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06-09-2021
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
ISLAMABAD/ RIYADH/ KABUL: Prime Minister Imran Khan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in a telephonic conversation yesterday agreed that the international community must “step up its engagement” with Afghanistan to avert any humanitarian and refugee crisis, a statement from the Prime Minister Office said.
According to the statement, “both the leaders agreed on the importance of an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan.”
It said that the two leaders had a “detailed discussion on the latest situation in Afghanistan”.
The prime minister, during the conversation with the Saudi crown prince who is also deputy prime minister and defence minister stressed that the international community “had the responsibility to stand by the Afghan people and support them economically as well as to help rebuild the country,” read the statement.
The prime minister underscored that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is vital for not only Pakistan but for regional stability.
The premier emphasized the need to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Afghans and take steps to ensure economic stability of Afghanistan, the statement added.
Among other things discussed was the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), scheduled in Riyadh in October this year.
According to the PM Office statement, recalling the two historic initiatives recently announced by the crown prince to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, the prime minister thanked him for an invitation to participate in the launch ceremony of the initiative.
The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to further fortify the historic fraternal ties with Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, said the statement.
He conveyed warm wishes for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, it added.
The premier and the Saudi crown prince “agreed to work together to further augment and diversify bilateral ties in all spheres”, the PM Office further said.
UAE crown prince, PM discuss latest Afghan situation
The prime minister had a separate conversation with UAE Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed, where the two “exchanged views on the issues of bilateral interest as well as regional developments, in particular the latest situation in Afghanistan”, the PM Office said, in a statement.
The prime minister “reaffirmed the importance Pakistan attaches to its strong fraternal ties with UAE and close cooperation between Pakistan and UAE”.
On the latest situation in Afghanistan, the prime minister “underscored that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in vital interest of Pakistan and the region”.
According to the statement, he underlined that an inclusive political settlement was “the best way forward to ensure safety and security as well protection of the rights of the people of Afghanistan”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan stressed that the world community must remain engaged, in order to support the Afghan people, economically and to help rebuild the country. He emphasized the need to address the dire humanitarian needs and to ensure economic stability of Afghanistan.
PM Imran Khan congratulated the crown prince for making excellent arrangements for the upcoming Expo 2020. He conveyed his best wishes for the resounding success of the mega event, the statement said.
He and the crown prince “agreed to work together to enhance collaboration in all areas of common interest”, the statement added.
Qatar emir, PM discuss evolving Afghan situation
The prime minister also spoke to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, with the two leaders discussing bilateral relations and their views on the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
“The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to further strengthen political and economic partnership with Qatar,” the PM Office said in a statement.
According to the statement, the premier appreciated Qatar’s assistance to Pakistan during the pandemic, in particular the care afforded to more than 200,000 Pakistani expatriates working for progress and development of both countries.
The prime minister underscored that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in vital interest of Pakistan and the region. He underlined that after 40 years of conflict and instability, there was an opportunity to establish lasting peace in Afghanistan, the statement said.
PM Imran Khan emphasized that the world community “must remain positively engaged and support the Afghan people at this crucial juncture – both economically and to help rebuild the country”. This, he stressed, was “crucial to avert humanitarian and refugee crises in the country”.
“The two leaders agreed to remain in close contact on bilateral matters as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the PM Office added.
Earlier, the Chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed met the Hezb-e-Islami leader and former Afghan prime minister, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and Taliban leaders in Kabul, sources on Sunday.
According to the reports of Afghan media, the ISI chief and Hekmatyar shared views regarding the anticipated inclusive government in Afghanistan.
The Taliban are due to form an inclusive government within days and the group’s co-founder Mullah Baradar is likely to head the new Afghanistan set-up, while the world anxiously waits to see how they include other groups.
Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban founder Mullah Omar and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, in senior positions in the government, three sources said.
The Taliban had enforced a strict sharia rule when it stayed in power from 1996 to 2001 but this time around, the movement has tried to present a more moderate face to the world, promising to protect human rights and refrain from reprisals against old enemies.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have ordered that the women attending private Afghan universities must wear an abaya robe and niqab, covering most of the face, and classes must be segregated by gender or at least divided by a curtain.
In a lengthy document issued by the Taliban’s education authority, they also ordered that female students should only be taught by other women, but if that was not possible then “old men” of good character could fill in.
The decree applies to private colleges and universities, which have mushroomed since the Taliban’s first rule ended in 2001.
During that period, girls and women were mostly excluded from education because of rules regarding same-sex classrooms and the insistence they had to be accompanied by a male relative whenever they left the house.
There was no order for women to wear the all-enveloping burqa in the new regulations issued late Saturday, but the niqab effectively covers most of the face anyway, leaving just the eyes exposed.
In recent years, burqas and niqabs have largely vanished from the streets of Kabul, but are seen more frequently in smaller cities and towns.
The decree comes as private universities prepare to open on Monday.
“Universities are required to recruit female teachers for female students based on their facilities,” the decree said, adding that men and women should use separate entrances and exits.
If it is not possible to hire women teachers, then colleges “should try to hire old men teachers who have a good record of behavior”.
While women now have to study separately, they must also end their lesson five minutes earlier than men to stop them from mingling outside.
They must then stay in waiting rooms until their male counterparts have left the building, according to the decree issued by the Taliban higher education ministry.
“Practically, it is a difficult plan, we don’t have enough female instructors or classes to segregate the girls,” said a university professor, who asked not to be named “but the fact that they are allowing girls to go to schools and universities is a big positive step,” he told media.
Afghanistan’s new rulers have pledged to be more accommodating than during their first stint in power, which also came after years of conflict, first the Soviet invasion of 1979, and then a bloody civil war.
They have promised a more “inclusive” government that represents Afghanistan’s complex ethnic makeup, though women are unlikely to be included at the top levels.
Over the past 20 years, since the Taliban were last in power, university admission rates have risen dramatically, particularly among women.
Before the Taliban returned in a lightning military campaign, entering the capital Kabul last month, women studied alongside men and attended seminars with male professors but a spate of deadly attacks on education centres in recent year’s sparked panic.
The Taliban denied being behind the attacks, some of which were claimed by the local chapter of Daesh.
On the other hand, the leader of the Afghan opposition group resisting Taliban forces in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul has said he welcomed proposals from religious scholars for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting.
Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), made the announcement on the group’s Facebook page on Sunday. Earlier, Taliban forces said they had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir after securing the surrounding districts.
The Taliban took control of the rest of Afghanistan three weeks ago, taking power in Kabul on August 15 after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
“The NRF in principle agree to solve the current problems and put an immediate end to the fighting and continue negotiations,” Massoud said in the Facebook post.
“To reach a lasting peace, the NRF is ready to stop fighting on condition that Taliban also stop their attacks and military movements on Panjshir and Andarab,” he said, referring to a district in the neighbouring province of Baghlan.
A large gathering of all sides with the Ulema council of religious scholars could then be held, he said.
Earlier, Afghan media outlets reported that religious scholars had called on the Taliban to accept a negotiated settlement to end the fighting in Panjshir.
There was no immediate response from the Taliban.
NRF spokesman Fahim Dashti said on Sunday that “heavy clashes” were under way in Panjshir Valley.
According to the NRF, it surrounded “thousands of terrorists” in Khawak Pass and the Taliban abandoned vehicles and equipment in the Dashte Rewak area.
Charles Stratford, reporting from the capital, Kabul, said sources on the ground said hundreds of Taliban fighters had been taken prisoner on Sunday.
“Sources within the valley are saying the NRF are claiming to have captured about 1,500 Taliban. Apparently, these fighters were surrounded,” said Stratford.
“There are growing fears about the estimated 150,000 – 200,000 people inside the valley. All communication has been cut off. We also know that the Taliban have cut the electricity as well, so it is very difficult to get independent verification of exactly what is going on.”
However, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said that their forces had fought their way into the provincial capital, Bazarak, and had captured large quantities of weapons and ammunition.
Karimi said on Twitter opposition forces had suffered numerous casualties.
Massoud, who leads a force made up of remnants of regular Afghan army and Special Forces units as well as local militia fighters, called for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban before the fighting broke out about a week ago.
Several attempts at talks were held but they eventually broke down, with each side blaming the other for their failure.
Rugged Valley
Panjshir, a rugged valley in the mountains north of Kabul that is still littered with the wreckage of Soviet tanks destroyed during the long war in the 1980s to remove the Soviet presence, has proved very difficult to overcome in the past.
Under Massoud’s late father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the region long resisted control by both the invading Soviet army and by the Taliban government that previously ruled from 1996 to 2001 but that effort was helped by supply routes leading north to the borders, which were closed off by the Taliban’s sweeping victory last month.
The Panjshir fighting has been the most prominent example of resistance to the Taliban but small individual protests for women’s rights or in defence of the green, red and black tricolor flag of Afghanistan have also been held in different cities.
Planes stranded
Meanwhile, at least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days, officials said on Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging about why they were unable to take off as pressure ramps up on the United States to help those left behind to flee.
An Afghan official at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, many of whom did not have passports or visas, and thus were unable to leave the country. He said they had left the airport while the situation was sorted out.
The top Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, however, said that the group included Americans and they were sitting on the planes, but the Taliban were not letting them take off, effectively “holding them hostage”. Michael McCaul did not say where that information came from. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the accounts.
