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World Bank board backs using $1 billion in frozen Afghan funds for aid

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The executive board of the World Bank on Tuesday approved a plan to use more than $1 billion from a frozen Afghanistan trust fund to finance urgently needed education, agriculture, health and family programs, the bank announced.

The plan, which will bypass sanctioned Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) authorities by disbursing the money through U.N. agencies and international aid groups, will provide a major boost to efforts to ease the country's worsening humanitarian and economic crises, Reuters reported.

The approach "aims to support the delivery of essential basic services, protect vulnerable Afghans, help preserve human capital and key economic and social services, and reduce the need for humanitarian assistance in the future," the bank said in a statement.

Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) was frozen in August when the IEA overran Kabul as the last U.S.-led international troops departed after 20 years of war.

According to the report foreign governments ended financial aid constituting more than 70% of government expenditures while the United States led in the freezing of some $9 billion in Afghan central bank funds.

The funding cuts accelerated an economic collapse, fueling a cash crunch and deepening a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations says has pushed more than half of Afghanistan's population of 39 million to the verge of starvation, read the report.

The World Bank statement said that as a first step, ARTF donors will decide on four projects worth about $600 million that will support "urgent needs in education, heath and agricultural sectors, as well as community livelihoods."

There will be a "strong focus on ensuring that girls and women participate and benefit from the support," the statement continued.

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Daesh claims responsibility for Baghlan attack

A provincial police official, said that several people were arrested in connection with the incident, and that an investigation has been launched.

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The Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), also known as Daesh, has claimed responsibility for a gun attack that left 10 people dead at a Sufi shrine in northern Baghlan province.

The interior ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani confirmed that a gunman opened fire on Sufis taking part in a weekly ritual at the Sayed Pasha Agha shrine in a remote area of Nahrin district.

Abdul Ghayoor Khadim, a provincial police official, said that several people were arrested in connection with the incident, and that an investigation has been launched.

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Russia will not ‘artificially impede’ process of removing IEA from list of terrorist groups

Rudenko said let’s act gradually, step by step, but we do not intend to artificially impede the processes

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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said 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, 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 is taking steps of establishing practical interaction with authorities of Afghanistan on issues of mutual interest," the Russian diplomat added.

Early last month, Russia's Foreign Ministry said a decision to remove the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) from a list of terrorist organisations had been "taken at the highest level".

This came after Putin stated in July that Russia considered the IEA an ally in the fight against terrorism.

Russia has been slowly building ties with the Islamic Emirate since it seized 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."

 

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China ‘key and partner neighbor’ for people of Afghanistan: Yaqoob Mujahid

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Acting Minister of National Defense Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid in a meeting with China’s special envoy for Afghanistan Yue Xiaoyong and Zhao Xing, the country's ambassador to Kabul, said that Beijing is a “partner and important neighbor" for the people of Afghanistan, the ministry said a statement.

The statement stated that the two sides discussed economic cooperation, strengthening bilateral relations, borders, investments and other issues.

Yaqoob Mujahid also stressed the commitment of the Ministry of Defense to cooperate in common areas with China.

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