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Khalilzad: Lots of rights violations around the world, and it’s not just responsibility of US forces

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There are lots of violations of human rights around the world, and it’s not just the responsibility of the US forces, Zalmay Khalilzad, former US special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, said on Thursday.

Khalilzad made the remarks at at a Republican-led House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Democrat Kathy Manning said she was “shocked” by the 2020 deal and accused Khalilzad of playing a hand in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) victory, saying they “gave up all the leverage” with the landmark agreement.

Manning particularly emphasised the deal’s failure to include any conditions on the status of women.

“I certainly cannot see any protection of Afghan women and girls [in the Doha Agreement] … Apparently, the protection of women and girls was not important to President Trump,” Manning said.

Khalilzad argued that the status of women in Afghanistan was meant to be included in US-supported, intra-Afghan negotiations after a withdrawal and the establishment of a shared government.

“The key issue for you and for our other leaders is whether achieving the goals that you outline on women should have been a precondition or withdrawal … there are lots of violations of human rights around the world, and it’s not just the responsibility of the US forces,” Khalilzad said.

Keith Self, a Republican, called it “naive to think the Taliban (IEA) was ever going to live up to anything”.

“Over a span of 20 years dealing with a region, this entire process that we’ve heard today is extremely naive, and, sir, I find you in the middle of it,” Self told Khalilzad.

Khalilzad repeatedly emphasised that the ultimate blame for the demise of American goals in a postwar Afghanistan rested with Ashraf Ghani’s government.

“I will put the responsibility for what happened largely on the shoulders of the Afghan government leadership for not standing for their government, for their system and for the values that they said they had,” he told the committee.

But he conceded that Washington’s calculations were clearly wrong on the direction a postwar Afghanistan would take.

“The assumption was, it turned out to be wrong, that the government would not collapse, that it would have more forces, weapons, more international standing, more money,” he said.

Khalilzad has previously said that he believes Washington did not put enough pressure on Ghani to share power with the IEA.

 

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Afghanistan says Pakistani military post destroyed near Spin Boldak

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Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense says a Pakistani military post near Spin Boldak was targeted and destroyed after Pakistani forces opened fire toward Afghanistan.

Ministry spokesperson Enayatullah Khwarazmi said in a post on X that Afghan forces suffered no casualties or damage in the clash.

Khwarazmi also rejected claims made by the Pakistani side about the incident, describing them as “propaganda.”

 

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Mujahid: Pakistan attacking Afghanistan to evade Mecca Pact responsibilities

He warned that the Islamic Emirate would give an “appropriate response” to what he called the Pakistani military regime’s “bullying.”

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Islamic Emirate spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has accused Pakistan of carrying out attacks on Afghanistan to divert attention from its domestic problems and to evade responsibilities under the “Mecca Pact.”

Speaking at a religious seminary in Kandahar, Mujahid said Pakistan was facing political and economic challenges at home and was using attacks on Afghanistan to shift public attention away from protests and its internal problems.

“Pakistan, by violating the territory of its neighboring Islamic country, wants to divert attention from its failures,” he said.

Mujahid also criticized Pakistan’s political situation, claiming that political space had been restricted and that freedoms guaranteed under the country’s laws were not being allowed.

He said Pakistan’s economic problems had also increased significantly and accused the country of seeking to distract the public from those problems by engaging in conflict with Afghanistan.

Mujahid further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of putting the Pakistani people at risk through what he described as its “false position.”

He warned that the Islamic Emirate would give an “appropriate response” to what he called the Pakistani military regime’s “bullying.”

His remarks followed Pakistani airstrikes on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Thursday, which Afghan authorities said killed four civilians.

The strikes came three days after attacks on Kunar and Paktika provinces, in which Afghan authorities said three civilians were killed.

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Kabul rejects U.S. claim that meth seized in Pakistan was of Afghan origin

Balkhi said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has imposed an absolute ban on the production, trafficking and use of all types of narcotics in Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi has rejected a U.S. claim that 463 kilograms of synthetic drugs seized in Pakistan were of Afghan origin, calling the attribution “unfounded and politically motivated.”

Balkhi said the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad should investigate the origin of the seized drugs in Pakistan rather than attributing them to Afghanistan.

“The attribution by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad of the synthetic drugs bound for Sri Lanka and intercepted in Pakistan through joint U.S.-Pakistani efforts as ‘Afghan-origin’ is an unfounded and politically motivated allegation,” Balkhi said.

He said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has imposed an absolute ban on the production, trafficking and use of all types of narcotics in Afghanistan.

Balkhi also claimed that following the ban in Afghanistan, the cultivation, production and trafficking of narcotics have increased “on the other side of the Durand Line.”

He further argued that Afghanistan does not have the capacity to produce synthetic drugs and said crossing points along the Durand Line have been completely closed to all movement for nearly a year.

His remarks came after the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said U.S. and Pakistani anti-narcotics authorities had seized 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth an estimated $21 million and bound for Sri Lanka.

The embassy said the operation led to multiple arrests and highlighted ongoing U.S. cooperation and training with Pakistani authorities to disrupt international drug-trafficking networks.

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