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The Taliban accused the United States of violating the peace agreement signed by the two countries in 2020, and included its new Secretary of the Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani on the US terrorist list.
The new minister is part of the Haqqani network and was accused of attacking US troops in Afghanistan during the 20-year war. The United States is offering a reward of $5 million in Haqqani. He is still on the United Nations terror list.
Several other members of the organization, including acting prime minister Mohammed Hassan Ahund, have been included in the international blacklist.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Wednesday evening, saying: “Pentagon officials stated that some cabinet members of the Islamic emirate or the family of the late Haqqani Sahib are still targets on the U.S. blacklist.”
“The Islamic Emirate believes that this is a clear violation of the Doha Agreement and is neither in the interests of the United States or Afghanistan,” the statement said, referring to the agreement signed in the capital of Qatar.
The agreement paved the way for the withdrawal of foreign troops headed by the United States in exchange for the Taliban’s guarantee that al-Qaida and ISIL would not be allowed to operate on Afghan territory. The U.S. military retreated before the August 31 deadline, and the result was a chaotic exercise that ended the longest U.S. war.
The U.S.-Taliban agreement excludes the Western-backed Afghan government led by former President Ashraf Ghani, which swept the country by Taliban militants last month with little resistance from government forces. Fled the country.
The Taliban’s statement was issued after the U.S. reached a deal promise Remove Taliban members from international sanctions.
Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Bellis reported from Kabul that Pentagon officials commented to the media that members of the Haqqani family are still legitimate targets and are still on the US blacklist.
“The Taliban said it was very provocative, condemning it, saying that members of the Haqqani family must be removed from the US sanctions list immediately. They said they will continue to demand this,” Bayliss said.
“Many of the Haqqani family are part of the government and they are very disappointed. They say they want to establish a positive relationship with the United States. They are very disappointed to see that some of their top leaders are still legitimate targets.”
“It will be very interesting to see how the United States reacted to this statement,” she added.
Before the Taliban announced its new cabinet this week, another member of the network and Taliban leader Khalil-Ur-Rahman Haqqani was appointed to be responsible for the security of Kabul.
Many Afghans doubt that the leaders of the Haqqani Network can bring security to Afghanistan after years of war and violence, especially reports of house-to-house searches and violence. Crimes allegedly committed by the Taliban continue to flow in, including in Kabul.
The Taliban denied that they were retaliating and stated that their members were subject to disciplinary action.
Fahim Sadat, dean of the Department of International Relations at Kabul Kadan University, said that both the United States and the Taliban are citing the Doha Agreement to serve their respective interests.
“The reality is that the sanctions list is one of the only viable levers of the international community that can be used to make any concessions against the Taliban,” Sadat told Al Jazeera in Barcelona, ​​Spain.
Protest is forbidden
At the same time, the Taliban suppressed protests in the country, saying they would prohibit protests without prior approval.
“The protest is the key news this week. A few days ago, there was a large-scale peaceful protest, but as the demonstrators approached the presidential palace, people were detained, including journalists,” Bellis said.
“Some journalists were held in cells and whipped. After that, the Taliban announced a ban on protests. They said they would allow them under certain conditions,” she added, adding that they must get prior government approval.
In recent days, several demonstrations have broken out across Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters Take to the street One day after Kabul chanted and called for “freedom”, resistance leader Ahmed Masood called for an “uprising” against Taliban rule.
The protesters told Al Jazeera that the scale of the demonstrations ranged from a few hundred to dozens of people and was dispersed by Taliban fighters.
The reporter also stated that they were banned from filming, and the country’s largest network TOLONews stated that at least one of their photographers was detained for filming protests.
According to Agence France-Presse, protest organizers cancelled the rally in Kabul on Thursday after the Taliban effectively banned demonstrations.
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