Tag: Afghan

  • Afghans forced to sell kidneys as struggle to feed children continues

    Afghans forced to sell kidneys as struggle to feed children continues

    In the western city of Herat, a nearby area is known as “one kidney village” as Afghans are willing to sacrifice an organ to save and feed their families. 

    The country’s financial situation has gotten worse after the Taliban’s takeover which has left tens of thousands of Afghans, jobless, debt-ridden, and struggling.

    Nooruddin, 32 told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he quit his factory job when his salary was slashed to $30 (Rs5,323) but after he was unable to find another one, in desperation, he sold a kidney as a short term fix. 

    He said he regrets it now as he can no longer work. “I’m in pain and I cannot lift anything heavy”, he added. Nooruddin was among eight people AFP spoke to who had sold a kidney— some for as little as $1,500 (Rs266,175).

    Shakila is a mother of two and at the age of 19, sold her kidney for $1,500 to settle the family’s debt. AFP reported that a mother-of-three Aziza was waiting for her opportunity.

    Aziza said, “If I don’t sell my kidney, I will be forced to sell my one-year-old daughter.” 

    The practice of selling an organ is unregulated in Afghanistan. A former top Afghan surgeon stated, “There is no law to control how the organs can be donated or sold, but the consent of the donor is necessary.” He added that they never investigate how or where the patient or donor comes from because it’s not their job.

    The country is in dire need of foreign aid. Last month, United States (US) President Joe Biden signed an executive order to release Afghan assets worth $7 billion but Biden split the money between humanitarian aid for war-torn Afghanistan and a fund for September 11 attacks victims.

     

  • Biden faces backlash for keeping $3.5 billion for 9/11 victims from Afghan assets

    United States (US) President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to release and split the Afghan assets worth $7 billion between humanitarian aid for war-torn Afghanistan and a fund for September 11 attacks victims, reports Associated Press (AP).

    In a statement, Washington said, “The order is designed to provide a path for the funds to reach the people of Afghanistan while keeping them out of the hands of the Taliban and malicious actors.”

    Half of the frozen assets worth $3.5 billion would go to trust funds for distribution through humanitarian groups for Afghan relief and basic needs. However, the other $3.5 billion would stay in the US and remain “subject to ongoing litigation by US victims of terrorism” as still, 9/11 victims’ relatives have ongoing lawsuits.

    Moreover, the Biden administration states that the procedure for the release of Afghan assets will take months.

    Afghanistan has more than $9 billion in reserves, including just over $7 billion in reserves held in the US. The rest is largely in Germany, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Switzerland. The amount is largely derived from donations by the US and other nations to Afghanistan. 

    In response, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem lashed out at the US. He tweeted, “The theft and seizure of money frozen by the United States of the Afghan people represent the lowest level of the human and moral decay of a country and a nation.”

    Twitterati criticised Biden’s decision and urged the US to release the funds to prevent famine in Afghanistan. Presently, the country is facing a major humanitarian crisis.

    It is pertinent to mention that Afghanistan’s economy is on the verge of collapse. The United Nations (UN) has said 96 per cent of Afghans could fall into poverty in 2022.

  • ‘Anyone who understood Afghanistan’s history would never have done what Americans did’: PM Khan

    ‘Anyone who understood Afghanistan’s history would never have done what Americans did’: PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has spoken about the invasion in Afghanistan by the United States (US) for the “war on terror”, which continued for 20 years, terming it as a failure.

    In an interview with the Director of the Advisory Committee of China Institute of Fudan University Dr Eric Li, PM Khan said, “Anyone who understood the history of Afghanistan would never have done what the Americans did.” He argued that after the killing of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, American forces didn’t know what they were doing there.

    “They [Americans] were never clear on what they were trying to achieve in Afghanistan. Was it nation-building; was it democracy; was it liberating the Afghan women? They had no clear aims,” the premier posed several questions during his interview.

    Since the ousting of the Ashraf Ghani-led government, the prime minister has been supporting to unfreeze the Taliban-run country’s assets.

    He said joining the “war on terror” and the corruption of the past rulers badly affected Pakistan. Furthermore, he highlighted that the country lost about 80,000 people and over $100 billion in the war.

    Talking about the recent treatment of Indian Muslims in India, the prime minister criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for marginalisation of minorities, including Muslims, and termed it a “tragedy” for the Indian nation.

  • National Geographic’s green-eyed ‘Afghan Girl’ evacuated to Italy

    National Geographic magazine’s famed green-eyed girl, Sharbat Gula, has been evacuated to Italy, the country’s Prime Minister (PM) Mario Draghi’s office announced on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

    The office said it had responded to pleas from non-profit organisations working in the war-torn country to help her leave and “travel to Italy as part of the wider evacuation programme in place for Afghan citizens and the government’s plan for their reception and integration”.

    Gula’s famous picture was taken by a United States (US) photographer Steve McCurry in a Pakistan camp in 1984, which was the front cover of the National Geographic magazine. She said she first arrived in Pakistan as an orphan, some four or five years after the Soviet invasion in 1979.

    Pakistan arrested Gula for forging a national identity card and she was deported back to Afghanistan in 2016. At that time, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani welcomed her.

    In September, Rome said it had evacuated almost 5,000 Afghans after the Taliban seized power in August.

  • ‘Govt and TTP agree on complete ceasefire’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘Govt and TTP agree on complete ceasefire’: Fawad Chaudhry

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced on Monday that a complete ceasefire had been reached between the government and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to state-run Pakistan Television (PTV).

    The minister said that talks between the government and the TTP were underway in line with the Constitution and that the ceasefire would be extended keeping in view the progress of the talks.

    “The state’s sovereignty, national security, peace in relevant areas, and social and economic stability will be considered during the talks,” said Fawad.

    Fawad added that the interim Afghan government had facilitated the negotiations and progress on the restoration of “complete peace” in these areas of the country was a positive development.

  • ‘We are friends of Afghanistan, not spokesmen for any particular group’: PPP’s Sherry Rehman lashes out at PM Khan

    ‘We are friends of Afghanistan, not spokesmen for any particular group’: PPP’s Sherry Rehman lashes out at PM Khan

    Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) leader Senator Sherry Rehman has said that Pakistan faces a serious threat after the hurried pullout of United States (US) forces from Afghanistan.

    Sherry Rehman, lashing out at Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, said, “We are friends of Afghanistan, not spokesmen for any particular group. We should not make decisions that hurt the country. The PM mentions sacrifice. Yes, that is correct, but why make fun of that sacrifice by saying we will give amnesty to outfits like Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that have martyred not just our twice elected PM Benazir Bhutto but also the children of Army Public School and many of our brave soldiers.”

    She said that national unity was missing and said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was busy in their war narrative. The government is ignoring the Constitution and the parliament.

    “If we even try to help Pakistan, we are told our leaders are corrupt. How is that helping Pakistan? Our president Asif Ali Zardari also wrote op-eds in The Washington Post. He defended the whole of Pakistan, not just his party. Read the op-eds and see how parliament was conducted to unite in moments of danger.”

    “You need to pay attention to what’s going on in the Pakistan Senate, not just the US Senate. The PM of this country needs to respect the sanctity of the parliament and come here and discuss the situation instead of playing the blame game and disrupting unity. Is this how you defend the country?” she questioned.

    “While it is important to engage with all countries with self-respect, particularly angry superpowers like the US that itself is in turmoil over its 20 years occupation of Afghanistan, what are we doing to empower our own selves? Instead of trying to unite the parliament around a bipartisan foreign policy, the parliament has never met on the Afghan transition, the humanitarian crisis there, and the response. All over the world, joint meetings are being held in Afghanistan but Pakistan’s government is in a state of denial over dealing with the parliament”, said Senator Sherry Rehman.

  • ‘Anti-Pakistan bill moved in US Senate to build pressure on President Biden’: Shah Mahmood

    Reacting to the proposed bill moved in the United States (US) Senate, evaluating Pakistan’s alleged role in Afghanistan before and after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the Republicans submitted the bill to build pressure on US President Joe Biden.

    Qureshi, while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, said, “The anti-Biden administration in Congress views it [Afghanistan debacle] as a major opportunity to mount pressure on Biden. Pakistan cooperated with the US at every step.”

    “Besides India, some forces want to target and destabilise Pakistan and put the whole burden of the Afghan situation on Pakistan.”

    He said that in view of new realities, it is time to build new strategies. He also said that in the near future, a high-profile US personality will visit Pakistan.

    American senators have proposed a bill in the US Senate, demanding a deeper investigation into the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan and sanctions on the group as well as those who assisted them in driving out the Ashraf Ghani-led regime.

  • Taliban acknowledge PM Khan’s efforts for peace in Afghanistan

    Taliban acknowledge PM Khan’s efforts for peace in Afghanistan

    Taliban spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Information and Culture Zabiullah Mujahid praised Prime Minister Imran Khan and appreciated his efforts to promote peace in the war-torn country.

    Speaking to Afghan media in Kabul, Mujahid said countries were criticising the Taliban government for human rights violations without recognising it.

    “We think this is a unilateral point of view,” he stressed.

    On the other hand, Taliban expanded their interim cabinet but failed to appoint any women, despite the international outcry that followed their initial presentation of an all-male cabinet.

    The international community had categorically stated that recognition of the Taliban government would not be possible until it gives women and minorities their due rights.

    Zabihullah Mujahid defended the latest additions to the cabinet, saying it included members of ethnic minorities, such as Hazaras, and that women might be added later.

    Mujahid was also asked about the recent restrictions imposed on girls and women, including a decision not to allow girls in grades six to 12 to return to classrooms for the time being.

    He suggested this was a temporary decision, and that “soon it will be announced when they can go to school”. He said plans were being made to allow their return but did not elaborate.

  • US refuses to acknowledge claim that Pakistan involved in Taliban attack on Kabul

     The United States (US) State Department distances itself from former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s claim that 10-15,000 Pakistanis had joined the Taliban attack on Kabul, reported Dawn.

    US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, when asked to comment on Ghani’s claim, said, “I’m just not in a position to comment on that, to confirm those reports.”

    “If we have anything more, we’ll provide it,” said Price when asked if he would comment on another claim that the Taliban forces now in Kabul include foreign troops.

    “We’re enormously grateful to the huge network of countries that have provided critical assistance for our evacuation efforts,” said Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

    Praising the countries, she named Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE among the countries that supported the evacuation. She also named America’s key European allies – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and others – “who have helped transit Americans and others to safety”.

    “Our close coordination with our allies and partners remains critical both on evacuation and relocation, but also as we begin to scope our ongoing relationship with the Afghan people and with the Taliban,” she said.

  • Fully armed Taliban stand by Afghan anchor during political debate

    Fully armed Taliban stand by Afghan anchor during political debate

    A video went viral on Twitter a few days ago when Mirwais Haqdost, Afghanistan Television (TV) presenter, was seen conducting a debate in the presence of fully armed Taliban soldiers standing behind him.

    A total of eight soldiers were present on the show, fully armed when the TV host presented his set of news.

    Talking to an Afghan television later, the presenter said, ” When the program was broadcast, some threatened me by saying you mocked Mujahiddin.”

    “Although I gave the questions and they wrote the answers on paper before the program,” added Haqdost.

    Twitter reacted to the video questioning the freedom that the Taliban promised saying that people could live and work in Afghanistan without any fear and threats.

    A journalist said, “Free press. Taliban’s version of it.”

    Journalist Suzanne Kianpour tweeted, ” During which he’s asking the Afghan people to work together with the ‘Islamic Emirate’… flanked by armed Taliban soldiers #Afghanistan.”

    Anti-Modi activist and feminist, Kavita Krishnan tweeted, “The world over, parody is dead because reality has killed it. Do not be afraid, the anchor tells viewers as armed Taliban soldiers stand behind him, careful to show themselves on camera to the viewers.”

    She further added,”This scene would make for a brilliant semiotics class.”