Kabul: Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held talks with the Taliban-appointed prime minister, a Taliban spokesman said, in the highest level foreign visit to Kabul since the group seized the capital last month. Qatar is considered one of the countries with the most influence over the Taliban. The Qatari capital Doha was also the home of the Taliban’s political office which oversaw talks with the US.
Sheikh Mohammed met PM Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund and a number of other senior ministers, a Taliban spokesman said. “The meeting focused on bilateral relations, humanitarian assistance, economic development and interaction with the world,” according to a statement from Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen. The meeting in the presidential palace, first reported by Al Jazeera television, was attended by deputy PM Abdul Salam Hanafi, foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, defence minister Yaqoob Mujahid, interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasiq. Shaheen said the leadership of the Islamic Emirate thanked the Qatar government for supporting the Afghan people. It said the Doha agreement, signed by the US and the Taliban, was a “landmark achievement, all sides should adhere to its implementation.”
Afghans protest meddling by Pak
Taliban fighters resorted to discharging their guns in the air to disperse protesters, including women, at a large demonstration in front of the Pakistan embassy in Kabul last week. Chanting anti-Pakistan slogans, hundreds of people took to the streets in Afghanistan’s capital to demand women’s rights and denounce Taliban rule, amid fears that the armed group would impose strict Islamic rule.
Blaming Islamabad for the Taliban’s return to power and denouncing its interference in Afghanistan, the protesters chanted anti-Pakistan slogans like “Death to Pakistan”, “Freedom, freedom” and “Taliban are Pakistani puppets”. One of the placards read “Pakistan, Pakistan, Leave Afghanistan”. According to a Khaama news report, the protesters claimed that Pakistan air force jets conducted airstrikes in Panjshir province. Several demonstrators said Taliban fighters with cameras and cell phones were taking close-up shots of the protesters. “We fear that we will face retribution for exercising our right to protest peacefully,” a woman said outside Pakistan’s embassy.
China to give $31mn aid
China announced $31 million as aid to Afghanistan, its first after the Taliban seized power in Kabul, as it backed the Afghan militant group’s interim government, saying it is a “necessary step” to restore order and “end anarchy”. Taking part in the first meeting of foreign ministers of the neighbouring countries on Afghanistan, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said Beijing will provide Afghanistan with 200 million yuan ($31 million) worth of grains, winter supplies, vaccines and medicines as per its requirements, official media reported. The meeting convened by Pakistan was also attended by foreign ministers from Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all of them the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan. Russia was conspicuously absent at the meeting hosted by Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Resistance group to declare a parallel govt
In response to the new cabinet announced by the Taliban, the resistance front in Panjshir province led by Ahmad Massoud has said that they will declare a parallel government in the country after consultations. The front termed the Taliban’s caretaker government as illegitimate and a vivid enmity with the people of Afghanistan, Khaama News reported. The front in its statement reiterated resistance against the Taliban and added that the Taliban are a threat to the region and the world. “The resistance front acknowledged that they will establish a transitional democratic and legitimate government, which will be forged based on the votes of the people and will be acceptable to the international community,” the resistance force said. The front has asked the UN, UNHRC, EU, SARC, ECO, and the member states of OIC to stop cooperation with the Taliban.
UN seeks millions in aid for Af
The United Nations drummed up millions of dollars in emergency funds from donor countries for beleaguered Afghans who could soon face widespread hunger, even as Western governments and the UN human rights chief voiced concerns about the Taliban’s first steps in establishing power in Afghanistan. The first such conference on Afghanistan since the Taliban took over a month ago is testing Western governments and other big traditional donors, which want to protect Afghans from looming humanitarian disaster but also want to keep pressure on the new militant rulers to respect rights and moderate their rule.