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U.S. sentences Afghan man to 30 years in prison for narco-terrorism and witness tampering
An Afghan man accused of attempting to smuggle large shipments of heroin into the United States to benefit the Islamic Emirate and Haqqani Network has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.
Haji Abdul Satar Abdul Manaf, 59, also known as Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai, was convicted in August after a two-week jury trial, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
In June 2012. the Treasury Department sanctioned Manaf for storing or moving money for the Islamic Emirate.
Beginning in at least January 2018, Manaf attempted to import large quantities of heroin into the United States and paid the IEA and Haqqani Network to support his drug trafficking.
In August 2018, Manaf sold a 10-kilogram shipment of heroin in Afghanistan to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, believing the heroin would be transported to the United States. Manaf claimed he had paid the Islamic Emirate to facilitate the heroin’s
production and said they would guard future shipments.
Manaf also attempted to transfer thousands of dollars of narcotics proceeds through his money-remitting business to individuals he believed were Haqqani Network operatives.
The US Justice Department also said that Manaf sought to silence a witness. While awaiting trial in New York, he directed his family members in Afghanistan to kidnap and threaten a DEA source who had testified against him.
In addition to his 30-year prison sentence, Manaf was ordered to forfeit the proceeds of his crimes and will serve five years of supervised release following his imprisonment.
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Riyadh committed to expanding bilateral relations with Kabul: Saudi ambassador
Faisal bin Talq al-Buqami, the Saudi Ambassador to Kabul, on Wednesday met with acting Minister of Defense Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid and emphasized Riyadh's commitment to expanding economic, political, and humanitarian cooperation with Afghanistan.
Enayatullah Khwarizm, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Mujahid described Afghanistan’s relationship with Saudi Arabia as culturally and ideologically shared and inseparable, and expressed appreciation for Riyadh's cooperation in various fields.
According to the statement, Mujahid called the resumption of the Saudi Embassy's activities in Kabul important and significant.
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Stanikzai says media is an essential part of society
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the political deputy foreign minister, says media is an essential need in society.
Speaking at a seminar aimed at improving the capacity of spokespersons from ministries and independent government institutions, Stanikzai emphasized the importance of access to information and the vital role of media in Afghanistan.
"In today's age, media and spokespersons are a significant need for society and the country, and this sector must be strengthened. Spokespersons must be strong and able to withstand any situation. In order to cope with the circumstances, they should strive to have comprehensive information not only about their work environment but also about the country and society,” he said.
Khabib Ghafran, spokesperson for the Ministry of Information and Culture, also addressed the seminar and said: "The main goal of this seminar is to discuss how to improve the capacity of spokespersons in central departments of the Islamic Emirate and how to address the issue of access to information."
Meanwhile, some journalists and organizations supporting journalists are calling for timely and comprehensive information to be made available to them.
Hujatullah Mujaddidi, head of Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association, said: "It is the responsibility of journalistic and media institutions to support the media by enhancing journalists' capacities, improving media literacy and ethics, and working on maintaining neutrality and innovation."
Rohullah Danish, a journalist, stated: "It is necessary that Afghan media receive more support because they play a significant role not only in information publication but also in education and cultural development within society."
After three years, journalists say they are still facing challenges regarding access to information, and that this issue has not been fully resolved.
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Egeland says Donald Trump’s aid pause ‘disastrous’ for Afghanistan
Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programs pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals
The head of a major humanitarian organisation said U.S. President Donald Trump's order to halt foreign aid for 90 days would have immediate and disastrous consequences in Afghanistan where relief operations are already stretched thin.
Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programs pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.
It was not immediately clear how much assistance would initially be affected by the Monday order as funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and is obligated to be spent, if not already spent.
The scope of the order was not clear, including whether it applied to Afghanistan's humanitarian funding, which is channelled through NGOs and United Nations agencies.
Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters that the decision had left agencies reeling as they braced for further cuts from the biggest donor to Afghanistan.
"A 90-day suspension of all aid, no new grants, no new transfer of funding, will have disastrous consequences immediately ... for an already starved aid operation for very poor and vulnerable girls and women and civilians in Afghanistan," he said during a video interview from Kabul late on Tuesday.
Afghanistan is home to more than 23 million people requiring humanitarian assistance - more than half the country's population - but aid has shrunk as donors face competing global crises and diplomats raise concerns about the Islamic Emirate’s restrictions on women in most areas of public life, including education and health.
Development funding that formed the backbone of government finances was cut after the IEA took over and foreign forces left in 2021.
Reuters reported last year that non-governmental groups played a critical role in filling the humanitarian void.
"If you go back in time it was a well funded operation, we got development assistance, then we could have perhaps have lived through three months of suspension, we cannot any more," Egeland said.
Trump told a rally shortly before taking office that aid to Afghanistan would be contingent on getting back billions of dollars of military equipment that U.S. forces left behind.
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