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Austin arrives in Brussels ahead of troop withdrawal announcement
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Brussels on Wednesday ahead of a planned announcement by US President Joe Biden that troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11.
Reuters reported earlier that a coalition of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan will leave the country in coordination with a planned U.S. withdrawal by September 11. President Joe Biden is expected to make a formal announcement later Wednesday that will end two decades of fighting.
Around 7,000 non-U.S. forces from mainly NATO countries, but also from Australia, New Zealand and Georgia, outnumber the 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan but still rely on U.S. air support, planning and leadership for their training mission.
NATO foreign and defense ministers will discuss their plans later on Wednesday via video conference. A senior NATO diplomat told Reuters that no ally was expected to oppose U.S. President Joe Biden's formal announcement.
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AWCC launches telecom and internet services in Manogai district of Kunar
Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) has launched telecom and internet services in Manogai district of Kunar province.
AWCC officials said with the activation of the new site in Manogai, resident’s problems will be solved.
"The site now offers 2G and 3G services and hundreds of families who were deprived of internet services are now very happy," said Ataullah Sahil, head of AWCC for the eastern zone.
AWCC has also set up a new customer service center in the region to address people's problems.
"The services we have in Asadabad, the capital of Kunar province, have now been activated in Ninglam market," said Abrarullah Zuhair, head of sales at AWCC.
“People in Pech Dara, Chapa Dara and Want Waigal of Kunar can get SIM cards from this branch and visit here to solve other problems,” he added.
Meanwhile, officials of the provincial telecommunications and information technology department appreciated the services of AWCC, saying that many families will benefit from telecommunication and internet services with the activation of this site.
"About 15,000 families will be provided with 3G services," said Abdul Wali Marshal, Kunar’s director of telecommunications and information technology. “Voice call services are also available. There were a lot of problems in this area before.”
Residents of Manogai district are happy with the activation of the AWCC site in the district and want telecommunication services to be expanded in remote parts of the district.
“There were a lot of internet problems here,” said Abdul Shakoor, a resident of Kunar province. “There were also problems in Ninglam. We thank AWCC for setting up this tower.”
In the past three years, AWCC has launched telecommunication services in many areas of the eastern provinces.
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Kabul gas company fire claims two lives, injures over 100
Two people died and 107 were injured in a fire in a densely populated area of Kabul’s Paghman district on Saturday night, Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) confirmed Sunday.
ANDMA officials said of those injured, 81 sustained only minor injuries.
Officials said the blaze, which broke out in the Qala-e-Haidar Khan area, caused over $1.2 million in damages, impacting local businesses and traders.
The department noted that these figures are provisional and may change as an assessment is ongoing.
On Sunday, Mullah Noor Ud din Turabi, head of ANDMA, visited the area and extended his sympathies to those affected by the blaze.
He said investigation teams were on-site to determine the cause of the fire and to make necessary decisions.
The fire broke out at about 6pm at a gas company, resulting in massive explosions of tankers.
Firefighters were however quick to arrive at the scene.
Fragments from gas tankers that exploded were scattered up to two kilometers from the site.
ANDMA said it is taking proactive measures to address both the immediate needs of those affected and the longer-term impacts on the local community.
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Iran ramps up deportation of Afghan migrants, expels 3,000 a day
Undocumented Afghan nationals living in Khorasan province are identified, detained, and then deported via the Dogharun border
Iran has stepped up its deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants, with up to 3,000 individuals reportedly being sent back to Afghanistan each day.
According to Iran’s Director General of Foreign Nationals and Migrants of Khorasan Razavi, Hossein Sharafati, more than 3,000 Afghans are detained daily and deported through the Dogharun border following legal procedures.
Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, reported that Sharafati said on Saturday that undocumented Afghan nationals living in Khorasan province are identified, detained, and subsequently deported via the Dogharun border.
During a recent visit to Taybad city, Sharafati also inspected a 20-hectare plot of land designated for a new camp intended to hold “unauthorized Afghan nationals.”
This facility, proposed near the Dogharun border in Taybad, is intended to streamline the process of managing and deporting undocumented migrants.
The steep increase in deportations comes after Tehran recently took a stricter stance over undocumented Afghan migrants, after President Masoud Pezeshkian came into power.
In September, the Iranian government announced it would deport two million undocumented foreigners over the next six months. When Iranian officials speak of "illegal foreigners," they usually mean migrants from Afghanistan.
At the time, Iranian police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said security forces and the Interior Ministry were working out measures that would deport "a considerable number of illegal foreigners" over the long term.
Iran and Afghanistan share a 900-kilometer long border, parts of which run through inaccessible, high mountain ranges.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimates that nearly 4.5 million Afghan nationals currently live in Iran. According to Iranian news agencies, however, the real number could be as high as 6 million or 8 million.
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