Connect with us

Latest News

Survivors call for Kabul school bombing to be seen as act of genocide

Published

on

The survivors and families of victims of the girls' school bombing in Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul last Sunday have called on the Afghan government and the international community to recognize the attack as an act of “genocide”.

Addressing a press conference Sunday, they stated that a specific ethnicity was targeted in the attack.

According to the families, at least 95 people – mostly schoolgirls – were killed and more than 200 others wounded in last week’s deadly bombing.
The families stated that the attack was a violation of human values and human rights.

Rajab Ali, who lost two of his relatives stated: “This brutality must be stopped. Such attacks must be prevented so that people can pursue education peacefully.”

Mina is another Afghan who lost a sister in the bombing, she stated: “I don’t want to witness such a terrible attack again.”

Meanwhile, students of Sayeed-ul-Shuhada – who are still dealing with severe mental anguish following the attack – stated that they will not give up and they “will firmly pursue their education.”

"I promise to continue this path (education) stronger than ever and I will definitely make Afghanistan one day,” Shirin Rezae, a student at the school said.

“I hope that the day will come when we will be capable of being candidates for the Presidency,” she added.

Masooma Yaqubi, another student stated: “We call on the international community, the United Nationals, and human rights organizations to investigate this brutal attack and to identify the perpetrators through a fact-finding commission.”

This comes after the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) last week urged the government to grant special protection to Hazaras and the community in Dasht-e-Barchi.

The AIHRC said in a statement that it was the government’s duty to protect the Hazara community against crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, or genocide.

The AIHRC stated that government has an obligation to “protect the population at risk of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing or genocide.”

“The Afghan government has an obligation under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law to protect the population at risk of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing or genocide and international law obliges the government to take measures to end and prevent genocide and war crimes, crimes against humanity and persecution on the basis of ethnicity and gender,” the statement read.

“In October 2020, just over six months ago, more than 40 students died in an attack on Kawsar Danish tutoring center. In May 2020, almost a year ago 11 mothers were murdered with their unborn babies, two boys were, and an Afghan midwife was killed, with 5 mothers injured; this is femicide and infanticide,” the statement highlighted.

The AIHRC stressed that the Afghan government should fulfill its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “which includes acknowledging massacres targeting Hazaras.”

“The Afghan government should communicate immediately a human rights-based protection plan for Dasht-e-Barchi and West Kabul. This should include plans for collective reparations,” the organization said.

Latest News

A high-level Russian delegation will soon visit Kabul: envoy

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit

Published

on

Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul that a high-level Russian delegation will visit Kabul in the near future to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation with the Islamic Emirate.

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Muttaqi described the relations between the Islamic Emirate and Russia as important, stressing that the ties should be expanded to include economic and trade cooperation.

He said visits to Kabul by high-level officials was important, adding that during the past year, many officials of the Islamic Emirate have been invited to Russia to attend international meetings.

Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat said that his country wants to expand its relations with Afghanistan in the economic and trade sectors.

This comes on the heels of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko’s comments that the completion of legal procedures to remove the Islamic Emirate from Moscow’s terrorist list will provide positive impetus to Russian-Afghan relations.

In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, published early Sunday, Rudenko said “removing the terrorist organization’s status from the Taliban Movement (Islamic Emirate) will attribute a positive impetus to Russian-Afghan interaction in various spheres, in the economy in the first instance."

"As regards the issue of the official recognition of current Afghan authorities, it is early to talk about it thus far. Let’s act gradually, step by step, but we do not intend to artificially impede the processes," Rudenko noted.

Russia has been slowly building ties with the Islamic Emirate since it regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021 but the IEA is still officially outlawed in Russia.

In response to Russia’s comments last month, the IEA’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate “appreciates the positive remarks by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon."

 

Continue Reading

Latest News

Iran appoints new ambassador to Afghanistan

Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran’s former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country’s new ambassador to Kabul

Published

on

Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran's former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to Kabul, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

The outlet added that the post of the Iranian presidential special representative in Afghanistan has been removed and, as before, the special representative for Afghanistan will act directly under the supervision of the foreign minister.

It is worth mentioning that Hassan Kazemi Qomi previously served as Iran's ambassador and presidential special representative in Afghanistan.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Iran to Host ECO Ministerial Meeting next week

Published

on

The 28th meeting of the foreign ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states will be held in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad next week.

Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said on Sunday that the upcoming meeting will be attended by the ministers and senior officials of ECO, directors of the regional specialized departments of the organization, and the secretaries general of a number of multilateral economic organizations.

The meeting will be chaired by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Iranian local media reported.

Iran is holding the rotating presidency of ECO in 2024.

The Tehran-headquartered ECO was established by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey in 1985.

The main purpose of the organization is to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states.

In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Ariana News. All rights reserved!