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KABUL - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan has distributed for thousands of Afghan children amid rising food insecurity in the country, the organization said on Wednesday.
"In the past week WFP distributed specialized nutritious foods to prevent malnutrition for over 6,500 kids under the age of 5 in the country," the organization wrote on Twitter.
"Strong bodies and minds lead to strong communities and futures," the tweet read.
The WFP said that it requires $200 million
to sustain its operations to the end of the year, providing life-saving food assistance in sufficient quantities to Afghans, including increased rations to refugees and internally displaced people.
Over half of the country's 30 million population lives below the poverty line, and food insecurity is on the rise, largely due to conflict and drought cutting off whole communities from livelihood opportunities, according to the WFP.
KABUL - The Kabul International Airport is now fully operational for international flights and all airliners can resume airlifts, spokesman of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban caretaker government announced on Sunday.
"As the problems at Kabul International Airport have been resolved and the airport is fully operational for domestic and international flights, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan assures all airlines of its full cooperation and expects all airlines and countries that had previously flown to Kabul to resume their flights as before," spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again assures full cooperation on its part in conducting flights more than 40 days after Taliban takeover, he added.
The Kabul airport was damaged with its many facilities destroyed during the withdrawal of US-led forces and American nationals on Aug 31.
Airport authorities confirmed that the Kabul airport has received planes carrying humanitarian assistance from Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan as well as a number of commercial flights from Pakistan, Iran and Qatar in recent weeks despite long suspension in the flights since mid-last month.
KABUL - The newly-formed administration of Afghanistan has welcomed the United States recent measure allowing flow of humanitarian assistance to the Asian country, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) welcomes recent decision by US Treasury Department allowing US government agencies along with international and non-governmental organizations and banks to facilitate flow of food and medicine to the IEA," Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the ministry's spokesman, said in a statement.
Afghanistan hoped all countries including the US and international organizations will continue to establish and enhance ties with the Afghan government, and to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, he added.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of Taliban caretaker government, on Thursday said that Afghanistan wants to have friendly relations with the international community, including the neighboring and regional countries.
On Friday, the United States issued general licenses, allowing the US government, NGOs and certain international organizations to engage in transactions that are necessary to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that possibility of a complete economic collapse in Afghanistan was "serious," highlighting an urgent need for funding support to Afghans.
He also appealed to the countries pledging 1.2 billion US dollars in relief for Afghanistan to take action quickly.
Besides, Taliban authorities have vowed that the aid will reach those in need in a completely transparent manner.
UNITED NATIONS - It is impossible to achieve the political process in Afghanistan without the Taliban's cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday told a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York.
The Security Council resolutions have a need to advance the political process in Afghanistan, and this is impossible to achieve without working with the Taliban, said the top Russian diplomat in response to a question about the possibility or plan of either easing or lifting the international sanctions against the Taliban.
Noting that the current situation "is not limiting or obstructing our contacts" with the Taliban, Lavrov said that the Security Council's sanctions "do not prohibit such contacts."
Speaking about Russia's contacts with the Taliban, the foreign minister said that Russia is "first and foremost geared towards ensuring that the security and safety of Russian citizens be upheld."
"And second, to facilitate the inter-Afghan reconciliation and inter-Afghan political process," he added.
If terms added, suffering will worsen, say experts pointing to refugee fears
With little aid reaching desperate Afghans in the month since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, calls have been made for donors to give without conditions in order not to worsen their suffering.
Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi last week urged international donors to restart aid flows and the international community not to politicize assistance.
The United States froze Afghanistan's dollar-denominated deposits that make up the majority of the central bank's reserves after the Taliban captured Kabul on Aug 15. The capital fell following a chaotic pullout of US and allied troops ahead of an Aug 31 deadline.
Ali Haider Saleem, a researcher at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies, a think tank in Islamabad, Pakistan, said the international community ought to take into account the magnitude of the crisis in Afghanistan, as the US "has already made many strategic miscalculations there".
"Denying the country aid would be considered an economic and humanitarian miscalculation," said Saleem, adding that funds could be sent in quarterly installments to better assess the situation over time.
"The situation will only deteriorate and more people will look to migrate to other countries," the researcher said. "And that obviously has more security and economic implications for its neighboring countries, particularly Pakistan, which has been hosting millions of Afghans already."
Amina Khan, director of the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, takes a similar view.
If donors have concerns as to where the aid would go, she said, mechanisms could be put in place to address such issues.
Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan, said Afghanistan's neighbors are worried about a possible "spillover of the conflict" and any subsequent increase in refugee outflows.
He also said some of these countries were worried that refugees would carry the coronavirus.
Farhan Mujahid Chak, an associate professor of political science and Gulf studies at Qatar University, said that with adequate foresight, planning and sincerity, the Afghan issue is "manageable".
"I think that so far the refugee issue has been contained but the worry is that the international community led by the US will punish the new Afghan government, which may precipitate a new refugee exodus," he said.
The US has signaled it will likely finance the work of United Nations and other agencies in Afghanistan, rather than entrust the funds to the Taliban-led government.
The European Union intends to focus on humanitarian aid as it navigates how to deal with the Taliban to ensure safe aid corridors.
Regional mechanism
"I understand there are logical and valid apprehensions regarding the Taliban, particularly because of the previous atrocities they had committed, but the group has inherited a pretty messy situation in Afghanistan," Amina Khan said. "And I think for the international community to expect them to deliver so quickly is I think a little unfair."
Amina Khan believes there is room for the Taliban to move toward an inclusive government. But if aid is going to be dependent on certain conditions, she thinks the group won't be able to fulfill them in the immediate term because it's in a transition period.
The scholar said that despite regional instability, there is still a need for a regional mechanism that can provide developmental aid to Afghanistan. "I'm not talking about trade credit but more of regional developmental mechanism that could provide aid," she said.
"Winter is coming up. So a regional donors' conference is essential. I know individually countries have been giving, but I think it would be better to do it under a regional mechanism because I think that could put pressure on the Taliban to deliver instead of doing it individually."
The UN earlier envisaged a worst-case scenario of 500,000 Afghan refugees arriving in neighboring countries by the end of the year. On Sept 13, it secured a financial commitment of more than $1.2 billion from the international community to support Afghans.
Xu Weiwei in Hong Kong contributed to this story.
KABUL－Family members of Afghan technical engineer Zamarai Ahmadi, who was killed in a drone attack by United States military forces along with nine other family members, are demanding justice and compensation after US military officials admitted that the attack on Ahmadi was a mistake.
"The US' confession of the deadly attack on civilians in my house virtually demonstrates its arrogance in targeting innocent civilians. Killing civilians is a blatant crime and the perpetrators must be brought to justice," said Emal Ahmadi, brother of Zamarai Ahmadi.
Zamarai, along with nine members of his family which included seven children aged 2 to 15, was killed in the drone attack on Aug 29, just one day before the completion of the US-led forces' evacuation from Afghanistan.
The Pentagon claimed that US troops had targeted a suicide bomber affiliated with the Islamic State group, that posed an imminent threat to US-led troops at the Kabul airport. Defending the operation, top US general Mark Milley insisted that the attack was "righteous".
Nevertheless, US military officials on Friday confessed to have "made a mistake" and offered an apology.
"Our investigation now concludes that the strike was a tragic mistake," said Frank McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, adding that the Pentagon was considering reparations.
However, Emal said more needs to be done than just offering an apology. Emal's 3-year-old daughter was also killed in the strike. "Offering an apology is not enough. The US government should pay compensation besides bringing the perpetrators to justice."
Sitting in front of a wrecked car, a saddened Emal whispered that his brother Zamarai was a kind person and had no relations with the IS or any other terror group.
"By targeting a civilian house and killing civilians, including innocent children, the US military committed a big mistake. Killing civilians is a war crime and those who committed the crime should be booked and brought to justice and should be punished," Emal said.
"I want compensation for the victims and demand punishment for the perpetrators of the crime that the US officials have termed as a big mistake. And if ignored, I would pursue the case at the international level, and approach all concerned judiciary organizations to ensure justice."
In support of Emal's demands, Abdul Aziz, a local defense lawyer, said killing civilians is a war crime, and that those behind the crime must be brought to justice.
Xinhua
KABUL - At least two people were killed and 21 others wounded in four separate explosions in Afghanistan on Saturday, multiple sources confirmed.
In Jalalabad city, capital of eastern Nangarhar province, two people were killed and 19 others wounded in three blasts targeting Taliban vehicles travelling along roads in Police District (PD) 6 and PD 4 in the morning, according to local public health officials.
"The two killed and 19 wounded were admitted at the regional provincial hospital in Jalalabad city following explosions in the morning," they told local reporters, adding most of the victims were Taliban members.
Taliban authorities in Nangarhar have not made comments on the report yet while unofficial sources said the blasts were caused by sticky Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts so far.
Earlier on Saturday, two civilians were wounded in an explosion with an unclear target in PD 13 of Kabul, reported local TV channel Tolo News.
KABUL -- The Kabul International Airport will soon be ready for international flights as efforts are underway to remove technical problems, airport director Abdul Hadi Hamadani said Monday.
"The domestic flights have already begun and the international flights would begin soon and efforts are underway to remove the remaining 10 to 15 percent technical problems at the airport," Hamadani said in a video clip as quoted by local media.
He made the remarks after the landing of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane at the Kabul airport and its taking off on Monday.
The Kabul airport were damaged with its many facilities destroyed during the withdrawal of the last US-led forces and American nationals on Aug. 31, according to him.
Hamadani also confirmed that the airport has received planes carrying humanitarian assistances from Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, adding that similar flights from Russia and Turkey are expected to arrive in the coming days.
US-led military intervention has taken many lives, but terrorism flourishes
Until two weeks ago, Zemari Ahmadi, an electrician in Kabul, had been helping the Americans who in late 2001 invaded Afghanistan, toppled the Taliban government and occupied the country.
On Aug 29, a day before the United States withdrew its last forces from Afghanistan, Ahmadi, 43, had just parked his Toyota at home after dropping off some friends or workmates. He had returned from his US employer's office, where he had worked since 2006. His family, mostly children, rushed out to greet him, when a drone strike launched by the US forces hit them. Ten of them, the youngest, 2, died, according to reports by New York Magazine and CNN.
US intelligence and the military said they were targeting a suspect suicide bomber. The US works hard to avoid civilian casualties, said John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, on Aug 30.
However, facts suggest otherwise. Research by Brown University in the US said that by April more than 71,000 Afghan and Pakistani civilians were estimated to have died as a direct result of the war.
And nearly 33,000 children were killed and maimed in Afghanistan during the 20-year war, or one child every five hours, according to the international humanitarian organization Save the Children.
In an interview with Spanish radio aired on Sept 1, Pope Francis questioned the West's 20-year involvement in Afghanistan as an outsider's attempt to impose democracy.
"It is necessary to put an end to the irresponsible policy of intervening from outside and building democracy in other countries, ignoring the traditions of the peoples," he said.
Between 184,382 and 207,156 Iraqi civilians were killed by direct violence after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 on the grounds that the country was developing weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be false.
In Mosul, northern Iraq, Ali al-Saadi found it beyond his imagination that the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in a place so far away would leave his home in ruins, friends dead or injured and his child maimed.
"My house was destroyed, and I have a child who was disabled during the bombardment when my house fell on us," he said.
The bombardment carried out by the US-led coalition in 2016 and 2017 left the old city in ruins.
Over the past 20 years the wars and military actions carried out by the US and its allies have inflicted immense human suffering in Central and West Asia but have failed to eliminate terrorism. Instead, analysts say, terrorist groups have flourished.
For Iraq, chaos caused by the US-led invasion not only encouraged terrorism to continue in the country, but also forced it to cross borders and become a regional issue, said Hashim al-Shamma, a political researcher at the Iraqi Center for Legal Development, a nongovernmental organization.
"Under the slogan of combating terrorism, the United States is trying to extend its control all over the world," al-Shamma said.
In Syria, the US entered the country without the consent of the Syrian government in 2014, but its presence has singularly failed to end a civil war.
'Long and complex'
"The war has been long and complex and horrific and unsuccessful," said Catherine Lutz, co-director of the Costs of War project and a professor of international and public affairs at Brown University.
The project estimated the toll from US-led war in the name of fighting terrorism at 897,000 to 929,000 killed as a direct result, whether by bombs, bullets or fire. They included only 7,073 US military and 8,189 US contractors but 375,505 civilians. Others include opposition fighters, journalists and humanitarian aid workers.
"The deaths we tallied are likely a vast undercount of the true toll these wars have taken on human life," said Neta Crawford, a co-founder of the project and a professor of political science at Boston University.
"It's critical we properly account for the vast and varied consequences of the many US wars and counterterror operations since 9/11 as we pause and reflect on all of the lives lost."
Not all perceived global problems are susceptible to amelioration through the use of military force, which often only deepen the problems, said Professor Tom Plate, a distinguished scholar of Asian and Pacific studies at Loyola Marymount University.
After a four-day trip to Afghanistan recently, Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said: "The scars of war last generations. Destroyed buildings can one day be rebuilt, but shattered limbs do not regrow. Children relive trauma long after the bomb blasts subside. Family members killed leave a permanent void. War shatters bodies and souls."
Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.
UNITED NATIONS -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said engaging the Taliban and providing humanitarian aid to the Afghan people are crucial for avoiding both a humanitarian catastrophe and an economic meltdown.
"These are two things that are interlinked and they depend on how they evolve ... for the moment, what is important is to have engagement, that engagement is necessary, and at the same time, there is an absolute priority, which is humanitarian support," he told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday.
The secretary-general also stressed the importance of countries to engage the Taliban "in an effective way."
Noting that the UN has been in Afghanistan since 1947, Guterres said that the UN has "a key role to play" in humanitarian aid to a people that are now in a desperate situation.
"We believe that a dialogue with the Taliban is absolutely essential at the present moment," he stressed.
Speaking about the economic situation in the country, the UN chief noted that "an economic meltdown of Afghanistan is in nobody's interest."
"We need to find ways to avoid a situation that would be catastrophic for the people ...," he added.
Regarding the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the mandate of which expires next week, Guterres said it would be difficult to create a new mandate given the country's current unpredictability.
"I hope that the consensus will be in a technical rollover for a short period, allowing time for a more clear perspective about what the situation is in Afghanistan and what the role of the UN should be," Guterres said.
"We want the Afghan people to live in peace ... we want the Afghan people to be able to stop the dramatic suffering that has existed in the past," said Guterres.
He also expressed hope for an "inclusive" Afghan government representing the different sectors of the Afghan population.
Editor's note: 9/11 was one of the most consequential events in the world since this century. Two decades ago, terrorists flew two hijacked aircraft into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon, causing huge damage to the US and the world.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed, and the economic loss to the US amounted to $200 billion while the loss to the global economy was $1 trillion, according a report issued by the UN.
After 9/11, the US launched the war in Afghanistan on the grounds of anti-terrorism, forcing them to adopt US-style democratic governance, which resulted in local social unrest and people living in misery. Taking anti-terrorism as an excuse, the US also started wars in places such as Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
In the past 20 years of US' anti-terrorism war, neither terrorism has been eliminated, nor have the people been protected from suffering from wars. The war has broken the regional strategic balance, exacerbated the deterioration of the regional situation, and harmed the world.
According to the data released by the Costs of War project of Brown University, since 2001, the US has spent $8 trillion in wars and military operations in 85 countries around the world in the name of anti-terrorism, killing more than 929,000 people, among which 387,000 are civilians. As many as 38 million people have been displaced in the war.
US-exported wars disturb world order, harm regional political situations
The world order is "no better off" and the United States is "certainly much poorer off -- reputationally and fiscally" 20 years after it initiated post-9/11 wars on terror, Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies, has said.
"I would submit that the past 20 years, and more broadly the years since the end of the Cold War, will rank as being among the most disastrous eras in the history of US foreign policy," he said.
After the Cold War, the United States "could have chosen global leadership by consensus," Gupta said. However, it chose to "impose on the world an America-dictated vision of order."
Political experts pointed out that ever since the US launched an international war on terrorism following the Sept 11 attacks, its policy has been defined mainly by military interventions to reshape the Middle East in accordance with its own vision and agenda, not for the benefit of the people in these countries.
As Edward Lozansky pointed out in his article in The Washington Times on Aug 31, the US destroyed the previously stable states of Iraq, Syria and Libya, unleashing in those countries unprecedented levels of anarchy, chaos and violence.
"The US is a democracy where the administration changes every four years-and with it, war strategy," Torek Farhadi, who served as an adviser to former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, said. "The result is a mishmash. The US tolerated corruption in Afghanistan. The American public was too remote from this to really know what is going on."
'Wars on terror' lead to tremendous humanitarian disasters
The Costs of War data shows that more than 38 million people have been displaced in the war zones in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Syria where the US has been involved.
The Afghanistan War (2001 - 2021):
Due to the lack of authoritative statistical data, there is no established opinion about the number of civilian casualties during the Afghanistan War, but it is generally agreed that since entering Afghanistan, the US troops caused the deaths of more than 30,000 civilians, injured more than 60,000 civilians, and created about 11 million refugees.
The website of The New York Times reported on July 30, 2019, that in the first half of 2019, there were 363 confirmed deaths due to the US bombs in Afghanistan, including 89 children. Scholars at Kabul University estimated that since its beginning, the Afghanistan War has caused about 250 casualties and the loss of $60 million daily.
According to the annual report released by the UN, 8,820 Afghan civilians were killed and injured in violent conflict in 2020. In the first half of 2021, the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan was 1,659 and 3,254 were injured, a 47 percent rise compared to the same period of last year. What's more, 6 million people, including 3 million children, in Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance.
The Iraq War (2003 - 2011):
It is hard to find precise statistics about the civilian casualties inflicted by the war, but the number is estimated to be around 200,000 to 250,000, including 16,000 civilian deaths directly caused by US forces.
According to the estimate of the United Nations, today in Iraq, there are still 25 million mines and other explosive remnants that need to be removed.
The Syrian War (2014 - present):
From 2016 to 2019, the confirmed war-related civilian deaths amounted to 33,584 in Syria, and the number of Syrian civilians directly killed by the airstrikes reached 3,833, with half of them being women and children. The website of the Public Broadcasting Service reported on Nov 9, 2018, that the so-called "most accurate air strike in history" launched by the United States on Raqqa killed 1,600 civilians.
According to a survey conducted by the World Food Programme in April 2020, about one-third of Syrians were faced with a food shortage crisis, and 87 percent of Syrians had no deposits in their accounts.
Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde/MdM) estimated that since the beginning of the Syrian War, about 15,000 Syrian doctors (about half of the country's total) had fled the country, 6.5 million Syrian people had run away from their homes, and about five million Syrian people had wandered homeless around the world.
Psychological shadow of terrorism remains
According to the US Department of Homeland Security, as the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks approaches, there have been concerns of triggering extremist attacks.
The specter of the attacks in 2001 lingers, serving as a constant reminder. In Washington, for example, the unofficial slogan of the post-9/11 US-"If you see something, say something"-can still be seen on billboards and public transportation. At airports, tightened security measures have made travel more stressful than ever for passengers and reduced their privacy.
About 50 percent of US citizens said they are "extremely concerned" or "very concerned" about the threat to the country posed by extremist groups based outside the US, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
However, about two-thirds of respondents said they are "extremely concerned" or "very concerned" about the threat of extremist groups based in the US.
People's worries are not unreasonable. There have been terror attacks since 9/11 such as the London terrorist attack on July 7, 2005, leading to 52 deaths and over 700 injuries; the Mumbai bomb attack on July 11, 2006, leading to 209 deaths and over 800 injuries; 2011 Norway attacks leading to 77 deaths; the Nov 13 Paris terrorist attack in 2015 leading to 137 deaths and over 300 injuries; and the New Zealand mosque shooting incident on March 15, 2019, leading to 51 deaths and 50 injuries, etc.
Situation of Muslims in the US worsens
Mistrust of Muslims didn't start on 9/11, but it dramatically intensified with the attacks. After 9/11, hate crime cases targeting to Muslims in the US have been rapidly increasing. Many American Muslims have grown up under the shadow of 9/11, facing hostility, suspicion, questions about their faith, doubts over their Americanness.
There is "this sense of being Muslim as a kind of important identity marker, regardless of your relationship with Islam as a faith," says Eman Abdelhadi, a University of Chicago sociologist.
In a survey launched by the Pew Research Center in March 2021, Americans said they believe Muslims are facing "a lot" of discrimination than to say the same about the other religious groups. In 2017, about half of Muslim American adults (48 percent) said they had personally experienced some form of discrimination because of their religion in the previous year.
UNITED NATIONS - A United Nations (UN) high-ranking official on Thursday called on the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to respect the rights of women.
"Women have a right to peaceful protest and to a life free of violence. In taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban authorities assume a duty to respect and protect these rights," Pramila Patten, officer-in-charge of UN Women, said in a statement.
"I am shocked and outraged by the images of women in Afghanistan being whipped, hit with shock batons and beaten simply for exercising their right to peaceful protest. I stand in solidarity with all Afghan women who are fighting for the respect of their fundamental rights and freedoms," said Patten.
"I call again upon the Taliban to adhere to their duty to ensure the full rights of all women and girls in Afghanistan, to ensure the immediate cessation of this wholly unacceptable normalization of violence against them and to monitor and investigate these violations so that perpetrators are held accountable whenever and wherever such violence occurs," she said.
There can be little credibility for promises made by the Taliban authorities to respect the rights of women and girls while such flagrant violations take place with impunity. There must be urgent action to ensure that women can fully, equally and safely exercise their right to participation in the public and political life of Afghanistan, she added.
ISLAMABAD－The Torkham border point between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has seen many people moving in both directions since the Afghan Taliban's takeover of Kabul last month.
During a recent visit to the border, in a tribal town, Xinhua's reporters witnessed the return to normalcy in travel and trade between the two countries, with border guards on each side allowing travelers with valid documents to come and go.
People entering Pakistan and residents settled along the borderland stretch told Xinhua of their hopes that peace will prevail in Afghanistan with no foreign interference.
They also hoped that the Afghan Taliban will continue with a positive approach to lay the foundation for the building of a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.
Riaz Shah, a taxi driver in the Pakistani border town of Landi Kotal, believes that peace in Afghanistan is vital for the prosperity of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghans want to see the country progress in a peaceful environment after two decades of being battered by war and terrorism, Shah said.
"I hope that things will return to normal after the Taliban's takeover, and all the promises which they have made about education and economic opportunities will be fulfilled," Shah said.
Shah, like many others who offered their views, said the United States' invasion not only led to a severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan but also resulted in border communities in Pakistan suffering from the increased activities of terrorists in the region.
In the years that followed the US' invasion in 2001, the country's troops had caused the deaths of more than 40,000 civilians and turned around 11 million people into refugees.
Shah said the Afghan Taliban have taken several positive steps recently. Another resident feeling encouraged is Wahid Ullah, a 38-year-old shopkeeper in Landi Kotal.
"Afghans now want a breath of fresh air. After all their suffering, they deserve to live in peace," Ullah said. "Common Afghans just want to earn their bread and butter in peace, without any threat of getting shot by a bullet or hit by a bomb."
Yaaraaz Shinwari, a resident of a Pakistani border town with friends and relatives in Afghanistan, is optimistic that the Taliban will bring a positive change to the country by adopting a progressive approach.
"From the speeches and statements of the Taliban, it seems that they are off to a positive start, and the people of Afghanistan and we who live the closest to them want it to continue," Shinwari said.
"We are very happy with the steps taken by the Taliban. They have allowed women to do business, work in a hospital, or whatever they want to do within the boundaries of Sharia law. We want them to keep the good things going."
Foreigners to leave
As Afghans and their neighbors look ahead to a brighter future for the country, 200 US citizens and other foreigners who remain in Afghanistan were set to depart on charter flights from Kabul on Thursday after the Taliban government agreed to their evacuation, a US official said.
The move will be among the first international flights to take off from Kabul airport since the Islamist militia seized the capital in mid-August, triggering the chaotic US-led evacuation of 124,000 foreigners and Afghans.
The official could not say whether the US civilians and other foreigners were among people stranded for days in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif because their private charters had not been allowed to depart.
The Taliban's announcement of a new government on Tuesday was seen by some as a signal they were not looking to broaden their base and present a more tolerant face to the world, as they had suggested they would do before their military takeover.
In Kuwait City at the end of a four-day tour of Persian Gulf states, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that the al-Qaida extremist group that used Afghanistan as a staging base to attack the US 20 years ago may attempt to regenerate there.
Xinhua - Agencies
The establishment of the Taliban's interim government paves the way for peaceful reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan amid formidable internal and external challenges, analysts say.
The international community should extend full support to the interim government to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people, as judgmental attitudes would only complicate the situation and would not be helpful, said Salman Bashir, a former foreign secretary of Pakistan and former ambassador to China.
"Let the dreadful chapters of death and devastation be closed and the people of Afghanistan begin with fresh hope for a better future," he said.
On Tuesday night, the Taliban announced the formation of a caretaker government for Afghanistan, with Mullah Hassan Akhund named as acting prime minister.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the appointments of members of the interim government are not final, as these are acting positions, and the remaining posts would be announced later. The move was aimed at carrying out necessary government work, he said, adding that the group would try to include people from various parts of the country.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that China is paying close attention to the formation of the interim Afghan government and the announcements regarding key government posts－moves that have put an end to the anarchic state that Afghanistan has experienced for more than three weeks.
"It is a necessary step for Afghanistan to restore domestic order and begin postwar reconstruction," Wang said at a daily news conference.
China hopes Afghanistan can form an open and inclusive government, pursue moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, resolutely combat terrorist forces in all forms and coexist on friendly terms with all countries, especially its neighbors, Wang said.
In his first statement since the Taliban's takeover of the capital, Kabul, in mid-August, Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said on Tuesday that the newly formed Taliban caretaker government will begin functioning soon.
He said the new leadership would ensure "lasting peace, prosperity and development", and he urged people not to try to leave the country.
Nonetheless, the Taliban and the new government face two major challenges, according to Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan. One challenge will be to gain recognition by the West, including the United States and its allies, while the other is to become acceptable to the majority of the Afghan population, Gul said.
"So until the Taliban accord important positions with authority to non-Taliban stakeholders, it will be difficult for them to effectively rule and neutralize opposition," he added.
Hurdles to recognition
Gul said there could be hurdles to recognition by the West, at least by the US, noting that Sarajuddin Haqqani, who has been named acting interior minister, is on the FBI's most-wanted list for terrorism.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday aboard Air Force One, as US President Joe Biden flew to New York, that there was no timeline for the recognition of the Taliban government.
Ambassador Dai Bing, the charge d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations, said at a Security Council briefing on the maintenance of international peace and security on Tuesday that the frantic and disorganized withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by the countries concerned has plunged Kabul into chaos and upheaval, leaving the Afghan people to pick up the pieces.
"We urge the countries concerned to honor their commitment to the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan, and not to pass the buck to its neighbors or the wider international community," he said.
Wang Dong, executive director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University, said: "America needs to deeply reflect on its hegemonic way of thinking."
Wang Wenbin said China will maintain communication with the acting government in Afghanistan and its leaders, and hopes the new administration will meet the expectations of the Afghan people and the international community.
Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, said that everyone will take part in strengthening Afghanistan, and "in this way, we will rebuild our war-torn country". The ultimate goal of the acting government will be to "put the country on its feet as soon as possible", he added.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
China has decided to provide Afghanistan with emergency humanitarian assistance worth 200 million yuan ($31 million), State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday.
The aid to the war-torn country will consist of food, winter supplies, vaccines and medicines, he said while speaking in Beijing by video link at the first meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries.
Wang said that China is also willing to help Afghanistan with projects to improve its people's living conditions when the security situation allows, and support its peaceful reconstruction and economic development.
China has decided to donate 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Afghanistan, and is ready to provide the country with more anti-pandemic and emergency supplies, he said, adding that China is also ready to study the possibility of resuming cargo transportation between it and Afghanistan.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi chaired the meeting, which was also attended by the foreign ministers of Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It was held one day after the Taliban announced the formation of a caretaker government in Afghanistan, with Mullah Hassan Akhund as the acting prime minister.
Wang described the meeting as a response to the changes in the situation in Afghanistan, saying that it marks the formal establishment of a coordination and cooperation mechanism by Afghanistan's neighbors.
The meeting was timely and necessary, as it will send a common message from all of Afghanistan's neighbors, he said, calling on them to use the platform to share their policies, coordinate their positions and jointly deal with the challenges.
Wang said that the hasty withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan had left the country facing grave challenges, and some international forces will possibly create new difficulties for it by using political, economic and financial means.
Given the situation, no one is more eager than Afghanistan's neighbors to want it to resume peace and development, he said, calling for the countries involved in the meeting to exert a positive influence on the development of the situation in Afghanistan on the basis of respecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Wang urged the US and its allies to meet their obligations to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan to help it uphold stability and develop positively.
He also called on Afghanistan's neighbors to guide the Taliban in uniting the nation's ethnic groups and parties to build a broad-based and inclusive political framework, adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, firmly fight terrorism of all kinds and establish friendly relations with all countries, particularly with neighboring countries.
He welcomed the positive remarks made by the Taliban on forming the government, fighting terrorism and dealing with relations with Afghanistan's neighbors, saying that the key is translating these into concrete actions. He expressed his hope that the Taliban could honor its commitments and strive for international recognition.
Wang stressed the need for Afghanistan's neighbors to play a unique role in creating a sound external environment for the country's stability and reconstruction, while addressing their own legitimate concerns.
He called on the countries to develop coordination and cooperation in helping Afghanistan with pandemic control, ensuring that its border crossings remain open, strengthening the management and control of refugees and migrants, providing humanitarian assistance to the country, deepening anti-terrorism and security cooperation, and developing anti-narcotics cooperation.
BEIJING -- China attaches importance to the Taliban's announcement of the formation of a caretaker government in Afghanistan, together with some important personnel arrangements, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.
According to media reports, the Taliban announced on Tuesday night the formation of Afghanistan's caretaker government, with Mullah Hassan Akhund appointed as the acting prime minister.
"This has ended the more than three weeks of anarchy in Afghanistan and is a necessary step toward Afghanistan's restoration of order and post-war reconstruction," spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press briefing.
China's position on the Afghanistan issue is consistent and clear, said Wang, adding that China upholds a policy of non-interference, respects Afghanistan's sovereign independence and territorial integrity, and supports the Afghan people in choosing a development path that suits their national conditions.
Wang said China hopes that Afghanistan will build a broad-based and inclusive political framework, adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, fight firmly against terrorism of all kinds and establish friendly relations with all countries, particularly with neighbouring countries.
China stands ready to maintain communication with Afghanistan's new government and leaders, and hopes that the new government will broadly absorb opinions from Afghan ethnic groups and parties, and meet the Afghan people's aspirations and the expectations of the international community, Wang said.
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations will assist the fledgling Taliban government on paving the way for international aid delivery in war-torn Afghanistan and the rights of women and girls, the UN relief coordinator said on Tuesday.
"The movement we face here today, as many, many other people have told me, is not the movement that we saw (in 1998)," said UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths on his meeting with Mullah Baradar and the Taliban leadership. "It certainly has links in ideology but it's different to the one then."
"It's suddenly a great power in the very early stage," he said. "One senior leader of the movement said to us, 'We need guidance; we need guidance,' and therefore we will provide guidance."
Griffiths spoke from Doha on his two-day visit to Kabul via video link for correspondents at a regular briefing at the UN headquarters in New York.
He talked about his discussions on humanitarian issues and the rights of women with the Taliban leadership.
Griffiths said that he told them "very clearly what humanitarian agencies around the world in every country need to operate anywhere in the world."
The relief chief said he also set out values and principles on the fundamental requirements for the freedom of women and girls for work, education and their rights to be full members of society.
The undersecretary-general said he had spoken to some senior Afghan women who advised him to be very clear with the Taliban, welcome their statements on the issue of women and girls and then talk about "how we can turn that into reality."
Baradar agreed but "he did add that the rights of the people in Afghanistan were subject to the culture and religion of Afghanistan," Griffiths said, indicating it was an area that needs some work.
Also on Tuesday, Griffiths' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a consolidated 606-million-US-dollar Flash Appeal for Afghanistan to address the immediate response gaps in Afghanistan.
Basic services in Afghanistan are collapsing and food and other life-saving aid is about to run out, OCHA said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe. He will host a high-level meeting on Monday, Sept. 13, in Geneva on the Afghanistan humanitarian situation.
The United Nations on Tuesday appealed for almost $200 million in extra funding for lifesaving aid in Afghanistan, as the international community comes to terms with the new Taliban regime with a flurry of diplomacy.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the extra sum meant a total of $606 million in aid was now needed for Afghanistan until the end of the year.
"Basic services in Afghanistan are collapsing and food and other lifesaving aid is about to run out," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said.
The agency voiced the hope that countries would pledge generously at the conference, saying the $606 million was needed to provide critical food and livelihood assistance to nearly 11 million people, and essential health services to 3.4 million.
The UN has warned 18 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster, and another 18 million could quickly join them.
The Taliban, too, have appealed to the international community to continue support for Afghanistan.
The heightened focus on funding support came after the Islamist fighters claimed total control over the country on Monday, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last remaining holdout of resistance against their rule.
In Panjshir, the Taliban published a video of their flag being raised over the governor's house－underscoring a historic win that has seen the anti-Taliban bastion defeated for the first time during 40 years of conflict.
Also on Monday, students across the war-torn nation have started returning to university for the first time since the Taliban stormed to power, and in some cases females have been separated from their male peers by curtains or boards down the middle of the classroom.
A senior Taliban official told Reuters that classroom dividers such as curtains were "completely acceptable", and that given Afghanistan's "limited resources and manpower "it was best to "have the same teacher teaching both sides of a class."
Qatar talks
What happens in schools across the country is being closely watched by foreign powers, which want the Islamist movement to respect the rights of women in return for vital aid and diplomatic engagement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opened talks on Tuesday in Qatar, as they try to speed up evacuations from Kabul.
Blinken told reporters that Taliban officials had told the United States that they would let people with travel documents depart freely.
Qatar, which hosts a major US military base, has been the gateway for 55,000 people airlifted out of Afghanistan, nearly half the total evacuated by US-led forces after the Taliban takeover.
The US on Monday facilitated the evacuation of four US citizens by land from Afghanistan, the first departures arranged by Washington since the military pullout.
A US State Department official said the Taliban were aware of the operation and did not interfere.
But nongovernmental organizations say that as many as 1,300 people－including US citizens－are stuck at the airport in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. The delay was blamed by some activists on the US State Department, Reuters reported.
Asked whether the US would recognize the Taliban, US President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday: "That's a long way off."
Meanwhile, Turkey is working with Qatar and the US about operating Kabul airport and is in talks with the Taliban, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday, adding that there was also "no need to rush" in recognizing the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan.
Cavusoglu said the international community should take a wait-and-see approach before recognizing the Taliban's rule, sounding a similar tone to the one adopted by the European Union at a meeting on Friday.
"There is no need to rush," he said. "This is our advice to the entire world. We should act together with the international community."
South Korea said on Tuesday that it is willing to work with a new Afghanistan government led by the Taliban if it follows "international convention, respects basic human rights and refuses to provide refuge for terrorism".
Agencies and Heng Weili in New York contributed to this story.
-- The Taliban announced the formation of caretaker government in Afghanistan, with Mullah Hassan Akhund as the acting prime minister.
-- The appointments of the interim government were not final as these were acting positions, and the remaining posts would be announced at a later date, said Taliban spokesman.
-- The Taliban previously promised to build an inclusive government and hoped that Afghan people would help in the country's transition.
KABUL -- The Taliban announced on Tuesday night the formation of Afghanistan's caretaker government, with Mullah Hassan Akhund appointed as the acting prime minister.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference here that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi were named as the acting deputy prime ministers, while Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban co-founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, was appointed as the acting defense minister.
Amir Khan Muttaqi was appointed as the acting foreign minister, Sarajuddin Haqqani, son of the founder of the Haqqani network, was named as the acting interior minister and Abas Stanikzai as the acting deputy foreign minister, the Taliban spokesman said.
Mujahid said that the appointments of the interim government were not final as these were acting positions, and the remaining posts would be announced at a later date.
The move was aimed at carrying out necessary government works, he said, stressing that it was an "acting" government and the group would try to take people from other parts of the country.
He did not elaborate on how long the caretaker government will serve.
Basir Faqiri, a shop owner in Kabul, hoped that lasting peace would be restored in the war-torn country with the formation of the caretaker government.
"The announcement of the acting government is another step toward the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan," said Faqiri, planning to reopen his shop and restart his small business.
"I hope the Taliban soon finds some solutions for political and economic uncertainties," he said.
Taliban's supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada said in a statement after the announcement of the acting government makeup that the new leadership would ensure "lasting peace, prosperity and development", and urged people not to try to leave the country.
He said that all will take part in strengthening Afghanistan and "in this way, we will rebuild our war-torn country."
He told Afghans that the ultimate goal of the new authorities would be to "put the country on its feet as soon as possible" and rebuild the country.
The formation of the caretaker government was announced after the Taliban said on Monday it had completely captured Panjshir, the last holdout province of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.
Panjshir, some 200 km north of the capital Kabul, had been the last province in Afghanistan uncontrolled by the Taliban after the group seized most of Afghanistan's territories since early August in its blitz attacks, including Kabul.
The last batch of US troops left Afghanistan at mid-night on Aug 30, one day before the Aug 31 deadline set by US President Joe Biden, ending a 20-year invasion war into the Central Asian country.
In 2001, the US-led military forces invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of searching for Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
During the past two decades, the US-led operations in Afghanistan have caused more than 30,000 civilian deaths, and turned about 11 million people into refugees, leaving Afghanistan in desperate need of stability and rehabilitation.
The Taliban has previously promised to build an inclusive government and hoped that Afghan people would help in the country's transition.
At a press conference held on Aug 18, the first since Taliban's takeover of the capital Kabul on Aug 15, spokesman Mujahid said the Taliban wants to have good relations with everybody to develop the country's economy and achieve prosperity.
The Taliban supreme leader had declared a general amnesty, promising to ensure the safety of the contractors and translators who had worked for the United States and allied forces, the government soldiers who had been fighting the Taliban for years, and those whose families were attempting to leave Afghanistan, Mujahid said.
He also said women could work and study in different fields within the framework of Sharia or Islamic law, and they would be offered all rights within the Islamic principles, because women are vital parts of the society.
Students across Afghanistan returned to classes on Monday as the country's almost deserted universities reopened for the first time since the Taliban came to power.
In major cities including capital Kabul, female students at several universities are reportedly being segregated in classes, taught separately or restricted to certain parts of the campuses. A widely circulated photo on social media shows female students being separated from their male peers by a curtain down the middle of the classroom.
Women's rights in Afghanistan have been closely monitored by the international community, which has raised concerns about Afghan women's rights to education and employment under Taliban's rule. Those rights were severely curtailed under the conservative Islamist group when it was last in power from 1996 to 2001.
Different for women this time?
The Taliban's education authority issued a lengthy document on Sunday outlining their measures for the classroom, which also ruled that men and women should be segregated – or at least divided by a curtain if there are 15 students or less.
Women can only attend classes if they wear an abaya and a niqab and are separated from men, the group said.
At private colleges and universities, which have mushroomed since the Taliban's first rule ended, women must only be taught by female teachers, or "elderly men," and use a women-only entrance, according to another document circulated by an association of private universities in Afghanistan and seen by Reuters.
They must also end their lessons five minutes earlier than men to stop them from mingling outside, the AFP reported.
So far, the Taliban have said nothing about public universities.
A senior Taliban official told Reuters that classroom dividers such as curtains were "completely acceptable," and given Afghanistan's "limited resources and manpower" it was best to "have the same teacher teaching both sides of a class."
For some women, however, it was a relief that they would still be able to attend university at all.
Zuhra Bahman, who runs a scholarship program for women in Afghanistan, said on social media she had spoken to some of the students.
"They are happy to go back to university, albeit in hijab," she said. "Taliban opening universities for women is a key progress. Let's continue to engage to agree on other rights and freedoms."
Brain drain concern
On Monday, there was a strikingly low turnout at Kabul's universities, with education leaders fearing many more of the nation's young and talented people have fled the country.
Noor Ali Rahmani, director of Gharjistan University in Kabul, estimated up to 30 percent of the students left Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control in the middle of August.
Rahmani told AFP that only 10 to 20 percent of the 1,000 students who enrolled last year came to Gharjistan University on Monday, although there were no classes scheduled.
Several teachers said there was uncertainty over what rules would be imposed under the Taliban, who have yet to form a government.
Sher Azam, a 37-year-old teacher at a private university in Kabul, said he was worried about how many students would come back, given the economic crisis the recent turmoil has triggered.
"I don't know how many students will return to school, because there are financial problems and some students are coming from families who have lost their jobs," he told Reuters.
For 28-year-old computer science student Amir Hussein, "everything changed completely" after the Taliban takeover, he said.
"Many students are not interested anymore in studying because they don't know what their future will be," he said.
Reuters and AFP contributed to this story.
