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Qatar pledges to deepen cultural cooperation with Afghanistan
Qatar has pledged to strengthen its cultural ties with Afghanistan, reaffirming Doha’s support for ongoing engagement with the Islamic Emirate government despite limited international recognition.
Mirdaf Al-Qashouti, Qatar’s Chargé d’Affaires to Afghanistan, met Tuesday with Shir Ahmad Haqqani, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) Minister of Information and Culture, where he emphasized the importance of expanding cultural cooperation between the two nations.
According to the Ministry of Information and Culture in Kabul, Al-Qashouti praised the long-standing historical and religious ties between Qatar and Afghanistan and assured increased collaboration in cultural and educational programs.
Haqqani described relations with Qatar as significant, highlighting ongoing efforts to implement memorandums of understanding aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation. He also expressed appreciation for Qatar’s humanitarian support, particularly its assistance to victims of the recent earthquake in Kunar province.
Qatar remains one of the few countries maintaining an active diplomatic presence in Kabul since the IEA’s return to power in 2021. Doha has also served as a key intermediary between the Islamic Emirate and the international community on humanitarian and political issues.
The spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid announced on Wednesday that the security and defense forces of the Islamic Emirate will temporarily halt the “Rad al-Zulm” defensive operation on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and also at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar.
Zabiullah Mujahid said in a post on X: “The Islamic Emirate, while appreciating the goodwill of friendly and mediating countries, emphasizes that maintaining Afghanistan’s national security, territorial integrity, and the safety of Afghan lives is its national and religious duty, and it will bravely respond to any aggression in case of a threat.”
Meanwhile, Ataullah Tarar, Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, also announced that Pakistan has temporarily suspended its attacks on Afghanistan for Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey.
A UN official told Reuters on Wednesday that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) estimated the number of victims of the bombing of Kabul’s Omid hospital by Pakistan at 143 dead.
However, health officials in Afghanistan had earlier reported that the attack killed more than 400 people and injured 265.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of trying to create “anarchy and weakness” in Afghanistan, following a deadly airstrike on Kabul.
In an interview with UK’s Sky News, Karzai said Islamabad’s policies were aimed at keeping Afghanistan unstable and “downtrodden,” warning that such an approach would harm both countries.
He condemned the recent strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, which Afghan officials say killed around 400 people, describing it as an “extremely unfortunate event” in the history of relations between the two neighbours.
Karzai said he personally heard the explosion, describing a “horrific sound” that shook his home and filled the surrounding area with smoke and dust.
The former leader, who governed Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, said tensions between the two countries are longstanding, claiming Pakistan has struggled to maintain stable relations with successive Afghan governments.
He urged Pakistani leaders to change course and pursue a more constructive relationship, saying past strategies of interference and destabilisation had failed and would not succeed in the future.
Fighting between the two countries has intensified since late February, when Pakistan launched airstrikes it says targeted militant infrastructure. The United Nations estimates the violence has displaced more than 100,000 people.
Pakistan has denied targeting civilians, insisting its operations were aimed at militant sites and accusing Kabul of spreading “misleading” claims to deflect from alleged cross-Durand Line threats.
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