Taliban announces government as it faces growing crises and isolation - Financial Times

The Taliban formed its first caretaker government in Afghanistan since it swept to power last month, featuring several members that have been sanctioned by the UN for terrorism and an interior minister on the FBI’s most wanted list.

Mohammad Hassan Akhund, a close adviser to the late Taliban founder Mohammed Omar, will be acting prime minister, said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Political chief Abdul Ghani Baradar, who led the group’s negotiations with the US, has been made deputy.

Mohammad Yaqoob, Taliban founder Omar’s son, has been appointed acting defence minister. Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior leader of the Haqqani network who is wanted by the FBI for “cross-border attacks against the United States” and has a $5m bounty on his head, will be interior minister.

The Taliban revealed the line-up as it grapples with a growing humanitarian and economic crisis following the fall of Kabul. The appointments highlight the strong role in the movement of the Haqqani network, a group the US has designated a foreign terrorist organisation.

The new regime is under increasing pressure to provide government services after weeks of uncertainty and a chaotic mass evacuation of Afghans who worked with the US and its international allies.

Analysts said that the Taliban’s new government was dominated by its core leadership with few representatives from Afghanistan’s different ethnic groups or women.

“Definitely this is not an inclusive government at all for a country as diverse as Afghanistan. It has excluded women and many other ethnic communities,” said Ali Yawar Adili, country director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network. “It makes the engagement with the Taliban more complicated for the international community, because some of them are on the sanctions list, including the interior minister.”

Mohammad Hassan Akhund, middle, has been named Kabul’s acting prime minister © Reuters

The Taliban waited to announce the government until declaring victory over the resistance in Panjshir, Afghanistan’s last opposition stronghold, led by Ahmad Massoud, son of a legendary anti-Taliban fighter. Massoud has denied that the Taliban control the region and has vowed to continue the fight.

Former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai and veteran politician Abdullah Abdullah did not secure roles in the new government, despite holding extensive talks with the Taliban leadership.

The formation of the new government, which took place without ceremony, comes after the Taliban broke up a demonstration in Kabul against Pakistan’s support for the regime, detaining journalists filming the march before releasing them.

The Taliban have suggested in recent press conferences that this is a caretaker government and that efforts would be made in the future to include political opponents.

The US and regional powers have made an inclusive government one of their preconditions for recognising the Taliban government, but analysts said it was unlikely the Islamists would ever meet that criteria.

“In our region of the world, every time someone says caretaker or interim it never necessarily means a temporary set-up,” said Obaidullah Baheer, a lecturer at the American University in Kabul. “They wouldn’t bring top-brass leadership in a temporary role.”

He added: “The Taliban on the face of this will use this as an excuse to explain why the government isn’t inclusive. I don’t think the international community is going to buy it.”

The Taliban’s “indifference to international recognition is alarming”, Baheer said.

Additional reporting by Fazelminallah Qazizai in Kabul

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzljYzBlMmNhLTE5YWItNDYxNC1hMTY4LTc2ZjFlNGMxODc1YtIBAA?oc=5

2021-09-07 17:57:16Z
52781863444126

Afghanistan: Taliban fire warning shots at protest in Kabul - BBC News

The Taliban have fired warning shots to disperse the crowd at a large protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Video footage from the scene shows people running to safety, while heavy gunfire can be heard in the background.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Tuesday to denounce Taliban rule and demand women's rights.

Protesters also chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, as many believe neighbouring Pakistan supports the Taliban, which the country denies.

A video sent to the BBC shows Taliban fighters firing their guns into the air - a move the group banned last week after several people were reported killed after celebratory aerial fire.

Guards at a nearby bank opened its basement car park to dozens of women who sheltered from the gunfire for about 20 minutes, one of the protesters told the BBC.

• FEATURE: Wanting clout, the Taliban embrace social media
• ANALYSIS: How much has the Afghanistan war cost?
• ON THE GROUND: Life under Taliban: Where is your male escort?

Some journalists, including the BBC's team, were prevented from filming at the rally. Afghanistan's Tolo news agency reported that its cameraman was arrested and detained by the Taliban for nearly three hours.

A former government official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC that Taliban members were taking close-up photos of leading protesters, possibly to help identify them later.

Women have been protesting for the past week, but on Tuesday men also joined their calls for equality and safety. Many observers had commented that there were few men at the previous women-led rallies.

The protesters were heard chanting "long live the resistance" and "death to Pakistan" as they marched.

"The Islamic government is shooting at our poor people," one woman at the protest told Reuters news agency.

Another protester, Sarah Fahim, told AFP news agency: "Afghan women want their country to be free. They want their country to be rebuilt. We are tired... We want that all our people have normal lives. How long shall we live in this situation?"

The demonstrations come one day after Ahmad Massoud, the leader of anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, called for a "national uprising" by civilians against the militants.

Many protesters showed support for the resistance forces, who say they are still fighting off the Taliban in Panjshir.

The Taliban on Monday claimed victory in the province - the final pocket of territory which has remained outside their rule.

Anger directed at Taliban and Pakistan

By Secunder Kermani, BBC Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent in Kabul

The mood amongst the protesters was one of real anger, directed predominantly at Pakistan but also against the Taliban.

Large numbers of young women were among the crowd. One, chanting "death to Pakistan", alleged the country's air force had bombed Panjshir, the province where resistance forces have been holding out against the Taliban.

Pakistan has dismissed those claims, but is widely seen as having long supported the Taliban's insurgency. Many in Afghanistan have long deeply resented what they see as Pakistani interference - a feeling exacerbated recently by the visit to Kabul of the head of Pakistan's intelligence services, the ISI.

Taliban members in police vehicles initially drove alongside the protesters, not preventing them from demonstrating. However, they later fired volleys of bullets into the air to disperse the crowd, and stopped us and other journalists from filming further.

These protests are the biggest challenge to the Taliban's authority we have seen so far in Kabul, and include bold and direct criticism of the group. One young woman said, "We demand freedom of speech, democracy… I'm not afraid of death."

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLWFzaWEtNTg0NzI5NzjSATJodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY28udWsvbmV3cy93b3JsZC1hc2lhLTU4NDcyOTc4LmFtcA?oc=5

2021-09-07 14:04:47Z
52781866023395

Pro-Bolsonaro rallies put Brazil on edge - Financial Times

Tens of thousands of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters gathered in the country’s biggest cities for demonstrations on Tuesday aimed at galvanising support for the populist leader.

The rallies, which took place in cities including the capital, Brasília, and financial centre São Paulo, come as Bolsonaro has fired up his base in recent months with an aggressive campaign against several Supreme Court justices, whom he accuses of overstepping their authority.

The former army captain has also heaped doubt on Brazil’s electronic voting system, saying it is prone to fraud, and threatened to cancel elections next year if the system is not amended to include printed paper ballot receipts.

The tense political atmosphere has stoked fears that the rallies may descend into violence or that demonstrators may storm the Supreme Court in an echo of the assault on the US Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump this year.

On Sunday, federal police arrested a supporter of the president who made death threats against Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice. Moraes drew Bolsonaro’s ire after he ordered the president to be investigated as part of an inquiry into “fake news”.

Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro in Brasília © Eraldo Peres/AP

Police have also expanded the security detail for Luís Roberto Barroso, another justice who has repeatedly clashed with Bolsonaro over the president’s unfounded claims of voter fraud.

Clad in the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag, thousands of his most devoted supporters descended on Brasília on Monday, filling up hotels across the city. Parked along the inland capital’s broad boulevards were scores of double-decker buses, which ferried in supporters from remote towns and cities hundreds of kilometres away.

Bolsonaro surveyed the rallies in Brasília from a helicopter on Tuesday morning, and later addressed the crowd from the top of a truck. He has made liberdade — liberty — the theme of the day. His supporters say the Supreme Court is encroaching on their personal freedoms and have adopted the slogan: “It is the people who are supreme.”

“Our country cannot remain hostage to one or two people, no matter where they are,” Bolsonaro said in a video posted from the presidential palace on Tuesday morning. “These one or two people either fall into line or they will simply be ignored in public life.

“There is only one rule of the game: respect our constitution, freedom of opinion,” he added.

Bolsonaro supporters have also accused the supreme court of unjustly ordering the arrest of rightwing figures for alleged antidemocratic declarations. 

A former Donald Trump aide, Jason Miller, was quizzed at Brasília airport on Tuesday after speaking at a conservative political conference in the capital over the weekend where Bolsonaro also appeared. 

Miller, chief executive of alternative media platform Gettr, which sponsored the event, said in a statement on Twitter that he and his party were questioned for three hours. “We were not accused of any wrongdoing, and told only that they ‘wanted to talk’,” he said. “We informed them that we had nothing to say and were eventually released to fly back to the United States”. 

Bolsonaro arrives at the presidential palace for a flag-raising ceremony on Brazil’s Independence Day on Tuesday © AP

Despite the crowds on Tuesday, which is the national Independence Day holiday in Brazil, Bolsonaro’s popularity has been declining sharply, as his anti-democratic rhetoric has frightened many one-time supporters, notably those in the business community.

Opinion polls by the Atlas Institute on Monday showed the rejection rate for Bolsonaro stands at a record high of 61 per cent, while his approval rate is 24 per cent. Recent polling has also indicated that if elections scheduled for next October were held now, the rightwing leader would lose by a wide margin to his main political rival, leftwing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

On São Paulo’s Faria Lima avenue, Brazil’s version of Wall Street, executives quietly admit that the political turbulence is hurting investor sentiment and damping appetite to invest in Latin America’s largest economy.

Political analysts say Bolsonaro intends to use the rallies to unite his base and show that he still has strong political support.

Alcio Burke, a former truck driver from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, said he drove 2,000km to Brasília to show support for the president.

“They need to let him do his job. The STF [Supreme Court] is surpassing the limits of its responsibilities. They need to act within the four lines of the constitution,” he added.

Eliezer do Rosa Lorentz, who said he travelled 12 hours to reach São Paulo from the central-western agricultural state of Mato Grosso do Sul, said he wanted to see a new congress and the removal of supreme court judges.

“They don’t represent us in any way,” he added, as demonstrators filled the city’s main thoroughfare.

Silvio Salvitti, a small-business owner from São Paulo who carried a banner calling for military intervention at the Supreme Court, said the president had managed the pandemic well in spite of state governors working against him. “Bolsonaro may not be the best person for the job, but he definitely has the best intentions,” he said.

“We don’t want to end up like Venezuela. Our liberty is at stake,” said Edna Figueiredo from Brasília. “The Supreme Court does not work for the people, they create laws against the people.”

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzFmMjc3MzI2LTBjMzgtNGYzMS04MzU1LTRhMTY2MWEwMmRhNtIBAA?oc=5

2021-09-07 17:36:42Z
52781862071680

Anthony 'AJ' Elfalak: Mum of missing three-year-old with autism says she feels 'so blessed' her son is now home - Sky News

The mother of a three-year-old boy, who was found three days after he went missing in Australian woodland, says she feels "blessed" her son is now safe.

Anthony "AJ" Elfalak was in a sweatshirt and diaper, sitting in a creek and cupping water in his hands, when he was found less than 500m from his home on Monday.

Holding AJ at the front door of the family home north of Sydney, Ms Elfalak told reporters: "I can't explain it, I'm so blessed, I'm so happy that he's here, he's with us, he's safe and well, and healthy. That's all that matters."

She added: "I want to thank everybody, everyone, the media, the police, the RFS (Rural Fire Service), the SES (State Emergency Service), everybody that prayed for us and helped find him. Thank you."

Hundreds of people searched for the boy, who has autism and is non-verbal, after he went missing from his family's home near the village of Putty late on Friday morning.

Advertisement

More on Australia

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Moment police find missing Australian child

A police helicopter spotted the boy sitting in a shallow creek bed on Monday morning about 470m (1,540ft) from his home, Police Superintendent Tracy Chapman said.

One of the pilots who located AJ, PolAir Tactical Flight Officer Jonathan Smith, said he felt "absolute joy" when AJ was spotted.

"As soon as I saw the image of him on the screen I was just, you know, taken aback and we straight away knew it was him," Mr Smith told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

AJ was in good health when he was found but was taken to a hospital for observation, officials said on Monday.

His father Anthony Elfalak, said it was a "miracle" AJ, who had been bitten by ants, had nappy rash and suffered abrasions, had been found.

Image: AJ's parents called it a 'miracle'. Pic: AP

Speaking after the family were reunited he said: "He's just clinging to mum.

"As soon as he heard his mum, he opened his eyes and looked at her and fell asleep."

Police have assumed AJ spent the entire time he was missing in the woods, Ms Chapman said.

She added that AJ survived thanks to his ability to find drinking water in the Australian heat.

Overnight temperatures in the area dipped as low as 6C (43F).

The paramedic who examined AJ, Gerry Pyke, described him as a "little survivor".

"Little AJ's condition was quite remarkable," Mr Pyke said.

"He was very, very thankful. I could see that in his eyes."

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMijgFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbnRob255LWFqLWVsZmFsYWstbXVtLW9mLW1pc3NpbmctdGhyZWUteWVhci1vbGQtd2l0aC1hdXRpc20tc2F5cy1zaGUtZmVlbHMtc28tYmxlc3NlZC1oZXItc29uLWlzLW5vdy1ob21lLTEyNDAxMDA00gGSAWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2FtcC9hbnRob255LWFqLWVsZmFsYWstbXVtLW9mLW1pc3NpbmctdGhyZWUteWVhci1vbGQtd2l0aC1hdXRpc20tc2F5cy1zaGUtZmVlbHMtc28tYmxlc3NlZC1oZXItc29uLWlzLW5vdy1ob21lLTEyNDAxMDA0?oc=5

2021-09-07 04:45:13Z
52781858734722

Taliban flag is seen painted on the walls outside the entrance of the former US embassy in Kabul - Daily Mail

PICTURED: Taliban flag is painted at the entrance to the former US embassy in Kabul as the militant group consolidates its hold over the country

• The flag is believed to have been painted in the past few days
• The embassy had been abandoned by US diplomats since the August 15 when the city fell to the militants 
• Operations at the embassy have since been moved to Doha, Qatar and are largely focused on processing immigrant visas 
• The development comes as the Taliban consolidated its hold over the country announcing on Monday that it had crushed the last pockets of resistance
• Debate was also ongoing regarding whether a hostage crises was developing at Mazar-i-Sharif airport, where the Taliban were blocking charter flights 
• There, reports have emerged that  the Taliban were stopping dozens of Americans from fleeing the country 

By Peter Belfiore For Dailymail.Com

Published: 21:38 BST, 6 September 2021 | Updated: 07:38 BST, 7 September 2021

A Taliban flag was painted on the walls outside the former US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, new photos show.

The flag appeared to have been painted in the past few days, and was shared by photojournalist Jake Simkin on Monday. 

The embassy was abandoned by US diplomats on August 15 as the city fell to the militant group amid America's chaotic withdrawal from the country.

Embassy operations have since been moved to Doha, the capital of Qatar, and are focused chiefly on processing immigrant visas for refugees. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on August 30, after the last US troops had left the country, that he anticipated the embassy would remain closed for the foreseeable future. 

A Taliban flag was painted on the walls outside the former US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, photos show

Murals outside the former US embassy in Kabul have been painted over white with black Arabic text since the US pulled out of the country last week 

The embassy was abandoned by US diplomats on August 15 as Kabul fell to the Taliban. A helicopter was seen evacuating the workers in scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in 1975

The entrance to the embassy as it appeared on August 26, in the leadup to the full US withdrawal from the country on August 30 

'Given the uncertain security environment and political situation in Afghanistan, it was the prudent step to take,' he said. 

On the other side of the entrance the Taliban appeared to have painted the group's version of the Shahada Statement, which is a statement of belief core to Islamic tradition.  

The flag, which features a depiction of the Quran, appeared after murals on thick concrete perimeter walls around the embassy compound were painted over white with black Arabic text earlier in the week. 

'The US embassy is now in the possession of the Taliban,' Simkin wrote on Twitter. 'The walls out front are now painted with their emblem and flag.'

The development came as the Taliban continued to consolidate its control over the country, and claimed it had taken complete control of Panjshir province, the last area of the country being held by resistance forces.

The Islamists released footage of their white banner flying over the provincial capital of Bazarak on Monday after a swift battle which saw them overwhelm the resistance. 

Resistance leader Ahmad Massoud appeared to admit defeat in an audio message sent to the media in which he called on Afghans for a 'a national uprising for the dignity, freedom and prosperity of our country.'

Meanwhile the Taliban continued to consolidate its power over the country, and was seen Monday raising its flag outside its new 'headquarters' in Panjshir province - the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan since the group's blitz across the country last month

Ahmad Massoud (pictured center in 2019), the leader of the Afghan National Resistance Front called on Afghans to 'begin a national uprising for the dignity, freedom and prosperity of our country' as he appeared to admit defeat 

The Taliban claim he has fled to Turkey. 

If it is proven true that Massoud, 32 - the son of legendary freedom fighter Ahmad Shah, the 'Lion of the Panjshir' -  it will surely be a hammer blow to any remaining resistance fighters in the province.

Commanders from the vanquished Afghan National Army and their staff had headed to the region to join up with Massoud's band of warriors, ethnic Tajiks who have long fought against Taliban rule.

Massoud, a King's College London and Sandhurst graduate, was reportedly still in the province as of Sunday with former vice president and ally Amrullah Saleh.

They had offered peace talks to the jihadists which were rejected. 

Meanwhile, the US State Department has been accused of blocking dozens of Americans from fleeing Afghanistan after failing to tell the Taliban it had green-lighted charter flights for Americans and Afghan visa holders trying to flee the country. 

In the north of the country, six planes are seen on the tarmac at Mazar Sharif Airport in Afghanistan, amid claims a blunder by the US State Department has prevented them from evacuating Americans and Afghan visa holders

On Sunday, Reuters reported that the delay had been caused by Biden administration officials not telling Taliban leaders it had approved the departures of the chartered flights from an airport in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, 260 miles north of Afghan capital Kabul.

An exasperated flight organizer hit out at the State Department over the fiasco, saying: 'They need to be held accountable for putting these people's lives in danger.' 

Other groups trying to organize their own chartered flights have also hit out at the State Department, with Rick Clay from private rescue firm PlanB claiming the organization is the only thing stopping him fulfilling his brief.

Two other organizers have also torn into the Anthony Blinken-headed department, with one - who didn't give their name - telling Fox: 'This is zero place to be negotiating with American lives. Those are our people standing on the tarmac and all it takes is a f****ing phone call.

'If one life is lost as a result of this, the blood is on the White House's hands. The blood is on their hands. It is not the Taliban that is holding this up – as much as it sickens me to say that – it is the United States government.' 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he gets ready to board an aircraft from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to travel to Doha on Sunday evening for Afghan talks 

One of those organizers also claimed that any rescue charter flights wishing to land at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, must first seek State Department approval, leaving them with a further bureaucratic delay. 

The New York Times reported that a total of 1,000 people - including dozens of American citizens - had been held at the city's airport for five days. 

Other passengers hoping to fly include Afghans who hold visas to move to other countries, including the United States. 

Sources told the paper that the Taliban was to blame for refusing to give the jets clearance to take off for Qatar, but also said that negotiations between the US, Taliban and Qatar had been continuing for days. 

Further details on the reason for the delay in discussions has not been disclosed. although Secretary of State Anthony Blinken jetted to Qatar on Sunday to discuss the issue with leaders there.

Earlier on Sunday, Republican Representative Michael McCaul appeared on Fox News also blamed the Taliban for the ongoing delays at Mazar-i-sharif.

His remarks - also reported by Reuters and the Times - claimed that six planes were being banned from taking off. 

Texas Republican Representative Michael McCaul said on Sunday that there are at least six planes holding Americans that are being prevented by the Taliban from taking off from the Mazar Sharif Airport in Afghanistan

The Texan lawmaker claimed the Islamist extremist group was using the jets and their passengers as a 'bargaining chip' in the hopes of its newly-victorious leadership gaining recognition from the US government. 

But Marina LeGree, who founded nonprofit Ascend, says the 34 people she had hoped to get on the charter flight were not being held hostage.

She said that, while currently barred from flying out of Afghanistan, the Taliban had allowed the prospective travelers, several of them women aged 16 to 23,  to leave the airport.

A State Department spokesman disputed claims that Americans' safety was at risk, but said the lack of a US presence in Afghanistan made it impossible to confirm the details of charter flights, including the number of US citizens hoping to get a seat, as well as the planes' intended destinations. 

An Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said it was four planes, and their intended passengers were staying at hotels while authorities worked out whether they might be able to leave the country. The sticking point, he indicated, is that many did not have the right travel papers. 

Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif also said the passengers were no longer at the airport. At least 10 families were seen at a local hotel waiting, they said, for a decision on their fates. None of them had passports or visas but said they had worked for companies allied with the U.S. or German military. Others were seen at restaurants. 

A Taliban soldier patrols at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul

A Taliban soldier stands guard at the gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul

The small airport at Mazar-e-Sharif only recently began to handle international flights and so far only to Turkey. The planes in question were bound for Doha, Qatar, the Afghan official said. It was not clear who chartered them or why they were waiting in the northern city. 

Since their takeover, the Taliban have sought to recast themselves as different from their 1990s incarnation, when they last ruled the country and imposed repressive restrictions across society. Women and girls were denied work and education, men were forced to grow beards, and television and music were banned.

Now, the world is waiting to see the face of the new government, and many Afghans remain skeptical. In the weeks since they took power, signals have been mixed: Government employees including women have been asked to return to work, but some women were later ordered home by lower-ranking Taliban. Universities and schools have been ordered open, but fear has kept both students and teachers away.

Women have demonstrated peacefully, some even having conversations about their rights with Taliban leaders. But some have been dispersed by Taliban special forces firing in the air.

Read more:

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtOTk2MzA0NS9UYWxpYmFuLWZsYWctc2Vlbi1wYWludGVkLXdhbGxzLW91dHNpZGUtZW50cmFuY2UtZm9ybWVyLWVtYmFzc3ktS2FidWwuaHRtbNIBf2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtOTk2MzA0NS9hbXAvVGFsaWJhbi1mbGFnLXNlZW4tcGFpbnRlZC13YWxscy1vdXRzaWRlLWVudHJhbmNlLWZvcm1lci1lbWJhc3N5LUthYnVsLmh0bWw?oc=5

2021-09-06 20:38:40Z
CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtOTk2MzA0NS9UYWxpYmFuLWZsYWctc2Vlbi1wYWludGVkLXdhbGxzLW91dHNpZGUtZW50cmFuY2UtZm9ybWVyLWVtYmFzc3ktS2FidWwuaHRtbNIBf2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtOTk2MzA0NS9hbXAvVGFsaWJhbi1mbGFnLXNlZW4tcGFpbnRlZC13YWxscy1vdXRzaWRlLWVudHJhbmNlLWZvcm1lci1lbWJhc3N5LUthYnVsLmh0bWw

Taliban crush last area of resistance to claim full control of Afghanistan - BBC News - BBC News

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiK2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9N3JiaFBPWFU5R1HSAQA?oc=5

2021-09-06 21:23:22Z
52781865269244

Growing concerns for Panjshir residents as Taliban claims victory - Al Jazeera English

Kabul, Afghanistan – For the last three weeks, Ahmad Massoud, the son of the late anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, has been leading the armed resistance against Taliban rule in Panjshir, the only province to evade the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan last month.

The 32-year-old, who was trained at the British military academy Sandhurst, is following in his father’s footsteps – the elder Massoud also led an armed resistance against Taliban rule in the 1990s.

But whereas the father’s resistance was able to relay constant updates in several languages, Ahmad’s National Resistance Front (NRF) has faced great difficulty in sending out information from the northeastern province since the Taliban cut off phone and Internet access last week.

This virtual media blackout has led to an imbalance in information from the front lines of the battle against the Taliban in Panjshir. In recent days, Panjsheris in Kabul and abroad have faced great difficulty in getting updates from their families back home.

One Panjshiri civilian in his twenties, who did not want to reveal his identity for safety reasons, told Al Jazeera by telephone that the situation in the province was “dire” and “troubling” for the 130,000 people trapped there.

He said that Panjshir is currently facing a massive shortage of basic necessities. For the last week, the Taliban have blocked the road from Kabul to Panjshir, which makes it nearly impossible for goods to get into the valley.

“Whatever food people had in their houses, that’s what they’ve been eating for weeks, now, the stores and bazaars are all empty,” he said.

Afghan resistance movement and anti-Taliban uprising forces take part in military training in Panjshir province on September 2, 2021 [Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP]

The young man, who like thousands of others fled from districts in the heart of the province to mountainous areas as Taliban forces advanced in recent days, said medical facilities in Panjshir have also experienced shortages.

“I have sick people in my family and I have no way of helping them,” he said.

At a news conference on Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the province was now fully under the control of the Islamic Emirate, as the group refers to itself.

“The peoples living in the proud valley of Panjshir are an integral part of the national body. They are our brothers. There is no bias against them. All the rights that our other countrymen have, the people of Panjshir also have,” Mujahid said.

Kaweh Kerami, a PhD Researcher at London’s SOAS University, said the Taliban’s claim of victory in the province was based largely on the flight of residents into the mountains. He said the group’s claim at a time when so many institutions are left empty is more a political ploy than a reflection of reality.

“It is problematic to reduce ‘having control’ over the whole province to some government buildings, police stations and district centres,” he said, when most of the people have taken to higher ground in fear of the Taliban’s arrival.

The young man in Panjshir said the Taliban members, who mostly come from the provinces of Badakhshan, Helmand and Laghman, operate in starkly different ways.

He said some have treated the residents well and encouraged them to return to their normal lives. But he said that many Panjshiris are not yet comfortable trusting the Taliban.

He also described a “second” contingent of Taliban forces behaving in a “violent and aggressive” way. He said these forces have gone house-to-house, “taking whatever they wish and abusing the people”.

During his Monday news conference, Mujahid said all Taliban officials in Panjshir were originally from the province.

“All the officials in Panjshir are from that province. The governor and his deputy are residents of Panjshir. All other officials are also appointed from here,” he said.

Militiamen loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, take part in a training exercise, in Panjshir province [Jalaluddin Sekandar/AP Photo]

Meanwhile, unverified voice messages and posts detailing claims of “massacres” and warning of a possible “genocide” have circulated on social media in recent days. Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify any of the claims, which have caused alarm among Panjshiris outside the province.

Adding to people’s fears is the Taliban’s own legacy of massacres during their five-year rule in the 1990s. At the time, rights groups accused the Taliban of carrying out massacres in the provinces of Bamiyan and Balkh.

In his most recent message circulated to his supporters via Whatsapp on Monday, the NRF leader Massoud, whose whereabouts were unclear, made several references to “strangers” staging attacks on Panjshir in recent days, without elaborating.

To many Afghans, the term is a clear allusion to Pakistan, which has been repeatedly accused of aiding and abetting the Taliban. Pakistan has denied supporting the armed group.

When former President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and the Taliban took over the capital, Kabul on August 15, the Taliban inherited much of the military might at the disposal of the former national army.

Vehicles of a militia loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, line up, in Panjshir province, the last region to defy Taliban control [Jalaluddin Sekandar/AP Photo]

Zalmai Nishat, senior policy expert at the German development agency, GIZ, said finding accurate information about what has transpired in Panjshir during the last three weeks is of the utmost importance.

“Right now, Panjshir is a black box, someone has to go and open it to find out what has happened,” Nishat told Al Jazeera. However, he said the Taliban have made it extremely difficult for journalists and activists to obtain any accurate information.

“The road through Parwan province is shut, no one can get through.”

He said that currently, if someone wants to go to Panjshir, they would have to go the long way through the mountains of neighbouring Kapisa province,

Kaweh Kerami, a PhD researcher at the SOAS University of London, said the Taliban’s severing of telecommunications networks in Panjshir “provided fertile ground for the dissemination of false stories and propaganda”.

In one example, a grainy video showing intense fighting in a mountainous area being circulating online purported to be from recent battles in Panjshir. However, it later emerged that the video was filmed in Yemen in 2019.

He said the spread of misinformation has led to panic, anger and in some cases, incited further violence and put a “choke-hold” on a province heavily reliant on access to the road to Kabul.

He said the lack of access to reliable communication tools and the ability to share verified images and videos has led to increased panic and anger as people are unable to verify or refute claims of mass killings.

“We need more information to make an allegation of whether crimes against humanity, such as ethnic cleansing or even genocide” have taken place, said Kerami.

At his Monday news conference, Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, addressed the cutting off of roads and telecommunications networks.

“If the people of Panjshir have been harmed in the last few days due to the disruption of telephone services and road closures, we are very sorry.”

He said it was done to dissuade “those who wanted to turn Panjshir into a hotbed of sedition”.

However, Kerami said it was part of a siege “undoubtedly meant to inflict human suffering and pain” on people who had no access to food and medical supplies.

He said young men who routinely travelled between Kabul and Panjshir, including Panjshiris, were not allowed to enter the valley in recent weeks.

With the Taliban now saying it will announce its new government in the coming days, all eyes will be on Massoud and the people of Panjshir, who have pledged to continue their fight.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFsamF6ZWVyYS5jb20vbmV3cy8yMDIxLzkvNi9kaXJlLXNpdHVhdGlvbi1mb3ItMTMwMDAwLXJlc2lkZW50cy10cmFwcGVkLWluLXBhbmpzaGly0gFjaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWxqYXplZXJhLmNvbS9hbXAvbmV3cy8yMDIxLzkvNi9kaXJlLXNpdHVhdGlvbi1mb3ItMTMwMDAwLXJlc2lkZW50cy10cmFwcGVkLWluLXBhbmpzaGly?oc=5

2021-09-06 19:07:05Z
52781864536951