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Biden pledges continued evacuation support

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(Last Updated On: August 23, 2021)

US President Joe Biden said late Sunday Washington has an unwavering commitment to getting American citizens and at-risk Afghans out of Afghanistan.

Biden said the security situation in Afghanistan was changing rapidly and his administration was concerned about the threat from Islamic State (Daesh) in Afghanistan.

“Let me be clear, the evacuation of thousands from Kabul is going to be hard and painful” and would have been “no matter when it began,” Biden said in a briefing at the White House.

“We have a long way to go and a lot could still go wrong.”

Biden said he had directed the State Department to contact Americans stranded in Afghanistan by phone, email and other means, and the United States had a plan to move them to the airport.

“We’re executing a plan to move groups of these Americans to safety and effectively move them to the airport compound. For security reasons, I’m not going to go into detail … but I will say again today what I’ve said before: Any American who wants to get home will get home.”

Afghan allies of the West and vulnerable Afghans such as women activists and journalists would be helped too, he said.

Asked by a reporter whether the United States would extend an Aug. 31 deadline for evacuations, Biden replied: “Our hope is we will not have to extend but there are going to be discussions I suspect on how far along we are in the process.”

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin on Sunday rejected the idea of sending evacuees to Russia-allied countries to the north of Afghanistan, saying he did not want “militants showing up here under cover of refugees”, Russian news agencies reported.

Putin criticized the idea of some Western countries relocating refugees from Afghanistan to neighboring Central Asian countries while their visas to the United States and Europe are being processed.

“Does that mean that they can be sent without visas to those countries, to our neighbours, while they themselves (the West) don’t want to take them without visas?” TASS news agency quoted Putin as telling leaders of the ruling United Russia party.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen meanwhile said from Doha that all foreign troops should leave Afghanistan by the end of August, Deutsche Welle reported.

Shaheen has said that the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan by the end of August is the “red line” of the Taliban, and the group sees the extension as a “continuation of the occupation of the country.”

Shaheen added that there was no reason to extend the deadline. Shaheen stressed that the extension of the US and other countries’ military presence in Afghanistan is fueling distrust.

According to Deutsche Welle while setting an ultimatum for the withdrawal of foreign troops, he said that extending the deadline for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan would face a “reaction” from the Taliban.

Shaheen also said that citizens who had gathered at Kabul airport wanted to leave the country to escape poverty, citing fear of the Taliban as an excuse.

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645 families across seven Afghan provinces affected by rains, floods: OCHA

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2023)

Heavy rains and flash flooding have affected some 645 families across seven provinces in Afghanistan, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday.

OCHA said on Twitter that aid agencies are assessing the impact and providing aid where needed, but limited funding is constraining their ability to scale up assistance.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday its team continues to provide shelter assistance to people affected by natural disasters.

The UN agency said that in Khulm, Sholgara and Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh, they provided cash for transnational shelter construction to 223 families, and cash for shelter repair to 272 families.

Some of the victims in Sholgara district of Balkh province expressed concern that the level of aid is not enough.

“If aid is not provided seriously in the district, it will have bad consequences for the people in the future,” said Sultan Ali, a resident of Sholgara district.

“The flood filled our wells with dirt. We don’t have clean water at all,” said Qadir Khan, another resident of the district.

The State Ministry for Disaster Management said that they have provided some aid to flood victims in different provinces, but more aid is needed.

According to the ministry, 10 people have died, 76 people have been injured, 1,779 homes have been damaged and 22,000 acres of agricultural land have been destroyed in 23 provinces of the country since the start of spring due to floods and earthquakes.

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UNSC condemns continued ‘terrorist attacks’ against civilians in Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2023)

The members of the Security Council have condemned in the strongest terms the continued “heinous terrorist attacks” targeting civilians in Afghanistan, including the attack near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan on 27 March, which was claimed by IS-K (Daesh) and resulted in at least six people killed and several wounded.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security in Afghanistan, as well as in the world.

The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. They urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard.

The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

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Stanikzai urges US to reopen its embassy in Kabul

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2023)

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy foreign minister for political affairs, has called on the United States to reopen its embassy in Kabul.

“Let us fulfill our responsibilities. Come and open your embassy. We take care of your security. When you come, other countries will do the same. Now, many countries are saying in private meetings with us that if America restores its relations with you, we will come immediately,” Stanikzai said while visiting the Afghan Consulate in Dubai.

While the Islamic Emirate seeks to create positive interaction with the world in light of Islamic Sharia and national interests, the US says that no country is going to recognize the Islamic Emirate.

US charge d’affaires said in a virtual meeting with a number of Afghan women journalists that although some diplomatic missions of Afghanistan have been handed over to the Islamic Emirate, no country has any plans to recognize the Islamic Emirate.

Karen Decker said that if the Islamic Emirate wants good relations with other countries, they should have good relations with men and women in their country.

Deputy Spokesperson of US State Department, Vedant Patel, also said that to the extent that the IEA is looking for more normal relations with countries around the world, “that will not happen in a long time, so [long] as they continue to advance these repressive edicts against women and girls.”

At the same time, the US Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the continuation of restrictions on women will prevent the establishment of normal relations between the Islamic Emirate and countries around the world for a long time.

“We hope that they understand the implications of some of these disastrous decisions, like banning women from schools and things of that sort,” Patel said.

The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly stated that the policy of pressure in Afghanistan does not work and that countries should engage with Afghanistan as Kabul wants to establish relations with all countries, including the United States.

“Political issues or external issues of the country should not be dependent on Afghanistan’s internal issues. Afghanistan’s internal issues are related to the people of Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan make independent decisions about the country’s internal issues,” said Bilal Karimi, IEA’s deputy spokesperson.

In recent months, the Afghan embassy in Tehran, the Afghan consulate in Dubai, and the Afghan consulate in Istanbul have been handed over to the Islamic Emirate.

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