mining and refining. In 2019, the US imported 80 percent of its rare earth minerals from China, while the EU states imported 98 percent of these materials from China.

China incidentally also shares a small border with Afghanistan called the Wakhan Corridor – 210km long. While the length of the border may appear insignificant, its location is crucial.

    Afghanistan is believed to have large deposits of gold, iron, copper, zinc, lithium and other rare earth metals, valued at over $1 trillion. “Afghanistan may hold 60 million metric tons of copper, 2,2 billion tons of iron ore, 1,4 million tons of rare earth elements (REEs) such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and veins of aluminium, gold, silver, zinc, mercury…” according to a 2020 report in The Diplomat.
But the Wakhan Corridor has been used by Islamic Uighur militants opposed to Chinese rule in Xinjiang. Chinese officials meeting with the newly installed Taliban are certainly aware of risk that radical Islamists pose: “We hope the Afghan Taliban will make a clean break with all terrorist organisations including ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement) and resolutely and effectively combat them to remove obstacles, play a positive role and create enabling conditions for security, stability, development and cooperation in the region,” said a high-ranking Chinese official.

Why is this important?

Global demand for lithium is projected to increase 40-fold by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency, along with rare earth elements, copper, cobalt, and other minerals also abundant in Afghanistan. And these minerals happen to be concentrated in only a small number of pockets around the world.

The Bolivian Andes may contain 70 percent of the planet’s lithium and many analysts argue that extracting lithium from brine as in Bolivia is more environmentally friendly than extracting it from rock.

Interestingly, metallic lithium and its complex hydrides are used as high-energy additives to rocket propellants, thermonuclear weapons or even as a solid fuel.

In 2010, the US Department of Defense called Afghanistan “Saudi Arabia of lithium” after American geologists then discovered that the country’s deposits amounted to at least a trillion dollars. Lithium is an essential ingredient to produce long-lasting batteries used in electric cars in particular. The battery of a Tesla Model S, for example, has about 12 kilograms of lithium in it.

Ten years later, these metals have not yet been extracted. The Taliban is unlikely to sell the metal to Americans, and the United States views China, the world’s largest lithium producer, as its main rival. And the US wants at least 40 percent of its cars to be electric by 2030. Thus the previous US-led government in Kabul had hoped that the promise of mineral wealth would entice President Trump into making a commitment to stay in the country.

“Afghanistan can be an appropriate place for US industry, and specifically the mining sector, to look at opportunities for investment,” Mohammad Humayon Qayoumi, the former chief adviser to Afghan president on infrastructure, human capital and technology, once opined.

But Tom Benson, a PhD in the Department of Geological Sciences at Stanford University, has focused his research on a 16,3 million-year-old super volcano on the Oregon-Nevada border which contains the largest lithium deposit in the United States. A number of other active volcanoes may hold the same deposits and there is a particularly “exciting” one, called Bogoslof, in Alaska. That may be why the US has lost interest in Afghanistan.

The Taliban are now sitting on a stockpile of one of the most strategic minerals in the world,” said Rob Schoonover, an ecology expert at the US think tank Center for Strategic Risks, in an interview with Quartz. “The question of whether they will be able to play this role will be important in the future.”

Could the Taliban benefit from this resource?

The exploitation of these rare earth metals could undoubtedly give the Taliban an economic advantage. Before the US retreat, the Afghan government had considered selling lucrative mining contracts to American companies. But such agreements were always discussed with the view of keeping the US military in the country and sharing the spoils. With the Taliban now leading the government, the option of involving American mining concerns is of course out of the question.

“As long as there are safer and more reliable sources (of metals, note) elsewhere, the use of Afghan minerals will remain low,” said Schoonover. However, the Taliban already have experience in extracting rare stones. By mining lapis lazuli, the Taliban earns at least $300 million per year.

Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president now in exile, thought that the abundance of mineral deposits were a curse for his country. Indeed, many economists are aware of the fact that such rich deposits in developing countries generally become a source of corruption and violence, to the detriment of the locals.

The Taliban will have to find a way to participate in the global lithium trade, much larger that their lapis lazuli trade. Access to Afghan central bank reserves has been denied to the Taliban by the US. The new Afghan leadership could also have trouble in convincing Chinese investors who once lost $3 billion in 2007 in a Taliban copper mine that could not be exploited due to persistent administration blunders.

However, good reason for China become involved in the extraction of lithium in Afghanistan may not only be the wealth it could generate, but also to avoid more ecological damage caused by lithium mining on its own soil and to limit the scope of Islamic infiltration. The extraction of this metal leads to water shortages and air pollution but the rewards could coax Taliban leaders into addressing the Uighur headache.

https://freewestmedia.com/2021/08/18/ta ... -deposits/
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Re: Afghanistan has one of world's largest lithium deposits

PostAuthor: Anthea » Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:23 pm

Just give us our money

    Afghanistan faces mass starvation, cash drought
    Official tells Europe to unlock Afghan funds
    'Freezing this money is unethical', finance ministry says
    Taliban will not respect gay rights, ministry spokesman says
Afghanistan's Taliban government is pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new migration crisis

Afghanistan parked billions of dollars in assets overseas with the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe, but that money has been frozen since the Islamist Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in August.

A spokesman for the finance ministry said the government would respect human rights, including the education of women, as he sought fresh funds on top of humanitarian aid that he said offered only "small relief".

Under Taliban rule from 1996-2001, women were largely shut out of paid employment and education and normally had to cover their faces and be accompanied by a male relative when they left home.

"The money belongs to the Afghan nation. Just give us our own money," ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal told Reuters. "Freezing this money is unethical and is against all international laws and values."

One top central bank official called on European countries including Germany to release their share of the reserves to avoid an economic collapse that could trigger mass migration towards Europe.

"The situation is desperate and the amount of cash is dwindling," Shah Mehrabi, a board member of the Afghan Central Bank, told Reuters. "There is enough right now ... to keep Afghanistan going until the end of the year.

"Europe is going to be affected most severely, if Afghanistan does not get access to this money," said Mehrabi.

"You will have a double whammy of not being able to find bread and not being able to afford it. People will be desperate. They are going to go to Europe," he said.

The call for assistance comes as Afghanistan faces a collapse of its fragile economy. The departure of U.S.-led forces and many international donors left the country without grants that financed three quarters of public spending.

The finance ministry said it had a daily tax take of roughly 400 million Afghanis ($4.4 million).

Although Western powers want to avert a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, they have refused to officially recognise the Taliban government.

Haqmal said Afghanistan would allow women an education, although not in the same classrooms as men.

Human rights, he said, would be respected but within the framework of Islamic law, which would not include gay rights.

"LGBT... That's against our Sharia law," he said.

Mehrabi hopes that while the United States has recently said it will not release its lion's share of roughly $9 billion of funds, European countries might.

He said Germany held half a billion dollars of Afghan money and that it and other European countries should release those funds.

Mehrabi said that Afghanistan needed $150 million each month to "prevent imminent crisis", keeping the local currency and prices stable, adding that any transfer could be monitored by an auditor.

    "If reserves remain frozen, Afghan importers will not be able to pay for their shipments, banks will start to collapse, food will be become scarce, grocery stores will be empty," Mehrabi said.
He said that about $431 million of central bank reserves were held with German lender Commerzbank, as well as a further roughly $94 million with Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank.

The Bank for International Settlements, an umbrella group for global central banks in Switzerland, holds a further approximately $660 million. All three declined to comment.

The Taliban took back power in Afghanistan in August after the United States pulled out its troops, almost 20 years after the Islamists were ousted by U.S.-led forces following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 021-10-29/

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Re: Afghanistan has one of world's largest lithium deposits

PostAuthor: Anthea » Mon Nov 08, 2021 5:31 pm

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Afghans facing hell on earth

Millions of Afghans have become dependent on food provided by organisations like the World Food Programme

This is a country that is starting to feel the very real fear of hunger.

The weather is turning from early autumn warmth to a sharp chill. Several areas are reporting drought, which adds to the sense of growing catastrophe.

At Maidan Wardak, 50 miles west of Kabul, a crowd of several hundred men had gathered in the hope of getting flour from an official distribution point. The flour was provided by the World Food Programme.

Taliban soldiers kept the crowd reasonably quiet, but people who were told they weren't eligible for a hand-out were angry and frightened.

"The winter is nearly here," said one old man. "I don't know how I'll get through it if I can't make bread."

The WFP is faced with having to raise its supplies to Afghanistan to help more than 22 million people.

If the weather is as bad as experts are predicting this winter, the expectation is that large numbers will be threatened with acute hunger and widespread famine.
Media caption,

"We're now looking at the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth"

I spoke to the executive director of the WFP, David Beasley, when he paid a visit to Kabul on Sunday.

His analysis of the situation was alarming.

"It is as bad as you possibly can imagine," said Mr Beasley. "In fact, we're now looking at the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth.

"Ninety-five percent of the people don't have enough food, and now we're looking at 23 million people marching towards starvation," he added. "The next six months are going to be catastrophic. It is going to be hell on Earth."

Before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August, there was confidence that the government of President Ashraf Ghani would be able to cope with the threat of a bad winter, given the help of the international community. That help evaporated when Mr Ghani's government collapsed.

Western countries have cut off their aid to the country, since they don't want to be seen to help a regime which bars girls from education and is in favour of reintroducing the full range of sharia punishments.

But will those countries just stand by now and allow millions of innocent people to face acute hunger?

Mr Beasley challenges the governments and the billionaires of the developed world to face up to the urgent need for help.

"To the world leaders, to the billionaires: imagine that this was your little girl or your little boy, or your grandchild about to starve to death," he said. "You would do everything you possibly could, and when there's $400 trillion worth of wealth on the earth today, shame on us."

"We let any child die from hunger. Shame on us. I don't care where that child is," he adds.

In the city of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, where in 2001 the Taliban destroyed the ancient and beautiful statues of the Buddha, carved into the cliffside in the 6th Century, we went to meet a widow, Fatema, and her seven children aged from three to 16.

Her husband died of stomach cancer not long ago.

They are wretchedly poor, and live in a cave close to the huge alcove in the cliff where one of the Buddhas used to stand.

Under the last government Fatema was able to get fairly regular supplies of flour and oil, but those stopped directly the Taliban took over.

Fatema used to make a little money weeding the soil for a nearby farmer. Now, though, the drought which has been afflicting this area means that fewer crops have survived, and there is no work for her.

"I'm frightened," she says. "I've got nothing to give the children. Soon I'll have to go out and beg."

Some parents have sold their daughters off to older men in marriage. Fatema has refused to do that. But unless the supply of food resumes, she and her children face actual starvation.

Now the snow is beginning to settle on the nearby mountain-tops and there is a new sharpness in the air.

The winter will very soon be here, and huge numbers of people like Fatema and her family will be on the very brink of catastrophe.

Link to Article - Videos:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-59202880

As America and it's partners are mostly to blame for the situation in Afghanistan, they should bear the responsibility of feeding these unfortunate people - why do I hear you say - well when the Taliban were previously in control of Afghanistan (before America illegally invaded the country) they had outlawed the growing and selling of poppies

Instead of growing drugs, under the Taliban regime - the Afghan farmers were growing edible crops - after the US invasion farmers reverted to growing cash crops (poppies) so now they have no food - the terrible draught is making everything much worse
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