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Taliban claims it has ‘no hand in civilian killings’
The Taliban early Monday said there was no truth in the claims made Sunday by the foreign community in Afghanistan that it was killing civilians, destroying public infrastructure and carrying out assassinations.
In a statement published on their website, the Taliban stated: “Representatives of a number of European and other countries have baselessly asserted through a statement that the Islamic Emirate is continuing a senseless war, is killing civilians, is destroying public infrastructure and is involved in assassinations.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan rejects all such allegations,” the statement read adding that “all charges which they have leveled are unsubstantiated.”
According to the Taliban, the group “has absolutely no hand in civilian killings and neither is it involved in the destruction of public infrastructure, rather it considers safeguarding and securing public infrastructure its own responsibility.”
This comes after the EU and other diplomatic missions in Afghanistan including Australia, Canada, the UK, the US and NATO, issued a joint statement on Sunday that called out the Taliban for the ongoing attacks.
In a united front, they accused the Taliban of being responsible for the majority of targeted violence in the country and said the group’s “attacks undermine state institutions and contribute to an insecure environment in which terrorist and criminal groups are able to freely operate.”
The foreign missions pointed out that they had all invested heavily in energy, food security, water resources, and road infrastructure for the benefit of the Afghan people.
In line with this aid having been provided they said: “We condemn the ongoing destruction of vital infrastructure, including digging up roads, destroying cell towers, and blowing up energy stations by the Taliban.
“These actions serve no purpose besides hurting the Afghan people who – largely due to decades of conflict – suffer from food insecurity and significant economic and development challenges, further exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic.”
The missions stated that the Taliban must “understand that their violent, destructive actions outrage the world and must cease if peace is to come to Afghanistan.”
The EU and foreign missions stated they “expect the Taliban to demonstrate its support for the people of Afghanistan by ending the violence, stopping the destruction of vital infrastructure, and committing to a sustainable peace, for the benefit of all Afghans.”
But the Taliban shifted blame and stated: “The principle and leading cause for the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan is foreign occupation from which the Afghans have died for a full two decades, which has imposed on our people an impotent administration and which is still continuing to lend support to this corrupt regime.”
The group went on to blame foreign countries, including the EU for the current crisis.
“Unfortunately, most countries including the European Union are either directly or indirectly involved in the tragedies, destruction, bombings, killings and various other crimes being experienced by our people for the past twenty years, and some are still exerting efforts to extend the presence of foreign occupation forces in Afghanistan and to prolong the ongoing conflict.”
The group said if the Doha agreement, signed in February between the US and the Taliban, is implemented, it will prove beneficial and in the interest of everyone including Afghans but if it was not adhered to there would be repercussions.
“…if some discard the Doha accord and keep searching for excuses to continue the war and protract the occupation, then history has proven that the Afghan Mujahid nation can valiantly defend its values, soil, homeland and rights,” the statement read.
Former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has warned that the latest Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan and recent violence inside Pakistan are part of a wider crisis, saying he sees no indication that the situation is about to change.
In a post on X on Thursday, Khalilzad described the Pakistani airstrikes that have killed Afghan civilians and the increasing use of force against civilians in Pakistan as “interconnected tragedies,” implying both effected by Pakistan’s establishment.
“Unfortunately, I do not see any signs of change,” Khalilzad said, adding that current indicators suggested the use of force against Pakistanis would “likely get worse” in the coming days.
His comments came after Pakistan carried out a new wave of airstrikes inside Afghanistan overnight Thursday, saying it had targeted 10 locations used to launch and store drones.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to drones launched from Afghan territory a day earlier and described them as “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate.”
Afghan officials said the strikes killed four civilians. The attacks reportedly hit locations including Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate authorities have denied launching the drones cited by Pakistan and have condemned the strikes.
The latest attacks follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week in Kunar and Paktika. Pakistan said those operations killed 28 militants, while the United Nations confirmed that three Afghan civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed, with four others injured.
The renewed airstrikes come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Kabul and Islamabad. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from its territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Afghan authorities reject the allegations and say militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.
Khalilzad has previously called for a change in Pakistan’s strategy toward both its internal security problems and Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to Kabul and lodged a strong protest against the violation of Afghan airspace and Pakistani military airstrikes on several Afghan provinces.
The ministry handed the Pakistani diplomat a formal protest note following the attacks on Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces on Wednesday night, which reportedly caused civilian casualties.
The Islamic Emirate strongly condemned the strikes, calling them a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and contrary to Islamic, international, humanitarian and good-neighborly principles.
The ministry also rejected what it called baseless claims that Afghan territory was being used as a source of Pakistan’s recent security incidents.
It said using such claims to justify military action was an attempt to distort facts, mislead public opinion and conceal Pakistan’s internal failures.
The Islamic Emirate further accused Pakistan’s military leadership of avoiding commitments made to regional countries and warned that such actions could further escalate tensions in the region.
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Museum dedicated to preserving ‘Jihadi’ artefacts opens in Kandahar
The museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
A museum dedicated to preserving what Afghan authorities describe as “Jihadi artefacts” has officially opened in Kandahar, with officials saying more than 100 items have so far been collected for display.
Mufti Mohammad Tahir Ahmad, Director General for the Preservation of Jihadi Artefacts at the Ministry of Information and Culture, attended the inauguration ceremony alongside Qari Ahmadullah Saeed Khosti, Director of Registration for Jihadi Artefacts and Documents.
Mufti Inamullah Samangani, head of the Kandahar Information and Culture Department, and officials from several government departments also attended the ceremony.
According to the official responsible for preserving the artefacts in Kandahar, the museum’s collection includes more than 100 items gathered from different locations.
The collection includes weapons that officials say were captured from British, Soviet and US forces, as well as personal belongings and other items associated with people killed during Afghanistan’s conflicts over the past two decades.
Officials said efforts to collect additional artefacts would continue in order to expand the museum’s collection.
The museum is now open to visitors, according to the officials.
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