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US slaps sanctions on two former Afghan officials for corruption

The United States said on Monday it put sanctions on two former Afghan officials and 44 related entities for a corruption scheme in which they allegedly siphoned off millions of dollars in U.S. government funds meant for Afghan security forces, Reuters reported.
The Treasury named the two as Mir Rahman Rahmani, who served in parliament before the Afghan government collapsed in 2021 when U.S. forces withdrew and the Islamic Emirate took over, and his son Ajmal Rahmani, another legislator nicknamed “Armored Ajmal” for his business selling bulletproof vehicles to the Kabul elite.
“Through their Afghan companies, the Rahmanis perpetrated a complex procurement corruption scheme resulting in the misappropriation of millions of dollars from U.S. Government-funded contracts that supported Afghan security forces,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
The sanctions, imposed one day after Human Rights Day, block U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those who engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions, Reuters reported.
The sanctions come under an executive order that builds on and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.
In its statement, the Treasury described several alleged schemes under which the Rahmanis enriched themselves.
It accused them of rigging bids for contracts to provide fuel to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), artificially inflating prices.
“In 2014, several families involved in the fuel business, including the Rahmanis, colluded to drive up the price of fuel on U.S.-funded contracts by more than $200 million and eliminate competitor bids,” the Treasury Department said.
In another scheme, it accused them of fraudulently importing and selling tax free fuel and also of under-delivering fuel they were under contract to supply, read the report.
“After bribing their way into the Afghan Parliament, the Rahmanis used their official positions to perpetuate their corrupt system,” the Treasury added.
The Treasury also sanctioned 44 companies, 23 of them German, eight Cypriot, six Emirati, two Afghan, two Austrian, two Dutch and one Bulgarian.
Separately, the White House issued a proclamation expanding the U.S. government’s authority to limit the entry of foreigners involved in significant corruption as well as their family members, Reuters reported.
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Pakistan delivered ‘strong and clear message’ to IEA: PM Shehbaz Sharif

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

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

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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