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Taliban pose severe threat to govt and still close to al-Qaeda: UN report
An emboldened Taliban poses a severe and expanding threat to the government of Afghanistan, remains close to al-Qaeda, and believes it can return to power by force if necessary, according to a United Nations Security Council report released on Wednesday.
The report compiled by the UN Monitoring Team, which is tasked with tracking security threats in Afghanistan, paints a bleak picture of the security outlook, CNN reported.
The UNSC report comes half way through the US and foreign troops withdrawal from Afghanistan – a retrograde expected to be finished by September 11.
According to the agreement, signed last year between the US and the Taliban, the insurgent group pledged to cut ties with terrorist groups including al-Qaeda.
But the UN Monitoring Team says the Taliban remains “closely aligned” with al-Qaeda — which has threatened “war on all fronts” against the US.
The two groups “show no indication of breaking ties,” even if they have temporarily tried to mask their connections, according to the report, although it notes that the Taliban calls this “false information.”
According to the UN report, 2020 was the “most violent year ever recorded by the United Nations in Afghanistan.”
Security incidents have risen over 60% in the first three months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
The UN team says that the Taliban is “reported to be responsible for the great majority of targeted assassinations that have become a feature of the violence in Afghanistan and that appear to be undertaken with the objective of weakening the capacity of the government and intimidating civil society.”
The report also indicates that part of the Taliban leadership has no interest in the peace process, saying that “both deputy leaders of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Yaqub Omari and Sirajuddin Haqqani are reported by Member States to oppose peace talks and favour a military solution.”
Haqqani is the commander of the Haqqani network, a powerful semi-autonomous force within the Taliban structure. According to the UN, Mullah Yaqub, son of the late Taliban founder Mullah Omar, was appointed as head of the Taliban’s Military Commission in May 2020.
The UN Monitors assess that the “security situation in Afghanistan remains as tense and challenging as at any time in recent history,” with member states reporting that the “Taliban have been emboldened to sustain attacks for longer periods while also exercising greater freedom of movement. This has allowed the Taliban to mass forces around key provincial capitals and district centres, enabling them to remain poised to launch attacks,” CNN reported.
The UN monitors added that many believe the Taliban are “seeking to shape future military operations when levels of departing foreign troops are no longer able to effectively respond.”
According to the UN report, member states assess that the Taliban “contest or control an estimated 50 to 70 percent of Afghan territory outside of urban centers, while also exerting direct control over 57 percent of district administrative centers.”
Asfandyar Mir, South Asia security analyst at Stanford University, says the Taliban appears ready to go on the offensive against the Afghan government. “Taliban is starting to put major pressure in provinces adjacent to Kabul — including, worryingly, in neighboring Laghman, which saw substantial Afghan security forces defections to the Taliban,” Mir told CNN.
“In the south of the country, the Taliban is poised to put more pressure on provincial capitals.”
The report assesses that, despite twenty years of warfare, Taliban numbers remain “robust” and “recruitment has remained steady” — with estimates of the insurgent group’s fighting strength ranging from 58,000 to 100,000, CNN reported.
The construction of a water canal, planned by the late Japanese doctor and aid worker Tetsu Nakamura, has been completed in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.
Nakamura was from Japan, but had honorary citizenship of Afghanistan. He was killed in 2019.
He worked in Nangarhar for many years, focusing mainly on building water canals.
Nakamura was working hard to complete his projects, but these were suspended following his death.
Later, the projects were resumed with the help of the government of Japan.
During his time in Nangarhar, Nakamura built several health centers and carried out more than 1,600 irrigation projects, canal constructions and provision of clean water.
His greatest work was the construction of a 25-kilometer long canal from the Kunar river, which irrigates hundreds of acres of land.
He also built a recreation park, dug wells, and established agricultural research farms.
“Dr. Nakamura made 9 weirs in Kama, Shewa and Behsud districts. Thousands of acres of land are irrigated and millions of people benefit from it. All the projects planned by Nakamura have been completed,” said Ajmal Stankzai, the representative of the Nakamura Foundation.
“Nakamura would behave with a laborer like a laborer. He would take stones with us. He used to tell us that the people of every country serve their country and you should also serve the ruined Afghanistan,” said Deen Mohammad, a resident of Koz Kanar district of Nangarhar.
In Kama district, the work of Nakamura projects is ongoing. One of the projects is the construction of a secon canal from the Kunar river.
“There was a huge water problem in Kama district. Fortunately, with Nakamura’s cooperation, many lands were irrigated,” said Bashir Ahmad Kamawal, a resident of Kama district of Nangarhar.
After Nakamura’s death, now an NGO called PMS is following in his footsteps and is working to build canals and dams.
Recently, the construction of a canal in Kot district of Nangarhar was completed and inaugurated. The canal is 5 kilometers long.
“Many projects are planned and our ministry has taken care of them… We thank them for feeling the pain of Afghans and helping our country,” said Abdul Latif Mansour, Acting Minister of Energy and Water.
Tetsu Nakamura was shot and killed by unknown men in 2019 when he was going to work from Jalalabad city. It is not yet known who was behind the assassination.
A deminer died in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province on Tuesday, police said.
The incident happened around 10:00 a.m. in Khurma area of provincial capital Trink Kot, said Hazrat Bilal Uruzgani, the provincial police spokesman.
Another deminer was injured in the incident, he said
Uruzgani said that the incident happened during an operation to clear the area from mines.
Afghanistan’s acting minister of public health Dr Qalandar Ebad, along with other officials, visited a number of flood-hit villages in Baghlan province on Tuesday.
The officials assessed damage in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo in the Guzargah district.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, Ebad inspected “vulnerable areas affected by recent floods and, expressing sympathy with the local people, promised that the leadership of the Ministry of Public Health will spare no effort to provide health services to those in need.”
Ebad also expressed gratitude for the efforts of healthcare workers and their commitment to helping people in need.
He directed officials to make every effort “to improve the health status of patients affected by recent floods in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo, Baghlan province”.
Based on official figures, more than 300 people have died as a result of floods in Baghlan province and over 1,600 others have been injured.
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