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Blinken tells House Committee no decision yet on troops withdrawal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington has not completed its review on troop posture in Afghanistan but that it is also focusing on diplomatic efforts to get the Afghan government and the Taliban to engage in negotiations.
Addressing a House Committee on Foreign Affairs session on Wednesday, Blinken said he does not want to “prejudge the outcome of that review” as there hasn’t been any decision made yet on troops when it comes to May 1st deadline.
But he said US President Joe Biden’s “goal is very clear.”
He said: “It’s to end the conflict, bring our troops home and to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorism and an ongoing threat to the United States.”
“We're engaged in a diplomatic effort right now to try to drive the two parties to negotiate and to move forward on commitment that the Taliban made to the United States a year ago to negotiate meaningfully on a peaceful future for Afghanistan.”
He told House representatives that Washington is also “enlisting other countries, [and] the United Nations, in that effort”.
This is being done in the hope of driving the two parties to negotiate and to put in place agreements that would be the foundation for a just and durable peace in Afghanistan.
“And that, of course, is a very tall order but one that we’re working on,” he said.
Blinken stated that many of Afghanistan’s neighbors have a “real stake” in the country’s future and that diplomatic efforts on the part of the US are ongoing.
He said that “neighboring countries have a huge stake in Afghanistan not being a terrain for civil war that spills over the borders. And they have influence with various parties. So we’re engaging them.”
He said the Biden administration wants “to see where this [diplomatic] effort goes to actually get the parties to engage in a meaningful way.
“The Taliban made other commitments when it comes to reducing violence; when it comes to not harboring and supporting terrorists; we want to see them make good on those obligations,” he said.
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Human traffickers should be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison: IEA leader
The Leader of the Islamic Emirate has issued a decree instructing the Ministry of Interior Affairs to prevent human trafficking and to arrest and refer culprits to military courts.
The decree containing six articles says that that military courts should sentence human traffickers to one year in prison for the first time, two years if repeated for the second time and three years if repeated for the third time.
The ministries of Hajj, information, telecommunications, borders, propagation of virtue, as well as religious scholars are asked to inform the public about the dangers and adverse consequences of travelling through smuggling routes.
The decree comes as the rate of migration has increased following the political change in Afghanistan in 2021.
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Eight Afghan migrants die as boat capsizes off Greek island
Eight Afghan migrants died after a speedboat carrying migrants capsized off Greece's eastern island of Rhodes on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Greek authorities said that the capsizing was the result of the boat’s maneuvering to evade a patrol vessel.
A total of 18 migrants — 12 men, three women and three minors — all Afghan nationals, were rescued, Greece's coast guard said Saturday. The dead were also from Afghanistan, it said.
Some migrants remained hospitalized, with one in critical condition, authorities said.
Two Turkish citizens, ages 23 and 19, were arrested as the suspected traffickers. The boat sank after capsizing, the coast guard said.
The sinking off Rhodes was the second deadly incident involving migrants in the past week.
Seven migrants were killed and dozens were believed missing after a boat partially sank south of the island of Crete over the weekend — one of four rescue operations during which more than 200 migrants were rescued.
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Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires meets with IEA deputy foreign minister
Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires for Afghanistan, Per Albert Ilsaas, on Saturday met with IEA’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanikzai, in Kabul.
Welcoming the diplomat’s visit to Kabul, Stanikzai underscored the importance of political relations between Afghanistan and Norway, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
In addition to focusing on bilateral political, humanitarian, and other pertinent issues, the two sides expressed hope that continued engagement would lead to constructive solutions to related issues.
This comes two weeks after the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi expressed disappointment regarding the decision by the Norwegian government to downgrade diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
Balkhi said in a post on X that such decisions should not be linked with internal affairs of other countries.
“Diplomatic engagement is most effective when it fosters mutual understanding and respect, even amidst differing viewpoints,” he stated.
“Access to consular services is a fundamental right of all nationals. We strongly urge all parties to prioritize this principle in the spirit of international cooperation,” he added.
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