The #US rebuffs an appeal by the #Taliban to release Afghan assets frozen after their takeover, saying the new government in #Kabul must “earn” legitimacy first.https://t.co/wtDkNQX7mm
[ToloNews] The farmers in the southern province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... say that they will cultivate opium as its products make better profits than other crops, especially as the price of opium has increased compared to the previous years.
"When we plant the seeds, it takes six to seven months to grow fully. The people here are using the white flower seeds," said a Samiullah, a farmer.
Officials of the Islamic Emirate said they are trying to facilitate ways for the cultivation of poppy alternatives.
"In cooperation with several international organizations, we want to facilitate alternative ways for the people to cultivate other crops in order to prevent smuggling and narcotics in Afghanistan," said Inamullah Samangani, deputy front man of the Islamic Emirate.
According to UNODC findings, income from Afghan opiates amounted to US$ 1.8 billion to 2.7 billion in 2021 inside Afghanistan, but much larger profits are made in the illicit drug supply chains outside the country.
The UNODC said in a recent report that the price of opium has recently surged. According to UNODC findings, income from Afghan opiates amounted to US$ 1.8 billion to 2.7 billion in 2021 inside Afghanistan, but much larger profits are made in the illicit drug supply chains outside the country. Increased political uncertainty in Afghanistan since August 2021 is driving up opium prices, which almost doubled in August compared to May, said UNODC.
The UNODC said that around 300 tons of pure heroin was expected to be produced in Afghanistan this year.
"If there is no cooperation with the Islamic Emirate on the international level, the poppy cultivation will be a big challenge for Afghanistan and the world," said Atif Mukhtar, head of the strategic studies center.
The UNODC also warned that alongside rising opium and heroin production, methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan, using the wild ephedra plant as a precursor, has sharply increased in recent years.
Helmand is said to be producing a significant amount of the world's opium. Its residents have become well-experienced in its cultivation.
The lack of markets for Afghanistan’s fresh and dry fruits is said to be a cause in the rise of poppy growth. Many neighboring countries have closed their borders with Afghanistan.
[KhaamaPress] Germany sent their high-level diplomats to Afghanistan for the first time after the Taliban ...Arabic for students... takeover and met with the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister and acting foreign minister.
Germany pledged to be providing the people of Afghanistan with humanitarian aid but added not to help the de-facto authorities in Kabul directly.
The German Foreign Minister in a statement said the country’s special representative for Afghanistan, Jasper Wieck, and ambassador-designate Markus Potzel met on November 18 with high-ranking officials from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The delegation was accompanied by a Dutch special representative for Afghanistan Emiel de Bont.
Germany’s Foreign Minister in the statement said that both sides acknowledged that continued operational contacts on issues where practical cooperation is both necessary and possible, in particular, to address the humanitarian plight of the Afghan people.
Taliban’s spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Motaqi met with the European delegation and acknowledged that the money is better to be sent to teachers and doctors’ accounts directly to prevent delay.
In the meantime, Germany has said that the Taliban officials committed to providing humanitarian workers safe and unhindered access to people in need.
It comes as the Taliban are not yet recognized but Western countries have pledged to engage with the de-facto authorities in Kabul to address the humanitarian crisis.
[ToloNews] Officials of the passport department in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. said that more than 2,000 people a day apply for passports at their department, and the department is capable of issuing only 200 to 250 passports each day.
Officials said that crowding and chaos have created challenges for the department, and they asked all applicants to follow the procedure in an orderly way.
"We have collected around 2,500 to 3,500 applications, and we cannot accept new applications and documents until finishing and processing these applications," said Nader Wadan, head of the Nangarhar Passport department.
Nangarhar residents urged the department to speed up the process of issuing passports.
"In the past, a bank was near here and when we received our bill for payment we delivered them to the bank and there was no need to go to Kabul Bank which is far from here," said Didar Sapai, a passport applicant.
"We have been coming here for several days, believe me, we are exhausted, there is a lot of problems here," said Zarmina, a passport applicant.
Based on the statistics of the Nangarhar passport department, the office has the capacity to issue 200 to 250 passports per day, while the number of passport applicants in this department ecceeds 2,000 daily.
[KhaamaPress] Federal officials have said that more than 28,000 Afghans have been applied for temporary visas into the US but added that only 100 of them have been approved so far.
The applications have been filed shortly before the Taliban ...Arabic for students... recaptured Afghanistan on August 15.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services have struggled to keep up with the surge in applicants but they have promised to be increasing the number of staff to expedite the approval process.
On the other hand, Afghan families who have permanently been settled in the US say that they are waiting for their relatives to be settled in the US and are afraid to be targeted by the Taliban.
Each parole applicant- Afghans who will fund families in the US- has so far paid hundreds of dollars that amount to $11.5 million in total that has been paid in the last few months.
Since the humanitarian parole needs in-person interview thus, Afghans must travel abroad to a third country where they must find a US embassy or consulate to visit for their interview.
Flight restrictions in Afghanistan have made it harder for people to travel abroad.
US’s temporary visas do not confer lawful permanent residence or US immigration but is a way for those who want to leave their country urgently.
#2
I was under the impression they’re the local caretakers left behind when the State Department staff deserted the place, Besoeker. So it’s not like they really had anything better to do than provide a substitute income to the kidnappers now that the rich American unbelievers aren’t around for their periodic adventure in native culture.
#4
1. Jimmy Carter greenlighted the Ayatollah Khomeni's overthrow of the Shah, a loyal US ally.
2. In the 1950s the CIA overthrew the democratic government of Iran and installed a dictator. If anyone did that to America would you be pissed off enough to violate diplomatic niceties about embassies?
#7
In the 1950s the CIA overthrew the democratic government of Iran
That would be the 1953 overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh initiated by Britain’s MI6 in order to fight back against Mossaddegh’s nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1951, not until almost two years later aided by America’s CIA. It is an interesting twist that nowadays the ignorant blame the entire thing on America, ignoring Britain’s role and primary interest in the situation. Why are you doing that, Shomp Ebbeans2472?
[DW] In Greece, the trial of 24 activists accused of helping refugees reach Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... by boat has started. Among other things, they are charged with human trafficking and espionage. If found guilty, they face 25 years in prison.
When Sean Binder and Sarah Mardini were arrested and put in prison on the Greek island of Lesbos in February 2018, the police report referred to them as "No. 7" and "No. 8."
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Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2021 00:00 ||
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#1
Nice. Should be applied here as well. Start with "immigration lawyers."
[AlAhram] They have terrorised religious minorities, incited riots against La Belle France, and mobilised thousands of fanatical supporters who have paralysed Pakistain with violent mostly peaceful protests at a moment's notice.
In just five years the Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistain party (TLP) -- whose leader, Saad Rizvi, was released from detention on Thursday -- has seen its reach explode in Pakistain, opening a new chapter in the country's deadly confrontation with extremism.
The party, also known as the Movement at the Service of the Prophet, launched a campaign against La Belle France after Gay Paree-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
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The big Sikh landowners appear to have won their fight against a government attempt to break up their chokehold on the sale of small farm products, supported by the Khalistan independence activists trained by Pakistan’s ISI. Still, that gave Indian security a year to identify and arrest activists and networks, so something useful no doubt came out of the failed effort.
[OneIndia] Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the nation announced on Friday that the Centre will repeal the three controversial farm laws, and appealed to the protesting farmers to return home.
Addressing the nation on the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, Modi insisted that the laws were in the benefit of farmers and then apologised to people of the country while adding that the government could not convince a section of farmers despite its clear heart and clean conscience.
Prime Minister said that three farm laws were brought to empower and strengthen small farmers, adding that it was a demand by farmers, economists and agri experts.
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[Rudaw] The hardline pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... militia Kataib Hezbollah announced on Friday the dissolution of one of its gangs, following a call from Shiite holy manMoqtada Tater al-Sadr ...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry... for militias to disband and leave all weapons in control of the state.
Abu Ali al-Askari, a senior Kataib Hezbollah official, said on Telegram that "in response to what was published by one of the friendly parties regarding the initiative to disband its military forces," his militia group has decided to dissolve its Saraya al-Difa al-Shaabi (Popular Defense Brigades), ordering it to "stop all its activities and close its headquarters."
When the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group (ISIS) seized controlled swathes of Syrian and Iraqi land in 2014, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for Iraqis to take up arms and defend the country. This paved the way for the formation militia groups under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi). The PMF has since been absorbed into the Iraqi security forces, but many of the militias operate outside of the control of the state and some are backed by Iran.
Sadr, whose movement won the most seats in last month’s parliamentary election and is set to lead the next government, on Thursday called on the militias to disband if they want to join his cabinet. Political parties affiliated with the pro-Iran militias did poorly in the election and their supporters have rejected the results and staged protests. Askari responded to Sadr saying that Kataib Hezbollah would give up their weapons only after Sadr’s gang, Saraya al-Salam, and the Kurdish Peshmerga did so.
On Friday, Sadr announced he was shutting down one of his brigades. "As a goodwill gesture from me, I announce the dissolution of the al-Yum al-Wuud [the Promised Day] Brigade, and the closure of their headquarters," he tweeted. He said the group had previously handed over its weapons and that anyone in the brigade who still has a weapon must turn it in within 48 hours.
"I hope this step will be the beginning of the dissolution of gangs as well as the handover of their weapons and closure of their bases," he said.
Askari said that the members of the disbanded Popular Defense Brigades will be embedded within the PMF and maintain their entitlements. He also said he hoped that Sadr would transfer control of his three brigades over to the PMF and "make understandings with the leaders of the Peshmerga to complete its dissolution and be embedded into the Iraqi security forces."
The Peshmerga have not immediately commented on Askari’s statement.
[IsraelTimes] Officials say 5 ’suicide drones’ loaded with ball bearings and shrapnel hit the al-Tanf base on October 20; American troops had evacuated after being tipped off by Israel
A drone attack on a remote United States outpost in southern Syria last month was an Iranian retaliation for Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Syria, American and Israeli officials told the New York Times
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Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2021 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Arabic for 
...Arabic for 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
Hezbollah
