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Taliban deny claims that freed prisoners have returned to battlefield

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Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem on Monday dismissed claims that 85 percent of the Taliban prisoners freed last year have returned to the battlefield. 

“These remarks are not true … Kabul administration always make such remarks,” said Naeem, adding that some of the former inmates have been re-arrested without having committed crimes. 
 
This comes after First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on Sunday that 85 percent of the over 5,500 Taliban prisoners freed in accordance with the US-Taliban agreement last year had returned to the battlefield. 
 
Saleh also said that many of them had been rearrested or killed by Afghan forces during clashes. 
 
“The issue is verified not only by the Afghan forces but international partners also verified it. Video and audio clips also reveal that they started their activities again,” said Zabiullah Adel, an official in Saleh’s office.
 
Meanwhile, sources at the Ministry of Defense (MoD) also said that many of the freed prisoners had returned to the battlefield. 
 
“It is clear that Taliban (fighters) returned to the battlefield again; their numbers need to be investigated. It is clear that they want war in Afghanistan,” said Sarwar Naizai, a political analyst.
 
“The end of war is not like this, one day one person is released and the next day he is arrested again. This issue forces other Taliban to join the battlefield again,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban member.
 
In February last year the US signed a deal with the Taliban on the withdrawal of troops. The Afghan government was not party to the agreement but was required to release over 5,500 Taliban prisoners in exchange for a reduction in violence on the Taliban’s part and the start of peace talks. 
 
Government released the prisoners, however there has been no reduction in violence and the peace talks in Doha have all but stalled after the Taliban failed to return to the talks tables after a three week break over December. 

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Pakistan delivered ‘strong and clear message’ to IEA: PM Shehbaz Sharif

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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday once again raised concerns that militant activities continue to emanate from the Afghan territory.

“It is our earnest desire to live in peace with them (Afghanistan) for all times to come. Unfortunately, despite our best and sincere efforts, terrorist activities continue to emanate from Afghan territory,” he said during said at a military academy.

Recalling Deputy PM Ishaq Dar’s recent visit to Kabul, Shehbaz Sharif asserted: “We shall continue our efforts to have better relations and understanding with our brotherly and neighbourly country Afghanistan.

He said that Pakistan has “delivered a strong and clear message” to the Islamic Emirate that while it desire peaceful neighbourly relations with Kabul, this cannot happen as long as the Afghan soil is being used by militants to attack Pakistanis.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that the attacks in the country have their roots in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has denied the allegations, stressing that it will not allow Afghanistan’s territory to be used against the security of other countries.

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U.S. aid cuts are impacting millions of Afghans: IRC

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For 23 million Afghans, U.S. aid funding has been a critical lifeline, but that support is now in jeopardy, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization said on Friday.

Funding cuts are already having devastating impacts on the country’s most vulnerable communities, especially women and children, IRC said in an article.

IRC said that due to cuts in U.S, aid funding, it has been forced to suspend some of our life-saving services in Afghanistan.

“As a result, over 700,000 people, including refugees and displaced families, will lose access to essential humanitarian services from IRC programming alone,” IRC said, “Life-saving treatment for more than 15,000 young children suffering from malnutrition has been disrupted.”

The organization noted that Afghanistan is facing a severe humanitarian crisis, with over 22.9 million people in urgent need of aid.

“Decades of conflict, a prolonged economic crisis, and environmental disasters have pushed millions into poverty and left more than one in three Afghans food insecure,” it said.

IRC said that the situation is especially dire for vulnerable groups, including over 3 million children and 1.2 million pregnant or nursing mothers suffering from acute malnutrition.

Across the country, more than 14 million people have limited or no access to health care. Communities are losing access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation services, creating a higher risk of disease outbreaks that could potentially spread across international borders, it said.

IRC warned that without renewed funding, countless families risk falling deeper into hunger, illness and poverty.

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IEA’s condemnation of Kashmir attack ‘encouraging’: Khalilzad

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Former US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Friday that the Islamic Emirate’s condemnation of the attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir was an “encouraging development”.

“In an encouraging development, the Taliban (IEA) have sided with the tourist victims in Kashmir and have denounced this terror attack,” Khalilzad said on X.

Twenty-six people were killed in a shooting in a tourist area in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on Tuesday.

The attack has escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, with the two countries taking measures against each other.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemned the attack and said that such incidents threaten the security and stability of the region.

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