Tag: Afghanistan

  • ‘Pakistan should be very proud of last 42 years of helping Afghan refugees’: Wendy Sherman

    ‘Pakistan should be very proud of last 42 years of helping Afghan refugees’: Wendy Sherman

    United States (US) Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, during an exclusive interview on PTV News programme ‘Shahrah-e-Dastoor’, said, “Pakistan should be very proud of 42 years of helping Afghan refugees and the US, as well as the world, was grateful for that,” reports Dawn.

    “It is an extraordinary system,” she said, commending Pakistan for continuously helping Afghan refugees.

    Sherman was also asked about her comments about relations between the US and Pakistan during her visit to India.

    In response to the question about Sherman’s comments where she categorically said, “It’s for a very specific and narrow purpose, we don’t see ourselves building a broad relationship with Pakistan,” Sherman clarified that by “specific steps” she meant that the purpose of her trip to Pakistan was to predominantly focus on the aftermath of events in Afghanistan and review bilateral relationships between the US and Pakistan.

    “The US and Pakistan have had longstanding relations for decades,” she said.

    She went on to say that “this is a time of great change in [this] region because of the events in Afghanistan”, and the US and the world were reassessing what the future would look like.

    She added that the US was glad that Pakistan had called for an inclusive government in Afghanistan and progress on this front should be made so as to “create a better life for the people of Afghanistan”.

    “And we also agree that humanitarian assistance [to Afghanistan] should continue,” Sherman said, sharing details of measures taken by the US for this purpose.

  • At least 1 million Afghan children at risk of starvation, warns UNICEF director

    At least 1 million Afghan children at risk of starvation, warns UNICEF director

    At least one million children in Afghanistan will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year and could die without proper treatment, warned United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Please help us,” she said.

    According to a report by CNBC, Fore implored the international community and wealthy nations to help avert further suffering after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

    “Nearly 10 million girls and boys depend on humanitarian assistance just to survive,” she said at a UN ministerial-level meeting on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan.

    Fore also emphasised UNICEF’s ability to operate in Afghanistan. She said, “UNICEF has been on the ground in Afghanistan for more than 70 years. We know what needs to be done for children. And we can get it done.”

    According to Fore, during the last week of August, UNICEF provided 4,000 severely malnourished children under five with life-saving therapeutic treatment.

    “Please help us. There has never been a more urgent time to stand with the children of Afghanistan and the people who serve them,” she said.

  • ‘World must maintain contact with interim Taliban government in Afghanistan’: Moeed Yusuf tells Wendy Sherman

    ‘World must maintain contact with interim Taliban government in Afghanistan’: Moeed Yusuf tells Wendy Sherman

    National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf, in a meeting with United States (US) Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Thursday, stressed that the world “must maintain contact” with the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan, reports Radio Pakistan.

    During the meeting, both sides expressed the desire to promote bilateral relations between the US and Pakistan.

    Yusuf and Sherman discussed economic cooperation and the regional security situation.

    According to reports, the US was appreciative of Pakistan’s efforts for the evacuation of foreigners from Afghanistan and the help it has extended to the Afghan refugees.

    Moeed Yusuf blatantly said that Indian human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) also pose a threat to regional peace.

    Sherman took to Twitter and tweeted about her meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

    “I met today with Pakistani Foreign Minister @SMQureshiPTI to discuss Afghanistan’s future and the important and long-standing U.S.-Pakistan relationship,” tweeted Sherman.

    US Deputy Secretary of State and her seven-member team arrived in Islamabad on Thursday for a two-day visit to the country.

  • ‘Consider humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people’: PM Khan tells Bill Gates

    ‘Consider humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people’: PM Khan tells Bill Gates

    In a telephonic conversation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates to consider providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, stated Radio Pakistan.

    The two leaders shared their concerns regarding the health system in Afghanistan — the only other country in the world that is polio-endemic along with Pakistan, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

    Gates also praised Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate polio and at the same time, pledged his continued support against the disease so that no child in Pakistan is paralysed due to it in the future.

    PM Imran Khan also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to end polio in Pakistan.

    PM Khan had previously talked to Bill Gates in June, where the prior encouraged Microsoft to expand its footprint in Pakistan and set up a Microsoft incubation lab in the country.

  • Musicians flee Afghanistan fearing Taliban

    Musicians flee Afghanistan fearing Taliban

    More than 100 music students and teachers fled Afghanistan on Sunday from Kabul, fearing a crackdown on music by Taliban, New York Times reported.

    The musicians were affiliated with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music that became a target of the Taliban in part for its efforts to promote the education of girls. Ahmad Naser Sarmast, who opened the school in 2010, said that it’s a big step and a huge achievement that Afghan musicians have been rescued from the cruelty of Taliban. He now lives in Australia.

    Sarmast said that the group comprises of both women and girls and they are planning to fly to Portugal with the support of the government there.

    Supporters of the school, global network of artists, philanthropists, politicians, and educators, plan to continue to work to get the remaining musicians out of Afghanistan.

    “The mission is not complete,” said Sarmast. “It just began,” he added.

    Since August when the Taliban consolidated their control of the country, a large number of Afghan musicians have fled the country.

  • ‘Chance at a normal life’: Fawad supports TTP integration

    ‘Chance at a normal life’: Fawad supports TTP integration

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry is supporting ‘a normal life’ for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), those of whom wish to pledged loyalty to the state, reports Geo.

    Fawad said, “The people who could not fulfill their pledge of allegiance to Pakistan want to return to fulfill this pledge.”

    According to the minister, those people who wish to follow the constitution should be given a chance, adding that the government seeks to move forward with the conditions laid down by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    Earlier, PM Khan called for the disarmament of the TTP by saying, “We can forgive them and they can become normal citizens.”

    The information minister added that in Balochistan more than 3000 people have come back to a normal life, the ones who had ‘fallen prey to India’s conspiracies.’

    The TTP said that their leaders are engaged in “secret talks” and have asked all fighters to observe a ceasefire till October 20.

  • US official calls for Pakistan action against militants ‘without distinction’

    US official calls for Pakistan action against militants ‘without distinction’

    US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will meet with Pakistani officials during her October 7-8 visit.

    Ahead of her visit, Sherman told reporters, “We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and we expect sustained action against all militant and terrorist groups without distinction.”

    “Both of our countries have suffered terribly from the scourge of terrorism and we look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats,” she said.

    In an important development prior to her visit, Prime Minister Imran Khan told Turkey’s TRT World television, “Some of the Pakistani Taliban groups actually want to talk to our government for some peace, for some reconciliation.”

    “If the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) lay down their arms, we can forgive them and they can become normal citizens,” said PM Khan.

    “I repeat I do not believe in military solutions. I am anti-military solutions, so I always believe that being a politician, political dialogue is the way ahead, which I always believed was the case in Afghanistan,” added the premier.

  • ‘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.

  • ‘No perfume, no attractive clothes, boots shouldn’t make sound’: Taliban sets conditions for Afghan women

    ‘No perfume, no attractive clothes, boots shouldn’t make sound’: Taliban sets conditions for Afghan women

    “[There are] some special conditions that exist only for women. One is that the colour of their dress should not be very attractive. So that it does not attract people’s attention,” said a member of the Taliban on Afghanistan’s TOLO News, as per the subtitles of a video being circulated on social media.

    The Taliban member further says, “The second condition for women is that she should not smell good and should not use perfume when she leaves her home.”

    “The third condition is she should not wear long boots and that the boots should not make a sound,” read the subtitles.

    “Wearing long boots that make sound seems like an announcement,” he said.

    “I have said this every time, everywhere, the sound that a boot makes, what does that mean?”

    “The sound is an announcement for young men by the women. Hey young men, wake up, we just left the house with make-up. You are sleeping and are not looking at us,” he added.

    “It is a kind of announcements and these sort of boots are made to incite young men towards bad actions by women.”