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Security Council condemns IEA ban on Afghan women working for UN

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(Last Updated On: April 28, 2023)

The U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned on Thursday an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) administration ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations in Afghanistan and called on IEA leaders to “swiftly reverse” a crackdown on the rights of women and girls, Reuters reported.

The resolution – drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan – describes the ban as “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations,” asserts “the indispensable role of women in Afghan society” and says the ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles.”

UAE U.N. Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said more than 90 countries co-sponsored the resolution “from Afghanistan’s immediate neighbourhood, from the Muslim world and from all corners of the earth.”

“This … support makes our fundamental message today even more significant – the world will not sit by silently as women in Afghanistan are erased from society,” she told the council.

The Security Council vote came days before a planned international meeting in Doha on May 1-2 on Afghanistan. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will convene behind closed doors special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries to work on a unified approach to dealing with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

“We will not stand for the Taliban’s repression of women and girls,” Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, told the council. “These decisions are indefensible. They are not seen anywhere else in the world.”

“The Taliban [IEA] edicts are causing irreparable damage to Afghanistan.”

Earlier this month the IEA began enforcing the ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. after stopping most women working for humanitarian aid groups in December. Since toppling the Western-backed government in 2021, they have also tightened controls on women’s access to public life, including barring women from university and closing girls’ high schools.

The IEA says it respects women’s rights in accordance with its strict interpretation of Islamic law. IEA officials said decisions on female aid workers are an “internal issue.”

The Security Council resolution also recognizes the need to address substantial challenges facing Afghanistan’s economy, including through using assets belonging to Afghanistan’s Central Bank for the benefit of the Afghan people, Reuters reported.

The United States froze billions of the bank’s reserves held in the U.S. and later transferred half of the money to a trust fund in Switzerland overseen by U.S., Swiss and Afghan trustees.

“As of today, what we have seen is only that assets have been transferred from one account to another, but not a single penny returned to the Afghan people,” China’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang told the council.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia also called for the return of the Afghan Central Bank assets.

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Kabul police summons Afghan YouTuber Hamayon

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

Afghanistan’s YouTuber Hamayon Afghan was summoned to the police station for publishing a woman’s interview without her permission, Kabul police said.

The spokesman of Kabul Police Khalid Zadran said Friday on X that Hamayon interviewed an old woman and published the report without her permission.

“After the interview, the interviewee’s family complained to the police and the police summoned Hamayon Afghan to the police station,” said Zadran.

Zadran stated that police are working to solve the problem with the two sides’ agreement as soon as possible.

He urges people to avoid posting rumors on the issue.

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Contract worth $53 million signed for construction of last section of Khaf–Herat railway

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

A contract worth $53 million was signed Thursday for the construction of the last section of Khaf-Herat railway that connects Afghanistan with Iran.

The contract was signed between Afghanistan Railway Authority and Gamma Group in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, his office said in a statement.

The segment is 47-kilometer long, stretching from Rabat Parian to Herat International Airport and the Industrial Town, according to the statement.

It added that completion and standard operational readiness are expected within approximately two years.

“Upon its completion, this segment will integrate the Khaf-Herat regional connectivity project with Iran’s significant seaports and facilitate access to Europe via the Turkish railway network,” the statement said.

“Furthermore, traversing Afghan territory, it will bolster commercial exchanges between Central and South Asia. Notably, this project’s realization will enable the expansion of railway networks into Farah, Nimruz, Helmand, and Kandahar provinces,” it added.

Gamma operates across Europe and Asia in multiple sectors including construction, renewable energy, power transmission, mining, railways among others.

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US urges IEA to fulfill counter-terrorism commitments

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2024)

The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington is committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism.

“We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan can never again be a launching pad for terrorism, and we continue to push the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) to fulfill all of their counterterrorism commitments to the international community,” the department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a news briefing in Washington.

He reiterated that the United States had clearly communicated to the IEA that it’s their responsibility to ensure that “they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether it be Al Qaeda or ISIS-K or any other terrorist organization”.

Miller also reassured US allies that Washington was closely watching the developments in Afghanistan and was ready to deal with any threat emerging from the region.

“We remain vigilant against the evolving threat of these terrorist groups, and our global coalition to defeat ISIS and the C5+1 help intensify our efforts to monitor terrorist threats from the region and prevent their ability to raise funds, travel, and spread propaganda,” he said.

C5+1 refers to a diplomatic platform involving the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgy­zstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and the United States. It serves as a forum for discussing and addressing regional issues such as security, economic development, and cooperation.

“The United States remains vigilant against the evolving threat posed by terrorist groups, including ISIS-K, and has maintained an unwavering focus on terrorism since President Joe Biden took office three years ago,” Miller said.

The US, he said, was “working both unilaterally and with its partners to successfully disrupt threats across the globe and degrade ISIS”.

“We will continue to work to hold ISIS accountable for its actions and to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States and other Western countries,” Miller said.

This comes as IEA has repeatedly said that it is committed to not allowing anyone to use Afghanistan soil against any other country.

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