[ToloNews] The UK House of Commons Defense Committee released a report on Afghanistan’s withdrawal, in which it highlighted the Doha agreement and fall of the former Afghan government; the evacuation and relocation of eligible Afghans; mental health of veterans and learning lessons from Afghanistan.
The report was chaired by the Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood.
The report said that several thousand eligible Afghans-- whose safety is by definition at risk in Afghanistan--still remain to be evacuated under the ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) over a year after the end of "Operation PITTING," and it asked the government "to set out what action they are taking to ensure safe passage to the United Kingdom for these people."
The report cited that in addition to the 5,000 ARAP-eligible individuals, including their family members, who were relocated to the UK during "Operation PITTING", a further 6,600 individuals had been relocated under the scheme as of 3 November 2022.
At this date, the report said that 72,269 applications were awaiting a decision.
According to the report, in the UK MOD’s (Ministry of Defense) judgement, the vast majority of these were likely to be ineligible:
"The MOD judged that the vast majority of these were likely to be ineligible. According to their estimates, approximately 4,600 ARAP-eligible Afghans (including dependents) had not yet been relocated to the UK. Some of these had successfully settled elsewhere and were not expected to take up the offer of relocation."
The report also expressed concerns over Afghanistan's situation, saying that the country faces "multiple inter-connected crises, from governance, to the humanitarian situation, to the exclusion of women and girls from society."
The reported quoted the words of one of a series of ’one-year-on’ think pieces as:
"The plight of Afghans is worsening. The economic situation is dire, malnutrition rates are increasing, women’s rights are being curtailed, there is continuing migration and internal displacement, and the health care system is crumbling."
The report cited the UK’s MOD’s evidence about the Doha agreement, saying that it makes clear that the agreement limited options in relation to future presence in Afghanistan.
"The Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP, Secretary of State for Defense, told us that the UK played no part in the Doha Agreement and criticized the agreement for withdrawing coalition ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and air support and, in doing so, removing from the battlefield," it said.
#1
It's not like they were helping UK forces plant the Union Jack in Kabul. They were fighting for themselves, they lost. How does that translate into an obligation toward them?
[KhaamaPress] Research findings of the Brookings Institution of the United States indicate that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada is an irreconcilable leader, whereas Mullah Yaqoob is a pragmatic person, and it is easier to engage with him for the West.
It is also highlighted that the National Resistance® Front’s (NRF) military resistance does not pose any immediate threats to the country’s ruling regime.
Vanda Felbab-Brown author and political analyst in the foreign policy programs at Brookings say that serious disagreements exist among the Taliban ...Arabic for students... leaders over the group’s policies.
After contacting reliable sources in Afghanistan and the West, Brown claims that pragmatic figures such as Mullah Yaqoob, and Sirajuddin Haqqani ...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network.... do not oppose the Taliban supreme leader’s decrees fearing death penalties and the group’s division.
Despite the Taliban’s negotiation team in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... repeatedly emphasizing that the group’s policies towards political factions and women have changed, they have restricted women from participating in education and work as they seized power in August 2021. Brown says by forming a ’monopolistic Pashtun government’ the Taliban have kicked other political groups out of the government circle.
Brown belongs to those Western politicians and analysts who recently discuss ’moderate and extreme’ Taliban members. They believe that the moderate group of Taliban would take control of power in Afghanistan and revise the group’s policies and engagement with the western world.
The political analyst reiterates that the Taliban council based in Kandahar led by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada exclusively issues the implementation of murderous Moslem decrees in Afghanistan. This comes as the moderate branch of the Taliban believes that the introduction of such policies will weaken the current regime and lead to losing control of power in the long term.
Pragmatic Taliban want the group to sustain power in Afghanistan. As per their analysis, if the economic challenges and the international isolation of the ruling regime are not resolved, and the foreign cash aid ended, the group will not sustain itself in power for longer.
According to Brown, Mullah Yaqoob, Defense Minister, Mullah Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister, and Sirajuddin Haqqani, Interior Minister are among the pragmatic Taliban Leaders.
She further adds that the three senior Taliban leaders including Mullah Yaqoob, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Mullah Baradar are not united and do not trust each other. Therefore, it is difficult for them to bring most of the Taliban commanders with them.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!... the chances are high that these senior Taliban leaders might even lose their lives due to deep intergroup disagreements, which may lead to the division of the group.
#2
It takes a special kind of person to embed themselves into a 7th century civilization and be able to report back. When at any minute there's the risk of being declared an apostate to Islam and worthy of a death sentence
[ShabelleMedia] The US government has warned its citizens in Kenya of a possible terror attack in the capital Nairobi.
Through its embassy in Nairobi, the US said that terrorist groups could stage an attack with little or no warning, targeting areas with many people.
It has flagged high traffic areas frequented by foreigners and tourists in Nairobi and elsewhere in Kenya as targets for the terror groups.
"Terrorist groups could attack with little or no warning, targeting hotels, embassies, restaurants, malls and markets, schools, cop shoppes, places of worship and other places frequented by foreigners and tourists," the statement said.
SECURITY MEASURES However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... the embassy has acknowledged security measures that the Kenyan government has put in place, including counterterrorism patrols.
US citizens in the country have been asked to exercise vigilance at locations frequented by tourists and foreigners, to review their personal security plans, to be conscious of their surroundings and to monitor local media for updates.
HIGH ALERT
At the moment, the government of Kenya has remained on high alert with multi-agent security teams in Nairobi following recent cases of muggings of residents.
This comes barely a month after the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania issued a security alert to its citizens over what it termed as possible attack.
In a notice dated January 25, the US Embassy in Tanzania claimed that the terror groups were planning to carry out an attack in high traffic areas frequented by westerners in Dar es Salaam and elsewhere in the East African country.
[GreaterKashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... ] Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs said on Friday that the Valley was known earlier for stone-pelting but is now known for sports activities. Midnight Bassetbaw?
Addressing the inaugural function of Khelo India winter games at Gulmarg ski resort, he said that the local youth known earlier for stone-pelting are now engaged in sports, thereby making the nation proud of them.
"J&K government has changed the situation in 3 years which could not be done in 75 years."
"It is really a proud movement for all of us that Jammu and Kashmir is hosting the Khelo India Games for the third time."
"J&K will soon have a number of star athletes as the youth are highly engaged in games, be it Football, Wushu, Cricket, Skiing or other sports activities."
"Every district in J&K is now having an indoor stadium and every village a playfield, which itself speaks about how the situation has changed," he said.
[TheGuardian] In 2020 Iranian authorities sentenced Adelkhah to five years in jail on national security charges, which she denied.
Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah was released from Iran’s Evin prison, La Belle France said, but it was unclear what the conditions of her release were.
Adelkhah has been in prison since Iranian authorities arrested her in 2019 during a visit. She is one of seven Frenchies detained in Iran, a factor that has worsened relations between Gay Paree and Tehran in recent months.
"It is essential that all of Ms Fariba Adelkhah’s freedoms are restored, including returning to La Belle France if she wishes," the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Iranian authorities sentenced Adelkhah in 2020 to five years in prison on national security charges. They moved her to house arrest later but in January she returned to jail.
Adelkhah has denied the charges. La Belle France has called them "politically motivated" and repeatedly called for the release of Adelkhah, a researcher affiliated with Gay Paree’ prestigious Sciences Po university.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran ...The nation is noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence... of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests. Iran, which does not recognise dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage.
"La Belle France reiterates its demand that all Frenchies arbitrarily detained in Iran are released immediately and without conditions," the foreign ministry said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/11/2023 02:10 ||
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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.
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network.....jpg "Kashmir")
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
...The nation is noted for 
