Tag: Afghanistan

Last of US troops exit Afghanistan as Taliban celebrates with gunfire at Kabul airport

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Celebratory gunfire in Kabul by Taliban coincided with exit of last of US troops from Afghanistan, putting an end to twenty year long war in Afghanistan. On Monday night the last US military aircraft took off from Kabul airport. Two weeks earlier the Taliban insurgent group had seized control of the capital city of Kabul, toppling the internationally recognized Afghani government and President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country. The swift rise of Taliban to power took everyone by surprise, including Taliban leadership and US, that had clearly mis-anticipated the timeline before setting troops withdrawal deadline in a hasty fashion.

US announced its complete exit just before midnight, local time, but sans any official handover. Taliban spokesperson Qari Yusuf said in statement, “The last US soldier has left Kabul airport and our country gained complete independence.”

The new rulers of Afghanistan hailed their return to power after 20 years after the first Taliban regime was ousted by US invasion in 2001. The Kabul sky was lit with gunfire by rejoicing Taliban fighters.

“The last five aircraft have left, it’s over!” said Hemad Sherzad, a Taliban fighter stationed at Kabul’s international airport. “I cannot express my happiness in words … Our 20 years of sacrifice worked.”

As soon as the last US military airplane took off in air, Taliban wasted no time in moving in and seizing control of the Kabul airport that was under US and foreign forces control while they attempted hurried evacuation of their citizens and Afghan citizens before August 31 deadline.

Videos show Taliban fighters entering the hangar and examining US military helicopters left behind along with the equipment. US has said it had disabled 73 aircrafts and 27 Humvees before leaving them behind. C-RAMS (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System) were also made inoperable. Few equipment including two firetrucks, front end loaders and aircraft staircases were left behind by US military for Taliban to run the airport.

Mohammad Islam, a Taliban guard at the airport said, “After 20 years we have defeated the Americans. They have left and now our country is free.” He added, “t’s clear what we want. We want Shariah (Islamic law), peace and stability.”

US Intercepts Missile Attacks In Afghanistan Before Withdrawal Deadline

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As American efforts to evacuate troops and citizens from Afghanistan reaches a point of completion, US anti-missile defences are already at work defending attacks. At least five rockets were intercepted stopping them on their tracks, aiming at the Kabul airport.

Currently, America has evacuated about 114,400 people including foreign nationals and Afghans deemed at risk. Meanwhile, British forces have also been evacuated from Afghanistan and efforts are being made to protect the only remaining infrastructure to help people evacuate, if need be.

The onslaught of missiles and suicide bombs have been organized by ISIS who have taken complete responsibility of the attacks. According to Afghan media, the recent missile attacks were initiated from the back of a vehicle. Several other missiles struck various parts of the Afghan capital.

These attacks are going unabated. But later on, a US drone strike was initiated to bring down a suicide car bomber who Pentagon officials said had been preparing to attack the airport on behalf of the ISIS-K, a local affiliate of the Islamic State. It is both enemy of Taliban and the West.

Drone attack led to casualties which has been criticized by Taliban as American unlawful.  America will continue to evacuate as many as possible till the deadline of August 31. Canada and Germany have already ended their evacuation efforts each clearing each 4000 plus citizens and Afghanis. However, about 300 German citizens remain in Afghanistan, a spokesman for the foreign office in Berlin shared with the media.

Other countries that have already finished and closed their evacuation efforts include Ireland, Italy, France, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, Ukraine, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, UAE, Qatar, India, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Some definitely remain and might have to wait for longer before any of countries decide to take the bull by its horns, again.

IRC: Women in Conflict Zones Under-tested for COVID-19

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Data collected by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) reveals mostly men are testing positive for COVID-19 in conflict-affected countries like Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen. The figures released on Wednesday are fuelling concerns that COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is spreading silently among women struggling to access already limited testing and treatment facilities in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

The IRC reports that in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Chad, and Central African Republic the disparities are particularly worrying, with over 70% of COVID-19 cases having been detected in men, and 30% or less in women. Those figures are in stark contrast to the ratio in Europe, for example, where it is roughly a 50/50 split between men and women. 

“This data suggests women are being under tested for COVID-19 in many places where the IRC works,” said IRC Senior Technical Advisor of Emergency Health Stacey Mearns. “Both men and women in conflict-affected countries experience great difficulty in accessing healthcare, but data shows women have a slimmer chance of seeing a doctor than men in countries such as Pakistan.”

Mearns says that in countries where the disparity is at play, women may not have the same freedom of movement as men but often perform caring roles and are front-line workers, placing them at equal or higher risk of contracting the highly contagious virus.

“The numbers do not add up. What we are seeing is a situation in which women are potentially being left out of testing and their health deprioritized,” Mearns argued in a June 24 press release. 

“There is a need for a major increase in testing for everyone in the countries where we work, but we must pay particular attention to ensure women are getting equal access to testing and health care.”

The United Nations has also warned that as with conflict situations, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to deepen pre-existing inequalities between men and women and could undo limited gender equality gains made in recent years. 

“Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex,” the UN said on April 9 when it released a policy brief detailing the impacts of COVID-19 on women.

In addition to unequal access to health care, women around the world have been subject to an alarming increase in domestic and family violence exacerbated by virus lockdowns, and data shows women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 job cuts.  

The IRC says it needs an additional $30 million to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and support for its efforts to improve female education and access to COVID-19 testing and treatment. 

Read also: Fighting Continues in South Yemen Despite Ceasefire

US Reduces Forces in Afghanistan to 8,600

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The United States had reduced its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600, Marine General Frank McKenzie reported on June 18. The significant draw-down of military forces comes as part of a US-Taliban agreement signed in February that intends to reduce US involvement in the country. The deal requires a full withdrawal of US military forces by May 2021 as the Afghan government negotiates its own agreement with the Taliban.

Barriers to peace

“The war has no winner. All of us are losers in a war. The winner of peace will be the people of Afghanistan and our neighbors,” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told the Atlantic Council on June 11 as the conflict Afghanistan enters a new phase. But questions remain over the potential success of negotiations between Taliban and the government, which is losing power because of the US withdrawal and cuts of roughly $1 billion in US support.

“Devastated and ravaged by war, Afghanistan has continually suffered due to weak political dispensations and inadequate state resources, mainly due to infighting among the rulers of Afghanistan,” Ghani told the Atlantic Council.

Conditions

While the US has now met its conditions of the agreement, the Afghan government’s reluctance to release the “most dangerous” Taliban prisoners has received support from the government’s western partners, potentially endangering future peace talks. “There are some dangerous Taliban fighters named in the list, and releasing them is literally crossing a red line,” a senior European diplomat told Reuters.

Large-scale prisoner releases were part of the US-Taliban agreement, but many fear they endanger the balance of power between the government and the Taliban. While many prisoners have already been released, those involved in organizing suicide attacks on civilians remain in Afghani prisons.

Disagreement

“The United States continues to be encouraged by the great progress on prisoners release by both sides. We support additional releases by both sides to get the issue off the table,” a spokesman of the US military said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid agreed as the Taliban continues to insist all 5,000 prisoners are released before peace talks can commence.

The Taliban says their list of 5,000 prisoners to be released as part of the agreement include no high-profile fighters involved in attacks, disputing government and NATO claims. “There are no such people, these are just excuses to create barriers against the peace process,” Mujahid told Reuters.

The US appears confident that the Taliban will no longer pose the threat to the US that led to the 2001 invasion of the country. “Conditions would have to be met that satisfy us — that attacks against our homeland are not going to be generated from Afghanistan,” General McKenzie stressed.

UNHCR: Staggering 79.5 Million People Currently Displaced

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Based on the UN’s figures, nearly one percent of the global population was displaced at the end of 2019, a grim milestone that UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi laments. 

“This almost 80 million figure – the highest that UNHCR has recorded since these statistics have been systematically collected, is of course a reason for great concern,” Grandi said on June 18. 

According to the UNHCR, the majority of the world’s asylum seekers, refugees and internally displaced persons come from just five countries — Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar.  

“If crises in these countries were solved, 68 per cent of global forced displacement would be on its way to being solved,” the UN refugee chief said. 

Last year, an additional 11 million people were pushed out of their homes by violence, persecution, political unrest, famine, climate change, and other disasters. In the wake of COVID-19, the entrenched nature of conflicts in places like Syria and Afghanistan, and “insufficient political solutions,” Grandi warns, “we don’t see this trend diminishing.” 

“With the international community so divided, so unable, so incapable of making peace, unfortunately the situation won’t stop growing, and I am very worried that next year it will be even worse than this year,” he told the French Press Agency (AFP) on Thursday.

Poor Countries Bearing the Brunt of Global Problem 

Grandi criticised the rhetoric often used by rich countries that welcoming displaced people affects all countries equally, and shot-down the “politicised misconception” that they are most likely to seek refuge in wealthy countries far from home.   

“This continues to be a global issue, an issue for all States, but one that challenges most directly the poorer countries – not the richer countries – in spite of the rhetoric,” he said. 

The UNHCR data shows poor countries host 85% of the nearly 80 million displaced people worldwide, with 73% of those ‘on the move,’ seeking shelter in a neighbouring country. 

Burkina Faso, in the troubled Sahel region, has long welcomed those fleeing violence in neighbouring Mali and Niger, but since 2016, has itself become a worrying hotspot for violence and, as a result, displacement.  

“Nothing prepared me for what I saw in Burkina Faso… I was particularly struck by the plight of so many women who had suffered violence, whose husbands had been taken away from them or killed, whose children had been separated from them,” Grandi told France24 after visiting the country in February 2020. 

Armed groups, extremists and criminal gangs have taken advantage of weak governments, poverty, and local ethnic tensions to rain terror across Burkina Faso, and particularly in the lawless borderlands between the three countries home to refugee camps.  

As a result, some of the 25 000 Malian refugees seeking safety in Burkina Faso have returned home to areas so dangerous, humanitarian and defence forces can’t enter them. Meanwhile more than 800 000 Burkinabeè are now believed to be displaced in their own country. The government of Burkina Faso, also one of the world’s poorest, is grappling to deal with the scale of the humanitarian crisis and many displaced people are still sleeping outdoors, and going hungry while still living with the severe trauma of the violence inflicted upon them.

Read also: Mediterranean Claims 20 More Migrant Lives Off Tunisian Coast

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