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US gives 16 Mi-17 helicopters procured for Afghanistan to Ukraine: SIGAR
The United States is giving Ukraine 16 Mi-17 helicopters that Washington had procured for the former Afghanistan government, a US watchdog agency said Wednesday.
According to the latest Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report, the US Department of Defense (DOD) notified Congress in January that it intended to give the Ukrainian government five of the Russian-built helicopters, which had been undergoing maintenance at a Ukrainian facility.
"Ukraine accepted these excess defense articles on March 11,"SIGAR stated in its quarterly report submitted to US lawmakers this week.
"In mid-April, President (Joe) Biden announced a military assistance package to Ukraine that included an additional 11 Mi-17 helicopters that had been scheduled for Afghanistan," the report added.
This comes after Uzbekistan authorities said last week that dozens of aircraft flown into their country in August last year, during the collapse of the former government, belong to the United States and that these aircraft will not be returned to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government.
Afghan air force personnel flew almost 50 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to Uzbekistan in mid-August as former president Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Several more aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters were also taken to neighboring Tajikistan.
The IEA has however repeatedly requested that these aircraft are returned to Afghanistan.
But in a recent interview, Ismatulla Irgashev, a senior presidential adviser, said the aircraft would not be going back to Kabul.
“The U.S. government paid for them,” said Irgashev, his nation’s most senior diplomat dealing with Afghan matters. “It funded the previous Afghan government. So, we believe it is totally up to Washington how to deal with them.
“We’ve kept this military equipment in agreement with the U.S. and have told the Taliban (IEA) so.”
Little has been said since about the issue, in part because of the sensitivity of the issue in Uzbek-Afghan relations and the reluctance of officials on all sides to discuss it, VOA reported last week.
But US defense officials confirmed to VOA that both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have no plans to give the aircraft to the IEA.
In their latest report, SIGAR also confirmed reports that the fall of the Western-backed Afghan government last August gave the country's new IEA rulers access to more than $7 billion worth of US Department of Defense equipment.
"DOD estimates that $7.12 billion worth of ANDSF equipment remained in Afghanistan in varying states of repair when US forces withdrew in August 2021," the report said in reference to the US-trained and funded former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.
SIGAR also stated, citing the Pentagon, that $18.6 billion worth of ANDSF equipment was procured through the US Afghan Security Forces Fund (ASFF) since 2005 — not the $80 billion reported by some media. Much of that equipment was destroyed during combat operation, it added.
The equipment includes aircraft, vehicles, munitions, guns and communication equipment, as well as other gear, "in varying states of repair," according to Pentagon spokesperson Army Major Rob Lodewick.
"Nearly all equipment used by US military forces in Afghanistan was either retrograded or destroyed prior to our withdrawal," Lodewick said in a statement last week.
The SIGAR report quoted the IEA air force commander and former Afghan Air Force (AAF) personnel as saying that about 4,300 members, half of the former AAF, have joined the IEA’s air force, including 33 pilots.
"Only a fraction of the 81 aircraft at the Kabul military airport are functional, including six repaired UH-60 Blackhawks," the report said.
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IEA’s leader says all laws now based on Sharia
He also said: “The conquest of Kabul is like the conquest of Makkah.”
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has reiterated that the current system is based on the Holy Quran and Sharia, opposed to previous laws that were of European and American origin.
Speaking during his tour of northern provinces, Hibatullah Akhundzada criticized previous laws under the former government and said the laws in place now are based on the “Quran, Tigh and Hadith”.
He said: "Some countries claim to defend human rights; but in practice, they bombard and kill innocent people in countries like Palestine."
He also said: "The conquest of Kabul is like the conquest of Makkah."
He asked the officials of the Islamic Emirate to name victory day "Fath Day".
The leader of the Islamic Emirate stated that the Doha negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Emirate were conducted based on Islamic Sharia and according to him: "No step of these negotiations has been taken or implemented against the religion."
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US feels differently to China and Russia over Afghanistan
Greenfield stated that the Islamic Emirate cannot continue to live in a world where “women are being sidelined in society, 50 percent of their population not contributing to their countries.”
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Wednesday that Washington has differences with Moscow and Beijing over the issue of human rights in Afghanistan.
Addressing reporters at the Washington Foreign Press Center on UN Reform, Greenfield said that the US would consider human rights issues before recognizing an Islamic Emirate government.
According to her, the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan continues to worsen under the Islamic Emirate.
“We think we need to do more to hold them accountable, but also to push them to change,” she said.
Greenfield stated that the Islamic Emirate cannot continue to live in a world where “women are being sidelined in society, 50 percent of their population not contributing to their countries.”
“This is certainly a huge difference that we have with China and Russia, raising issues of human rights before we recognize a Taliban (IEA) government,” she said.
The US envoy also emphasized on the appointment of a special envoy of the United Nations for Afghanistan, an issue that the Islamic Emirate has opposed and Russia and China have also made their approval subject to the Islamic Emirate's consent.
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Turkmenistan has invested over $1.5 billion in Afghanistan: Rashid Meredov
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov says Ashgabat has invested more than $1.5 billion in joint projects with Afghanistan.
At a meeting to provide information about the joint infrastructure projects of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, Meredov said that Turkmenistan intends to expand political, economic, commercial, transportation and transit relations with Afghanistan.
Meredov has also invited India, Pakistan, international banks and the Asian Development Bank to invest in the TAPI project.
“The government of Turkmenistan has invested more than 1.5 billion dollars in various projects with Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is determined to develop and expand political, economic, commercial, transportation and transit relations with Afghanistan as much as possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, acting head of the Afghan embassy in Turkmenistan Fazl Mohammad Saber also said that the Islamic Emirate is determined to implement joint projects between the two countries.
“The opening of TAPI, TAP, fiber optics and railway lines, etc., is actually a sign of true friendship and brotherhood between the people of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, who have been living side by side in a good neighborly atmosphere for a long time,” said Saber.
“The people of Afghanistan welcome the successful implementation of these projects, and the Islamic Emirate is determined to implement them,” he added.
IEA’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that currently, the economic relations between Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are expanding.
In this meeting, the ambassadors of China, India, the head of the Asian Development Bank branch and the head of the UN representative also spoke and welcomed and praised the implementation of the mentioned projects.
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