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US senator calls for accountability after $293 million erroneously sent to Afghanistan
Ernst told Biden and Blinken in the Friday letter that the mistake was “unacceptable” and demanded they “take immediate action to rectify these issues.”
US Republican senator Joni Ernst in a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for accountability over erroneously sending $293 million to the Islamic Emirate-controlled Afghanistan.
State Department bureaus failed to properly vet the recipients of $293 million provided for aid to Afghanistan in 2022, raising concerns that the Islamic Emirate may have been a beneficiary, according to a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report from July.
Ernst told Biden and Blinken in the Friday letter that the mistake was “unacceptable” and demanded they “take immediate action to rectify these issues.”
“After leaving billions in cutting-edge military equipment behind during the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have given the Taliban $293 million in cold hard cash,” Ernst told Daily Caller News Foundation “The American people deserve better than the complete amateur hour occurring at the White House and State Department. I’m demanding accountability.”
Ernst said in the letter that the Biden administration should be sanctioning rather than “subsidizing” the Islamic Emirate.
Earlier, US senator Mike Braun, had called on Blinken to suspend American aid to Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate, however, has said that cash aid from countries, including the United States, is spent through international organizations and their partners and the Emirate is not involved in it.
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IEA delegation attends conference for ‘Promoting Mining Cooperation’ in China
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said on Saturday in a statement that its delegation participated in a conference titled "Promoting Mining Cooperation" in China’s Hunan province.
The Ministry stated the conference aims to build a well-equipped laboratory in Afghanistan, increase the capacity of technical and professional employees of the Ministry of Mines, and encourage investors in the mineral resources sector of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Chinese investors expressed their interest in Afghanistan’s gold, copper, mica, talc, oil, gas, lithium, lead and zinc mines.
At the conference, the ministry’s deputy minister of finance and administration and head of the delegation Hussamuddin Saberi talked about Afghanistan's natural resources contracts and investment opportunities and considered holding such programs effective for the relations between the two countries.
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Uzbekistan, EU envoys meet to discuss Afghanistan
Uzbekistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Ismatulla Irgashev, on Friday met with the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the current state and prospects of Uzbek-European relations in the Afghan direction, the efforts of the international community to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the country and the possibility of using the international transport and logistics hub in Termez to deliver humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Hakala highly appreciated the efforts of Uzbekistan to develop a consolidated regional position on Afghanistan, establish long-term peace and stability in the country, according to the statement.
The parties expressed mutual interest in continuing bilateral consultations on the Afghan issue, the statement added.
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UN expert calls for comprehensive, rights-focused action plan for Afghanistan
A UN expert on Friday called on the international community to devise and implement a comprehensive, human rights-centered action plan to address the human rights crisis in Afghanistan.
“The absence of a unified, forceful response from the international community has emboldened the Taliban (IEA),” UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said.
In his latest report to the UN General Assembly, Bennett said that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is worsening, which includes systematic gender oppression, amounting to gender persecution and which many Afghans term “gender apartheid” with intergenerational implications.
Bennett expressed concern about the new “vice and virtue” law, announced in August, which he believes has institutionalized an expanding list of restrictions that “blatantly violate the rights of women and girls.”
He also expressed concern about the “shrinking civic space” in Afghanistan, the situation of minorities, journalists, and former government officials and security personnel.
“Justice, equality, and the rule of law are being systematically undermined,” he said.
The UN expert also called for increased funding and support for Afghan civil society and humanitarian efforts to mitigate the crisis.
Bennett urged the IEA to reverse its “repressive policies” and reinstate basic human rights. He pressed the international community to take a coordinated, multifaceted approach to support the Afghan people.
Bennett urged states not to normalize relations with the IEA until there are demonstrable human rights improvements and pathways to justice and accountability.
This comes as the Islamic Emirate has said that it is committed to ensuring human rights, including the rights of women and girls, according to Sharia, and this is an internal issue of Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate has banned Richard Bennett from traveling to Afghanistan, saying that he exaggerates small issues.
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