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Obama says expects Taliban to continue strategy of violence under new leader
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he expects the Taliban to continue a strategy of violence following the appointment of a hardline leader, adding that the United States aims to uphold Afghanistan’s fragile democratization and prevent its use as a base by Islamic State.
“This continues to be an organization that sees violence as a strategy for obtaining its goals and moving its agenda forward in Afghanistan,” said Obama, told reporters during a Group of Seven summit at Ise-Shima in central Japan.
“In the short-term, we anticipate that the Taliban will continue to pursue an agenda of violence and blowing up innocent people.”
“Our goal right now is to make sure (Afghanistan’s) constitution and democratic process is upheld (and) maintain the counter-terrorism platforms that we need in the region so that al Qaeda and now ISIL are not able to take root and use it as a base to attack us in the United States,” he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
The selection of cleric Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada as the new Taliban chief on Wednesday all but dashes Obama’s hopes for opening peace talks before he leaves office, one of his top foreign policy goals, current and former U.S. defense and intelligence officials said.
Akhundzada, a conservative Islamic scholar from the Taliban’s stronghold in southern Afghanistan, succeeded Mullah Akhtar Mansour four days after he was killed in a U.S. drone strike.
Some U.S. officials had expressed hope that Mansour’s death would eliminate an obstacle to peace negotiations between the Taliban and the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Reuters
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Cooperating with Islamic system people’s Sharia duty: Hanafi
The Islamic Emirate’s Miynister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, says there is no gap between the current system and the people and that cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty, the ministry said in a statement.
At a gathering in Kabul, Hanafi said: “This Islamic system is the people’s system, the people are considered part of this system, there is no gap between the system and the people. Therefore, cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty.”
“It’s a very positive thing that we Afghan people do not have differences among ourselves as before, we live under the command of one leader and the flag of the Islamic system,” Hanafi stressed.
“The goal of Jihad was to end the occupation, gain independence and strengthen the Islamic system in the country,” he stated, adding that “all these goals have been achieved with the help of God and the cooperation of Afghans.”
“Now the time has come to serve and cooperate with the people to solve the problems and implement the Sharia rules of the Islamic system,” he added.
The ministry stated that in addition to providing and protecting women’s Sharia rights, thousands of complaints have been resolved so far.
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Washington sees interaction with IEA as opportunity to protect its national interests
The Deputy Spokesman of the US State Department says that when the interests of his country are involved, Washington will not hesitate to interact with the Islamic Emirate.
Vedant Patel said that interaction with the Islamic Emirate is not only the best way to protect the interests of America, but also to support the people of Afghanistan.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said interaction with the Islamic Emirate provides the basis for a direct dialogue with them.
According to Patel, this interaction is an opportunity to continue the pressure on the Islamic Emirate for the immediate and unconditional release of American citizens, including those who have been caught “unjustly”.
Patel added that the United States would also take advantage of these opportunities to talk directly with the Islamic Emirate about commitments to counter terrorism. He emphasized that Washington human rights issues are also on the agenda.
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World Bank donates $84 million to Afghanistan
The World Bank announced Tuesday it has approved $84 million in aid to Afghanistan in order to fight the economic crisis and implement livelihood projects in the country.
According to a statement, this “complements $70 million in additional financing from the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund (ARTF).”
The project was started in 2022 with a grant of $265 million from the ARTF to provide livelihoods support and services in rural and urban areas, support social grants for women and the most vulnerable, and strengthen community institutions for inclusive service delivery.
With this additional financing, the project will scale up activities in more rural and urban areas, provide more livelihood opportunities for women, expand activities focused on building climate resilience, and provide employment and services to returning Afghan migrants, the World Bank stated.
Melinda Good, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan, said: “In the past 18 months, the project has laid the foundation for an effective service delivery platform and operational model at scale for delivering jobs, providing essential services and assets, and, importantly, reaching women.
“With the additional financing, the project will continue its essential works in all six regions of the country, 26 of the 34 provinces, 67 rural districts, 6,200 rural communities, and eight major cities,” she said.
To date, the project has provided short-term employment to over 776,000 households, benefiting around 5.4 million Afghans, and about 92,200 vulnerable households received cash transfers or in-kind social grants, with a significant portion being female-headed households or those with disabled members.
Approximately 7.4 million Afghans gained access to services like roads, sanitation, and water supply, and more than 2.1 million community members received training in health and nutrition, the effects of climate change and disaster risk management.
In addition, the project has helped create a market for local civil works and preserve local contractors’ capacities built over the last two decades.
An estimated 2,200 highly skilled market-driven jobs have also been created.
The project is implemented by UNOPS, which facilitates international and local NGO partners and local private sector contractors to implement activities in rural and urban areas.
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