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Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Is Dead, Says Syrian War Monitoring Group

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed  the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS).

"(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank, in [ISIS territory] in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor," director of the UK-based war monitoring group Rami Abdurrahman told Reuters on Tuesday.

ISIS's official news agency Amaq is yet to confirm his death.

About a month ago, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed to have carried out an air strike in Syria which killed Baghdadi and several other high profile ISIS leaders, but did not provide any evidence backing up the claim.

The Pentagon said it had no immediate information to corroborate Baghdadi's death.

Last week the Iraqi army officially declared ISIS's de facto Iraqi capital of Mosul liberated from the militants, marking the destruction of one half of the so-called caliphate also known as Daesh.

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Flights halted for Afghans approved for special US visas

Nearly 200,000 Afghans have been resettled in the U.S. on SIVs or as refugees since the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal.

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President Donald Trump's foreign aid pause has forced a suspension of flights for more than 40,000 Afghans approved for special U.S. visas, a leading advocate and a U.S. official said on Saturday.

Most of those stranded are in Afghanistan and the rest are in Pakistan, Qatar and Albania, said Shawn VanDiver, head of #AfghanEvac, the main coalition of veterans and advocacy groups working with the U.S. government to evacuate and resettle Afghans who worked for the United States during the 20-year war, Reuters reported.

The stoppage was triggered by Trump's order to halt foreign development aid for 90 days pending a review of efficiencies and consistency with his "America First" foreign policy.

Experts and advocacy groups say the foreign aid pause has led to chaos in U.S. and international aid operations and halted nutrition, health, vaccination and other programs.

The order also triggered a suspension by the State Department of funds for groups that help Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) to find housing, schools and jobs in the U.S.

Trump promised an immigration crackdown during his victorious 2024 reelection campaign.

VanDiver said he does not believe that the flight suspension was intentional.

"We think it was a mistake," he said.

He said he hoped the administration would grant exemptions to the orders for Afghans approved for SIVs because they worked for the U.S. government during the war that ended in the final U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

"They fought alongside us. They bled alongside us," said VanDiver, who added that tens of thousands of other Afghans are waiting for SIV applications to be processed, Reuters reported.

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nearly 200,000 Afghans have been resettled in the U.S. on SIVs or as refugees since the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal.

In a separate executive order that he signed hours after his inauguration on Monday, Trump suspended all U.S. refugee resettlement programs.

That order resulted in hundreds of Afghan refugees losing their seats on flights, including family members of active-duty Afghan American military personnel, former Afghan soldiers and unaccompanied children.

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Germany planning another deportation flight to Afghanistan

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Germany is planning to fly a group of convicted criminals of Afghan nationality to their home country for the second time since the Islamic Emirate took power, newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.

The newspaper quoted the interior ministry as saying it was working on the measure with the help of a regional partner and eyeing a departure shortly before Germany's Feb. 23 general election, according to Reuters.

A spokesperson for the ministry confirmed that it is working on further deportations, but added that they have nothing to do with the election and that the flights will be carried out as soon as all conditions will be met.

German politicians are sharpening their stance on migration after violent attacks linked to foreign suspects, with Friedrich Merz, the chancellor candidate for the two allied conservative parties (CDU/CSU) and the front-runner in the election, planning to submit a controversial migration motion in the parliament next week.

Some critics say this move could potentially open the door to cooperation with the far-right nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is now in second place in nationwide polls.

Berlin initially stopped returning people to Afghanistan because of human rights concerns after the Islamic Emirate took power in 2021.

It had, however, sent one deportation flight thanks to the mediation of Qatar in August last year, right before regional elections in eastern Germany that saw the ruling Social Democrats and their coalition partner, the Greens, faring poorly.

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Instead of criticizing the Islamic system, reform ideas should be shared with government: Abdul Kabir

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Acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Mawlawi Abdul Kabir has said that instead of criticizing the Islamic system, efforts should be made to share reform ideas with the relevant government institutions.

Speaking at a madrassa graduation ceremony in Khost province, Abdul Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate maintains relations with the region and the world to solve problems in the light of Islam and in order to strengthen the Islamic system.

He added that the demands of the region and the world on Afghanistan are met by the policy of the Islamic Emirate and the international community is not concerned about use of Afghanistan's soil against countries.

He also stressed that the country's national budget is funded by the Islamic Emirate.

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