The UN envoy for Afghanistan assured that the Taliban have already “welcomed and sheltered” members of al-Qaeda

The UN special envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said Thursday that the Taliban had already “visibly welcomed and sheltered” members of al-Qaeda. and called on the international community to unite to prevent the collapse of the Afghan economy.

Lyon also assured that ISIS extremists are still active “and may gain strength”, for which he urged to fight terrorism and face the fear that the Taliban Islamic State will spread to its neighbors.

The official said that UN Security Council will have to decide on its relations with many of the 33 members of the Taliban government who are on the UN sanctions blacklistincluding the Prime Minister, the two Deputy Prime Ministers and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On the other hand, he pointed out that The worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan must be tackled now, while warning of another “looming crisis” caused by the freezing of billions of dollars in Afghan assets. Lyons has indicated that the frost will cause “A severe economic recession which could plunge many more millions of people into poverty and hunger” and could trigger an exodus of refugees and set the country back for generations, according to the American media ABC News.

Lyons stressed the importance of finding ways to provide humanitarian aid “on a large scale” and allow money to flow quickly to Afghanistan to “prevent a total collapse of the economy and social order”, as long as it is possible to create safeguards to ensure that the money is not diverted by the Taliban authorities.

The Afghan central bank’s $ 9 billion in reserves, most of which is in the United States, was frozen after the fall of the previous government. Afghanistan also planned to accede around 23 August $ 450 million from the International Monetary Fund, but the financial organization disbursement blocked due to “lack of clarity” on a new government.

“Let the economy breathe for a few more months, giving the Taliban a chance for flexibility and a genuine willingness to do things differently this time around.especially from a human rights, gender and counterterrorism perspective, ”concluded Lyons.

UN says Taliban response to Afghan protests increasingly violent

The UN human rights office said on Friday that the Taliban’s response to the peaceful marches in Afghanistan was increasingly violent., with the use of live ammunition, batons and whips by the authorities, causing the death of at least four demonstrators.

Events and demonstrations, often led by women, they assume a challenge for the new Islamist Taliban government, which is trying to consolidate its control after taking the capital, Kabul, almost a month ago.

“We have seen a reaction from the Taliban which, unfortunately, has been severe”, noted Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for UN rights, at a briefing in Geneva, in which he claimed that the United Nations had documented the deaths of four protesters by bullets.

However, he said that some or all possibly the result of efforts to disperse protesters with gunfire.

He added that the United Nations had also received reports of house-to-house searches of participants in the demonstrations. Journalists covering the protests were also intimidated.

“In one case it was reported that a journalist was told, when he was kicked in the head, ‘you’re lucky they didn’t behead you’“Shamdasani said.” There has really been a lot of intimidation from journalists who are just trying to do their job, “he added.

(With information from Reuters)

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