Afghanistan Taliban Kabul News Highlights: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds discussion with his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton on Afghanistan situation

We condemn terrorist attack at Kabul Airport & express our condolences to relatives of casualties & to Afghan, US & British people for losses. We call on Taliban to uphold its undertakings to allow those wishing to depart Afghanistan: MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea,Turkey & Australia) (ANI)

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will provide a “morale boost” to extremists plotting attacks elsewhere, and could again give them a base to operate as they did in the run-up to 9/11, the head of Britain’s MI5 domestic spy service said on Friday.Ken McCallum, director general of the Security Service, best known by the initials for Military Intelligence Section 5, told the BBC the threat to Britain from terrorism was “a real and enduring thing”.

“We do face a consistent global struggle to defeat extremism and to guard against terrorism,” McCallum said in an interview on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Britain last faced major attacks in 2017, when a bomber
struck a concert in Manchester and knife-wielding men attacked two bridges in London. In the four years since, police and
intelligence services had disrupted 31 late-stage plots to attack Britain, McCallum said. Such militants would be inspired by the Taliban success. (Reuters)

The U.N. rights office on Friday said that the Taliban response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons and whips and causing the deaths of at least four protesters.

Protests and demonstrations, often led by women, pose a challenge to the new Islamist Taliban government as it seeks to consolidate control after seizing the capital Kabul nearly a month ago. “We have seen a reaction from the Taliban which has unfortunately been severe,” Ravina Shamdasani, U.N. rights spokesperson, told a briefing in Geneva, saying the United Nations had documented four protester deaths from gunfire. However, she said that some or all may have resulted from efforts to disperse protesters with firing.

She added that the United Nations had also received reports of house-to-house searches for those who participated in the protests. Journalists covering the protests have also been intimidated. “In one case, one journalist was reported to have been told,
as he was being kicked in the head, ‘You are lucky you haven’t been beheaded’,” Shamdasani said. “Really there has been lots of
intimidation of journalists simply trying to do their job.” (Reuters)  

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Friday expressed concern over human rights and the treatment of women in Afghanistan under its new Taliban rulers.

Albares was visiting Pakistan to ask for its help in securing the evacuation from Afghanistan of people who worked with Spanish forces there.’In these very moments there is concern, I cannot hide that about the situation of women and human rights and freedom of movement in Afghanistan,’ he told a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

‘I can assure you that women rights and human rights are always important for us in any region in the world,’ he said.Since the Taliban took over on Aug. 15, several street protests led by women have been broken up. (Reuters)

The BRICS countries have agreed not to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan until they receive assurances that it will comply with the prescripts of international law, South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor said on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a virtual summit of the five-nation grouping. The 13th BRICS summit was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro.

“We had a BRICS Summit (on Thursday) in which our president spoke, and we’ve adopted a statement, that is a BRICS statement, very clearly articulating the view that we want to see the restoration of democracy and enjoyment of fundamental human rights by the people of Afghanistan,” Minister of International Relations Pandor told the radio station 702.

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade. “Until we are assured that the government, once it’s in place, intends to observe the prescripts of international law, we wouldn’t proceed with any form of recognition,” Pandor said. (PTI)

The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has ‘heartened and emboldened’ extremists and could lead to the return of major ‘al-Qaida-style’ attack plots against the West, the head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency said on Friday. MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said the UK could face ‘more risk’ because of the withdrawal of NATO troops and the overthrow of the internationally backed Afghan government. (AP)

Afghanistan’s cricket authorities on Friday pleaded with other national teams not to shun it over the country’s new Taliban rulers’ suggestion that they might ban women from the sport.A Taliban representative said on Wednesday he did not think women would be allowed to play cricket because it was “not necessary” and it would be against Islam if women players faced a situation where their face and body might be “uncovered,” according to Australian broadcaster SBS.In resposne, Cricket Australia (CA) said it would scrap a test match against the Afghanistan men’s team, scheduled in Hobart in November, if the Taliban did not allow women to play the sport. (Reuters)

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Friday that the world community must engage constructively and provide humanitarian support to bring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. While chairing the 243rd Corps Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Gen Bajwa reiterated Pakistan’s firm commitment to peace, according to a statement by the Pakistan Army. (PTI)

Defence ministers of India & Australia discussed the situation in Afghanistan, the human rights situation & violations against children, women and minorities. They said-international community must do everything to implement UN resolution 2593: Sources (ANI)

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday urged the international community to adopt a “new positive approach” towards Afghanistan, warning that isolating the country will have “serious consequences” for the Afghan people, the region and the world at large. Qureshi made the comments during a joint press conference along with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, who arrived in Islamabad on Friday to discuss the latest Afghan situation. The two leaders held delegation-level talks in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ahead of their media interaction. “Isolating Afghanistan will have serious consequences and will not be helpful for the Afghan people, the region and the world at large,” said Qureshi, adding that the policy of intimidation, pressure and coercion did not work. (PTI)

After evacuating Afghanistan, the first of about 3,500 people – mostly women and children – have left Australia’s mandatory hotel quarantine. They are grateful for their escape but worry about those left behind, an aid worker said on Friday. International airlifts began on Aug. 14, when the Taliban arrived in Kabul. As part of that effort, Australia evacuated 4,100 citizens and Afghans with visas, although some dual citizens chose to go elsewhere. The first of the Afghan refugees are now beginning life in Australia. Assadullah Khurrami, a team leader at the Red Cross Humanitarian Settlement Program, said many carry deep scars. “We have seen a few children who have come with heavy trauma,” Khurrami said. “The evacuees are very grateful… but at the same time there is a lot of desperation, a lot of sadness in these families, in these individuals, because they still have loved ones and family members left in Afghanistan.” Khurrami – who fled Afghanistan in 2010 after working as an interpreter for the United Nations and allied forces in Afghanistan and came to Australia as a refugee – said the Western Australia community has offered aid. “There are a lot of people in here who have offered to provide accommodation, provide material goods, provide psychosocial support, provide welcome meals,” Khurrami said. (Reuters)

The Kremlin said on Friday Russia would not take part in any way in the Taliban government’s inauguration ceremony in Afghanistan. The speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament said earlier this week that Russia would be represented at the inauguration by ambassador-level officials, the RIA news agency reported. (Reuters)

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will provide a “morale boost” to extremists plotting attacks elsewhere, and could again give them a base to operate as they did in the run-up to 9/11, the head of Britain’s MI5 domestic spy service said on Friday. Ken McCallum, director general of the Security Service, best known by the initials for Military Intelligence Section 5, told the BBC the threat to Britain from terrorism was “a real and enduring thing”. “We do face a consistent global struggle to defeat extremism and to guard against terrorism,” McCallum said in an interview on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. (Reuters)

German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle says 10 of its correspondents in Afghanistan have left the country for Pakistan, after it was previously unable to get them out of Kabul by air. Deutsche Welle said in a statement Friday that the journalists, including its only female correspondent in Afghanistan, were able to leave on Thursday. It didn’t detail how exactly they got out of Afghanistan, but said that “due to a variety of reasons” an evacuation by air had not worked out. The group had waited unsuccessfully outside the Kabul airport for days. As a result, the broadcaster said, “all options were explored to get the group out of the country by another route.” Deutsche Welle director general Peter Limbourg thanked the German government, “without whom this evacuation would not have been possible,” and Qatar, which he said made an “enormous effort.” He said authorities in Islamabad had granted permission for the evacuation of the families on humanitarian grounds. (AP)

The U.N. rights office on Friday said that the Taliban response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons and whips that have resulted in at least four protester deaths. Ravina Shamdasani, U.N. rights spokesperson, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva that it had received reports of house-to-house searches for those who participated in the protests. Journalists have also faced intimidation and one of those who was beaten in custody was verbally threatened with a beheading, she added. (Reuters)

The United Nations development agency has said Afghanistan is teetering on the brink of “universal poverty” which could become a reality in the middle of next year unless urgent efforts are made to bolster local communities and their economies. It said the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has put 20 years of steady economic gains at risk. The UN Development Programme outlined four scenarios for Afghanistan following the Taliban’s August 15 assumption of power that predict the country’s GDP will decline between 3.6% and 13.2% in the next fiscal year starting in June 2022, depending on the intensity of the crisis and how much the world engages with the Taliban. That is in sharp contrast to the expected 4% growth in GDP before the fall of the government. (AP)

Pakistan has rejected reports that it was aiding the Taliban offensive in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, terming these as a “mischievous propaganda campaign”. The Taliban said on Monday they have seized Panjshir Valley, the last province not in their control after their blitz through Afghanistan last month. Some reports quoted a CENTCOM source saying that the Pakistani military was assisting the Taliban offensive in Panjshir with 27 helicopters full of Pakistani Special Forces backed up by drone strikes. The Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar in an overnight statement “categorically rejected these allegations as part of a mischievous propaganda campaign”. (PTI)

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan could lead to increased terrorism in South East Asia, Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Friday, warning that the war-ravaged country might become a safe haven for radical training of potential terrorists from the region, including from the city-state, and access to weapons. The minister said that this fear is because Afghanistan had, under the previous Taliban regime, provided a safe haven for potential terrorists from South East Asia, including from Singapore. “If you ask what would-be terrorists need or what helps would-be terrorists go out and do bad things: A safe haven, a place where they can train, a place where their minds can be hardened and radicalised even more,” the Channel News Asia quoted the Indian-origin minister as saying. “And previously, what happened with ISIS and Al-Qaeda was that there were such safe havens. Afghanistan provided a safe haven for training persons from South East Asia, including from Singapore; and it provided a safe haven for training, access to weapons, people become hardened because there’s training on fighting, and that makes it very dangerous,” the minister said. “Will that happen again? A lot of people fear that. I fear that that might happen again. So yes, I think the prospect of increased terrorism in the region, I think many security agencies and serious people are concerned about it,” Shanmugam said. (PTI)

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares arrived in Pakistan on Friday to ask for help in securing the evacuation from Afghanistan of people who worked with Spanish forces there.Spain says it has already evacuated more than 2,200 people from Afghanistan, most of them Afghans at risk of reprisals from the new Taliban rulers for having worked for Spanish forces, the Spanish embassy, European Union institutions or U.S. forces during 20 years of NATO presence.”I’ll try to find safe ways to leave for the Afghans who helped us, with the aim of not leaving anyone behind,” Albares said in a video posted on Twitter. – Reuters

Afghan staff of the United Nations are being increasingly subjected to harassment and intimidation since the Taliban came to power last month, the U.N. special envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons said on Thursday. Lyons told the Security Council that U.N. premises had largely been respected, although there were some exceptions. “We are … increasingly worried by the growing number of incidents of harassment and intimidation against our national staff. We will continue to do everything possible to support our staff and keep them from harm’s way,” Lyons said. (Reuters)

The first international commercial flight under Afghanistan’s new Taliban interim government departed Kabul on Thursday carrying more than 100 foreigners, including some U.S. citizens left behind after last month’s chaotic Western airlift. The flight marked an important step in the Taliban’s efforts to create a functioning state after they seized power last month, although there were growing reports of violence against women, foreigners and journalists at the hands of the Islamists. U.N. Special Envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council that nongovernmental organisations supporting women were being targeted, women’s freedoms had been restricted and the United Nations’ Afghan staff were being harassed and intimidated. (Reuters)

The UN special envoy for Afghanistan urged the world Thursday to unite to prevent the collapse of the Afghan economy, to address fears that the Taliban’s Islamic state may spread to its neighbours, and to fight terrorism. Deborah Lyons warned that the Taliban have already ‘visibly welcomed and sheltered’ al-Qaida members, and Islamic State extremists remain active ‘and could gain strength.’ She told the UN Security Council it will have to decide how to engage with many of the 33 members of the Taliban government who are on the UN sanctions blacklist, including the prime minister, the two deputy prime ministers and the foreign minister. AP

The Taliban-led interim government in Afghanistan does not reflect what the international community and the US hoped to see, the Biden administration has said, as it expressed concern over the lack of inclusivity and the track records and the backgrounds of some of the individuals involved in governing the country. The Taliban insurgents seized control of Afghanistan in mid-August, ousting the previous elected leadership which was backed by the West. The Taliban on Tuesday announced a caretaker Cabinet led by Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, with key roles being shared by high-profile members of the hardline Islamist group, including a specially designated global terrorist of the dreaded Haqqani Network as the interior minister. – PTI

Terming the situation in Afghanistan as ‘very fragile’, India has said it is important that the Taliban adheres to its commitment to not allow the use of the Afghan soil for terrorism, including from terror groups designated under Security Council resolution 1267 that lists Pakistan-based outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said at the UN Security Council Debate on Afghanistan Thursday that as Afghanistan’s neighbour, India was privileged to preside over the adoption of a substantial and forward-looking product of the Council during its presidency of the 15-nation UN body last month. – PTI

Hello! Here we are on the Day 3 of our ongoing coverage of the Afghanistan crisis. First, there was a takeover, then a long wait, then a promise of an inclusive govt, then some names and then… This is a brief timeline of what’s going on in Afghanistan. Since the names of Mohammad Hassan Akhund, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Abdul Ghani Baradar have been announced as part of the caretaker government, the world has not been introduced to the new Cabinet. Just names, no development in Kabul. Instead, we have men from Haqqani Network flogging women protesters and rounding up journalists in name of maintaining order in the city.  

US veterans groups hope that news that private evacuation flights are starting up again for Western citizens in Kabul means Afghans considered at risk for past work with Americans will soon be able to leave again as well. Republican and Democratic lawmakers, veterans groups and other American organizations and individuals have been pressing the Biden administration to do more to get out those vulnerable Afghans. 
 
They include thousands of Afghans who used to work with the US military, and are eligible for what are known as Special Immigrant Visas.
James Miervaldis, a spokesman with a veterans group, No One Left Behind working on behalf of those Afghans, called the news, “Awesome. We’ll start getting SIVs booked up.”
 
Miervaldis said he had yet to hear a commitment from officials to get Afghan allies on the flights out as well as citizens. But veterans had talked with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last Friday, and let him know that the organizations working to get Afghans out have committed $2 million for commercial air fare out of Afghanistan. (AP)

Afghanistan’s Kabul Airport is about 90% ready for operations but its re-opening is planned gradually, a Qatari official said, speaking on the tarmac on Thursday. Reopening the airport, a vital lifeline with both the outside world and across Afghanistan’s mountainous territory has been a high priority for the Taliban as they seek to restore order after their lightning seizure of Kabul on Aug. 15.

Kabul airport had been closed since the end of the massive U.S.-led airlift of its citizens, other Western nationals and Afghans who helped Western countries. There would be a flight on Friday, according to another Qatari official, special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani. 

He added that a flight out from Kabul on Thursday was regular flight and not an evacuation. Flights into Kabul will fly through Pakistan’s airspace for the time being because the majority of Afghanistan is still not covered by flight radar, the first official said. (Reuters)

Two Afghan journalists were beaten in police custody this week after covering a protest by women in Kabul where they were detained by the Taliban, their editor said. Zaki Daryabi, founder and editor-in-chief of the Etilaat Roz newspaper, shared images on social media of two male reporters, one with large, red welts across his lower back and legs and the other with similar marks on his shoulder and arm.

Both men’s faces were also bruised and cut in the pictures, which were verified by Reuters. When asked about the incident, an acting Taliban minister, who was named in his post when the new government was announced on Tuesday, said that any attack on journalists would be investigated. He declined to be identified.Daryabi said the beatings sent a chilling message to the media in Afghanistan, where an independent press, much of it funded by Western donors, has flourished in the last 20 years.

“Five colleagues were kept in a detention centre for more than 4 hours, and during these four hours two of our colleagues were beaten and tortured brutally,” he told Reuters on Thursday, the day after the incident.He said the injured reporters were taken to hospital and advised by doctors to take two weeks’ rest. The Taliban, who swept into the capital Kabul on Aug. 15 and now rule Afghanistan again after fighting a 20-year insurgency against foreign and Afghan forces, have vowed to allow the media to operate and respect people’s human rights. But incidents of abuse since they came to power have raised doubts among some Afghans. (Reuters) 

Afghanistan should not become a reason for problems in the neighbourhood. The role of UN Security Council was also referred to in context of Afghanistan: Sanjay Bhattacharyya, MEA Secretary (CPV & OIA) (ANI)

There is a very strong sense of consensus, which is supportive of our perspective in Afghanistan. There was a very strong condemnation of terrorism and that Afghan terrorism should not be used for terrorism and drug trafficking: MEA (ANI)

(Russian President) Putin noted that Afghanistan territory should not be used for drug trafficking or terrorism. He also mentioned about rise of certain radical movements, particularly the ISIS. There was a strong endorsement of Indian perspective in this context: MEA (ANI)

We follow with concern latest developments in Afghanistan: BRICS declaration (PTI)

We call for refraining from violence and settling situation by peaceful means: BRICS on Afghanistan (PTI)

We condemn in strongest terms terrorist attacks near Kabul airport that resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries: BRICS (PTI)

BRICS underscores priority of fighting terrorism, including preventing attempts by terror groups to use Afghan territory as terrorist sanctuary (PTI)

Afghan territory should not be used to carry out attacks against other countries as well as for drug trade: BRICS (PTI)

Two hundred foreigners in Afghanistan, Americans among them, are set to depart on charter flights from Kabul on Thursday after the new Taliban government agreed to their evacuation, a U.S. official said. The departures will be among the first international flights
to take off from Kabul airport since the Islamist militia seized the capital in mid-August, triggering the chaotic U.S.-led evacuation of 124,000 foreigners and at-risk Afghans. The flights come two days after the Taliban announced an interim government made up of mainly ethnic Pashtun men, including Islamist hardliners and some wanted by the United States on terrorism charges, dashing international hopes for a more moderate administration.

The Taliban were pressed to allow the departures by U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. official said, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official could not say whether the American civilians and other foreign nationals were among people stranded for days in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif because their private charters had not been allowed to depart.

A Qatari official, speaking on the Kabul airport tarmac on Thursday, said it was about 90% ready for operations but would reopen gradually. Reopening the airport has been a high priority for the Taliban following the collapse of the Western-backed government and their seizure of Kabul. It has been closed since the massive U.S.-led airlift ended and foreign forces finally withdrew.Qatari special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani described a flight out of Kabul on Thursday as a regular flight and not an evacuation.

There would also be a flight on Friday, he said.White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that as of Wednesday about 100 U.S. citizens were still in Afghanistan but that not all necessarily wanted to leave now. Some may have family in the country or other reasons for not departing yet, she said. (Reuters)

The foreign ministry under the erstwhile government of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has described the interim cabinet formed by the Taliban as “illegitimate” and “unjustifiable”, saying the decision goes against the will of the people of the country. It said the announcement of the “so-called Taliban cabinet” will result in undermining Afghanistan’s political, ethnic and social diversity and undermine the prospect of a comprehensive and lasting peace in the country.

All diplomatic missions of Afghanistan will continue their normal functions and duties based on the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, a statement issued in the name of the foreign ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan said. “The announcement by the Taliban of its so-called cabinet as illegitimate and unjustifiable,” the statement said, adding the decision to form the cabinet goes against the will of the “absolute majority” of the people of Afghanistan.

Three weeks after taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban on Tuesday unveiled a “caretaker” government. The Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15 after Ghani fled the country. The statement said the Afghan Constitution is the supreme law of the land and serves as the main source of legitimacy for upholding and advancing the national interest, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.
     
The statement was released here by the Afghan embassy. “On the contrary, the announcement of the so-called Taliban cabinet is comprised of individuals who not only are against the national security and stability of Afghanistan but who also pose a serious threat to the security and stability of the region and global community at large,” it said. There is no immediate reaction to the statement by Indian officials. (PTI)

The Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Thursday expressed hope that the formation of the new government in Afghanistan will put an end to four decades of conflict and uncertainty in the country. The Taliban swept across Afghanistan last month, seizing control of almost all key towns and cities in the backdrop of withdrawal of the US forces that began on May 1. It took over Kabul on August 15 and on Tuesday, unveiled a hardline interim government led by Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund. Hoping that the new dispensation in the worn-torn country is inclusive and broad based, the Hurriyat said it must bear in mind that Islam as a religion is unambiguous in advocating human equality and rights, economic fairness and religious tolerance as foundational values.  (PTI)