KABUL: The Taliban on Wednesday “strongly opposed” Turkey’s offer to retain soldiers in Afghanistan to guard and run its international airport in the capital city, Kabul, once the United States and NATO-led troops withdraw from the country in the next few months.
Turkey has more than 500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO mission to train Afghan security forces.
“We will allow no country to keep their troops, be it from America or Turkey... nor agree with this,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Arab News on Wednesday.
“If Turkey has such an intention, the Islamic Emirate [name of the Taliban’s government when the group was in power] will strongly oppose this, we will not accept any foreign force in the country, under any name,” he added.
“Presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan soil is not acceptable regardless of which country they belong to,” Mujahid said. “As you know Turkey is a member of NATO too. They have stayed here for 20 years and were involved in a part of the war. They should not make the mistake (of keeping troops) and if they want to keep troops in Afghanistan, without doubt, Afghans will treat them in the same manner they have dealt with other invaders because Afghans will not who the invader is.”
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday Turkey intended to stay in Afghanistan “depending on conditions.”
“What are our conditions? Political, financial and logistical support. If these are met, we can remain at Hamid Karzai International Airport,” his ministry quoted Akar as saying, according to a Reuters report.
The Taliban, however, maintained that “there was no need” for foreign forces as Afghans, throughout history, “have not accepted nor will accept the presence of foreign troops,” according to Dr. Mohammad Naem, a spokesman for the group’s political office in Qatar.
“The responsibility of Afghanistan’s security belonged to Afghans alone and protection of foreign civilians, both from an Islamic point of view and based on international principles, was the responsibility of the country where they live,” he told Arab News.
Turkish officials say the airport security proposal was made at a NATO meeting in May when the US and its partners agreed to withdraw troops once Washington ends its nearly 20-year occupation of Afghanistan on Sept. 11.
Safeguarding the airport is crucial for military and commercial flights and the safe passage of international aid groups and diplomats residing in the country. It could also help persuade some countries to maintain a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. Last month, however, Australia shut its embassy in Afghanistan, citing “security concerns.”
While other US-led foreign troops have been subjected to regular attacks by the Taliban and other militant groups in the past 19 years, Turkey’s forces remain unharmed, partly because it is the only Islamic country and NATO member.
With hope over the success of US sponsored talks between the Taliban and President Ashraf Ghani’s embattled government waning, there are concerns among some Afghans and foreigners that the Taliban will endeavor to retake the country by force as they did in the mid-1990s.
Turkey’s proposal comes amid the Taliban making territorial gains during clashes with local forces in Afghanistan after Washington started to withdraw its troops on May 1.
All foreign troops should have left Afghanistan last month, but the new US administration unilaterally extended the deadline until Sept. 11, based on a controversial agreement between Washington and the Taliban more than a year ago.
Toreq Farhadi, an adviser for former Afghan president Hamid Karzai said the Taliban had rejected Turkey’s offer as part of a “military strategy.”
“It could be part of the Taliban’s military objective [to ensure President Ashraf] Ghani’s total surrender. It is clear that the Taliban’s military strategy is to cut off the Afghan government from the breast that feeds them; the international community,” he told Arab News.
However, he added: “This has its own risks for the Taliban. NATO allies are also a supplier of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, something which the Taliban recognize as a need to be met going forward.”
Farhadi explained that the Taliban have “shown an interest in Afghanistan maintaining its relations with the world, to continue receiving donor funds.”
“They also want their names removed from the UN’s sanctions list... refusing international support would mean depriving Afghanistan of much needed diplomatic, aid and investment support,” he told Arab News, adding: “If they have a problem with Turkey, they should offer an acceptable alternative country for this [airport security] task.”
Taliban reject Turkish military presence in Afghanistan after troop withdrawal
https://arab.news/2r2c2
Taliban reject Turkish military presence in Afghanistan after troop withdrawal
- Taliban spokesperson says if Turkey decides to keep troops, Afghans will treat them the same way they “dealt with other invaders”
- Turkey has more than 500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO mission to train Afghan security forces
Spain to airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza Strip
- The Defense Ministry said the 12 tonnes would be delivered in an operation similar to another carried out in March 2024, when Spain delivered 26 tonnes of food
MADRID: Spain said on Monday it would airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza this week as the threat of famine stalks the Palestinian territory after 21 months of war.
The operation is a rare example of a European nation joining Middle Eastern countries in sending aid by air.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the most virulent critics of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, told a news conference the delivery would take place from Jordan on Friday using Spanish air force planes.
“The famine in Gaza is a shame for all of humanity and stopping it, therefore, is a moral imperative,” he said.
The Defense Ministry said the 12 tonnes would be delivered in an operation similar to another carried out in March 2024, when Spain delivered 26 tonnes of food.
The World Health Organization has warned malnutrition in the occupied territory has reached “alarming levels” since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza.
‘No alternative’ to two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians: French FM
- French Foreign Minister said other European countries will confirm ‘their intention to recognize the State of Palestine’ during the UN conference
- ‘Recognize the state of Palestine without delay,’ Palestinian prime minister urged nations at the start of the meeting
NEW YORK: There is “no alternative” to a two-state solution between Israelis and the Palestinians, France told a UN conference co-chaired with Saudi Arabia on Monday.
“Only a political, two-state solution will help respond to the legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. There is no alternative,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said at the start of the three-day meeting.
Days before the conference, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would formally recognize a State of Palestine in September.
In an interview with French weekly La Tribune Dimanche, Barrot said that other European countries will confirm “their intention to recognize the State of Palestine” during the conference, without confirming which.
“All states have a responsibility to act now,” said Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa at the start of the meeting, calling for an international force to help underwrite Palestinian statehood.
“Recognize the state of Palestine without delay.”
France is hoping that Britain will take this step. More than 200 British members of parliament on Friday voiced support for the idea, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer reiterated that recognition of a Palestinian state “must be part of a wider plan.”
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the meeting “the two-State solution is farther than ever before,” decrying Israel’s “creeping annexation” of the occupied West Bank and “the wholesale destruction of Gaza.”
According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states — including France — now recognize the Palestinian state proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988.
In 1947, a resolution of the UN General Assembly decided on the partition of Palestine, then under a British mandate, into two independent states — one Jewish and the other Arab. The following year, the state of Israel was proclaimed.
For several decades, the vast majority of UN member states have supported the idea of a two-state solution, which would see Israel and a Palestinian state existing side-by-side.
But after more than 21 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring designs to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could become geographically impossible.
The current war in Gaza started following a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel, which responded with a large-scale military response that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives and destroyed most basic infrastructure in the enclave.
This week’s conference comes at a moment when “the prospect of a Palestinian state has never been so threatened, or so necessary,” Barrot said.
Jordanian FM: ‘stop Israeli unilateral actions’
Beyond facilitating conditions for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the meeting will focus on three other issues — reform of the Palestinian Authority, disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from Palestinian public life, and normalization of relations with Israel by Arab states.
However, no new normalization deals are expected to be announced at the meeting, according to a French diplomatic source.
On the other hand, “for the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament,” Barrot said.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said “we’ve got to act to stop Israeli unilateral actions that undermine the two-state solution, including settlements, land confiscation, encroachments on the holy sites and attempts to change the demographic composition of the West Bank and Gaza.”
Israel and the United States were not taking part in the meeting, amid growing international pressure on Israel to end nearly two years of war in Gaza.
Despite “tactical pauses” in some military operations announced by Israel, the humanitarian catastrophe in the ravaged coastal territory is expected to dominate speeches by representatives of more than 100 countries as they take the podium.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said “this conference does not promote a solution, but rather deepens the illusion.”
Bruno Stagno, chief advocacy officer at Human Rights Watch, said “more platitudes about a two-state solution and peace process will do nothing to advance the conference’s goals, nor to halt the extermination of Palestinians in Gaza.”
Trump meets Starmer and disagrees with Netanyahu’s claim of no starvation in Gaza
- Trump said he disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that there was no starvation in Gaza
- Gaza’s Health Ministry said Monday that 14 Palestinians including two children have died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours
LONDON: Israeli strikes killed at least 34 Palestinians before US President Donald Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday in Scotland, where they confirmed plans to discuss Gaza.
A day after Israel eased aid restrictions due to a worsening humanitarian crisis, Trump said he disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that there was no starvation in Gaza.
Israel on Sunday announced a pause in military operations in certain areas for 10 hours daily to improve aid flow. Alongside the measures, military operations continued. Israel had no immediate comment about the latest strikes, which occurred outside the declared time frame for the pause between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Aid agencies welcomed the new measures but say they are insufficient. Images of emaciated children have sparked global outrage. Most of Gaza’s population now relies on aid and accessing food has become increasingly dangerous.
Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, said Britain supports Trump’s efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and the plan aims “to turn a ceasefire into lasting peace.”
The plan was discussed by Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday. Starmer will discuss it with allies “including the US and Arab states” and at an emergency meeting of his Cabinet later this week, Pares said.
Details of the plan have not been made public.
Fourteen Palestinians have died of malnutrition-related causes in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, the territory’s Health Ministry said on Monday.
They include two children, bringing the total deaths among children from causes related to malnutrition in Gaza to 88 since the war started on Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry said In a statement.
The ministry said 59 Palestinian adults also have died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since the start of July, when it began counting deaths among adults.
French PM slams EU-US trade deal as ‘submission’
- French President Emmanuel Macron did not immediately react Monday to the high-stakes agreement, which drew wider criticism across much of the French political spectrum
PARIS: French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Monday slammed a weekend trade deal between the United States and the European Union as a “dark day” and tantamount to “submission,” as other politicians poured vitriol on the deal.
“It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resorts to submission,” said Bayrou in a post on X of the accord thrashed out Sunday.
US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck the deal, which fixed a baseline tariff of 15 percent on EU exports to the US.
French President Emmanuel Macron did not immediately react Monday to the high-stakes agreement, which drew wider criticism across much of the French political spectrum
Stock markets rose in Europe and Asia on hopes the agreement can avert a potentially damaging trade war.
But many French politicians were not convinced.
“Ursula von der Leyen accepted yesterday the commercial surrender of Europe, to the detriment of our exporters, farmers, and industrialists,” Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, wrote on X.
The day before, Bardella’s party colleague and three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen had criticized the deal as “a political, economic and moral fiasco.”
“This is a defeat for the European Commission, which failed to create the power dynamics needed properly to defend European interests,” said Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, a Macron ally in parliament and president of the National Assembly’s European Affairs Committee.
Anglade blasted what he said was a “signal of weakness” sent “to our competitors (and) we must fight to reverse the situation.”
A Bayrou ally in his Democratic Movement, lawmaker Philippe Latombe, said on X he “deeply regrets” a deal which “while it certainly avoids a trade war, comes at the cost of culpable subservience, a mortgage on our future, and the sacrifice of entire sectors of our sovereignty. It’s a bad deal, except for Trump.”
On Sunday, the Socialist Party said the EU appeared cast as a US “vassal” while far-left France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said France’s choice was one of “non-submission to the (US) Empire and non-alignment.”
The French finance ministry told AFP Finance Minister Eric Lombard and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot would Wednesday discuss “consequences” of the deal with major French economic players.
Palau lawmakers reject US request to accept third country refugees
- Palau, with a population of 17,000, has a compact of free association with the United States providing economic assistance in return for allowing the US military access to its territory
- A letter signed by Senate President Hokkon Boules and House of Delegates speaker Gibson Kanai said the congress strongly supports Palau’s partnership with the US, but “cannot accept this specific proposal”
SYDNEY: The national congress of Palau has said it “cannot accept” a United States proposal for the Pacific Islands nation to accept asylum seekers from third countries, as its president holds annual funding talks in Washington.
Palau’s national congress wrote to President Surangel Whipps Jr. earlier this month urging him to reject the request by the Trump Administration.
A letter signed by Senate President Hokkon Boules and House of Delegates speaker Gibson Kanai, viewed by Reuters, said the congress strongly supports Palau’s partnership with the United States, but “cannot accept this specific proposal.”
Palau, with a population of 17,000, has a compact of free association with the United States providing economic assistance in return for allowing the US military access to its territory.
“We advise against proceeding further on this matter only because of the practical issues that the introduction of refugees would raise in our society,” said the letter, dated July 21.
Whipps Jr. briefed Palau’s national congress and council of chiefs about the request on July 18, the Palau president’s office said in a statement at the time.
The proposed agreement gave Palau the right to accept or decline each individual referred by the US, the office said.
The US Ambassador to Palau, Joel Ehrendreich told the meeting Palau would not be a processing center like Nauru under Australia’s offshore asylum policy, but would be considered a “safe third country,” and financial assistance would be offered, Palau’s Island Times reported.
Whipps Jr. is in Washington for annual talks about economic assistance, his office said.
“We anticipate there will be additional discussion held with local leadership,” a spokeswoman told Reuters.
Palau was one of the few states to avoid any US tariffs in April.
On July 15, the United States said a deportation flight from the US carrying immigrants from different countries landed in Eswatini in southern Africa, a move that followed the US Supreme Court lifting limits on the Trump Administration’s policy to deport migrants to third countries.
Palau is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.
A spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Palau said it had no comment on the letter.
Human rights advocates have raised due process and other concerns over Trump’s immigration policies that his administration has cast as measures aimed at improving domestic security.
