International News
Stubborn Taliban (Opinion)
The manner in which the Taliban have been able to retain power in Afghanistan and their latest decisions show that to save millions of Afghanis from impoverishment and death, international community will have to adopt a new approach.
While the nearly one-year old Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government trundles on in the absence of international recognition, financial support and faces international backlash on its mostly anti-women and minorities decisions, reminding one of its earlier harsh tenure, the IEA government has not given up on efforts to cajole the international community whilst trying to engage with its neighbours and regional powers at an equal level.
Afghan Loya Jirga
Last week, a three-day assembly of Islamic clerics and tribal elders, called Loya Jirga, was held in Kabul. The assembly pledged support for the Taliban and called on the international community to recognise the country’s Taliban-led government and freeze its assets.
It is reported that some 70 personalities representing Afghan refugees in Pakistan and 30 others from Iran participated in the Jirga. According to the state-run Bakhtar news agency, about 3,500 religious scholars and elders from across Afghanistan were invited to attend the grand assembly.
Participants of the Jirga were expected to discuss a series of issues, including reopening schools for girls from 7th grade to 12th grade, the type of government, national flag and national anthem.
However, the indications are that the overwhelming majority of attendees were Taliban officials and supporters, mostly Islamic clerics. Women were not allowed to attend, a practice that started during the US-backed government in the past.
The Jirga issued an 11-point statement at the conclusion, urging countries in the region and the world, the UN, Islamic organisations and others to recognise theIEA, remove all sanctions imposed since the Taliban takeover and unfreeze Afghan assets abroad.
The US has frozen nearly $9 billion of Afghanistan’s funds. Reportedly US officials and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi held talks in Qatar last week to explore ways for unfreezing the money.
It also called for mutual respect and coexistence with neighbouring countries, in the region and the world at large, stressing that “the Afghan soil won’t be used against any country and Afghanistan also won’t allow anyone to interfere in its internal affairs”.
It also supported the administration’s ban on poppy plantation and drug production and its smuggling, noting that poppy cultivation, drug production and its trafficking are against Islamic teachings.
The participants also described the Islamic State terror group as “insurgent, terrorist”, noting cooperation with the group is against Islamic laws. The statement further described them as “Kharijite group of this age that spreads corruption in our Islamic country. Any help or association with them is illegal. And that any armed opposition against the Islamic establishment is a breach of Islamic laws and regarded as rebellion”.
In a surprise development, the reclusive supreme leader and spiritual chief of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada reached Kabul from his base in southern Kandahar province and addressed the gathering on July 1.
His appearance added symbolic heft to the gathering. In his hour-long speech carried by state radio, Akhundzada called the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan a “victory for the Muslim world”.
The battle for coal
Meanwhile, there are reports that the Taliban have increased the price of Afghan coal from $90 per tonne to $200 per tonne, and set custom duties at 30 per cent, hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced import plans for the same. The move is also aimed at rejecting allegations that it’s becoming a “puppet” of Pakistan.
But now, members of the regime are seeking to alter the image of the Taliban’s relationship with the Pakistani government. On June 29, the spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Mufti Ismatullah Burhan, told The Independent Urdu that no coal trade agreement exists between the two countries, and that the Taliban will use coal as a “pressure point” for Pakistan.
Afghan newspaper Daily Hasht-e Subh also quoted warnings from expert Mirahmad Shakib that the real damage of any accelerated coal imports would not be to either country’s economies but to the environment in Afghanistan. “Pakistan is plundering Afghanistan’s resources in the absence of a responsible national government.” Shakib said.
Since it took over Afghanistan last year and the subsequent economic crisis, the Taliban government has been attempting to rely on natural resources for revenue as an answer to the country’s economic crisis.
The way forward
The Jirga opened in the absence of women representatives and concluded without hinting at reopening schools for girls above grade six and women’s right to work outside home.
In its reaction to the Jirga, Human Rights Watch has said that a decision-making body, such as a Jirga that excludes women and other groups is not legitimate. While human rights advocates claim they do not anticipate and expect significant improvements from the Taliban Jirga in Kabul, Heather Barr, co-director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, said no one in the Taliban’s Jirga could speak up and that the assembly did not reflected ethnic diversity.
Reportedly, the Taliban elders have been able to keep a complete lock on decision-making since taking over the country last August, and they touted the Jirga as a forum to hear a range of voices on issues facing Afghanistan.
Overall, it appears that Taliban are desperate for the international community to recognise the new Islamic Emirate at the earliest and unfreeze its assets, enabling it to plan for the future.
In its first budget presented in May earlier this year, the IEA government announced a deficit of 44 billion Afghanis ($501 million), the authorities didn’t elaborate or clarified how the gap between expected revenues and planned spending will be met.
The Taliban are under international pressure to be more inclusive as they struggle with Afghanistan’s humanitarian crises. The international community is determined to set its terms while the Taliban are adamant to dictate their own terms for any compromise, as they have been able to control the country for almost a year.
It remains to be seen how it all will pan out as the Taliban are a very stubborn lot and instead of pressure, to find a common ground cajoling and being empathetic will be in favour of both the Afghan people and international community.
(Asad Mirza is a political commentator based in New Delhi. He writes on Muslims, educational, international affairs, interfaith and current affairs)
Business
India should remain vigilant after Myanmar’s crackdown on cyber scam hubs

New Delhi, Oct 25: Amid the massive crackdown on cybercriminals in Myanmar, India needs to remain vigilant about numerous cyber scam centres in China-Myanmar border areas that target its citizens, according to a report.
The scam hubs in Kayin State, the Wa region, and the China-Myanmar border areas, where the central government’s reach is limited, lure victims with fake online job postings, confiscate passports, and force them to conduct fraudulent cryptocurrency and romance scams targeting victims worldwide, according to the report in India Narrative
“New Delhi, Beijing, and Bangkok have all demanded that Naypyidaw take action after hundreds of their citizens were trafficked into scam operations,” the report mentioned.
According to reports, a statement by Myanmar’s military information ministry said its forces had “cleared” KK Park, a synonymous with online fraud, money laundering and human trafficking for the past five years.
More than 2,000 people were detained, and around 30 Starlink satellite terminals used to maintain communications networks for scam operations were seized.
For India, these cyber hubs have become a mounting concern.
In March this year, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that almost 300 nationals had been rescued from cyber-scam compounds in Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. According to reports, up to 540 individuals were repatriated in a subsequent phase via Thailand.
Notably, a hybrid form of governance, blending armed-group control, corruption, and foreign criminal investment, has turned Kayin State into a cybercrime haven.
“For the Myanmar junta, the KK Park raid signals to neighbouring countries that it can enforce border security and control hybrid criminal-militia activities,” the report noted.
However, the challenges remain as the networks behind these compounds are deeply embedded in cross-border trafficking and crypto-fraud.
According to media reports, more than 5,400 Chinese suspects involved in telecom fraud in Myawaddy, Myanmar, have been repatriated in a joint crackdown on cross-border telecom fraud launched by China, Myanmar, and Thailand since the beginning of 2025.
International News
UN says delivering aid to Gaza remains challenging

United Nations, Oct 23: UN humanitarians have said that delivering vital support to northern Gaza remains challenging, even though the ceasefire took effect more than 10 days ago.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, the world body and its partners have made progress in scaling up response efforts, especially in central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip.
However, the continued closure of the Zikim and Erez border crossings, which provide direct access to the north, makes it extremely challenging for humanitarian aid to reach the area, OCHA added.
At the same time, UN partners monitoring population flows across Gaza have reported more than 425,000 movements from southern to northern parts of the strip since October 10, Xinhua news agency reported.
UN Population Fund Deputy Executive Director Andrew Saberton, who just returned from Gaza, told reporters that the agency was able to bring in some assistance last week through the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing.
“We have been distributing medical supplies and equipment, including incubators, delivery beds and fetal monitoring machines, that were prepositioned inside Gaza, to hospitals,” he said.
“But the trickle of aid being allowed to enter Gaza after the ceasefire is nowhere near enough.”
Inside Gaza on Tuesday, out of 10 humanitarian missions coordinated with the Israeli authorities, six were facilitated, including the collection of water tanks, hygiene kits and fuel from the crossings into Gaza, OCHA said.
Abeer Etefa, senior regional communications officer and spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that since the ceasefire began on October 11, the agency has delivered more than 6,700 metric tonnes of food, enough for nearly half a million people for two weeks.
“Daily deliveries continue and now average around 750 tonnes,” she said, noting this remains well below WFP’s target of 2,000 tonnes a day.
“Unless all border crossing points are used, reaching this target is almost impossible.”
Currently, only the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings in the south are open. Severe destruction continues to block access to northern Gaza, where famine was declared in August. “We need Erez, we need Zikkim, we need these border crossing points to open,” Etefa stressed.
Reaching northern Gaza with large-scale convoys is a priority.
“We’ve cleared roads at scale into the north,” she said, “but we need these crossings open to connect to Gaza City, where conditions are especially dire.”
WFP is restoring its food distribution network, aiming for 145 distribution points across the Strip, of which 26 have reopened. “People are showing up in large numbers, grateful for the efficiency and the dignified way they can collect their rations,” Etefa said.
The aid is especially crucial for “the most vulnerable,” the women, female-headed households, and the elderly, she added.
While many are hopeful, “there is cautious optimism” about how long current conditions will last.
Many families save part of their rations because they are not confident the ceasefire will hold.
“It is a fragile peace,” she said.
Food prices remain prohibitive, and supplies are still insufficient. “People can find food in the market, but it’s out of reach because it’s extremely expensive,” Etefa warned.
WFP is also helping the most food-insecure households through digital payments, enabling about 140,000 people to buy food locally, with plans to double that number soon. But Etefa stressed that humanitarian aid alone cannot solve the crisis, and commercial supplies must enter to complement relief efforts.
Only a fully implemented and sustained ceasefire can allow WFP to operate at the scale needed, Etefa said.
Crime
37 arrested in Greece over EU farm subsidy fraud

Athens, Oct 23: The Greek police have arrested 37 people in a nationwide operation targeting a criminal network accused of defrauding the European Union’s (EU) agricultural subsidy system, authorities said.
According to the Hellenic Police on Wednesday, the operation was carried out by the Organised Crime Division in Thessaloniki, Pella, Ioannina, Attica, and Crete.
The suspects allegedly obtained EU farm subsidies through false declarations submitted to OPEKEPE, a public agency responsible for managing and disbursing agricultural aid schemes funded by the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), in the course of the preliminary investigation, 324 individuals were identified as subsidy recipients, causing an estimated cost of more than €19.6 million to the EU budget.
Of these, 42 are believed to be involved in this case and are considered current members of the criminal group, the EPPO said.
Investigators estimate that the network illegally acquired between 5 million euros ($5.8 million) and 10 million euros out of more than 20 million euros in total subsidies.
Most suspects are not connected to farming, and the core group is believed to consist of about 10 individuals, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.
The operation was conducted in cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which began investigating the case about 18 months ago, the report added. (1 euro = 1.16 US dollar)
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, under pressure due to his family’s political ties in Crete, vowed to imprison those guilty and recover the misappropriated funds.
He claimed the fraud began in 2016, before his 2019 tenure, and warned that Greece’s EU subsidies could be at risk if the issue isn’t resolved.
“Whatever the political cost, I am not backing down,” Mitsotakis told Skai radio.
Government Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis echoed the sentiment, stressing that public resources must not be embezzled for personal gain.
Several Ministers and Deputy Ministers have resigned over their alleged involvement in the scandal.
The EU has already fined Athens €400 million after finding evidence of systemic failings in the handling of farm subsidies from 2016 through to 2023.
Greece also risks losing its EU farm subsidies unless it provides an improved action plan on how it will stop funds being siphoned off into corruption.
The original deadline was October 2, but this has now been pushed back to November 4.
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