Afghanistan News Highlights: It is job of any intelligence agency to have ties with all, says Pak PM on ISI-Taliban 'relationship'

Afghan envoys have been marooned abroad after the Taliban returned to power following the withdrawal of US troops from the war-torn country. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's central bank said Wednesday that the Taliban had seized more than $12 million in cash and gold from the homes of former government officials. Stay tuned to DH for more updates...

IMF calls for action to prevent humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

The international community should take urgent action to prevent a humanitarian crisis inAfghanistan, the IMF said Thursday.

With the country currently cut off from funding from the International Monetary Fund, the Washington-based crisis lender is worried about the fate of the people inAfghanistan, spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters.

"We stand ready to work with the international community to advocate for urgent actions to stall a looming humanitarian crisis," Rice said.

Rice signalled the IMF favours "allowing the flow of remittances and small scale transfers" toAfghanistan.

But the IMF cannot resume direct engagement withAfghanistan"until there is clarity within the international community on the recognition of the government."

"We're deeply concerned with the difficult economic situation inAfghanistanand the humanitarian situation inAfghanistanand we've said, the immediate focus should indeed be on that humanitarian situation (and) aid to help the Afghan people." (AFP)

'He is a busy man': Pakistan PM Imran Khan takes swipe at US President Joe Biden

"He is a busy man", Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said curtly about Joe Biden, expressing his disappointment over US President's reluctance to contact him since coming into office in January this year.

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IMF warns of 'looming humanitarian crisis' in Afghanistan

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said it was deeply concerned with the economic situation facingAfghanistanand warned of a looming humanitarian crisis facing the country after last month's takeover by Islamist Taliban insurgents.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said the global lender's engagement withAfghanistanremains suspended, which means IMF funding is on hold.

He said the immediate focus should be on helping the Afghan people by allowing the flow of remittances and small-scale transfers and providing aid to countries hosting Afghan refugees. (Reuters)

Thousands of Afghans on US Military Bases Await Resettlement

Weeks after their dramatic escape from Kabul, tens of thousands of Afghans hoping to be resettled in the United States remain on military bases across the country and overseas as medical and security screenings slow the process.

A small but worrisome measles outbreak has contributed to the delays, causing a halt in evacuation flights as federal officials scramble to contain cases and inoculate new arrivals against the disease and other illnesses, including the coronavirus.

As of Sept. 14, about 64,000 evacuees fromAfghanistanhad arrived in the United States. The vast majority were at risk under Taliban rule after the U.S. withdrawal from the country last month. Nearly 49,000 are living on eight domestic military bases, waiting to be resettled in the United States, according to an internal federal document obtained by The New York Times. Roughly 18,000 are on bases overseas, largely in Germany. Some leave within weeks, but most stay longer.

The screenings, which involve an array of federal agencies, follow a condensed and harried evacuation effort last month shortly before the United States completed its withdrawal fromAfghanistan. About 100 Americans who want to leave, and an unknown number of vulnerable Afghans, remain in the country.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the Biden administration’s evacuation operation during hours of congressional testimony this week, which included calls from Republican critics for his resignation and charges that the administration failed to adequately plan for the Afghan government’s collapse to the Taliban. (International New York Times)

Russia-led bloc to hold army drills on Afghan border

A Russia-led security bloc said Thursday that it planned to hold large military drills in Tajikistan next month amid what it described as a deteriorating situation in neighbouringAfghanistan.

Moscow has moved to cement its position as a key player in the region after the United States' hasty retreat fromAfghanistanand the Taliban's takeover of the country.

The general secretary of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Stanislav Zas said the group would hold several "large scale exercises" in the ex-Soviet state.

Tajikistan is the only country out of the six-member bloc led by Russia that shares a border withAfghanistan.

The series of drills will include "our largest exercise this year," Zas said.

The group has taken "collective measures" to ensure Tajikistan's security in case of an "aggravation" on its border withAfghanistan, he added. (AFP)

In his first interview since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Zalmai Khalilzadeh, a US-Afghan diplomat, blamed President Ashraf Ghani for the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Khalilzad told the Financial Times he "did not know at all" that Ghani was planning to flee. (Radio Azadi)

Pakistan barely has funds for its own people, how can it fund the Haqqani network? And it is the job of any intelligence agency to have ties with everyone, that is why Pakistan ISI has connections with the Taliban: Imran Khan in a CNN interview.

Taliban hand over seized cash, gold to Afghan central bank

The Taliban has handed over about $12.3 million cash and some gold to Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country's central bank, a statement said on Thursday.

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Taliban deny their deputy PM, Mullah Baradar, is dead

The Taliban have denied that one of their top leaders has been killed in a shootout with rivals, following rumours about internal splits in the movement nearly a month after its lightning victory over the Western-backed government in Kabul.

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UN envoy meets new Afghanistan interior minister wanted by US

A UNenvoy has met Afghanistan's new interior minister who was for years was one of the world's most wanted Islamist militants and is now part of a government trying to head off a humanitarian crisis.

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Pakistan NSA criticises world's ‘wait and watch’ policy on recognising Taliban regime in Afghanistan

Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf has said that the ‘wait and watch’ policy on recognising the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was flawed and could result in the economic collapse of the conflict-torn country.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in mid-August, ousting the previous elected leadership which was backed by the West. The interim Cabinet announced by the Taliban consists of high-profile members of the insurgent group. (PTI)

Russia's Central Asian allies say won't host Afghan refugees

Members of a Russia-led security bloc that includes some countries adjacent or close to Afghanistan have no plans to host Afghan refugees amid the political and security crisis in the country, bloc member Kazakhstan said on Thursday.

The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) includes three Central Asian nations - Tajikistan, which has a lengthy border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan - as well as several more remote former Soviet republics. (Reuters)

China to host virtual meeting on Afghanistan

China says it will host a virtual meeting of Central and South Asian state leaders to discuss the situation inAfghanistan.

The meeting of members of the China- and Russia-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is scheduled for Thursday. (AP)

Friction among Taliban pragmatists, hard-liners intensifies

Friction between pragmatists and ideologues in the Taliban leadership has intensified since the group formed a hard-line Cabinet last week that is more in line with their harsh rule in the 1990s than their recent promises of inclusiveness, said two Afghans familiar with the power struggle.

The wrangling has taken place behind the scenes, but rumours quickly began circulating about a recent violent confrontation between the two camps at the presidential palace, including claims that the leader of the pragmatic faction, Abdul Ghani Baradar, was killed.

The rumours reached such intensity that an audio recording and handwritten statement, both purportedly by Baradar himself, denied that he had been killed. Then on Wednesday, Baradar appeared in an interview with the country's national TV. (AP)

UN refugee chief warns 'greater suffering' likely in Afghanistan

Afghanistan needs urgent and sustained support from the international community to prevent a larger humanitarian crisis, the head of the UNrefugee agency said, warning of global implications if that were to happen.

"The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains desperate," UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement after a three-day visit to the South Asian nation. (Reuters)

Afghan envoys marooned abroad after Taliban's sudden return

The Taliban's abrupt return to power has left hundreds of Afghan diplomats overseas in limbo: running out of money to keep missions operating, fearful for families back home and desperate to secure refuge abroad.

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$12 million seized from ex-officials as cash crunch hits Afghanistan

Afghanistan's central bank said Wednesday that the Taliban had seized more than $12 million in cash and gold from the homes of former government officials, as a financial crunch threatens the Islamists' rule one month after they took back power.

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Afghanistan would either gain lasting peace or end up in chaos, says Pakistan PM Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Afghanistan was on a historic crossroads as either it would gain lasting peace after 40 years of war through an inclusive government or end up in chaos.

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A terrorist regime armed with biometric scanners

For more than a fortnight, a popular Afghan TV journalist did not step out of the safety of his house aftertheTaliban walked into a defenceless Kabul.Fearing that his past will bring grief to him,he furiously erased all his social media posts on the Taliban.And then he did what everyone who had worked closely with the Afghan government has done— run to the airport.

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