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Afghan Prime Minister addresses nation in first voice message
The Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, addressed the nation for the first time on Saturday in a half-hour audio message.
“The Islamic Emirate is not the cause of unemployment and the poor economic situation in Afghanistan, all these problems are the legacy of the previous government,” he told the nation.
In the message, Akhund called on the people of Afghanistan to support the government of the Islamic Emirate and stressed that the Islamic Emirate (IE) has fulfilled its promises.
He acknowledged that there were economic problems in the country, but said that the “sustenance of the people” was not promised by the government of the Islamic Emirate, that it was from Allah, and that Allah was testing his servants.
“In the past, people did not have a place to spend the day and night, but now there is an atmosphere where security is everywhere,” he said.
Addressing IE members and forces, Akhund said: “I call on all the people and the Mujahideen to stand side by side in the formation and stability of this Islamic system and work for a better future.
“We work day and night to solve people’s problems beyond our human capacity. We have formed various commissions and committees to coordinate matters, all of which are working,” he said.
“People who enter people’s homes are not Mujahideen, they are armed thieves dressed as Mujahideen and doing evil deeds,” he stressed.
Akhund said: “All governors, commanders and officials are strongly instructed to open your gates to the people, otherwise the gates of Allah’s mercy will be closed to you.”
He rejected the criticism of the structure of the government. He claimed that the government of the Islamic Emirate was “inclusive” and that the rights of all classes were guaranteed.
“The decision to integrate the system must be made by the people,” he said.
In his message he asked, “Did the previous government create an inclusive system in which two departments operated in the same place and each had its own supporters?”
He claimed that “in the current system, any nation and section can see itself.”
Akhund also claimed that “the Islamic Emirate has guaranteed women’s rights.”
“Education is mandatory for both men and women. We hope all women have access to education.”
However, Akhund emphasized that “the Islamic Emirate has given women’s rights, dignity and chastity.”
He also assured neighboring countries that there is no threat to them from the IEA.
“We have already told our neighbors and we are still telling them that we will not harm you,” he said.
He added that we are thinking about rebuilding our country.
“We do not have a policy of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said.
This is his first message to the nation since the IEA takeover in Afghanistan in August.
The Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan announced on Friday that the country has allocated $19.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy said it hopes the aid will help bring positive change to the lives of vulnerable Afghans.
According to the statement, the assistance will cover the basic humanitarian needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
The embassy added that the aid will be delivered through United Nations agencies, international organizations, and Japanese non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Japan’s total assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021 has reached more than $549 million.
Security forces at the Islam Qala border in Herat province prevented hundreds of young Afghans from illegally entering Iran.
Officials from the 207 Al-Farooq Army Corps said that around 530 people attempted over the past two days to illegally enter Iranian territory through areas of Kohsan district in Herat, but border forces detained them and transferred them back to their original areas.
Meanwhile, some sources said that a group of 70 people who were heading to Iran on Wednesday through areas of Kohsan district became stranded amid cold weather and snowfall, resulting in the deaths of two of them.
Sources at the Islam Qala border in Herat also confirmed that in recent days hundreds of people have illegally entered Iranian territory through areas of Kohsan district, and that due to severe cold and heavy snowfall, five of them have lost their lives.
President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that, at Trump’s direction, she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program, the Associated Press reported.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.
Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor. He was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Neves Valente had studied at Brown on a student visa beginning in 2000, according to an affidavit from a Providence police detective. In 2017, he was issued a diversity immigrant visa and months later obtained legal permanent residence status, according to the affidavit. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017.
The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the U.S., many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected when including spouses with the winners. After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the United States. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.
Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants.
Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals. After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other counties.
While pursuing mass deportation, Trump has sought to limit or eliminate avenues to legal immigration. He has not been deterred if they are enshrined in law, like the diversity visa lottery, or the Constitution, as with a right to citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.
Japan allocates nearly $20 million in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan
Afghan border forces prevent illegal entry of hundreds into Iran
US pauses green card lottery program after Brown University shooting
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Dozens of U.S. lawmakers oppose Afghan immigration freeze after Washington shooting
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