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ISLAMABAD: The security team of the establishment will brief the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on developments with regard to Afghanistan and matters of national security on Thursday (July 1) at the Parliament House.

*Highly placed sources told The News here on Sunday that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javaid Bajwa, DG ISI Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed and other high officials will attend the session.*

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Senator Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, JUI-F Parliamentary leader Maulana Asad Mahmood, BNP leader Sardar Muhammad Akhtar Mengal and ANP leader Ameer Haider Azam Khan Hoti, are among the members invited for the meeting. The slated meeting which has conspicuous significance in the backdrop of the situation prevailing in the war-torn country from where foreign occupying troops are vacating the country in a couple of weeks and the Taliban are increasingly capturing the vacated areas that will have an impact on Pakistan.

Afghan President Dr. Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have dashed to Washington for discussion with the US authorities pertaining to the upcoming situation and seeking their support for their administration, are also extremely perturbed about the affairs in their country.

The Thursday briefing will be in closed doors and 29-member committee will get an opportunity to avail a question-answer session, the sources said. It would be first meeting of the committee in about eight months as the last meeting in November last was boycotted by the opposition.

The sources said that the opposition leaders will mull over tomorrow (Tuesday) whether to attend the briefing or not. It is unlikely that Prime Minister Imran Khan would turn up for the meeting since he isn't a member of the committee constituted by the NA Speaker. Other members of the committee are Ms. Sherry Rehman (PPP), Mushtaq Ahmad (JI), Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah (GDA), Syed Faisal Ali Sabazwari (MQM), Senator Hidayat ullah (Ind), Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tarin (PkMAP), Muhammad Tahir Bizenjo (NP), Muhammad Qasim (BNP), Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri (JUI), Kamil Ali Agha (PML-Q), Dr. Shehzad Wasim (PTI), Dilawar Khan (Ind), Azam Nazir Tarrar (PML-N) and Anwar ul Haq Kakar (Ind) members from Senate while the other members from the NA are Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi (PTI), Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema (PML-Q), Ghaus Bux Mehar (GDA), Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiquee (MQM), Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti (JWP), Khalid Hussain Magsi (BAP), Sheikh Rashid Ahmad (AML). Speaker Asad Qaisar is chairman of the committee. PTM MNA Mohsin Dawar is among special invitees. The sources pointed out that the parliamentary committee will also discuss some other subjects of national interest if it takes place according to the schedule

Original post:
Parliamentary body to be briefed on Afghanistan, national security - The News International

Afghanistan experienced a weekend of carnage as scores died in a series of Taliban attacks across the country, according to local officials. There was also one incident of alleged friendly fire reported on an air base in the north.

Qaysardistrict in northern Faryab province is on the verge of falling to the Taliban Sunday, news agencies reported.

Heavy clasheswere reportedin the center of the district and the village of Kohi, the last remaining areas still controlled by the government.

Three officials told dpa the Taliban were able to capture both the police headquarters and the municipality building one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the center of the district.

The violence was initiated bya car bomb thatdetonated outsidedistrict police headquarters the day before.

Qaysar district governor Abdul Baqi Hashimi reported at least ten members of the Afghan security forces died in the blast. A different local official placed the number of dead closer to 30.

At least 20 additional security forces personnel were captured in the attack, which was followed by heavy clashes.An additional 18 were wounded.

The surge in violence comes as the US military continues to withdraw its remaining 2,500 troops from Afghanistan

Saidullah Nuristani, the provincial counselor or Nuristan to the east of the capital Kabul, reported government forces had abandoned the Doab district to the TalibanSaturdayfollowing 20 days of resistance.

The Taliban blocked the supply routes into Doab,forcingthe government to evacuate in a deal mediated by tribal elders.

Ismail Ateekan, a member of parliament representing the province, told dpa that without food and ammunition, the Afghan security forces had no choice but to flee. Theywere not met with resistance when they did.

Doab was the third district to fall to the Taliban since Thursday night. Two districts in southern Zabul and Uruzgan provinces fell late on Friday.

Also on Saturday, 11 civilians including three children were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in struck a landmine in the northern province of Bagdis.

The governor of the province, Husamudim Shams, blamed the Taliban for the attack on the vehicle as it was en route to the city of Qala-e-Naw. The Taliban did not immediately claim responsibility for the incident.

The attack occurred hours ahead of a scheduled meeting between senior Taliban leaders and UN officials in Qatar to discuss the so-called peace process and security for diplomats and aid workers.

Friday night, the Taliban killed at least six policemen including two police commanders in the northern Baghlan province, according to provincial police spokesman Ahmad Javid Basharat. Several others were wounded in the offensive launched on Julga district at midnight, a provincial counsilor, Firuzuddin Aimaq, said.

Also in the north Friday,13 pro-government fighters, including a key commander, were killed by the Afghan air force as they returned to a base in the Kohistan districtof Badakhshan provincefollowing an operation against the Taliban. Several others were wounded.

A member of parliament, Zabihullah Atiq, said the incident thatkilled Commander Ashur was a mistake. Atiq said one victim later succumbed to his wounds while another victim of the airstrike remains in critical condition.

The Taliban has intensified its attacks on provincial capitals, districts, bases and checkpoints across Afghanistan.Rahmatullah Andar, a spokesman for the national security council in Afghanistan, told dpa the Taliban have carried out 1,455 attacks sinceinternational forces began to withdraw.

Rohullah Ahmadzai, aspokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, sought to downplay the Taliban's conquests. Hesaid military plans are being made to neutralize the Taliban.

A handover ceremony to Afghan Defense Forces at Mike Spann Camp in Mazar-i-Sharif on May 5

Since the US and NATO officially withdrew from Afghanistan on May 1, seven districts have fallen to the Taliban.

International forces are set to completely withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11.

In April, the UN said almost 1,800 Afghan civilians were either killed or wounded in the fighting between government forces and the Taliban between January and March of 2021.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been displaced by the fighting in recent weeks.

The "Islamic State" (IS) armed group is also active in Afghanistan.

ar/mm (dpa, Reuters)

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Afghanistan: Several killed in attacks blamed on Taliban - DW (English)

With the U.S. troop withdrawal well under way, the United States on Friday announced more than $266 million in new humanitarian aid for Afghanistan as part of what it called an enduring U.S. commitment to the war-torn country.

The announcement comes amid unrelenting violence and a stalled peace process that are fueling fears that the departure of U.S.-led international forces is putting Afghanistan on a path to all-out civil war that could restore Taliban rule two decades after the Islamists were driven from power.

Officials of the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who ordered an end to the 20-year U.S. troop presence by Sept. 11, have vowed to continue U.S. military and civilian aid to Kabul. But they warned it could be suspended if there is backtracking on progress made in human rights, especially those of women and girls.

As the United States withdraws military forces from Afghanistan, our enduring commitment is clear. We remain engaged through our full diplomatic, economic, and assistance toolkit to support the peaceful, stable future the Afghan people want and deserve, the State Department said in a statement.

The $266 million in new assistance brings to nearly $3.9 billion the total amount of such aid provided by the United States since 2002, the statement said.

The funds will help support some of the estimated 18 million Afghans in need, including more than 4.8 million who are internally displaced, 115,000 of whom have been driven from their homes by fighting this year alone, it said.

The funds, it continued, will go to providing shelter, job opportunities, basic healthcare, emergency food, water, sanitation, and hygienic services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also will support protection programs for the most vulnerable Afghans, including women and girls facing particular risks, including gender-based violence, it said.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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U.S. announces more than $266 million in new Afghanistan aid - Reuters

The withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan has made many Afghans fearful of the Talibans return to power, prompting the countrys last remaining Jew to make plans to leave as soon as possible.

God willing, I cannot say seven to eight months, but I will definitely leave by the time the Taliban come, said Zebulon Simentov, 62, who lives in Kabul.

The Taliban have increased their attacks on government-controlled areas in recent weeks, just as the United States and its NATO allies started withdrawing their remaining forces from the country.

The U.S. announced Tuesday that it had pulled out between 30% and 44% of its 2,500 troops in the South Asian country. A complete withdrawal of the U.S. and NATO forces is expected to take place by September 11.

Simentov has been the caretaker of Kabuls only synagogue for decades and lives in the synagogue complex. He hopes the government can hire a replacement when he moves to Israel, to which his wife and two daughters moved in the 1990s because of the civil war in Afghanistan. He has visited once, for two months in 1998, he said.

They know that I am working on it, getting my passport and leaving. They can have a watchman, and then, lets see what happens, he said.

Once a thriving community in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan Jews have left for Israel and Western countries.

The migration started in the 1950s after the creation of Israel, though many left after the Soviet invasion in 1979.

Tolerant society

According to Hamayon Ahmadi, a conservator and restorer in Herat, more than 1,000 Jews coexisted with other residents of Herat City before the start of the war in 1978.

They were living together with others in a peaceful environment in Herat, Ahmadi said, adding that the city once housed four synagogues.

He said some Afghan Jews who left the country have visited the cemetery south of Herats Old City.

Simentov has been the only Jew living in Afghanistan, he said, since Isaac Levi, another Jew living in Kabul, died in 2005.

Other than being the synagogue caretaker, Simentov is jobless, though he said he ran a restaurant a few years ago and, he said, his family at one time had a carpet business that allowed him to travel the world.

Fear of violence

Lal Gul, chairman of the Afghanistan Human Rights Organization, said the country is undergoing a transformation that can have a lasting impact on minority rights. He warned that minorities can become particularly vulnerable if the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government fail.

God forbid, if peace talks do not succeed, there would be another civil war in the country that will have [a] negative impact on everyone, particularly Afghan minority groups, Gul said.

No progress has been reported in the peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government that began September 12 in Doha, Qatar.

Meanwhile, violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months. In March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said women and minorities are the two main targets of the increased violence.

At least 10 people were killed Tuesday in two explosions that targeted buses west of Kabul City, where mainly Hazara Shiite Muslims live.

Last month, a bomb attack outside a high school in the same area of Kabul killed at least 80 people, mostly schoolgirls, and injured 150 others.

No group took responsibility for the school attack. The Afghan government blamed the Taliban, but the group rejected any involvement in the attack.

Little change

In a report published in June 2020, HRW said the Taliban have not changed much from the 1990s when they were in power, despite the militant leaderships claim to have walked away from some of their extremist ideologies and practices. The report stated that the Taliban had a record of "systematic violations" of human rights during their rule.

In its latest report published in April, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said the Taliban continue to exclude religious minorities and punish residents in areas under their control in accordance with their extreme interpretation of Islamic law.

USCIRF recommended to the U.S. State Department to continue designating the Taliban as an entity of particular concern.

Continue reading here:
Afghanistan's Last Remaining Jew to Leave Over Taliban Fear - Voice of America

Rahmat Mokhtar, 34, hopes to soon become a U.S. citizen. Mokhtar worked as translator for the U.S. Army and Marines. In 2016 his visa to travel to the U.S. was approved, and he soon arrived in El Cajon, Calif. (Nelvin C. Cepeda, The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)

SAN DIEGO (Tribune News Service) Zohal Abdurahmanhas been waiting for three years to bring her brother-in-law to safety inthe United States.

And now that theU.S.military is leavingAfghanistan, the wait has reached new levels of urgency.

Her brother-in-law, who is not being named due to threats on his life, fought alongsideU.S.troops over the past decade and specialized in disarming explosives. He is still inAfghanistanwaiting on a special immigrant visa often referred to as an SIV that would allow him, his wife and their children to come live inSan Diegoand protect them from potential retaliation for the work that he did.

Abdurahmans brother-in-law is one among thousands still inAfghanistanwho helped theU.S.military and are now watching the days count down to PresidentJoe Bidensdeadline for troops to leave with increased worry that they will be left behind bythe United States and then tortured and killed by theTaliban.

Its one thing dying on duty, thats like an honor. If hes caught, they will literally mutilate his body, torture him as much as they possibly can, Abdurahman said. Thats what scares him and scares the rest of the family.

More than 300 people who worked as interpreters for theU.S.military, or family members of those interpreters, have been killed inAfghanistansince 2014, according to advocacy group No One Left Behind.

And though Bidens initial deadline gives the military until September to exitAfghanistan, reports have since indicated troops could be gone as soon as next month.

Bipartisan groups in both theSenateandHousehave sent letters to theWhite Houseadvocating for people like Abdurahmans brother-in-law. But with backlogs in processing these visas and rules restricting who can get them and the quantity given, many who helpedthe United Statesare likely to remain there unless something changes.

Three-year wait

The program is supposed to take no more than nine months, but the average wait time for SIVs at the beginning of 2021 was nearly three years, according toState Departmentdocuments.

The Biden administration has expressed support for interpreters and other Afghans who worked with theU.S., but it has not made clear what plans it has, if any, to protect them.

When asked about the issue, Pentagon press secretaryJohn Kirbysaidthat any changes to the program would have to be worked out between theState DepartmentandCongress.

The president has been clear. We have a moral obligation to these people, Kirby told reporters. He wants to take a fresh look at the SIV program to see how and to what degree it could be expanded and/or accelerated.

State DepartmentspokesmanNed Pricesaid that the department has increased staffing levels in bothWashingtonandKabulto work on SIV processing.

When it comes to SIVs, weve said this before, but we understand and we recognize that we have a special commitment and a special responsibility to the many Afghans who, over the years, have at great risk to themselves and even to their families have assistedthe United Statesin our efforts inAfghanistan, Price said. We are always seeking ways to improve the SIV process while ensuring the integrity of the program and safeguarding our national security and affording opportunities to these Afghans.

Abdurahmans brother-in-law got laid off last month as part of the withdrawal. Without hisU.S.colleagues, he already feels less safe, Abdurahman said.

He is already close to the end of the process. He and his family had their medical screenings in May, one of the final steps in the 14-part process outlined inState Departmentrecords. Hes just waiting to have the visa in his hands so he can leave.

Were just literally praying day and night that he gets his visa, Abdurahman said. We told him, Youre not bringing anything. If youre going to pack anything, pack now because as soon as you get your visa, youre coming here.

Even the distribution of visas once theyre approved is backlogged because theU.S.embassy there has been closed for much of the pandemic, according toJames Miervaldis, chairman of the board for No One Left Behind.

And while Abdurahmans family is close to the end of the process, many others have much less hope of getting out of the country in time.

Ali Rasouly, 39, andRahmat Mokhtar, 34, both know that anxiety well.

They worked as interpreters with theMarines, and both managed to get through the SIV process and resettle inEl Cajon.

Since fiscal year 2016, more than 2,400 people fromAfghanistan a combination of SIVs and refugees have resettled inSan Diego County, according toAbdi Abdillahi, county refugee coordinator.

Deadly secret

Rasouly waited about five years for his visa, he said. During that time, he was constantly moving, keeping his family in hiding to avoid being killed during the wait.

When he worked with the military, he kept his face covered so that he wouldnt be recognized. But sometimes neighbors or other observers would still figure out his secret, even in the time that he stopped working for the military to be an accountant. Each time, he quickly and quietly moved, sometimes to an entirely different province.

And though Rasouly and Mokhtar are now safe, their worries are not over.

They have parents, siblings and other family left behind, and on top of their concerns about theTalibanconnecting their families to their work with theU.S., they have another reason to be afraid for their loved ones. Rasouly and Mokhtar are part of the Hazara ethnic group that has been and continues to be targeted for persecution.

That persecution has been going on for centuries, Mokhtar said, referring to it as a genocide. Frequent news of suicide bombings targeting Hazara make him feel physically sick with worry.

Its super complicated and stressful, Mokhtar said. I cannot live it every day, and I cannot forget it. Its like a nightmare. Its like a coffin on my shoulder and following me, and Im carrying it everywhere.

Neither Mokhtar nor Rasouly have becomeU.S.citizens yet a process that has its own backlog and requires a five-year wait after getting a green card so they are not able to sponsor visas for their family members back inAfghanistan. Even when they do becomeU.S.citizens, that process would take many years because of country caps and additional backlogs in the family-sponsored visa queue.

Rasouly and Mokhtar hope that in addition to helping interpreters and others who worked in service to theU.S.leaveAfghanistan,the United Stateswill find a way to prioritize helping Hazara people leave.

On Saturday, about 100 people of Hazara descent who have settled in theSan Diegoarea demonstrated outside the County Administration Center to call for the formal recognition of Hazara genocide.

In the past 24 hours there have been four attacks in our very small area inAfghanistan, said participantAli Changiz Yasa, an English language teacher who worked with theU.S.military inAfghanistanas an interpreter and cultural adviser before fleeing toSan Diego.

The withdrawal ofU.S.forces will leave us once again under suppression and extreme oppression, he added.

TheState Departmenttold theSan Diego Union-Tribuneon background that there will be humanitarian and development assistance programs meant to support the rights of Hazaras, among other groups, after the troops are gone.

Veterans urge action

Some of the most vocal advocates for bringing people like Rasouly and Mokhtar and their families tothe United Statesare theU.S.military veterans who worked with them.

What we really ought to be doing is an immediate evacuation of these folks, saidShawn Vandiver, aNavyveteran and co-founder of theTruman National Security Projectchapter inSan Diego. We should be totally eliminating the cap on SIVs and immediately processing them. These folks served alongside us. They were armed. They killed their fellow countrymen while wearing uniforms withU.S.service members. Theyve already been vetted. Give them another quick background check, and get them over here.

Referencing what happened whenthe United Statespulled out ofVietnam a move that beganSan Diegoslong history of receiving refugees he suggested that theU.S.military transport Afghans to a safe place to finish any processing.

Our system is so broken that people are dying all the time over there, Vandiver said.

When asked recently about the possibility of evacuations, Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said that there are contingency plans for evacuations in different parts of the world, includingAfghanistan.

We have put some planning resources to this, no question, Kirby said. But there has been no tasking to carry such an evacuation out on any scale right now. And if that tasking comes, we will be ready to execute.

Amber Robinson, 43, ofChula Vista, served in theU.S. Armyfor 10 years and feels conflicted about the withdrawal, knowing that it will likely mean more harm to Afghan civilians, particularly women and girls, while also recognizing the human cost of continued war.

So many of my fellow veterans, were torn. Were just absolutely torn. I know thats how I feel, Robinson said. Weve just gone over and over and over again, and were used up. Were just exhausted. So when is enough enough?

But on the issue of SIVs, her feelings are much more straightforward.

They all have come over here just for safety. Its just so dangerous for them to stay, Robinson said. I shudder to think whats going to happen to everybody.

Staff photographerNelvin C. Cepedacontributed to this report.

(c)2021 The San Diego Union-Tribune

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stripes - Fear mounts for many with loved ones left in Afghanistan as US begins to leave - Stars and Stripes