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Afghan-Iranian officials move to strengthen relations and tighten border controls

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(Last Updated On: June 23, 2020)

Afghanistan’s acting minister of foreign affairs Mohammed Haneef Atmar, and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif have agreed to take all necessary measures to prevent illegal border crossings and human trafficking by stepping up controls over the shared boundary.

This decision was announced late Monday night in a joint statement issued by the two officials as Atmar wrapped up a two-day official visit to Afghanistan’s neighboring country.

According to the statement, the security-frontier committee and the committee on the legalization of residence of nationals of the two countries on each other’s soil were assigned to adopt the necessary measures to ensure the security of the common border in order to prevent illegal travel, human trafficking, and smuggling.

“In this regard, the two sides highlighted the need for the Afghan security forces to be present in the border outposts emptied in Afghanistan, and for the Islamic Republic of Iran to facilitate issuing visas,” read the statement.

Both sides also stressed the “need for the border guards of the two countries to monitor and control the common borders strictly and effectively, and undertook to prevent illegal border-crossing, human trafficking, and smuggling of drugs and any other items into the territory of each other.”

An agreement was also reached regarding mutual cooperation in observing international health regulations at the border crossings.

Numerous meetings were held during the two-day visit where a wide range of issues was discussed, including the expansion of relations between the two countries in various fields within the framework of eight working committees.

This includes committees on comprehensive documentation, legalization of residence of nationals, border cooperation, labor, water, cultural cooperation, energy, and health issues.

The two sides stated that in order to institutionalize and organize sound bilateral relations, Afghanistan and Iran would proceed with negotiations to finalize a comprehensive document on strategic cooperation and have this document finalized and ready to be signed within three months.

Iran also stated that it welcomed the peace process efforts and expressed readiness to help facilitate intra-Afghan negotiations. They also stated they would be willing to host such negotiations.

Both sides emphasized the need to reduce violence in Afghanistan “with the purpose of building trust and creating a positive atmosphere in order to launch the intra-Afghan negotiations as soon as possible, achieve a lasting ceasefire, and establish sustainable peace.”

“Considering the significance of regional and international consensus on the establishment of peace and security in Afghanistan, the two sides stressed the need to strengthen the regional and international cooperation and consultations and activate the capacities available in the region with the purpose of facilitating the negotiations and supporting the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s establishment,” read the statement.

Both countries agreed that there was also a need to carry out joint programs in promoting common areas including that of the heritage of language, religion, and culture, as well as educational cooperation.

Detailed discussions were also held on recent incidents that resulted in human fatalities.

This comes after tension heightened early last month after reports emerged that Iranian border guards had allegedly beaten and thrown about 50 Afghan migrants into the Harirud river.

Iran has refuted these claims and said the incident, which resulted in the death of some migrants, happened on the Afghanistan side of the river.

The statement, however, indicated that Iran had informed the Afghan side of progress around ongoing investigations, and both sides agreed to adopt measures to prevent any recurrence of such an incident.

Discussions on boosting economic ties were also held and the two sides agreed on a number of cooperation initiatives in the transport and transportation sectors. Chabahar Port was highlighted as being the “driving engine of trade-transit cooperation in the region.”

Both sides agreed there was a need to provide welfare facilities at border crossings and that joint action was needed as a matter of urgency to “repair the infrastructure and the asphalt road for motor vehicles at the Dogharoun border crossing.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Director-General for West-Asia Seyed Rasoul Mousavi hailed Atmar’s visit.

“As an expert, I would like to say the visit of FM Atmar to Tehran was a very important and comprehensive one,” Mousavi Tweeted on Tuesday.

“Negotiations & agreements were reached in all areas. The joint statement of the visit is cold water on the fire of the ill-wishers of Iran & Afghanistan relations,” he added.

Iran has over the past 40 years hosted millions of Afghan refugees. According to Iran, it currently hosts about 1.5 million Afghan refugees who are living in the country illegally, in addition to about 800,000 documented

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MoI registers over 8,700 criminal cases in the past six months

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Abdul Matin Qani, the Ministry of Interior’s spokesman said on Thursday that in the last six months, 8,747 criminal cases have been recorded across the country.

Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Qani said of these cases, 7,233 have been solved while the remaining 1,525 are still being investigated.

He said 12,540 people have been arrested in connection with these crimes.

In addition, 21 kidnappers have been killed, 18 hostages have been freed and 172 people have been arrested in connection with kidnappings in the same period of time.

Qani also said in the last six months 837,000 passports have been distributed. He said three new passport offices will be established in Kabul in the near future.

“10,000 passports are distributed to citizens daily by the Passport Department,” said Qani.

On the issue of narcotics, he said drug cultivation, production and trafficking has been eradicated. He said drug manufacturing equipment and 377 drug factories have been destroyed across the country.

According to him, the ministry has also made advances in collecting illegal weapons, fighting corruption and improving police skills.

Qani stated that during this period, no security incidents took place in most provinces across the country.

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TAPI gas company CEO satisfied with project’s progress

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

The minister of mines and petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar met with the executive director of the TAPI project and the ambassador of Turkmenistan in Kabul on Thursday to discuss progress around the key project.

Murad Amanov, head of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline project, expressed his satisfaction with the recent progress of the project and talked about the practical roll out of the project.

Delawar said that the preliminary work of TAPI is progressing quickly and that the pipeline will be put into operation in the near future.

TAPI is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Galkynysh – TAPI Pipeline Company Limited with participation of the Asian Development Bank.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.

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UK’s Mercer faces 10-day deadline in Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

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(Last Updated On: March 27, 2024)

Johnny Mercer, the former UK Minister for Veterans Affairs, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations that British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.

British media reported on Tuesday that Mercer, following his allegations regarding the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces, was ordered to reveal the sources of his information.

The BBC reported that a public inquiry commissioned by the UK government into the actions of its forces in Afghanistan has directed Mercer to disclose the names of individuals who leaked information to him about alleged war crimes and cover-ups by special forces, or he may face imprisonment.

Although separate investigations have sought to verify these claims, the British government has yet to officially confirm them.

Earlier this month, Mercer, who served in military missions in Afghanistan, told the court that despite the information he possesses, he cannot confirm the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces between 2010 and 2013.

In court, he also stated that the claim British soldiers killed unarmed civilians in their sleep does not contradict his findings, but he admitted reluctance to believe it.

According to Mercer, British forces were allegedly instructed to carry an unregistered weapon — one not associated with NATO forces — to place next to the unarmed Afghan individuals they had killed.

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the countries that had troops in Afghanistan for 20 years all committed war crimes.

Mujahid stated that if the investigation carries on, it will be a big step and that the crimes committed should be investigated transparently.

“The crimes that have been committed should be investigated transparently because this was not the work of a few soldiers but a plan that was drawn and crimes were committed in Afghanistan,” he added.

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