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Top UK lawmaker says Britain should reopen embassy in Kabul and work with IEA
Britain should reopen its embassy in Kabul and start negotiating with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), a senior member of the UK’s parliament has said.
Tobias Ellwood, who is the chairman of the defence select committee in the UK parliament, said he is “no Taliban-appeaser” but it is time to start working with the Afghan government in order to prevent the country entering another cycle of “instability, terrorism and mass migration,” Telegraph reported.
Ellwood, who has served in the British army, said a more pragmatic strategy is needed by the West if things are to improve in Afghanistan.
It is almost two years since NATO withdrew from Afghanistan and the IEA took over the country, but no country has recognized the government.
Ellwood, who has just returned from a visit Afghanistan, said he has witnessed real progress and believes it is now time to start negotiating with the IEA, no matter how unpalatable that might seem.
He said Afghanistan is currently more peaceful than it has been since the 1970s and despite the ban, women are being allowed to return to work because the economy demanded it.
“I recognise their (IEA’s) policies will never align with our ideals. But I witnessed unreported compromises the war-exhausted nation is currently willing to accept,” Ellwood said.
The MP stressed that Afghanistan remains extremely fragile with widespread food shortages and half of the country’s nine million children not having access to school.
But he said engagement is the only way to have a hand in helping to shape the future.
“If the West continues to sulk we could be making another blunder which pushes the nation to a fiscal cliff, potentially igniting another cycle of instability, terrorism and mass migration,” he said.
“A more pragmatic strategy is necessary. The Taliban’s (IEA) restrictions on women’s rights may well serve as a negotiation tool for shared understanding.
“But such a possibility will remain unknown until we wake up. The first step is reopening our embassy. The second is to get real,” Ellwood said.
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Afghan official slams Shehbaz Sharif’s ‘shameful’ claims on Islamic unity
Khubaib Ghufran, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Information and Culture, sharply criticized Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over his recent claims about Islamic unity in relation to the war in Iran, calling them “shameful.”
On his X account, Ghaffran wrote: “You praised Trump as a hero of the Gaza peace plan, yet today you claim Islamic unity regarding Iran in a war that the same criminal (Trump) and his allies initiated?”
He added that while Afghanistan is governed under an Islamic system, Shehbaz Sharif has shown no compassion even toward the most vulnerable groups—from children to women and drug addicts—and that this cruelty persisted even during the holy month of Ramadan.
Ghaffran described Sharif’s stance as a “grave shame” and a stark example of “historical hypocrisy.”
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Airstrike on Kabul drug rehabilitation centre sparks legal concerns
Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Isabelle Lassee, said the scale of casualties suggests the presence of a significant civilian population at the site.
An airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul has drawn sharp criticism from Amnesty International, raising serious questions about compliance with international humanitarian law.
The strike, carried out on 16 March, targeted a site at Camp Phoenix, a former military base that has functioned largely as a rehabilitation centre since 2016. Pakistani officials have claimed the attack was aimed at an ammunition depot allegedly located within the compound.
Responding to those claims, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Isabelle Lassee, said the scale of casualties suggests the presence of a significant civilian population at the site.
“While the total number of casualties has yet to be independently verified, it is clear that the attack caused extensive civilian harm, with reports indicating hundreds killed or injured,” she said.
Lassee emphasized that the facility was widely known to house civilians undergoing treatment, and warned that any military action should have taken this into account. “Pakistan’s military should have taken all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians and civilian infrastructure,” she added.
She further noted that even if a military target had been present within the compound, international law requires that any strike be proportionate, ensuring that civilian harm is not excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
“The scale of destruction raises serious concerns about whether an adequate proportionality assessment was conducted and whether sufficient steps were taken to verify the target and minimize civilian casualties,” Lassee said.
Amnesty International has called on Pakistani authorities to disclose the intelligence behind the strike and to launch an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the incident. The organization stressed that findings should be made public to ensure accountability.
The group also urged all parties involved in the conflict to adhere strictly to international humanitarian law and to protect civilian infrastructure, including medical and rehabilitation facilities.
The airstrike formed part of Pakistan’s “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq,” which included strikes in both Kabul and Nangarhar Province. The targeted rehabilitation centre, known as Omid, reportedly had the capacity to accommodate around 2,000 individuals.
Casualty figures remain contested. Islamic Emirate officials claim more than 400 civilians were killed and over 200 injured, though these numbers have not been independently verified. The United Nations has so far confirmed 143 deaths.
The strike comes amid escalating tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, at least 76 civilian casualties had already been recorded since the conflict intensified in February.
Pakistani officials, meanwhile, reported civilian casualties on their side of the border, including four deaths in Bajaur district on 15 March and the killing of a child in North Waziristan earlier in the month, allegedly due to cross-border fire from Afghanistan.
The latest developments underscore growing concerns about civilian safety as hostilities between the two countries continue to intensify.
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