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HPC Says It Has ‘Direct and Indirect Contacts’ with Taliban
The Afghanistan High Peace Council says it has maintained “direct and indirect” contacts with the Taliban, insisting that if the militant group reaches into an agreement with the government, the council will work on a timeline for withdrawal of foreign troops from the war-torn country.
As part of the efforts to end the 16-year-old war in the country that has been on “frontline” of fight against terrorism in the region, the High Peace Council says it has begun direct talks with the Taliban – which have repeatedly rejected dialogue with Kabul government in the past – but stresses that the council will not reveal the details yet.
“If we reach into an agreement with the Taliban, we will prepare a timeline for withdrawal of foreign forces [from the country] and will resolve this issue,” said Sayed Ehsan Tahiri, spokesman of the High Peace Council. “There have been direct and indirect contacts with the group [in this regard].”
This comes as recently, Russia’s envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said the Taliban has asked for financial support to the group in talks with Russian representatives, adding that the Taliban illegally buy all the weapons they need from the Afghan government and police and just need money for that.
“We laughed with Taliban representatives about it, and I’ll tell you why. They (Taliban) say they wouldn’t mind if we gave them weapons, but they don’t need weapons. They (Taliban) say “give us money, we’re buying weapons from the stocks of the Afghan army and police,” Kabulov said, as quoted by The Associated Press.
He said Moscow’s contacts with the Taliban aim to ensure the safety of Russian citizens in Afghanistan and encourage the group to join peace talks.
“The countries that are opposed to U.S. policy in Afghanistan, they support the Taliban and that paves way for escalation of [the ongoing] war and kill more Afghans,” said a military expert, Javid Kohistani.
Criticizing the government over failure to bring Taliban to the negotiation table, some Afghan parliamentarians, meanwhile called for shut down of High Peace Council, as they believe the council has been failed in attempts for reconciliation with the Taliban.
By Shakib Mahmud and Fawad Naseri
The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday it can only support one in every three malnourished children across Afghanistan, highlighting the shortage of funding.
WFP said on X that there are three million malnourished children in Afghanistan.
“But we can only support 1 in every 3 malnourished children across Afghanistan,” WFP said. “Children bear the brunt of the assistance cuts. Sustained funding is vital.”
The World Food Program in Afghanistan had previously warned that the number of malnourished children visiting hospitals has increased this year following the reduction of foreign aid.
More than 23 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan this year, according to the United Nations. Over half of them are children.
In February, WFP announced a dire need for $760 million in food assistance for Afghanistan over the next six months.
Officials confirm that hundreds of people have been killed and injured after floods in Baghlan, Badakhshan, Ghor and Herat provinces of Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in a statement said that a large number of houses have been destroyed and people have suffered huge financial losses.
In the statement, the Ministry of State for Disaster Management, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, and the provincial authorities have been directed to use all their resources to save people, recover the bodies, and treat the injured.
The Islamic Emirate called on the citizens to assist the flood victims.
In Baghlan, Ziauddin, director of Baghlan-i-Markazi district hospital, said that 52 bodies, including 13 women and 13 children, have been taken to the hospital from the floods on Friday night. He added that 73 injured people have also been admitted.
In Takhar, Ahmad Siyar Sajid, the head of natural disasters management of the province, said that eight people died in Ishkemesh, Chal and Namak Ab districts of this province.
Hedayatullah Hamdard, head of the Natural Disaster Department in Baghlan, says at least 50 were killed on Friday afternoon due to floods in several districts of the province.
Hamdard added the figure is not total and that the death toll may increase.
Over the past two days, floods have also caused huge financial losses in Chaharsada and Murghab districts of Ghor province and two people including a child and an old man have disappeared.
Hundreds of acres of agricultural land were destroyed in Chaharsada district and about 50 livestock were also lost.
According to local officials in Ghor, around 50 residential houses in Chaharsada district are under floods.
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